In 2018, the Green Lake Conservancy and the Green Lake Sanitary District partnered with 600 local supporters to preserve and protect one of the few remaining natural areas on Green Lake. Together, 2 million dollars was raised in 4 months. An additional matching grant from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program made the purchase possible. A requirement of the Knowles-Nelson Grant was that all 26 buildings had to be removed from the property as well as invasive non-native plants. Work commenced in late 2019 with the removal of several buildings from the property. At the same time, many dedicated buckthorn volunteers began cutting and burning piles of buckthorn around the property. Many local groups salvaged the items and lumber from the buildings including local schools, the GL Conference Center, Pilgrim Center (now known as Dacholah Center), local Amish families, and Habitat for Humanity.

After being occupied for about the past 100 years by the Boy Scouts and then the Camp Grow organization, this land has been returned to nature. Located along Green Lake’s undeveloped south shore in Dickinson Bay, it also borders Spring Lake to the southeast providing lakeshore, wetland, and upland habitat for a wide variety of wildlife. This restoration means returning it to the plants, animals, birds and bees that depend on natural habitat for survival.