One of two kettle ponds in the new Reichert Nature Preserve in Dexter Township.
Courtesy of the Legacy Land Conservancy
The new Reichert Nature Preserve, established through the Legacy Land Conservancy of Ann Arbor, is comprised of a property in Dexter Township that encompasses two small ponds, wetlands and a portion of the Portage Creek.
It was a weekend escape for the Reichert family, instead of heading “up north” as so many others do.
The property contains a lot of habitat you don’t normally see in Southeast Michigan, said Susan Lackey, executive director of the Legacy Land Conservancy.
Lackey said it was “incredibly visionary and incredibly generous” for the family to donate the economically and environmentally valuable property to the land conservancy.
Dr. Reichert donated the property in 2006 in an easement to the conservancy. Rather than wait until his death for the property to become a nature conservancy under full ownership by the conservancy, Dr. Reichert decided in 2012 it was time to give the land away.
If Dr. Reichert had not approached the Legacy Land Conservancy with his wish to donate his property, Lackey said the conservancy likely would have gone to him because of the property’s strategic location on the Portage Creek. The creek is one of the cleanest tributaries to the Huron River.
As an added layer of security, Reichert insisted that the Livingston Land Conservancy have an additional easement on the property.
The nature preserve is open to the public by permission only, which must be obtained by contacting the Legacy Land Conservancy at (734) 302-5263 or stewardship@legacylandconservancy.org.
“Rather than being open like a public park, we need to know who is going to be out there,” Lackey said.
Portions of the property are environmentally sensitive, Lackey said, noting there are erosion concerns on some steep slopes and nicely-maintained wetlands with minimal invasive species.
The property is accessed by a shared driveway off of Dexter-Pinckney Road just east of the intersection of Tiplady Road.
Dr. Reichert, 91, was a practicing cardiologist at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor until he was about 80 years old.
Sue Reichert dives into a pond on the Reichert property in Dexter Township in this family photo. The family dubbed the place "The Farm."
Courtesy of the Legacy Land Conservancy
William Reichert, 59, is a professor of biomedical engineering at Duke Unversity. He lives in rural Hillsborough, North Carolina.
He was attending Tappan Junior High School in Ann Arbor in the mid 1960s when his father purchased the property in Dexter Township.
“We spent a lot of time there as kids,” William Reichert said.
From fishing, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, horseback riding, ice skating and pond hockey, the family traversed every inch of the property and has been “subject to every kind of poisonous plant you can think of,” William Reichert said.
A small cabin and horse barn on the property supported their endeavors.
“My mom had a love-hate relationship with this place,” William Reichert said, explaining how the family’s outdoorsy adventures always left them ravenously hungry in the evenings — and his mother would be charged with feeding the “mongrel horde.”
After their children grew up, Dr. Reichert and his wife began growing vegetables.
“They really bonded over this place,” William Reichert said. “The farm was definitely a big piece of their retirement.”
Dr. Reichert's oldest son, Rudy Jr., still lives in a home adjacent to the property, as do the family's longtime friends and property caretakers, Nick and Donna Rayer.
When he was younger, William Reichert said found himself spending most of his summers jumping in and out of the small ponds on what the family called “The Farm.”
As he grew older and more independent, he said he would take a kayak from the Dexter Township property all the way to Ann Arbor.
“Once you get past Dexter, there’s not much of a current,” William Reichert said. “It was just you and the birds.”
Amy Biolchini covers Washtenaw County, health and environmental issues for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at (734) 623-2552, amybiolchini@annarbor.com or on Twitter.