NORTHPORT, MI – Old-growth white pines and century-old hemlocks surround the shoreline at Kehl Lake near the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula, the latest woodsy spot in Michigan to gain a special forestry recognition.

Nonprofit Leelanau Conservancy last week enrolled its Kehl Lake Natural Area into the Old-Growth Forest Network and celebrated with a guided one-mile hike on Sept. 25 at the 279-acre protected wetlands and forest. The site is the second in Leelanau County to be registered in the nationwide network under the condition of no future commercial logging.

“This designation helps safeguard the trees and ecosystems that make this place so special,” said Becky Hill, the conservancy’s director of natural areas and preserves.

“We are committed to stewarding these forests so that all

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