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"WALK" Urban Nature Route: 
Kleinstuck Preserve (stop #1)

Did You Know? 

• Kleinstuck Preserve is a 48-acre nature preserve owned and managed by Western Michigan University.
• The Preserve is open to the public for passive recreation and is used by WMU and other educational institutions for research and education.
• Some of Kleinstuck's special features include a beautiful springtime showcase of native wildflowers and a highly diverse bird population. See if you can spot the resident Pileated Woodpeckers or hear the owls calling at dusk. 
•  In 1885, Mr. Carl Kleinstuck purchased Bragg's Nursery (later known as Kleinstuck Preserve). The pond, which was more extensive then, was known as Bragg's Lake. Mr Kleinstuck used the property to mine peat and investigate the use of peat for fuel.
• The Stewards of Kleinstuck is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by private citizens to work with WMU to protect the health, diversity, and beauty of the Kleinstuck Preserve.
• Habitat Types Include:
  • Upland and Swamp Forests
  • Marsh
  • Shrub carr
  • As well as many animal species

Fast Fact

• In 1922, Kleinstuck Preserve was deeded to the State of Michigan board of education by Mrs. Caroline Kleinstuck in memory of her husband. She designated that the property be used for research and education purposes.

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OF SPECIAL NOTE:
The WALK Urban Nature Route mirrors some of the grounds of the Potawatomi Tribe Reservation.

• When European settlers arrived in the area that was to become Kalamazoo County, the land was occupied by the Potawatomi Tribe, a branch of the greater Algonquin Peoples.

 

• The Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians (Gun Lake Tribe) is part of the historic Three Fires Confederacy, an alliance of the Pottawatomi (Bodewadmi), Ottawa (Odawa) and Chippewa (Ojibwe). Tribal Nations in the Great Lakes region are also known as the Neshnibek, or original people. Learn more about the history of the Gun Lake Tribe HERE. 

 

• The original boundaries of the 19th century Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Pottawatomi reservation covers nine square miles.  Below is a map of the reservation along with a rough guide as to where present-day roads follow its borders