| We Are Leaving the Nest And Building a Home! – UPDATE For over 20 years, Blue Heron Ministries received the generous gift of office space within the building that houses The Presbyterian Chapel of the Lakes, in rural Steuben County. In 2017, we purchased land and a garage across the road and moved our equipment and work facility to that central location. We are now completing the move of our entire organization and operations to our work facility. We are leaving the nest and building a “home” that will house our central office, restrooms, meeting space, and documents storage. The 528 square feet (24 ft. X 22 ft.) will be an addition that will connect to the existing garage/barn that houses equipment storage, workshop, and seed storage/cleaning facilities. The office space addition will be nestled adjacent to and highlighted by our demonstration prairie, well under development. The total cost of the office addition will be $150,000. We have made every effort to keep costs down on building this new home. We are doing nothing fancy with this construction. We are not a fancy organization. We are a mission driven non-profit to “build communities where creation is kept and to keep creation so that community may be restored.” We are land stewards and work to first restore natural areas and then manage them to reach and represent high quality natural communities within our Lakes Country homeland. |
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| Plan design by John Onofrietti |
| We have been approved for a construction loan and plan to break ground later this spring. To reduce the amount that we will need to borrow to build our office addition, we are spending some of our savings and asking our friends to help raise funds. And we have a unique opportunity to which we invite you to help us reach our goal to get into this new home. The Fred and Jackie Wooley Advised Fund, with our local Steuben County Community Foundation, is generously providing a $25,000 matching grant challenge to help us realize our goal! For every dollar donated before April 30, the fund will match dollar for dollar, up to $25,000 total. You know how these work. If you are able to donate $25.00, it becomes $50.00 to our building campaign. Donate $250.00, it becomes $500.00. And so on… Please consider becoming a part of the Blue Heron Ministries future. You can send your donation to Blue Heron Ministries, 2955 W. Orland Rd., Angola, IN 46703 or simply click on this link. However you may choose to donate, please make a note that it is for the ‘office addition’. Blue Heron Ministries is 501(c)(3) non-profit Christian land conservation organization. All financial gifts are tax-deductible. Thank you for your helping us fly to our new home. And may you receive the blessings from the One who blesses everything everywhere with His presence. |
| UPDATE Our community has raised $12,000! Thank you to those who have already given generously! Anonymous Donor, Mary Baird, Anne Bao, Gary and Barb Baus, Caroline Barth, Belinda Burton, Allison Clement, Melvin and Denille Conklin, Anne Derouin, Dennis and Marilyn Doerr, Scott Evenbeck, Stacy Gilbert, Joshua Harber, Mike Homoya, Jami Hubbard, Dave Hurley, Jeffrey Irving, Kathy Latz, Kip Miller, Lindsay Pals, Lisa and David Rabaduex, Joe Riegsecker, John Riegsecker, Janel Rogers, Mike and Sarah Scudder, Nate and Natalie Shoemaker, Jacob and Serena Simons, Nate and Aimee Simons, Daniel and Ginger Smith, Phyllis Stanovich, Bob and Donna Streeter, Mary Ellen Tonne, Jeffrey Ver Steeg, Jacquelyn Wahlig, Flo Webb, Lynn Wernet, Dennis White, and Peg Zeis! You have through April 30th to help us reach our match goal! |
| Progress at Nasby Fen by Nate Simons In 2023, Blue Heron Ministries applied for and received a $369,000 Sustain Our Great Lakes grant through the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The project, “Making More Room for Marsh Hawks at Nasby Fen,” will restore over 60 acres of upland woodland and field to prairie and oak savanna and remove invasive species across more than 100 acres of wetlands to suppress and displace populations of non-native plant species and encourage establishment and perpetuation of native communities. Restoration work began in earnest in February of this year. Now that the clearing is at a good progress point for the year, it is time to begin the herbicide applications to control invasive species. |
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| Matt takes a break to check on progress of the brush mowing portion of site preparation in February. |
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| By March 31, Sevits Logging had cleared 70% of the area that will be converted to wet prairie and oak savanna. The sale of walnut logs allowed Sevits to fund clearing of the land. |
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| The cleared, unmarketable timber and walnut tree tops were piled and burned in early April. |
