In the 1960s, Doris Sutherland envisioned preserving this land as a sanctuary. Adjacent to the Sutherland family farm on Pratt Road, the property had been a working farm and had been logged for a century. Doris and a handful of volunteers planted trees, developed walking trails, and built a pavilion, and the land was dedicated as the Sutherland Nature Sanctuary on Earth Day 1999. After the dedication, Doris gifted the sanctuary to the Great Lakes Bioregional Land Conservancy, now known as the Lapeer Land Conservancy. The sanctuary provides over three miles of walking trails through wetland habitats, ponds, and forest streams, with identification signs for trees and wildflowers that reveal the forest's diversity. Over the years, dedicated volunteers have maintained the trails, constructed boardwalks, and built bridges, while ongoing work includes wetland and prairie restoration, trail trimming, and removal of invasive species. The mature forest is abundant with hardwoods dominated by white oak, hickory, maple, and beech, along with wet forest habitat containing red and silver maples, maturing spruce, and both red and white pine tracts. Some of the healthiest areas are where mature trees naturally grew back. Natural wetlands are dotted with cattails, sedge, dogwood, and willows, and these habitats support mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians. Beneath the canopy grows an array of wildflowers, including trout lily, white trillium, May apple, spring beauty, yellow lady's slipper, wild geranium, and marsh marigolds, while ferns are abundant throughout, especially cinnamon fern and evergreen woodfern. In honor of Doris, over 17 species of wildflowers were planted at the front of the sanctuary in 2014.