Wayland Warehouse

About the Program
The ITC Holdings Wayland Warehouse is located in the rural town of Wayland, Michigan, in the headwaters area of the Rabbit River watershed. Conservation objectives for the site include improving water quality and wildlife habitat, increasing the quality and quantity of habitat for native pollinators and creating habitat for small cavity nesting birds to raise their young.

Practices and Impacts

• A rain garden planted with native plants was created in 2011 to intercept the runoff from the warehouse facility roof  to decrease the pollutants entering the stormwater system. 
• Native plants for the rain garden were selected specifically for their ability to tolerate fluctuating conditions, their aesthetic qualities and ability to attract wildlife, including pollinators. 175 native herbaceous flowering plants were planted in June 2012. An upland native garden was planted with 391 native plants in June 2016. 
• ITC works closely with a Environmental Consulting Technology (ECT) to perform monitoring and a local landscaping company, MJA Landscape, to perform monthly maintenance of  both the rain garden and upland garden. Maintenance consists of weeding, trimming and debris removal as needed.
• Three three-pipe stem bundle nesting structures intended for native bees were installed in the rain garden in June 2015. Many pollinators were observed visiting the native garden areas, and the use of the native bee nesting structures also indicates that the site is used quite heavily. The addition of the bee tubes has been successful overall, with 78 of the 116 (67%) tubes filled in 2023, though this was down from 95% in 2019.
•  Three nesting boxes previously installed in 2016 to target house wrens and black-capped chickadees continue to be monitored. In 2023, two of the nest boxes were utilized by house wrens.