GINLC’s History

 

Bill Heinrich, a lifelong resident of Grosse Ile, first advocated the idea of a Grosse Ile Land Trust in the middle 1980s. During the summer of 1992, six residents known as the "6 Pack" spent hours analyzing the problems of preserving the Island's semirural, wooded atmosphere in the face of unprecedented development pressure. One of their recommendations was the formation of a land trust so that community and donors could benefit from the voluntary preservation of open space while at the same time avoiding the potential loss of the open space through the whims of government.

 

After Susan Dye Rose, an attorney and former employee of the Little Traverse Conservancy, spoke to the community in December 1992, twelve of those in attendance decided to form a conservancy to provide another mechanism for the conservation of Island resources. The GINLC was granted a nonprofit, charitable corporation status by the State under Public Act #161 of 1911 in February 1993. In May 1993, the GINLC received its tax exempt status under the Internal Revenue Service classification 501(C)(3) making the corporation a legal, independent, private, nonprofit, charitable and tax exempt corporation  (GINLC Tax Identification Number 38-3097586). The founders included:

 

• Mary Ann Czechowski – Secretary

• Ingo Hasserodt

• Edgar William Heinrich - Vice President

• Bruce D. Jones - President

• Kurt Kobiljak

• Michael Perry - Treasurer

• Philip J. Phillips

• Amanda Phillips

• A. John Schweickart

• Sylvia Walworth

• Carol Woodring

• Douglas Woodring