Turtle Woods in Troy Becoming an Oakland County Nature Preserve
(Mark H. Stowers, June 1, 2023)
Troy, MI – Oakland County Parks continues to grow, protecting nature and offering recreation opportunities for residents and visitors. Turtle Woods, a wetland area in Troy will soon be operated as an Oakland County Nature Preserve. The tentative opening date is November of 2024. The preserve, located north of Square Lake Between John R. and Dequindre, was developed in a partnership between Oakland County Parks and the Six Rivers Land Conservancy group.
Oakland County Parks has developed a plan and grant application to acquire the remaining nearly 70 acres of wetlands and woodlands in Troy known as Turtle Woods and operate it as an Oakland County Nature Preserve according to Oakland County Commissioner Penny Luebs who represents the park area.
“We are quite excited. It’s the last largest parcel open in Troy,” Luebs said. “Right now its run by Six Rivers Land Conservancy and they will maintain the maintenance of it. The deal hasn’t been brokered but we are going to buy it from Six Rivers for a dollar and we’re waiting for the financial paperwork to be completed.”
Trails will be put in and Six Rivers will continue management.
“The property is owned by the Troy School District since the 1960s as they were holding it for possible expansion site,” Melissa Prowse, Manager of Planning and Development for Oakland County Parks, explained. “They don’t have a need for that and are looking to offload it. They know the property has become very important to the local community and they want it preserved as a park and not housing.”
The county park has applied for a grant to the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund to purchase the property from the Nature Conservancy and will turn it into a nature preserve – the first in Oakland County.
“The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant can’t be used to purchase a property from a public institution. We can’t buy it directly from them but conservancies can step in and hold the property and we purchase it from them,” Prowse said. “We are hoping to buy it for $3.75 million dollars. It’s beautiful property and has a lot of benefits for the area in stormwater management and climate resiliency.”
With the application in, Oakland County will learn if they will receive the grant and then the money will have to be approved and allocated by state government before the closing. Prowse is looking at the end of 2024 to have it changing hands.
The new park will be within a 15-minute drive for 290,000 Oakland County residents and will prove quite beneficial. With the preservation of greenspace, the park will help with stormwater management, green infrastructure connectivity and provide a wildlife and pollinator habitat. The recreation and wellness aspect of the proposed park includes the quiet enjoyment of nature, a space to relax and unwind for wildlife viewing and there will also be interpretive and stewardship opportunities as well as trail development.
“It will be maintained in its natural state as much as possible,” Prowse said. “We’ll add a boardwalk and some viewing platforms and obviously and parking lot and some bathrooms.”
There are 13 parks in the Oakland County Park system serving 62 cities, townships and villages. For more information on Oakland County Parks, go to, https://www.oakgov.com/community/oakland-county-parks.
