Bow in the Clouds Preserve

04/30/2026

Kalamazoo Earth Day Festival, you folks have done such an awesome job elevating Earth Day in Kalamazoo and giving it real meaning! We're proud to be part of it and delighted to see the way our Kalamazoo community has responded to all the wonderful opportunities that you've offered. Thanks to everyone for all your hard work!

Thank you 💚 to our sponsors, all of the community groups that hosted events and volunteers who showed up to help, Kalamazoo is (at least to some degree) a cleaner, more ecologically complete, healthy, sustainable and hopeful place than it was at the beginning of the month. Over the course of the month hundreds of people joined trash cleanups, tree plantings, garden preparation activities, and gathered for educational and community-building events amidst some of the beautiful natural spaces in Kalamazoo. The work and the fun will continue throughout the year and we hope you'll join us and the other fantastic local organizations doing good work in the community.

A special appreciation to Chris Broadbent, the Kalamazoo Solid Waste Coordinator, who provided critical support all month by coordinating the delivery and pick up of dumpsters across the city as we removed plastics and other environmental contaminants from our parks, neighborhoods, and waterways.

Kalamazoo Earth Day Committee is a small group of local, community-minded volunteers working to make our corner of the planet a better place for all. If you are interested in helping us plan next year's activities, contact us through email or social media to let us know.

2026 Kalamazoo Earth Day Committee: Bela Ballez, David Benac, Heather Benac, Joe Byars, Dee Chauvin, Hannah Dominguez, Patrick Hershberger, Amy Kuritzky, Emma Master, Molly Mechtenberg, Abbie Weiner, and Tina Westrick.

04/24/2026

We love seeing our preserves serves as places where people can gather, learn from one another, and enjoy nature together!

04/23/2026

We love sharing our love for nature with other nature lovers! 💚 Thanks so much to everyone who came out and especially to Birds with Seth and Kalamazoo Earth Day Festival for partnering with us!

04/06/2026

PLEASE NOTE: A PRESCRIBED BURN WILL TAKE PLACE AT BOW IN THE CLOUDS PRESERVE ON TUESDAY, APRIL 7, 2026.

THE PRESERVE WILL BE CLOSED TO VISITORS FOR A 24-HOUR PERIOD FROM EARLY TUESDAY MORNING UNTIL WEDNESDAY MORNING. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Prescribed burns make fire-adapted habitats healthier by returning nutrients to the soil, safely burning dead plant material that prevents life-giving sun from reaching seedlings, controlling the growth of invasive non-fire-adapted plants like buckthorn and phragmites, and reducing the potential for uncontrolled wildfires by using up the fuel. Healthier habitats are better at filtering water and keeping soil in place, which means healthier wetlands and waterways, too!

As always, the burn will be carefully planned and implemented by SWMLC and a team of professional contractors. The local fire department will be notified and will issue a burn permit in the morning if they decide it’s safe to move forward. Utmost care will be taken to ensure a safe burn. Factors such as wind speed and direction, relative humidity, and temperature are all taken into account. We also take great care to minimize impacts to wildlife by conducting surveys, burning slowly, and always leaving unburned areas where wildlife can take refuge.

Please don’t be alarmed if you are in the area and see smoke coming from the preserve. We apologize in advance to our neighbors for any nuisance this may cause.