Baker Sanctuary - Oil in Them Thar Hills?

In the early 1970's oil companies took an interest in the land under the sanctuary. They wanted to start testing. The Michigan Audubon Society President in 1975, Robert Bradburn, favored oil drilling. He saw a tremendous income potential for the Society. Among those much opposed to the drilling was Mabelle Isham - later bequeathed land to expand Baker Sanctuary.

Hubert Zernickow

In 1976 Mobil Oil offered MAS a 2 year lease offering $2,000 in rental fees, $18,000 incentive bonus and 1/8 of oil production revenue. The Society also had a new President - Hubert Zernickow. incidentally he died in Jackson, MI Aug 2019 at age 97.

An amendment to prohibit oil testing was rejected by the board who was concerned it would restrict future drilling requests in other sanctuaries. The proposal was submitted to the membership. How did they vote?

By Nov 12, 1976 Mobil Oil gave up. They said they "lost interest" in the plans to drill at Baker.

Bernard W. Baker

1941

He was born Aug 3, 1900 in Cressey, Barry Twp., Barry County to John and Kate Baker. They were farmers. 1920 he lived in Battle Creek . After his first marriage in 1924 he and his wife Hazel moved to Kalamazoo, 1108 Douglas Ave. Bernard was a station salesman and Hazel a nurse. The site of their house is now a big parking lot.

1924 to 1930 he was partnered with his two brothers in Baker Bros Auto Parts in Kalamazoo. His sold his share in 1931 and moved to Grand Rapids where he opened Baker Auto Parts on Alpine and Leonard. Over the next years he opened several locations throughout the state. 

Around the early 1930's he started studying and photographing birds. At that time he moved to Marne, Tallmadge Twp, Ottawa Co, just outside Grand Rapids not at all far from where I once lived. About that time he also divorced. In 1943 he married Emilie Stepanek; his son Bernard Jr. was a witness at his marriage. He was a real estate owner with a 75 acre property near Marne, considered a sort of bird sanctuary de luxe in that area. The house was on old M-16, a section of which is replaced by I 96 as it slices thru Tallmadge Twp. Next time I'm up that way have to see if the house is still there; doubtful that the birds still have any sanctuary. But by the 1960 he and Emilie lived in Spring Lake.

His 1943 draft registration describes him as 6"8" 170  with blue eyes, brown hair. I've noticed these draft descriptions are sometimes way off. Might they have meant 5"8"?

In Oct 1948 the Holland Tulip Garden Club hosted Bernard to speak on birds and their habitats. They called him the Birdman of Marne & Michigan. He had a picture library of over 3,000 prints, including those photographed on trips to Cuba and Guatemala. Several prints were tinted by Emilie who also operates the projector at his lectures. (Wonder where are those prints now?) Years later in Nov. 1969 Grand Valley State College hosted an art exhibit of his works in the Manitou Gallery.

He purchased the Sanctuary land in 1941. Growing up in Cressy he likely became familiar with nearby land, especially the Big Marsh Lake. With only 2 years of high school he became President of his auto parts company and then went into real estate and left a lovely legacy for Sandhill Cranes and Michigan residents.

Bernard died Jan. 29, 1981 in Warrensville, Ohio at age 81. No record of a grave site. 

Dr. Lawrence H. Walkinshaw, tribute

His name came up in my research on Baker and Haehnle Sanctuaries. It warranted further investigation as his was the only name to come up in two sanctuaries. 

Lawrence Harvey Walkinshaw was born on the family farm in Convis Twp 1904. After graduating from Olivet College he went on to University if Michigan getting his dentistry degree in 1929. He had his practice in Battle Creek until 1968.

The Walkinshaw family has a long history in the township starting with his great grandparents James Honorable and Jemina Walkinshaw. Both born in Scotland and in 1842 immigrated to Marshall, Michigan. They moved to a small farm in Convis Twp. The lineage goes James, Charles, Beaton who married Eva Marie Grinnell and from whence came Lawrence. The plat map shows many Walkinshaws living around the Sanctuary area. So Larry knew this landscape well from his youth. Additionally he actively birded in the area east of Jackson that became the Haehnle Sanctuary. 

The draw for him were cranes. He leaves a legacy of distinguished ornothology. His distinguished career is covered in this account of his work: IN MEMORIAM: LAWRENCE HARVEY WALKINSHAW, 1904-1993 (unm.edu). Not only did he provide valuable research on cranes, but also Kirkland warblers and field sparrows. He saw the cranes restored but the prairie chicken disappear.

Sadly, there is no sanctuary named for him. It can't be said that he left a greater legacy than those who legacy was to have purchased land.

While the rest of his ancestry is buried in Austin Cemetery, Convis Twp, the doctor and his wife Clara Mae Cartland are buried in Holt, MI. For 40 years he did Christmas Bird Counts in Battle Creek then another 20 years of counts in Lakeland, Florida.

A debit is owed to Larry for his ornithological legacy and the beautiful places he helped people become aware of their unique value.

Baker Sanctuary - Nearby Conservation Minded Properties

Larry Holcomb is a retired wildlife biologist who grew up in Olivet. He hunted, fished and roamed the lands that became Baker Sanctuary. He studied at MSU where he received a PhD; later he became a Certified Wildlife Specialist with the Michigan DNR. In 2008 this 476 acre property called Big Marsh Lake was up for sale. It borders Baker Sanctuary on the east. Big Marsh Farm has forested and prairie uplands along with 140 acres of wetland. The Holcombs purchased it. In 2017 working with Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy, they secured a conservation easement for this special property. The Holcombs have another property just the other side of I-69 on which they previously placed conservation easement.

A person of note in important to this area, albeit not a land owner, is Lawrence H. Walkinshaw, 1904-1993. From Battle Creek he was an avid ornithologist and leading authority on cranes - or Guirformes (ah, we learn the technical term for cranes). Back in the 1930's Sandhill Cranes were a rarity. He knew the area well; here is where he did significant research on cranes that is still relevant.

Walkinshaw provides a detailed account of flora and fauna in his 1950 article  THE SANDHILL CRANE IN THE BERNARD W. BAKER SANCTUARY, MICHIGAN (unm.edu), Society for Ornithological Research Archives.

Mabelle Isham was a wildlife rehabilitator and Michigan Audubon board member. She owned 80 acres, Shagbark Trails, next to the sanctuary. Her daughter inherited the property and sold it to Audubon in 2016.

BERNARD W. BAKER SANCTUARY - overview

This is North America's first bird sanctuary dedicated to the conservation of Sandhill Cranes, established in 1941. It spans some 980 acres in Calhoun County and is the second largest property owned and managed by Michigan Audubon. The centerpiece is the 200 acre Big Marsh Lake, a restored wetland flooding. In the preserve are other ponds, streams, marshes, tamarack swamp. wet meadow, prairie restoration area.

More than 200 species of birds have been recorded. Reported were a pair of breeding trumpeter swans and an active eagle nesting site.

The Meadow and Marshland Trail was created in 1996. Trails are kept mowed. Lots of wildlife in the area, not only birds.

21145 15 Mile Rd., Bellevue Convis Twp T1S, R6W Sec 10,11,14 &15

In 2016 an additional 80 acres were added, the Mabelle Isham Shagbark Trails. A collaborative effort through various conservation agencies arranged purchase of the property from her daughter who inherited the property.

And the most recent development is a conservation easement on farm land east of the lake. Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy arranged this working with the property owner, the Holcombs. Big Marsh Farm is a 476 acre addition to protected lands of Baker Sanctuary. 

More about the benefactors in a later post...