Biindigen
The 3.53 acre Biindigen gas station property contains 1.24 acres of wetland. The Tribally-owned gas station and parking lot occupy about 1/3 of the property, while the remainder consists of drainage fields, a retention basin as well as forested wetlands and uplands that include a fairly even-class, middle-aged stand of aspen and balsam located between the parking lot and the low wet area on the north side of the property. The wetland includes a wet cat-tail area and a good quality wet sedge meadow.
The property is highly subject to litter from the highway, which is periodically cleaned up by LTBB staff and citizens.
The LTBB property is located adjacent to the 243-acre Little Traverse Conservancy (LTC) Fochtman Preserve, a high quality nature preserve that consists of wetlands, over a mile of stream that is headwaters for the Inland Waterway and creeks around Round Lake. Part of that stream flows through the LTBB property along the north and west sides of the property, before it flows onto the LTC Preserve, and follows the slope down towards Round Lake. Several large pipes and culverts are located in various locations throughout the property.
The wetland was most recently assessed in 2014, earning a Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA) score of 47.7 (good) and a Coefficient of Conservatism of 3.5. The Coefficient of Conservatism is based on range of habitat preference(s) and tolerance to disturbance. A higher coefficient means the plants are pickier about where they choose to live, meaning the site is more pristine. A lower coefficient is indicative of non-native or invasive species, which often grow in disturbed sites.
