Peggy Kusnerz is the last living relative in the Borkowski lineage to own the family land in the heart of Northern Lower Michigan. Passed down through four generations, Peggy is determined to keep their legacy alive by ensuring the land will be cared for long after she is gone. … More Welcome to Peggy’s Place, an Ecosystem Being Restored
The goal of Huron Pines’ budding seed-collection project is to find remnants of what were once sprawling landscapes, gather seed from the plants growing there, then propagate them for efforts to restore native plant communities. … More Bringing Back Biodiversity One Seed at a Time
Picture a carpet of vegetation so dense that your legs become lost in a sea of green as you wade through the forest. The woodland wildflowers that used to bloom here are no more, lost to a flood of invasive plants. Gone too are the diverse insects that once clamored over every blossom and propagated those beloved native flowers. What’s left are trees and an understory of nothing but garlic mustard. … More Take on Invasives: Garlic Mustard
When students gain a deeper understanding of the natural resources in the places they live and have connections to, it sets the groundwork for lifelong stewardship. Giving students ownership to drive projects and have a direct and positive impact on their environment strengthens their sense of place and responsibility for their community’s natural resources now and into the future. … More Student-Led Stewardship Builds Community Connections
In areas where it takes hold, Japanese barberry outcompetes every other plant. This means the flowers, trees and shrubs that provide pollen, nutrients and habitat which support native wildlife don’t have a chance to grow. Left unmanaged, barberry forms a thicket, upwards of 6 feet tall, of snarled and thorny branches. Once it spreads, it grows without interference because its thorns keep deer and other wildlife at bay. … More Take on Invasives: Japanese barberry
Learn how to collect and report data on purple loosestrife to help local organizations monitor the spread of the species and prioritize treatment. This is part two of a two-part instruction on identifying, monitoring and reporting purple loosestrife. … More Session 2: How to Inventory and Report Purple Loosestrife
Learn about how and when purple loosestrife was introduced to North America, what makes it invasive, how to properly identify it and distinguish it from common look-alikes. This is part one of a two-part instruction on identifying, monitoring and reporting purple loosestrife. … More Session 1: Introduction to Purple Loosestrife
Picture a spring when mosquitoes and blackflies are free of predators. Swarms of biting bugs take over campsites and patios, unfettered by swooping swallows or dive-bombing bats because there are none. Chances are you’ve had a perfectly good camping trip or backyard picnic spoiled by bugs before but, in the absence of natural predators, they … More Bring Out the Good Bugs With Native Plants