Protect the Health of Torch Lake – Conserve Your Land!

Photo: Mitchell Pietryga

What Lake Love Looks Like:

Follow these simple steps to protect the clear blue waters of Torch Lake:

Step 1. Maintain your land in its natural condition.

Step 2. Consider a conservation easement for your land.
Click here for more information on conservation easements.

Step 3. Start now as the process can take a few years to complete.

Step 4. Contact Keith Ross, TCC Founding Board Member, with decades of experience helping property owners establish land conservancies.

Click here for more information on conservation easements to help protect Torch Lake

Step 5. Donate your land to a qualified conservation organization like a nature preserve. (Example: Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy)

Leave a legacy of conserved land for future generations to enjoy the beauty of Torch Lake!

Did You Know?

To protect the water quality in a lake, 50% of the land needs to be conserved. (National Geographic, 2019).

Torch Lake watershed consists of approximately 24,855 acres of land.

Currently, only 3 percent, 800 acres in the Torch Lake watershed is in some form of easement. More is needed to protect the water quality of the lake and the forests along our roads.

Key Facts

Conservation Easements are a way to:

• Conserve family lands.
• Transfer development rights to qualified land conservation organizations.
• Safeguard land from development in perpetuity.
• Legally document and record conserved land.
• Prevent building, paving, or mining on the property.

 Benefits to owners of conservation easement land:

• Generate income for landowners.
• Reduce property taxes.
• Keep families on their land.

Learn about Michigan’s inland lakes online from MSU Extension

Registration is now open for the award-winning Introduction to Lakes Online course from Michigan State University Extension! Offered once a year, this six-week self-paced introductory class is perfect for anyone looking to deepen their understanding of Michigan’s inland lakes—from lakefront property owners and concerned residents, to local leaders and decision-makers.

Ready to dive in? Learn more and register at www.canr.msu.edu/lakesonline.

SOURCES

Land Conservation Quotes. Aldo Leopold. AZ Quotes. https://www.azquotes.com/quotes/topics/land-conservation.html

Leathy, Stephen. April 19th, 2019. Half of all land must be kept in a natural state to protect earth. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/ar

Torch Conservation Center. Conserve Torch Website Discover Torch Lake Torch Lake Changes. By the Numbers. By the Numbers – Torch Conservation Center

Torch Conservation Center. Conserve Torch Website Conserving Your Land.
Conserving Your Land – Torch Conservation Center

Torch Conservation Center. Conserve Torch Website Torch Lake from the Land.
Torch Lake From the Land – Torch Conservation Center