Category: Healthy Water

Bridge Construction to Begin at Pigeon River Campground

April 6, 2021

Huron Pines is breaking ground this month on a new bridge where Ford Lake Road crosses the Pigeon River at a popular campground east of Vanderbilt. The road will remain closed while a set of culverts are removed and replaced with a timber bridge to correct issues with erosion, fish passage and road safety. Pigeon River State Forest Campground will stay open and accessible from the east during construction. … More Bridge Construction to Begin at Pigeon River Campground

Why Do Wetlands Matter?

March 29, 2021

The calls of red-winged blackbirds are returning to Northern Michigan just as our cattail marshes, their preferred nesting habitat, swell with snowmelt. Soon their sunset songs will be joined by a chorus of all kinds of frogs and buzzing insects, drawn to the same wetlands for the very same reasons: to breed, lay eggs and contribute more vitality to these places already teeming with life. … More Why Do Wetlands Matter?

Q&A with Huron Pines AmeriCorps Member Nicolas Theisen

December 22, 2020

This is the fourth and final in a series of conversations with our 2020 Huron Pines AmeriCorps members. We talk highlights, takeaways, and what their average days have been like in a not-so-average service year. Ever drawn to water, Nick Theisen relished the days he spent monitoring the quality of Northern Michigan streams by collecting and identifying aquatic insects. … More Q&A with Huron Pines AmeriCorps Member Nicolas Theisen

Lake Huron Forever Initiative Awards $50,000 to Support Great Lakes Health

October 28, 2020

Friends of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary received a $25,000 grant to expand their existing “living roof” project to maximize the overall green roof footprint and cover as much available roof surface space as possible with vegetation to reduce the impact of stormwater runoff on the Thunder Bay River and Lake Huron. … More Lake Huron Forever Initiative Awards $50,000 to Support Great Lakes Health

Coastal Fens and Carnivorous Plants of Northern Michigan

October 8, 2020

The northern shores of Lake Huron are home to teal-blue waters, sun-bleached coasts of ancient bedrock and plants that eat meat. The thin soil found here contains very few nutrients, so plants like butterwort, bladderwort, sundew and pitcher plants have adapted to life in this rugged habitat by eating insects, much like the well-known Venus flytrap of the eastern United States. … More Coastal Fens and Carnivorous Plants of Northern Michigan

Our Wildflower: Protecting the Rare Habitat of the Dwarf Lake Iris

September 29, 2020

The official wildflower of the Great Lakes State is right at home anywhere it can get its feet wet along the rocky coast of Northern Lake Huron, but those places are getting harder to come by. This pint-sized perennial is known for its deep blue flowers that emerge mere inches above the ground for a fleeting few weeks in May and June. It’s a bit of a miracle this fragile flower exists at all. … More Our Wildflower: Protecting the Rare Habitat of the Dwarf Lake Iris

Beyond Rare: Restoring a River for Michigan’s Endangered Beetle

September 14, 2020

Michigan’s most endangered species is also one of the state’s smallest animals. The Hungerford’s crawling water beetle is smaller than a watermelon seed and its numbers are so few that Michigan’s entire beetle population—which is virtually every known Hungerford’s crawling water beetle on Earth—could fit in the cupped palms of your hands. … More Beyond Rare: Restoring a River for Michigan’s Endangered Beetle

Shingle Mill Arch Culvert

Reconnected At Last: Huron Pines Restores ‘Pivotal’ Shingle Mill Site on E. Branch Black River

July 21, 2020

A pipe culvert that obstructed the East Branch Black River for decades is gone and with it the persistent problems it caused with erosion, flooding and fish passage. In its place, a shiny aluminum arch ushers wild brook trout to 20 miles of habitat upstream of County Road 622 — vital spawning and nursery grounds supporting the river’s famed fishery. … More Reconnected At Last: Huron Pines Restores ‘Pivotal’ Shingle Mill Site on E. Branch Black River