Spartan Newsroom (https://news.jrn.msu.edu/author/ahlborng/)
Gabrielle Ahlborn is currently a senior pursuing degrees in journalism with a concentration in the environment and sustainable parks, recreation, and tourism at Michigan State University. Ahlborn was born and raised in Lake Orion, Michigan where she worked at a county park for five years. Ahlborn hopes to make a difference in environmental policies and procedures post-graduation.
Michigan’s landscape is diverse, ranging from vast forests to urban areas, providing habitats for various wildlife, including ticks. These tiny arachnids have long been a concern for public health due to their ability to transmit diseases like Lyme disease, anaplasmosis and babesiosis. However, as climate change has altered environmental conditions, which transform the patterns of tick activity.
When Beech Woods Golf Course closed in 2019, many ideas were pitched to the city of Southfield during the public input survey on how to repurpose the greenspace. Some ideas included an amphitheater and splash pad, but one common consensus persisted. In November of 2023, a partnership was approved through Oakland County’s Healthy Communities Park and Outdoor Recreation Investment Plan to redevelop the golf course into the latest Oakland County park, to be named Southfield Oaks.