Coast Watchers and Piping Plover Monitoring

Huron Pines hosts a community-science monitoring program focused on the health of Lake Huron. In our volunteer Coast Watchers program, participants are trained to record air and water temperatures, seasonal changes in water levels, and occurrences of sensitive or invasive plants, fish die-offs, storm damage or pollution. Volunteers also have the opportunity to conduct monitoring at potential piping plover nesting sites during their migration. Volunteers are local residents who visit their designated stretch of shoreline once a week to collect information and contribute to a long-running data set on the condition of the Lake Huron coast.

Coast Watchers, a program designed and built by the Lake Huron Coastal Centre in Goderich, Ontario, engages community members to take an active part in observing and improving the quality of Lake Huron through individual actions. Huron Pines is piloting the program on the Michigan side as part of the Lake Huron Forever Initiative, with the expectation that it can help guide and prioritize our future restoration efforts along the Northern Michigan coast.

School Partnerships

We are conservation professionals and role models who engage with students, providing them with a direct link to ongoing and crucial conservation efforts in their communities. Each school has a unique way of integrating hands-on learning, community engagement and student leadership, and our staff helps support and expand their initiatives. 

Through our involvement in preserves, forest management, green infrastructure design, on-site restoration projects, invasive species initiatives, and conservation storytelling, we assist educators in finding meaningful ways for students to actively participate in real conservation projects and decision making. We also collaborate with educators and administrators to identify suitable local projects and natural areas for place-based stewardship education, offering support, training, and opportunities to help them integrate outdoor experiences into the classroom.

Obtawaing Biosphere Region

Huron Pines plays an active role in the Obtawaing Biosphere Region (OBR) Partner Network, which was formed in 2022 and presently includes several conservation groups, universities, government agencies, and tribal nations. The collaboration of these organizations allows us to think and talk about biodiversity and sustainability of the region on a larger scale. OBR partners share ideas and implement solutions to advance environmental, cultural and socio-economic sustainability and well-being in the heart of the Great Lakes region.

To learn more about the Obtawaing Biosphere Region, click here.

Technical Leadership Assistance

We believe that healthy water, protected places and vibrant communities make our region vibrant and we want to keep it that way to provide safe, enjoyable and accessible outdoor recreation opportunities for residents and visitors alike. 

We excel in building strong relationships with community leaders, grasping their community's unique challenges and potential. Our proven ability to gather essential data, synthesize technical information, define project priorities, engage the community, and leverage funding from various sources allows us to tailor our support to match each community's specific needs. This blend of local insights and scientific expertise drives our projects forward.