A Plan for Restitution

On March 17th I ordered 140 trees from the Leelanau conservation district to plant on our 16 acres and this is just a start. Yet, no matter what I do it won’t be enough to fairly settle the debt owed. Before European settlers arrived, Michigan was 95% forest! So much of Michigan’s land was forest, it is safe to assume that our farm was an old forest before being converted into farmland in the 1800s. In fact the huge tree trunk beams in our barn prove this assumption. I intend to re-wild this land and do my best to bring back the native trees and plants that grew here. Maybe one day long after I am gone there will be huge trees covering this land once again.

Between 1850 and 1910 most of Michigan’s lower peninsula forests were clear cut as the logging industry got underway and white settlers took control of Michigan’s land from its indigenous people. The Ottawa tribe of Native Americans were the first to call this farm home and there is no way to legitimize what occurred when white settlers arrived. In addition to the crimes against the indigenous people of Michigan, the new occupants also assaulted the forests. I’m going to start with these 140 trees and learn as much as possible in preparation for a larger scale reforestation project. There is no possible way to give full restitution to the tribes or the trees but this is a genuine attempt to honor what was lost.

If we are able to pull off the full project, 2600 trees will cover 6+acres. That is a lot of trees to plant so logistics will be important. I also want to be realistic about the work it will take to successfully implement this project. I’m sure some will live and some will die during this learning process! Re-establishing native bio-diversity is at the core of this project. I am NOT creating a plantation so this makes it a more complicated labor intensive effort. I have been learning about the types of forest that likely grew in our area from this great resource: Michigan Natural Features Inventory.

Here is my list of trees that I ordered from the conservation district:

• White Pine

• White Cedar

• Balsam Fir

• American Beech

• Black Cherry

• Red Oak

• White Oak

• Black Gum (ATREP)

• Shagbark Hickory (ATREP)

• American Hazelnut

• Black Elderberry

  *Assisted tree range expansion (ATREP) is “the human-assisted movement of species to areas just outside their established range in response to climate change, facilitating or mimicking natural range expansion.”

I’m excited to start this project fully aware that I will make many mistakes and will need a lot of help to learn what I need to know and do what I need to do. I hope this project honors the people who once lived here and the trees that once stood. I also hope it sets a course for future generations to heal our relationship with the earth and all of Life.