Jake Lloyd

My blogs

Gender	Male
Industry	Architecture
Occupation	Environmental Designer
Location	Oakland County, Michigan, United States
Introduction	Fascinated by nature and history, I want to understand what our environment was like historically. What was in Oakland County when Europeans settled the area? What were the "timbered openings" as one early surveyor described our area like? Our ancestors came to this country and exploited everything leaving very little left of our natural heritage for future generations to experience. Although our modern landscapes vaguely resemble those of the past, there are still signs that it did in fact once exist. Wolf trees in the forest and butterfly weed growing along the tree line all are signs that something "else" was here at one time. Like a well preserved old home, restored landscapes tell a story about the conditions and attributes that once existed in a particular locale. How plants and animals peacefully coexisted for thousands of years. The oak savannas and prairies of southern Michigan and the upper midwest are globally imperiled ecosystems. Preservation and restoration of these ecosystems will remind future generations of the destruction humans are capable of in their endless pursuit of "progress".