Friends and neighbors for decades, the Ringelbergs and the Schmiedickes are passionate about conserving farmland in Clare County. Active members of the Clare County Planning Commission, Jon Ringelberg and Gerald Schmiedicke have seen firsthand how development affects a community.

    Schmiedicke said, "There's been so much road front development that it's just been gobbling up farmland." He added, "We've both been committed to the idea of farmland preservation since the beginning" of the initiative for an ordinance to preserve farmland.

    Schmiedicke continued, "The county passed an ordinance (for farmland preservation), but failed to pass a millage to fund it. That's when we decided to enter into the agreement with Little Forks."

    Together, they signed conservation easements to protect a total of 150 acres of forest and farmland in Grant Township. Purchased from the estate of two sisters, the properties have been used for agriculture for more than 100 years. The Ringelbergs and Schmiedickes have continued to farm the property.

    Each spring the Ringelbergs and Schmiedickes work in their woods, tapping their maple trees to harvest sap to produce maple syrup. They actively manage their woods for optimal maple sap production.

    "We've used horses (to harvest trees) since the 1980s, when I purchased my first team of horses," Schmiedicke said. "It does less damage. There's less pollution, less noise."

    A benefit of conservation easements for the Ringelbergs and Schmiedickes was the ability to tailor the agreement to meet their individual conservation goals. The Ringelbergs excluded a portion of their property along Dover Road, Ringelberg said, "to keep things the way they are but to allow some planned development." They also reserved a small area for a home site within the farmland. The Schmiedickes placed a conservation easement on their entire 80 acres, while allowing some building within a small section of their property.