All photos thanks to Mark Smith Rex Dobson was the very first farmer in Leelanau to permanently protect his land from development. In 1999, he worked with the newly formed […]

All photos thanks to Mark Smith Rex Dobson was the very first farmer in Leelanau to permanently protect his land from development. In 1999, he worked with the newly formed […]
Good things take time. Some of the Leelanau Conservancy’s biggest and best projects were decades in the making. Saving the Crystal River. Preserving the iconic DeYoung Farm and shoreline. And […]
Your Leelanau Conservancy is still saving farmland under a high threat of conversion to development despite the ongoing pandemic. Two more iconic farms rooted in Leelanau County’s agricultural heritage have […]
Story by Carolyn Faught, Senior Writer for the Conservancy. (Feature photo by Mark Smith.) Before moving to Leelanau full time in 1987, my husband and I owned a tiny cottage […]
For years, Cedar businessman Walter Jedena had long admired the Fleese Farm on the corner of French and Hohnke Roads. He had driven by it many times, always intrigued by […]
Snow falls softly on the trees surrounding Carol Waters’ tiny cabin near Maple City as we wait for her to answer our knock. I have never met this 82-year-old woman, […]
John Gallagher Jr. says that he and his family “have been blessed” to own more than 400 acres of breathtakingly gorgeous farmland in Leelanau’s Elmwood Township. Panoramic views from the […]
Jen Superson and Trevor Smith were living in Brooklyn when a listing popped up on Zillow for a home with 35 acres near Cedar. The listing was so compelling that […]
Richard Swan grew up climbing trees and playing in the pristine stream on the land that has been owned by his family for the last 140 years. As an avid […]
Ralph and Nancy Kalchik have been married for 62 years. They met at Northport High School and other than a few years away at MSU and an army stint for […]