Courtesy Photo An osprey is seen sitting on top of a nesting platform at Fletcher Pond. According to HeadWaters Land Conservancy (HWLC), nesting platforms ensure that osprey have a safe place to nest and raise their young.

ALPENA — According to a press release by HeadWaters Land Conservancy (HWLC), Thunder Bay Audubon Society (TBAS) has transferred ownership of the Fletcher Pond bottomlands to HWLC.

Julie Rubsam, executive director of HWLC, explained that HWLC works across Northeast Michigan to oversee conservation efforts by purchasing land or accepting land donations.

Rubsam explained that the organization acquires land by either purchasing it themselves or by land donated to the organization. In some circumstances, the land is still owned by private landowners, but HWLC is still allowed (and expected) to do conservation work on that land.

The Fletcher Pond, for example, is still open to the public. Rubsam explained that HWLC is only in charge of the bottomlands.

According to the HWLC press release, “Bottomlands are the submerged lands beneath a body of water, extending from the shoreline to the ordinary high-water mark.”

Further, the press release explains that in the case of the Fletcher Pond, the bottomlands were the only part of Fletcher Pond owned by TBAS. The pond remained a shared water resource as it will in the future.

TBAS president Karen Tetzlaff said that TBAS has owned the Fletcher Pond bottomlands for decades.

When conservation efforts began at the Fletcher Pond, Tetzlaff explained that there weren’t that many conservation organizations in operation at the time. Therefore, TBAS became the sole stewards of the bottomlands.

Tettzlaff noted that as the society’s membership has aged and become less engaged, the society had to re-evaluate the long term legacy of the society’s conservation efforts.

Tetzlaff explained that it was important for TBAS to remain good stewards of the land. To do that, some other organization would eventually have to take over the bottomlands to ensure that the land was properly cared for and protected.

One of the conditions of the partnership between TBAS and HWLC was for the work of installing and maintaining nesting platforms for the local osprey population to continue.

According to the HWLC’s press release, these nesting platforms help to ensure ospreys have safe places to nest and raise their young.

Tetzlaff explained that the osprey project was an important condition in the transfer of the bottomlands.

“We didn’t want (the osprey project) to fall through the cracks with the transfer,” Tetzlaff said. “One of (HWLC’s) goals is to keep the property and wild areas wild forever.”

Rubsam stated that HWLC approaches conservation with forever in mind.

“We are in the forever game,” Rubsam said. “No matter what happens to that land in the future, we will take ownership.”

Tetzlaff and Rubsam explained that TBAS will act as a liaison between the National Audubon Society and HWLC. Rubsam also mentioned that TBAS will take the primary role in the osprey project moving forward.

Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.