Michael is president of the Mount Mitchell Prairie Guards. He founded the group in 2002 when he learned that the Kansas State Historical Society was going to return Mount Mitchell, with its Underground Railroad trail ruts, and historic 30-acre prairie, to its donor’s heirs.
The group was successful in returning the property to local control in 2006, and it has been developing the Park’s trails, infrastructure, and educational programs ever since. In June of 2019 they were able to purchase the property north of the Park, which expanded it to 264 acres.
Michael is a longtime protector of Flint Hill's culture and the tallgrass prairie. He was one of the founders of Tallgrass Ranchers and Protect the Flint Hills, the two groups most responsible for protecting the Flint Hills from industrial wind development. He was on the advisory board of Symphony in the Flint Hills since 2007 and helped establish the event’s Field Journal. In 2016 he was honored by the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area as that year’s Most Valuable Partner.
In 2007 Wabaunsee County was planning to adopt numbered streets and avenues for its 911 system. When Michael heard that his road was to be called 222nd Avenue he convinced the County Commissioners to let him use place names instead. He named all three hundred roads in the county. Today, those road names read like poetry on the land.
Join the people who protect and manage our natural areas.