The Society of Les Voyageurs is a fraternal society made up of a diverse group of folks who share a central interest in the out-of-doors and whose life's work [or life's play] will focus on things environmental.
The organization was founded in 1907 by University of Michigan students who admired the early pioneering French trappers (called "Voyageurs") for their love of forest, field, and water. The Society has seen many generations of foresters, biologists, educators, engineers, and enthusiasts pass through its portals.
In the news
The society was the brainchild of a student from Presque Isle County, on northern Lake Huron, named Elmer "Lindy" Lehndorff. As a boy he had fallen in love with the woods in the era when Theodore Roosevelt was urging young Americans to embrace "the strenuous life" and spend time in the country's shrinking wilderness. In 1906, Lindy and friends Larry Larke and Chester MacKenzie dubbed themselves the Society of Les Voyageurs, after the North American fur traders of old. A year later, with more members (many of them majors in the old School of Forestry, today's School of Natural Resources and Environment), they were officially recognized by the University.
Rezoning and a site plan for an addition to the Habe Mills Pine Lodge – owned by the Society of Les Voyageurs – was unanimously recommended for approval by the Ann Arbor planning commission at its Jan. 19, 2012 meeting.
