History of Winterfield Pines Nature Sanctuary Property
Winterfield Pines Nature Sanctuary is made up of three areas.
Winterfield Pines East.
Winterfield Pines East is forty acres with a gate at the east end of Wilson Road. The parcel was
purchased in 1980 from Leo and Betty Dunbar by four Ellens brothers who were born in
McBain, Michigan: Harold, Stanley, Gordon, and David. They were interested in this parcel
because its southern fence was a common border with eighty acres of pasture land owned by
their older brother, June. The Ellens brothers purchased the Dunbar forty acres as an
investment and for recreational use.
Originally, the parcel was a square forty acres. By the time the Ellens brothers purchased it
approximately two acres on the west side of the river were traded to the neighboring farmer, the
Martins, for approximately two acres on the east side of the river. The west border of the
Winterfield Pines East now follows the center line of the West Branch of the Clam River, and is
made up of a thirty-eight-acre parcel in section 18 plus a two-acre parcel in section 17.
The Ellens brothers continued to jointly accumulate land connected to June’s pasture, including
one hundred twenty acres, the Gable Farm, bordering Haskell Lake Road and Partridge Avenue,
and forty acres, the Dunn property, bordering Haskell Lake Road.
In 2006, Dan Ellens and his spouse, Cathy Kwantes, purchased Harold’s interest in the jointly
owned property. At the time of the purchase, the brothers made a change to their structure that
allocated a portion of the jointly-owned property to each owner for their primary use and care.
Dan and Cathy were allocated the Dunbar forty-acre parcel. The Ellens brothers, recognizing
the implications of their aging on the jointly owned property, in 2013 legally split the property for
individual ownership of the allocated parcels. At the same time, they established a voluntary Joint
Use Agreement to permit the brothers, their descendants, and their accompanied guests to use
all the parcels for recreational purposes as they had when it was jointly owned. The Joint Use
Agreement is still in place today. All the parcels are owned and managed by descendants of the
brothers.
Many people in the community used the gravel pit for recreation until the mid-1990s, and, at
times, for nefarious purposes. Children played on the sand cliffs in the summer or sledded in the
winter. Teenagers rode their dirt bikes on its trails. Foragers looked for morel and beefsteak
mushrooms. Fossil hunters found many. Others used the pit for target practice - sighting their
deer rifles or shooting skeet.
In the mid-1990s, the Ellens brothers installed the gate on the gravel pit property after finding a
new camping trailer parked in the pit. The trailer had been stolen. In addition, occasionally,
people in the community discarded their household rubbish on the property, which was
eventually cleaned up by Dan and Cathy. When Dan and Cathy took responsibility for this parcel,
they found a household safe dumped into one of the creeks at the back of the property, likely
the remains of a local robbery.
The property was closed to the public when the gate was installed and “No Trespassing” signs were
posted. Even today, Dan and Cathy frequently encounter people who remember their parents
bringing them to the pit to enjoy its fun.
​
An old foundation now located due south of the gate is still a mystery. Harry Martin, born in 1938
and a lifelong resident on the farm west of the river, remembers as a young child when the
foundation still supported a dilapidated two-story structure overlooking the river. By the early-
1940s, the structure was already missing its windows and was near collapse. Harry remembers that
a small two-horse shelter stood about forty yards to the south of the old home. Today, the house
and the shed are both ongoing subjects of archaeological excavation.
Harry also remembers as a young child seeing the remains of large white pine stumps along the
common border of his farm and what became June’s pasture, and along the river near the
gravel pit. The stumps are presumed to be from old-growth white pines logged between 1870 to
1910, when the iconic white pines forest was clear-cut from this part of Michigan. Many logs
floated down the West Branch of the Clam River, into the mainstream of the Clam, and then into
the Muskegon River, where they were collected at a mill. Some of the stumps decayed on their
own. Farmers removed others by digging, prying, pulling, or by dynamiting to make room for
planted fields. Remarks in a hand-written 1856 land survey notes 36” diameter white pines in
this area and 12” diameter birch. It mentions the tag alder swamp still existing in sections 8 and
18 today, a cedar swamp, perhaps the one that exists in section 18 today on the Gable parcel,
numerous windfalls in the forest, and a beaver dam on the west branch of the Clam River.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
In 1941, Consumers Energy installed natural gas pipelines several feet below the surface
across Winterfield Township. One 12” diameter high-pressure artery crosses the northeast
corner of this property. To this day, a 66-foot-wide pipeline right of way is maintained by
Consumers Energy.
