By Ansleigh Gunter, Preserve Engagement Technician
Days after starting at Legacy Land Conservancy, I had a front row seat to an event few people get to witness firsthand–a prescribed burn. Rescheduling due to weather conditions meant that two prescribed burns on Legacy’s preserves, Reichert Nature Preserve and Sharon Hills Nature Preserve, coincided with my first week on the job.
I spent the day with the stewardship team ensuring that “burn breaks” were in place to prevent fire from crossing into areas we didn’t plan for and walking through the crackling understory while the fire crew was busy at work.
Prescribed fires are an essential tool in managing many ecosystems and community acceptance of them has grown. What I didn’t realize was how beautiful it would be. To witness what it would have looked like if oak forests were allowed to burn naturally, as they did for thousands of years before human fire suppression became the standard was breathtaking. Amidst billowing white smoke, the cool spring sunlight filtering through the new and tender green leaves of oak and hickory trees, I was in awe of the work Legacy commits to ensuring that nature is preserved to the highest standard, for generations to come.
During my time at Legacy, I got to do a little bit of everything! I experienced the power of collaboration during macroinvertebrate sampling with River Raisin Watershed Council at Iron Creek Preserve and chased after the endangered Mitchell’s satyr butterflies with a mighty group of six different organizations. For the full story of that chase, click here. During Legacy’s 55th Anniversary Celebration, I connected with guests from behind the camera lens while capturing the magic of conservation throughout the night.
As the Preserve Engagement Technician, I was thrilled to participate in Moth Night, an event that was first hosted by Legacy in 2025, and was held again this summer, but this time at three different preserves! Before my first event, I was a novice “moth-er”, but my time spent lurking around a brightly lit sheet in the dark of night was enlightening and entertaining.
Legacy Preserve Stewardship Associate Maddy leads these events and, with the help of local entomologist David Cappaert, brings the local community together to admire and learn about an often-overlooked group of species. Whether it was pointing out new species that had flocked to the sheet or simply repeating facts I’d just learned from more seasoned moth-ers, I learned about insects of all species and how to run an engaging community event.
Drawing inspiration from Moth Night, I prepared to lead my own event centered around the connection between art and conservation. My goal was to design a program that combined short educational talks during a hike with guided sketching prompts. I hoped that interweaving art would be a helpful tool to facilitate and encourage slow, thoughtful observation.
Open to artists of all levels, En Plein Air, which translates to “outside”, at Johnson Preserve was not a masterclass in landscape drawing, but an exercise in noticing and highlighting nature's beauty and intricacy in places that may go unnoticed. Sketching prompts guided participants to focus on small details underfoot, unique aspects of plant species, and shadows cast throughout the ecosystem, before providing them with independent time to sketch using Legacy’s provided materials. At the end of the gorgeous, warm Saturday morning, participants proudly exhibited their works, everything from mushrooms growing on a fallen tree to a bee pollinating the blooming bee balm. It was inspiring to see the interest shown in a new event for Legacy.
Not every part of the work was as photogenic as a prescribed burn or a morning of sketching. A good deal of my time went into stewardship basics: cutting back invasive brush, applying herbicide to keep invasive species in check, and clearing overgrown trails so preserves stayed accessible to visitors.
It's steady, hands-on work without the same immediate payoff as watching a prescribed fire clear an understory, but it's also what makes everything else possible. The sandhill cranes, moths, and wildflowers people sketch on a Saturday morning all depend on this quieter maintenance running in the background.
Throughout the summer, I also spent quiet moments with my paintbrush (or carving knife!) creating artworks inspired by Legacy’s preserves and the work that I’d been a part of. I used this time to reflect on all I had learned and experienced, synthesizing diverse aspects of the non-profit sector. I focused on a theme: the intricacy of nature that also mirrors the complex and interwoven work of relationship building, monitoring, and stewardship that Legacy completes every day.
“The Understory” is the name of a print newsletter sent out to our mailing list twice a year, but also a watercolor painting showing the complexity of what is right under your feet at Creekshead Nature Preserve. “Moth Night” shows that moths aren’t just “brown butterflies”, but a gorgeous group of insects that deserve admiration and care. There is so much nature to behold, cherish, and protect. Legacy Land Conservancy does this and more, and I am proud to have been a little part of it.
I am so grateful for my time at Legacy for a multitude of reasons: the welcome and generosity of the staff who took time out of their busy schedule to mentor and educate, the confidence they placed in each of their staff and volunteers, but most of all their clear and contagious love for the land.
