New Little Traverse Conservancy reserve honors veterans and family history

The Little Traverse Conservancy recently announced the new Marquita Robbins Rothe and Edward Rothe Family Working Forest Reserve, a 40-acre reserve that was recently protected through a bargain sale from Ed and Elaine Harris to the Little Traverse Conservancy. The reserve is named in honor of Ed’s mother and stepfather.

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“My mother, Marquita, was raised on the land that is now the reserve and she and her brother would walk to the old country school in Van,” Ed said. “Mom and my stepfather, Edward, were very instrumental in our purchasing the property and our decision to plant it in pine trees. Edward worked for the DNR and knew a lot about how to care for forests, and Mom encouraged me to be industrious so that is the way we went. My wife Elaine and son Darby helped me with this effort, and over the years we have planted around 30,000 trees.”

Also assisting with the effort were DNR foresters Lee Evison and Tim Greco, who helped determine the best use of the property.

Ed credits his appreciation of the outdoors to his mother and stepfather. Both graduates of Pellston High School, Edward was the state’s only DNR officer designated to Bois Blanc Island and Marquita ran a gift shop and restaurant on the island called The Birch Shop.

The reserve is north of Pellston in the Maple River Watershed along Ely Road. It is also down the road from Braveheart Estates. The reserve will be an accessible place for disabled veterans to hunt, which was one of the draws for Mark Melvin, who funded the purchase. Melvin also helped the conservancy create the Robinson Nature Preserve Honoring Gold Star Families in Petoskey.

“I am happy to support efforts to help those who have served our country,” Melvin said.

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The use for veterans also appealed to Ed, whose biological father died at 39 after returning from World War II in poor health. His step-father was also a veteran who served several campaigns in Europe and received the Jubilee Medal for the Liberation of Normandy.

“Ed has honored his parents so deeply through this gift of land that represents the many facets of two people dedicated to their land and to their country,” conservancy executive director Kieran Fleming said.

The new reserve is enrolled in the Commercial Forest Program. At this time, no trails or other improvements are planned.

Contact reporter Tess Ware at tware@petoskeynews.com. Follow her on Twitter, @Tess_Petoskey 

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Newly created Little Traverse Conservancy reserve honors veterans