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| The crew at Pigeon River Fish & Wildlife Area mowed the soft ground while the muck soil was frozen in February. Blue Heron Ministries’ crew mowed brush in advance of the logging crew. Sevits Logging cleared marketable and unmarketable trees leaving oak and hickory species in March. The next step is to begin herbicide applications to eliminate reed canary grass in approximately 57 acres of low-lying, soft ground in preparation for conversion to a diverse, wet prairie habitat suitable for the flourishing of marsh hawks and other wet prairie species. |
| View from the Crew by Eva Curtis |
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| We kicked off April with a prescribed burn! We love making new friends at the many sites we visit. Here is Madi with a new friend! |
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| I traveled to Kentucky early this month for a camping adventure. First stop: Mammoth Cave National Park! Here is a view of the Cleveland Avenue tour. The cave had gypsum growths on every inch of the walls. It was fascinating! |
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| Second stop: Red River Gorge Geological area! Here, I am standing on Auxier Ridge in front of Courthouse Rock! The challenging climb was worth it for this spectacular view! |
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| Madi, Josh and I started this day by admiring these breathtaking birds. Two osprey in a nest together at Pigeon River Fish and Wildlife Area. |
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| Early spring has been full of growth and new beginnings! Here, an Eagle can be seen leaving the nest that was right next to our burn unit on private property in Jackson, Michigan! It had returned to the nest by the time we left the site. |
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| April was also full of burns, rejuvenating prairies and oak woodlands for this upcoming growing season. Josh, Madi, and Matt can be seen here back burning at the Tri-State Steuben County Airport prairie! |
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| Things are finally starting to bloom here in Northern Indiana! Marsh Marigolds are a staple spring wetland plant. Madi and I spotted these ones at Marsh Lake Wetland Conservation Area in Fremont, Indiana! |
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| Another new friend! This is a bold jumping spider, Phidippus audax. I have grown to love these little guys and their seemingly curious personalities. |
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| Did you know that we have deciduous evergreen trees growing right here in Lakes Country? Tamaracks are considered both deciduous and coniferous, bearing cones and also losing their leaves in the fall. How cool! |
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| Here at Blue Heron Ministries, we celebrate Earth Day every day. This beautiful planet that we call home deserves our love and appreciation every day! I feel incredibly lucky to work protecting Creation every single day. Happy Earth Day! |
| Upcoming Events |
| Garlic Mustard Pull and Pokagon State Park April 26th 2025 from 2-4PM Looking for a way to celebrate Earth Day this year? We have the perfect opportunity for you! Join BHM staff member Eva Curtis this Saturday, April 26th, from 2-4pm at the Pokagon State Park Nature Center for a Garlic Mustard pull! At this event, you can expect to learn how to identify and remove invasive Garlic Mustard, what makes this species invasive, and to pull lots of it! Please wear long pants, shoes you don’t mind getting dirty, and a water bottle. We will be meeting at the Pokagon State Park Nature Center on Saturday, April 26th at 2pm. Please email evacurtis2000@gmail.com to RSVP for this event or to ask any questions! |
| Butterfly Monitoring Training at Merry Lea Help Merry Lea learn more about our resident butterfly populations and add to a valuable regional data set at the same time! This training will go over the Michigan Butterfly Network Monitoring protocol. You will learn about our native butterflies and how to monitor a specific route. The training will be lead by John Brittenham from Blue Heron Ministries |
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| Volunteers must be able to attend BOTH portions of the training in order to become butterfly monitors. Please reach out to Freya at freyakb@goshen.edu with any questions you may have. DATES: May 15, 5:30pm-8:30pm (Thursday) Indoor Training Portion – additional details provided after registration June 8, 1:00pm-4:00pm (Sunday) Outdoor Field Training Portion – additional details provided after registration To express interest, please fill out this Google form: Merry Lea Stewardship Volunteer Events April & May More information is also available here: https://www.facebook.com/events/s/butterfly-monitoring-training-/1009640034444329/ |
Blue Heron Ministries 