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Established in 2016, ODC Conservation Services provides land management and restoration services, invasive species management, and wildlife habitat and conservation improvement services to public and private landowners throughout West Michigan.
For non-native brush and trees, removal with machinery is often recommended. This process extracts entire root balls of invasive shrubs such as Autumn Olive, Honeysuckle, and Buckthorn.
Where applicable, biological solutions such as the Galerucella or “purple loosestrife beetle” may be used to naturally suppress and control invasive populations. Contact us to learn more!
Herbicide applications are often necessary when dealing with well-established invasive plant populations. Our methodologies range from pin-point application to broadband distribution.
Prescribed fire (controlled burning) will suppress non-native and invasive species which are often fire intolerant and help create a more biologically diverse ecosystem. Using licensed professionals, we manage the ODC Nature Preserve grassland and wetland ecosystems with controlled burns.
The Michigan Certified Natural Shoreline Professional program (MiCNSP) certifies our organization to implement green landscaping technologies and bioengineered erosion control for the protection of Michigan’s inland lakes and ponds. Our team will carefully create a shoreline protection plan, obtain the required permits, and select the right balance of native plants and erosion control materials in order to restore function to the shorelines of inland lakes.
Since 2015, our team has been involved in the propagation of over 50 species of native plants. We use this plant material to supply restoration projects on ODC Network properties, as well as habitat improvement projects throughout the community.
This project centered around a conversion of what was once over 5 acres of old elk pasture into native prairie, several nature play structures, a water feature, and a fishing pond. Over 3 acres were reseeded with native prairie species, and an additional acre was reforested with 10 native tree species.
This restoration project involved a lawn and parking area conversion into 2 small ponds with a surrounding buffer of native plant species. The area was planted primarily with native plugs and gallon pot transplants in order to provide a jump-start in the establishment process.
Centered around an 11’ wide sculpture, this landscaping feature consists of a sculpture mounted on a raised bed surrounded by boulders. We brought in compost to amend topsoil conditions and landscaped the area with an array of native plant species. The feature is designed to embrace the surrounding native plant community which provides dazzling blooms of different wildflowers throughout the entire growing season.
The natural areas surrounding Little Hawks Discovery Preschool once consisted of traditional turfgrass lawn. Now the landscape provides diverse seasonal blooms starting in early spring all the way into late fall. This helps us reduce our maintenance footprint, provide valuable pollinator habitat, as well a nature-rich environment for our Little Hawks students to explore!
ODC Network acquired the Rabbit River Preserve property in Hamilton in 2016. Shortly after, our team restored over 7 acres of barren agricultural field infested with noxious weeds into native prairie and oak savanna. This process involved a combination of broadcast seeding, dragging, extensive tree plantings, and 2 years of invasive species management in order to establish the prairie ecosystem.
The ODC Network team has provided management to the Pottawatomie Marsh since 2010. One of the more exciting projects in the Marsh has been the use of the biological control, Galerucella Beetles to help manage the spread of purple loosestrife. The beetles feed on loosestrife at all stages of development which provides a completely natural way to help effectively stop the spread of the invasive plant.
In 2019, our team took over property management duties for the natural areas of Holland Energy Park. The site was installed as a low-profile prairie, but soon became invaded with a plethora of invasive species. Our team has helped manage these invasive plants including spotted knapweed, sweet clover, and japanese knotweed in order to rehabilitate the prairie. The area is now one of the most biodiverse prairies in the community and provides valuable habitat to local wildlife and pollinators.
Paw Paw foot bridge near downtown Zeeland was the site of this streambank restoration project. The restoration process involved reshaping the banks to a more gradual slope, replanting with native seed and plugs, and then the installation of erosion control fabric.
This streambank restoration project also took place in the Zeeland area. The homeowner faced issues of streambank erosion due to frequent flooding in the area, as well as mature tree loss due to Ash decline. Our team stabilized the banks with an early spring installation of live stakes, and reforested the dead canopy with over 500 3-6’ trees.
This shoreline naturalization project took place adjacent to Lake Macatawa. Muskrat damage and frequent water level fluctuations in the pond resulted in dangerously unstable banks that were quickly deteriorating. Our solution was to reshape the banks to a 3-1 slope, implement boulders in areas of the highest erosion, install erosion control blanket and coir log, and naturalize the entire shoreline with native plants. The end result is a much more aesthetically pleasing ecosystem that simultaneously prevents bank erosion, deters muskrats, and provides habitat to wildlife.
This restoration project involved a conversion of 0.25 acres of turfgrass lawn into a native prairie to be used for outdoor education purposes. The site was rototilled and seeded with a native prairie mix. Erosion control blanket was installed to help prevent seed erosion on the slope.
A homeowner near Hudsonville wanted to improve their backyard landscape through the implementation of native plants. Our team helped convert a small area of turfgrass into a shaded pollinator garden that provides colorful wildflower blooms throughout the growing season.
The goals of this project were to create wildlife habitat and to reduce maintenance footprint on the site. Large areas of lawn were frequently unused and were in turn converted into native sedge meadow and prairie species in spring of 2020.
The goals of this project were to reduce lawn maintenance, naturalize the pond shoreline, manage invasive species, and to provide wildlife habitat. First, invasive autumn olive was removed throughout the entire restoration area. The site was then prepared with a broad-spectrum herbicide to remove existing turf and was then rototilled and reseeded with a native prairie mix.
This project involved the rehabilitation of 0.4 acres of degraded prairie in order to create an outdoor education space. First, we removed invasive species including autumn olive, honeysuckle, and spotted knapweed. The area was then rototilled and reseeded with a cover crop, native prairie mix, and native plugs were installed.
Phragmites is a highly invasive, perennial grass that frequently invades wetlands and bodies of water. Our management of Phragmites in multiple sites throughout Lake Macatawa has helped prevent further spread of the plant.
The Kalamazoo River is infested with large amounts of Phragmites due to recreation. Our team has worked on many sites throughout the river system to help manage the spread downstream.
ODC Conservation Services is a proud division of the ODC Network, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2000 with the purpose of advancing outdoor education and conservation in West Michigan.
Offering nature-based, small group trips since 2002, the Outdoor Explorer Network is a proud division of the ODC Network, a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 2000 with the purpose of advancing outdoor education and conservation in West Michigan.
4214 56th Street Holland, MI 49423
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