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Newcomb Tract
Webster Township
Property Size: 247 acres.
Location: Webster Township, Washtenaw County, approximately 17.8 miles northwest of Ann Arbor. Newcomb Tract is located just a half mile east of Stinchfield Woods on the other side of the Huron River, a 5 mile drive between entrances. It is bound by Baseline Lake to the North and Huron River Drive to the west, and the Michigan Sailing Club to the east. Nearby points of interest include the Reichert Preserve, Hudson Mills Metro Park, Pinckney Recreation Area, DNR Shooting Range, Dexter Cider Mill.
Driving time: 30 min
Access: Unlike Stinchfield & Saginaw, Newcomb Tract is NOT open to the public. Vehicles parked at the site that are not affiliated with the school will get towed. With prior approval for research purposes only, the site can park 10+ cars on gravel area. Grass areas available for additional parking. To visit the site contact [email protected].
History: The 206 Acre Newcomb Tract was purchased in 1929 from William W. and Esther M. Newcomb, originally intended as a site for an observatory. It was used for at least 19 years for ornithological and limnological studies by the Department of Zoology. In 1949, 80 acres of it was managed by the School of Natural Resources, which used the farm buildings and a nursery as headquarters for the forest management of Stinchfield Woods. In 1951 the adjacent 33 acre forested Murdock tract was also acquired, and remained a hardwood stand. SEAS now manages all 247 acres.
Buildings/Infrastructure:
- Farmhouse – In poor condition, recently organized for potential meeting room.
- Small Barn – In good condition, recently organized for better research use.
- Big Barn – Recently cleaned and organized with minor upgrades.
- The John Flook Dam – began in operation in 1966 to maintain water levels in Portage & Base Line Lakes and managed by the Washtenaw County Water Resources Commission for areas around the Dam.
- Remnant buildings foundations and old outhouse pit still exist and could be used for project sites.
- Fenced in area with power can be used for research.
- Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering has a small observatory and trailer they use periodically.
- The School of Public Health has a storage container and often use the fenced in area in the back for research.
- Researchers in SEAS collect data from a privately owned weather station.
Ecological Features
Newcomb Tract includes a large variety of habits within a relatively small area, including shoreline along the Huron River and Bass lake (approximately 5,000 linear feet), a small 3-acre lake surrounded by forested property, about 50 acres of hardwood forest with different management history, 51 acres of old fields, and 10 acres of open areas surrounding the farmhouse.
The forests include Scot’s pine (Pinus sylvestris), white pine (Pinus strobus), Norway spruce (Picea abies), and larch (Larix sp.), as well as red oak (Quercus rubra) and white oak (Quercus alba) on the uplands. Wildlife is likely similar to Stinchfield, but with the inland lake and shoreline habitats, herps are also likely an important resident of Newcomb Tract.
Soil: There are three main soil types typical of outwash plains and moraines found on this site: 1) Fox sandy loam, 2-6% slope, 2) Fox sandy loam, 6-12% slope, and 3) Fox sandy loam, 18-25% slope.
Topography: Elevation at the site ranges from 860-1010 feet above sea level, creating a rolling topography with moderate to steep slopes. Surface water includes the one unnamed approx. 3-acre lake within the property.
Size
247 acres
Elevation
860-1,010 ft above sea level
Distance from campus
17.8 miles northwest
Open to Public?
No. For research purposes please contact [email protected]
Hours
n/a
Buildings/Infrastructure
Pole barn with workshop, small barn, and farm house.
Current uses
Educational Use: This site is occasionally used by field courses as well as by students in the School of Public Health.
Research Use: Newcomb Tract has been referenced in at least 20 theses and dissertations, and some additional publications (see below). The Murdock Tract in particular has a history of use for ornithological and limnological studies by the Zoology (now Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) Department, so historic data may exist. As with Stinchfield Woods, Newcomb tract was the subject of several studies related to forest management and pests, silivicultural practices, and succession, including Dr. Burton Barnes' Larch Provenance Trial and Western White Pine Provenance Experiments. More recent studies include soil ecology and landscape ecosystem type and management comparisons. Kathleen Bergen and Shannon Brines at the UM Environmental Spatial Analysis Lab have also collected, digitized, and analyzed spatial data on the management history, changes in forest structure and diversity, and land-cover and land-use changes surrounding Newcomb Tract. Newcomb is also is the site of an active and long-term mercury deposition study, now run by the Burton lab, and additional pollution research by Dvonch at the School of Public Health.