The 1906 Winterfield Township plat map lists this property to be owned by W. L. Kinney. The
Martin's farm bordering the west property line was then owned by Wm Dean.
The 1930 Winterfield Township plat map shows this forty acres as part of 120 acres owned by
the Michigan Trust Co.
​
​
​​
​
​
​
​
​
​​
​
​
​
​
​
​​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​​
​
A 1938 aerial photograph shows a small beginning of what is now known as the gravel pit. When
Dunbar took ownership, several acres of trees were cleared for mining sand and gravel. In the
mid-1960s, Dunbar sold sand from the pit, which was used as fill at the construction site of
Marion High School. When excavators reached gravel, the aggregate was used for road
construction and concrete mix. Today’s main trails on the property were first constructed to
excavate sand and gravel and to access the natural gas pipeline.
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​
​​In 1996, much of the property was again logged off. Existing gravel hauling trails were added to
for a 1996 logging project. Gravel mining continued periodically, a few trucks each year, until
2007. At that point, Clare County was seeking local gravel to repair local roads. They hired a
contractor to excavate 4,200 tons of gravel from the pit. In doing so, the excavator created the
pit's signature spring-fed pond. Gravel operations were permanently discontinued in 2009.
When Dan and Cathy were allocated the Dunbar forty acres in 2006, Dan began construction of
a treehouse. During the first year, he built the outhouse and the platform, and used a tent on the
platform while roughing in the treehouse structure the second year. Dan and Cathy began using
the treehouse during its six years of construction and have used it often since then. The
treehouse is now Dan’s residence while performing caretaker activities.
​
​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Winterfield Pines North and South
Dan and Cathy purchased seventy-eight acres bordering the north side of Wilson Road
from Roger Gay in 2016. Later, it was split down the center with forty acres bordering Wilson
Road designated as Winterfield Pines Nature Sanctuary South, and thirty-eight acres bordering the
north property line designated as Winterfield Pines Nature Sanctuary North.
The 1906 Winterfield Township plat map shows the property as an eighty-acre farm owned by
J. D. Davis. The 1930 plat map indicates F. Davis as the owner. The northwest two acres of the
property, where the farmhouse once stood, were later separated, which enabled seventy-eight
acres of farmland to be sold separately. In 1960, Harry Gay, a member of the Winterfield
Conservation Club (WCC), which borders this property, purchased the seventy-eight acres as
agricultural land where his three sons could play in the woods and hunt without bothering hunters
on the WCC. The property remained in the Gay family until 2016. The Gays constructed trails,
established gates, maintained a small barn-shaped shed on the property, and continued farming
on the property's fields. The shed was moved to the Martins’ property just south of Wilson Road
after Dan and Cathy took ownership.
Dan and Cathy cleaned debris from the property, which dated back to the early 20th century.
They improved several existing trails, let other trails rewild, and added a trail and clearing for the
Bunkee, a 200-square-foot guest log cabin.
The Bunkee was hand-built on a skid by Dan from 2018 through 2020 using many materials
taken from the property. It is an electricity-free venue using oil lamp lighting, woodstove heat, and
hand-pump water.
Like Winterfield Pines East, a natural gas pipeline crosses the northeast corner of Winterfield
Pines North. Several acres at the corner of Wilson Road and Kirby Avenue are set aside for a
Consumers Energy's natural gas observation well, which permits Consumers Energy to monitor
their underground storage field that covers much of Winterfield Township. On the same corner, Dan
and Cathy are developing a small orchard.
