Nealy Molhoek, Coordinator of Natural Resources Management

Nealy has been with Ottawa County Parks for ten years. She started as a seasonal supervisor in March of 2015, with her position became full-time in October of 2018. She was promoted to the Coordinator of Natural Resources Management in 2022.

What drew you to working for parks? 

I grew up in Ottawa County, West Olive specifically, and spent much of my childhood in the forests, dunes, and beaches of the area. Olive Shores was literally my backyard, although not yet a park at that time. In the absence of neighbor kids to play with, my siblings and I spent most of our days playing outside, including at Olive Shores. In fact, there are still remains of a fort that we built in a huge old white pine in the forested dune area.

Can you explain what you do in that role? What are your day-to-day tasks?

I am responsible for overseeing the maintenance, protection, and improvement of the natural elements of parks properties. More specifically, I am charged with developing and implementing comprehensive County-wide short and long-term plans for the stewardship, protection and natural resources management for all OCPR properties.

My days can be wildly different depending on the season and other variables. Much of my working time is now spent indoors at a computer, in contrast with the first eight ½ years that I worked for parks. Behind the scenes work for the NRM tasks in the parks includes administrative tasks like planning and reporting but also working with contractors and vendors to ensure that my team has all of the necessary tools and support that they need to care for the land that we’re trusted with and to help manage the county’s natural resources on a landscape scale. I also make sure to include some outdoor work each week, whether it’s site visits to stay in touch with what’s going on out in the parks, assisting field staff, or stepping in to help guide volunteer groups, it’s important to me to maintain that connection with the land that I’m striving to steward to the best of my ability.

What is the best part of your job? OR What was a memorable experience?

The time that I’ve been able to spend outside has always been my favorite part of working for the parks, but one of the best aspects of my job that took me by surprise is how much I enjoy connecting with volunteers and other park users. I’ve been working with a group of volunteers that we call the Park Stewards since 2016. We offer some sort of volunteer opportunity almost every Friday where volunteers join NRM staff to help complete a variety of tasks around the parks system. The resulting community is dynamic, supportive, resilient, and very dedicated. They have truly enriched my life as well as my job.

I’m going to be extra chatty and answer both questions because I had a really lovely experience a few days ago. I was at Stearns Creek and got into a conversation with a park user who was walking and asked me a few questions about some activities in the parks. We started talking and she revealed that she was the daughter of one of the family members that made the decision to sell the family farm to the parks. I was able to share a photo with her that I had taken inside the old barn before it was torn down, a set of initials joined by a heart, carved in 1923. She was able to identify the uncle who must have engraved that proclamation so many years ago. I also shared with her the story of my first ever visit to the property, before we even closed on it. I was meeting with a consulting forester and another parks employee. We pulled into the parking lot and Ray Vollmer was standing in the parking area, looking around at his family farm, taking it in, it seemed, one more time. As we approached him and started talking, I remember him tracing circles in the dirt drive with the bottom of his shoe, looking at the ground a little as he told us about growing up at the farm, helping his dad care for the foxes, and riding on a wagon to help hay a nearby property. I was so grateful to be able to offer her this little snippet of her dad who had since passed and to be able to sincerely assure her that I would help to honor his wishes by caring for that land as well as I could. It’s such an honor to steward land held in public trust that contains so many treasures, both natural, and those mostly valuable to the family that loved that land. We are so fortunate that the family made the decision to preserve this property as a park instead of adding to the subdivisions that continue to pop up in that area of the county.

What is your favorite Ottawa County Park? What is your favorite season to visit that park?

This is a tough one. I always liken choosing a favorite park to choosing a favorite child! My favorite park changes frequently, with the seasons, with whatever is happening with the natural communities at the time, and so many other variables. I could probably find reasons to justify almost any of OCPR properties as my favorite park, but right now I’m going to go with Stearns Creek North. There are benefits of visiting there during any season, but late spring would have to be my favorite for this spot. The lupine is in flower, along with the flowering dogwood. Everything is vibrant and green, and the creek and nearby bayou are busy with plant and animal life.

What is a hidden gem in Ottawa County Parks? 

West Bur Oak Landing. There is a lot of disturbance in areas of this property and the struggle with pushing back the invasive plants has been difficult and not always successful. There is a lot of work to be done for Bur Oak to reach its full potential, but among all of the challenges to overcome, it also hides many positives for those willing to search for them. Within limited acreage, the land supports a diverse array of ecosystems—from upland forest to ravines where shady hemlocks cool a meandering stream that feeds into wetlands buffering the Grand River. We visit all times of year, but the solitude that deep winter offers for those of us willing to face the elements is probably my favorite. I also love that I can bring my dog and let her enjoy some off-leash time since it is an open space property.

Most days, I truly feel like I have the best job in the world. I’m constantly learning from my coworkers, volunteers, park users, and the natural world that I get to interact with. We are so fortunate, not only to have such a wealth of natural resources in Ottawa County, but to live among people who can see their worth and help to support and protect them. Moving forward, I think and hope that more county and local park systems will follow our model of stewarding our natural communities, but Ottawa County Parks is truly ahead of its time.

Featured Park: Ottawa Sands

The 345-acre property is nestled within a 2,479-acre corridor of interconnected dune lands. The site has long been used for sand mining, but has been inactive in recent years. In 2024, ecological enhancements and access improvements were completed. The park includes a paved path around the lake, a day-use area featuring a paved parking lot and modern restrooms, as well as connections to regional trail systems. The property features forested dunes, an 80-acre inland lake, interdunal wetlands, and riverfront land with wetlands.

The campground is open!

Learn more

by Bobbi Jones Sabine

Squirrel-corn (Dicentra canadensis) is a common sight in Michigan woodlands in spring. A member of the poppy family, it’s closely related to Dutchman’s-breeches (Dicentra cucullaria), but you can tell them apart because Dutchman’s has the “breeches” spread apart and squirrel-corn has the “legs” of the breeches tight together. What you don’t see is that squirrel-corn has twice as many chromosomes as Dutchman’s.

The two species are often found growing together, but do not seem to hybridize. Squirrel-corn has been reported in most counties in the state except up on the Keweenaw Peninsula. It also grows throughout the northeastern United States and eastern Canada. It’s a spring-flowering plant which goes dormant later in the season.

The feathery, delicate leaves resemble those of bleeding hearts. These perennial plants vary in height and robustness depending on site conditions, but are generally around 5-6” high. Squirrel-corn produces small, brownish seed capsules that appear in summer after the flowering season. These capsules, about half an inch long, open into two parts to release several seeds. The seeds are dispersed by ants in a fascinating process called myrmecochory. The plant’s seeds contain an elaiosome, a fleshy structure that ants find irresistible, helping in seed dispersal.

The name comes from the appearance of the tuber (root), which looks like a kernel of corn. Despite the edible appearance, the plant contains alkaloids and all parts can be toxic if consumed in quantity. Prolonged contact with the sap may cause skin irritation. Reportedly it was used historically to calm nerves or help with sleep, and allegedly has mild sedative and analgesic properties.

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