A new 108-acre (44-hectare) nature preserve is planned in southwestern Michigan that will be open to the public.
The Herald-Palladium reports Elizabeth Leonard Rould recently donated the property in Berrien County's Chikaming Township to Chikaming Open Lands .
The land will be named The Edward and Elizabeth Leonard Wildlife Preserve. It consists of mature woodland, wetlands and agricultural land. Rould and her late husband, Ed Leonard, lived on the property for more than 30 years. She says she spent much of her time there walking the woods with her dogs, observing the wildlife.
She says it's "very important to me to know that other people, young and old, will be able to walk through it and really enjoy it just as I did."
The new preserve is near other protected properties.