Yes I agree.I have been to point beech a few times. Also while hunting in Price Co 15 or so yrs ago,I came across a White pine and a Red pine about 200ft apart,It looked as though they had a race for the sun.Pushing 100ft tall and 24-28" in diamiter,what an awsome sight. A few years back on a trip threw western lower Mi,I comented to my wife how most of the red pine did'nt look to healthy. I live in eastern Wi-southern Manitowoc Co.

I may have found the farm. It wasn't under my grandfathers name of James Henry Miller it was under my great grandfathers name of James Evans. There were about three sections or pieces of land listed all contiguous. I vaguely remember that Grandpa evans split the land up to the kids. He was a small man with white beard and mustache and aleways wore an old suit. He had a nickname of Frenchie and had a bad temper (I never saw it) He had worked for the railroad in Missouri and at one time worked at a switch house. They say he carried a little .41 caliber brass derringer in his vest pocket in a tobacco pouch. My girl cousin (a few months younger than me) would go out on the front porch of the farm house where grandpa Evans would spend many hours sitting and watching the cars pass up on the hill on the road between Bryant and Ava. When he saw us he would gather us up into his lap, one on each leg and tell us mesmerizing stories. Wish I could remember some of them but they were very happy days for us kids. When my dad was little grandpa Evans taught him an old Cherokee song and dad sang it to me but he didn't know its meaning. Lots of questions but no answers available anymore. One vivid memorie I have is, we were going somewhere, maybe Bryant and we, my mother and dad and I went across the creek down to the barn where dad hitched up the horses to the open wagon. One of the horses was a new one they had just traded for and it was skittish. When dad climbed up into the seat it lit out and the wagon and horses went skidding around the barn. Mom heard it coming toward us and yelled and slammed me flat up against the barn. I saw dad with one leg hanging down on the barn side asd the horses came careening around the corner of the barn toward us and his leg got caught between the corner of the barn and the wagon and scraped it up pretty badly. He got them halted and we went to our log cabin where mom fixed up his leg. We didn't go anywhere that day. Another time I remember was dad hoisting me up on his arm lighting the prince Albert in his pipe (sure loved that smell) picked up his axe and went up on the side of the hill (I could look down the hill and see a pretty little pond). He sat me on the ground and began cutting wood rails and such. And maybe firewood. The trees were not big but it must have been fall because the leaves were all yellow and other colors. Still cherish a lot of those memories of so long ago. I am 70 now. Dad and mom passed away in 2006, he 90 and mom 82. Moms folks came from Springfield wher we spent much time later on after grandpa Miller passed away. Paul

So guess what? I've now been to Ann Arbor for the first time in my life! Loved the town! Had some fabulous food there, and just found the entire Main. St. area to be very authentic, very lively on a summer Wed. afternoon, fabulous farmers market going on till 2, just perfect. After traipsing around Main St. for a bit, we drove to the Chain of Lakes area which was just about the perfect distance away, 30 minutes or so from the Main St., and an easy drive. As we drove on, I fell more and more in love with the landscape, which got more and more rural and beautiful as we approached the lake area. We first went to Portage Lake, and then to Baseline Lake. My first glimpse of Portage was perfect. Really liked the size, the setting, everything. It's a little difficult to GPS your way around a lake because I didn't have a specific address, just wanted to explore. The main part we saw had houses much too close together for my liking, though I loved many of the styles of homes. Similar feeling about Baseline. The overall problem was that my mom and sister are not good explorers. They are real homebodies, and don't get out to explore much on their own, so they were completely panicked about finding our way back, driving willy-nilly down roads that suddenly popped up etc. Once I realized I just wasn't going to be able to explore the way DH and I would, I just gave up on truly exploring the area. I did sneak down to the water's edge by trespassing at a house that looked somewhat vacated. The water seemed fairly clear, but there was definitely some algae at the shore. Not sure if that is a once every ten years kind of issue, or ongoing. At least I got to see the area, and assuming we could find a somewhat private waterfront home, it would definitely be in the running. On the other hand, 2 1/2 hours drive time from my sister's home to a lakehouse might prove to be too much adventure for mom and sis.... We're still hoping to get to Sleeping Bear at the end of Sept. so we'll have something to compare to. Thank you all so much for your help getting me there!

Pinkmountain - I’m glad you decided to continue the discussion. I’m going to be dropping off the thread, but I hope you and others can continue it, if there is an interest. I appreciated the way you have shared your efforts to restore habitat. You are trying to do something about a situation that is really frightening. I realize that and am not really any different, I find it frightening as well and I’m sure we all find the world’s problems overwhelming. I can’t speak for others, I can only say that I have had lots of enthusiasm along the way to also do something about it. Have made the attempt with the resources I have. I’m still making the attempt. I could have used more support and encouragement at different times but wildflower and conservation groups in my area have other goals and agendas that don’t really reach out to people who are just trying to do what they can and need it to be made more accessible. So, I suppose they were doing the best they could and we are all trying to do the best we can. I just popped over to the Native Plants forum and not a lot happening there from my perspective. Not a lot of newcomers being nurtured. And Houzz has not even put a link to the Native plants forum and apparently no one there seemed to think to complain about that or to follow up until there was a link in the directory. A simple thing really. Everyone on this thread has made an effort and expressed an interest, just by contributing to this thread. I was enjoying hearing from members that I already know, how their interest is growing in natives and how that has been working out for them. And hearing from GW members I don’t know, like you. I started this thread because I met someone on another GW thread who was explaining how they had been working on a property for 4 years on a riparian area and I wanted to hear more and maybe see some photos. They had only posted to GW 3x and I thought a newcomer, maybe it would be helpful for her to see if there was anyone else here doing the same. It happened that she’s had trouble signing into Houzz, so she hasn’t posted yet. But the atmosphere on the forums here in regard to natives, I’d have to say it is challenging. From my perspective, any effort or interest on someone’s part in native plants is something to appreciate and celebrate and build on. People need to be met where they are and nurtured and encouraged by those in a position to do so, if that's at all possible. Maybe it's not. They have limited resources, challenging properties, time restraints, energy restraints, competing priorities and yet they still have an interest in trying to do what they can. They would appreciate being heard and supported. Certainly it is an approach that has been very successful over time in many endeavors to draw people in and encourage their interest and support. And this limited exposure I’ve had in the past week or so to those on GW involved in native plants, I’m sure is not the whole of it and maybe there are people here that are being welcoming and supportive. This is just what my experience has been as a newcomer to natives at GW this week. I am impressed by the scope of what you personally are trying to do. I share your sorrow over lost pristine natural areas and mature trees. I’m sure a lot of us do. I wish you good luck in your efforts.