Title
Resolution to Name the Property Purchased from Janice Onder as “Onder Nature Area”
Memorandum
Attached for your review and action is a resolution to approve the naming of the property acquired from Janice Onder as “Onder Nature Area.
In January 2007 the City of Ann Arbor purchased the 4.75 acre parcel from Janice Onder. The property consists of mesic forest, formerly dominated by ash. A few large oak trees and many black cherry and box elder now fill in the overstory. Two small streams and many small wooded wetlands can be found here, and the property includes a nice diversity of mesic and wet mesic woodland wildflowers, including trillium, early meadow-rue, and marsh marigold, which are woven in with a ground cover of Virginia creeper.
The property is also noteworthy for its location - it is positioned between the upland forests of Leslie Park and Black Pond Woods, and the riparian complex of Argo, Bandemer, Barton, Bird Hills, and Kuebler Langford. It therefore serves as a “greenway” or “green corridor,” providing essential habitat connectivity not only for animals - including birds, mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and insects - but also for plants and their seeds. The existence and strategic location of corridors is important to provide contiguous habitat and resources for plants and animals to connect isolated fragments of larger areas of habitats.
Given that the property provides an important corridor between nearby parks and nature areas, parks staff recommends that the park be named “Onder Nature Area.”
The Park Advisory Commission unanimously recommended naming the property “Onder Nature Area” at its December 19, 2017 meeting.
Attachment: Location Map
Staff
Prepared by: Ruth Thornton, Greenbelt Program Manager, The Conservation Fund
Reviewed by: Colin Smith, Parks and Recreation Services Manager
Derek Delacourt, Community Services Area Administrator
Approved by: Howard S. Lazarus, City Administrator
Body
Whereas, The property was acquired as parkland by the City of Ann Arbor in January 2007;
Whereas, The property contains high quality ecological features;
Whereas, The property provides an important corridor between nearby parks and nature areas; and
Whereas, The Park Advisory Commission unanimously recommended that the property be named “Onder Nature Area” at their December 19, 2017 meeting;
RESOLVED, That the Park Advisory Commission recommends Mayor and City Council approve the park purchased from Janice Onder be named "Onder Nature Area."