Public Use & Outreach Activities: There is no public access or parking at Newcomb. Unapproved vehicles found at the site will be towed at the owner's expense.
Opportunities
The relative proximity to Ann Arbor, variety of habitats within a small area, easy parking and access, and direct access to river and lake frontage make this a uniquely and very useful field site for research, classes, as well as public outreach opportunities.
Specific additional opportunities at this site:
- Shoreline erosion improvement activities could be done in ways that engage the local community on Baseline Lake, including the Sailing Club
- Herp, fish, and other wildlife surveys including long-term comparisons with early surveys
- With improvements, historic farmhouse could serve as a retreat facility or living area for weekend field classes.
- Potential site for plant nursery or agricultural studies.
Notes
Additional Related Resources
- Invertebrate fauna. Reavley, Bill (1942)
- To Determine a Road Location in Newcomb Tract by Using the Aerial Photographs Alemdag, Seref (1950)
- A Guide to Stinchfield Woods (1953) University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources (1953)
- The farm woodlot management problem and a case study of an oak-hickory farm forest Mosher, Harry L. (1957)
- An analysis of the productive potentialities of two southern Michigan oak-hickory stands Miller, Orson K. (1956)
- Quantitative analysis of marl depostion by hydrophytes Wetzel, Robert G. (1959)
- A study of certain exotic larch plantations in Michigan Potter, William J. (William John) (1960)
- Marl encrustation on hydrophytes in several Michigan lakes RG Wetzel - Oikos, 1960 – JSTOR
- An evaluation of quality of lumber cut from a typical farm woodlot in southeastern Michigan Misiak, Roger D. (1962)
- Some economic aspects of bolter mill operations in southeastern Michigan Duncan, James R. (1963)
- Bark thickness and bark volume studies in black and red oak and hickory Lindley, David K. (David Keith) (1964)
- The distribution of heartwood extraneous components within a single black oak tree Hemingway, Richard W., 1939- (1964)
- Planting Notes by Lot - Newcomb Tract (1965) University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources (1965)
- A Guide to Stinchfield Woods (1965) University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources (1965)
- Planting Notes by Lot - Stinchfield Woods (1965) University of Michigan, School of Natural Resources (1965)
- Performance of ponderosa pine on forest properties of the University of Michigan Mead, Douglas A., (1941-1966)
- Eight-year results of growth, survival, form and phenology of introduced larch species in southeaste Crow, Thomas Ralph (1966)
- A comparative study of the mechanical and physical properties of red oak trunkwood and limbwood Schouman, Robert N. (1966)
- A history of the entomological problems in Saginaw Forest, Stinchfield Woods, and the Newcomb Tract Johnson, Keith R. (Keith Robert), 1944- (1969)
- The larch casebearer (Coleophora laricella) population (Lepidoptera Coleophoridae) and its associa Rush, Peter A. (1972)
- The population dynamics of the oystershell scale, Lepidosaphes ulmi (L.) (Homoptera: Diaspididae), Myers, Steven A. (1972)
- Barnes, B. V. (1977). The international larch provenance test in southeastern Michigan, USA. Silvae Genetica 26: 145–148.
- Management planning for a fragmented property Johnson, Russell; McManus, Patricia; Murray, Callum, et. al. (1986)
- Landscape ecosystems of the Nichols Arboretum, University of Michigan (comparisons with Huron High, North Campus, Stinchfield and Newcomb oak-hickory forests) Tepley, Alan J. (2001)
- Spider and Carabid beetle activity-density and diversity in a forest-field matrix and the effects of Moghtader, Jeremy Koushyar (2004)
- Natural Areas Stewardship at the University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum Plakke, Jeffrey (2008-12)
- Field Sampling Photos for Stinchfield Woods Gamberg, Peter; University of Michigan, Environmental Spatial Analysis Lab (2009)
- Saginaw Forest and Stinchfield Woods Scanned Field Sampling Forms University of Michigan, Environmental Spatial Analysis Lab; University of Michigan, International Forestry Resources and Institutions (2011)
- Plant List for Stinchfield Woods and Newcomb Tract Tyrrell, Jerry (2012)
- The Effect of Urbanization on the Mycorrhizal Associations and Survival of Three Species of Eastern Hardwoods Tonn, Natalie (2016)
- Plant-mycorrhizal fungi associations along an urbanization gradient: implications for tree seedling survival N Tonn, I Ibáñez - Urban Ecosystems-Springer (2016)
