2003
Ceo Bauer, 236 acres
Bloomer Township, Montcalm County

Ceo Bauer’s Montcalm County property has been in his family since the early 1900s, when his grandfather Edward Bauer purchased the land. In addition to 3,500 feet of Butternut Creek, the property is a mix of productive farmland and mature forest.

Mr. Bauer has witnessed Michigan’s rural landscape become increasingly developed. He wanted to make sure that the property his family carefully managed did not suffer the same fate. So, in 2003, Mr. Bauer donated a conservation easement protecting 236 acres of his property. He sees this conservation easement as a way to "preserve open space areas in their present natural state and to combat urban sprawl."