Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy Artist Collaboration

The Deep-Seated Tree of Life

While freshwater is Michigan's defining feature, northern white-cedar grows quietly in the ever-changing wetlands, along river banks, fastening stony cliffs, rising from low and uplands. During June, a visit to the Lake Huron shoreline in the Eastern U.P. is to be in awe of evergreen islands and intoxicated by the saccharine scent of cedar forests, and now, in October, we've reached the season when these slow-growing trees open their small cones, letting go of seeds with wing-like coats — autumn's wind to carry their familial hope.

 While a white-cedar can live, on average 200 to 400 years old, some have a lifespan dating back more than 10 centuries ago. Imagine if cedars could talk. This past year, I spent a decent amount of time walking cedar-lined trails and riverbanks, studying a spectrum of green scale-like foliage and stages of seed cone development, but, in large part, I learned the facts from reading the recently released book, Northern White-Cedar written by biologist Gerald Storm and Laura Kenefic, team leader and researcher for the US Forest Service. 

Because we are human, trees have a way of tugging at our heart strings, perhaps most resonantly in the yards of our childhood homes. Kenefic writes, "Northern white-cedar is associated with things we hold dear to our hearts, like hope chests and rustic cabins. The scent of its essential oils is processed in the same parts of our brains as emotions and memories. It is perhaps not surprising that even people who know little of trees and forests care about northern white-cedar." 

Nearly a year ago, Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy reached out to me to jumpstart a new series of artwork for their Traverse City Conservation Center located on a 243-acre preserve—previously a golf course. We began by taking a closer look at the subject of their logo, northern white-cedar, also known as the tree of life, and rightfully so. According to the Ecology and Management of Northern White-Cedar, a report by Raymond Miller, "Northern white-cedar stands in the central Upper Peninsula of Michigan have been found to support 83 species of animals in addition to their most celebrated resident: the white-tailed deer. Of the 84 species, 47 are birds, 34 are mammals, and 3 are herpitiles."

It's hard to imagine how many cedars are growing among the nearly 50,000 acres of land and 155 miles of shoreline protected in Northwest Michigan by all the faces behind Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy's mission. What a good feeling to think about the wild orchids and turtles, the birds with branches to build a nest on, all thanks to the folks conserving land. 

 

Read about the collaboration in Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy's Publication, Landscript: Capturing Northern Michigan's Beauty in Watercolor

 

 

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