May 9: Beyond BOW Birding 101 Workshop at Belle Isle Park in Detroit. In this Becoming an Outdoors Woman program, build your birding skills before exploring Belle Isle on a guided spring migration tour.

May 16: Spring Birding Tour at Portage Marsh State Wildlife Area in Escanaba. Take a guided hike along a historic dike system and a Lake Michigan beach to look for raptors, shorebirds, songbirds, wading birds and waterfowl.

May 16: Beekeeping Clinic at Mitchell State Park in Cadillac. Learn everything you need to know to get started with beekeeping and about the vital role pollinators play in our environment.

May 17: Birding Belle Isle at Belle Isle Park in Detroit. Join DNR Outdoor Adventure Center staff for this monthly series observing and identifying the island’s birds.

May 9: Jackson County Free Museum Day at Cambridge Junction Historic State Park in Brooklyn and the Mann House in Concord. Historic Walker Tavern and the Mann House are among 15 museums participating. The first 50 visitors to each museum will receive a uniquely designed sticker specific to that location. Each museum will also offer a unique on-site prize drawing during the event. 

May 10: Storytime with CADL at the Michigan History Museum in Lansing. Young children and their families can enjoy a pop-up storytime at the museum with Capital Area District Library staff, each month exploring a new corner of Michigan's past through stories, songs and hands-on fun.

May 3: Wild Mushroom Clinic with Great Lakes Treats at Mitchell State Park in Cadillac. Join wild foods experts for an immersive, fast-paced and information-packed wild mushroom clinic.

May 10: BOW Wild Mushroom Clinic with Great Lakes Treats at Mitchell State Park in Cadillac. This session, part of the Becoming an Outdoors Woman program, is especially for women.

May 23: Beyond BOW Fabulous Fungi and Foraging at Hoffmaster State Park in Muskegon. Join a certified foraging expert to learn all about the basics of safe foraging practices in this Becoming an Outdoors Woman course.

May 24: Family Fungi and Foraging at Hoffmaster State Park in Muskegon. Learn about what it takes to become a foraging expert, including a lesson on uses of foraged finds and a walk through the woods to find what is in season.

“Do good, feel good.” That’s a phrase often used to describe the benefits of volunteering. If those words are accurate, the thousands of people who lent their time, talents and expertise to the DNR in 2025 are feeling pretty good right now!

“Volunteers contribute toward the DNR’s mission in so many ways, from stewarding trails, welcoming park visitors and monitoring wildlife, to restoring habitat, supporting historic sites and guiding education programs, and so much more,” said Michelle O’Kelly, philanthropy specialist with the DNR Parks and Recreation Division. “Michigan is richer, wilder, cleaner and safer because of our volunteers, and we are eternally grateful.”

DNR volunteers helped in several different areas last year:

Resource management

In addition to the 3,519 hours spent planting trees in urban communities and the 100 workdays devoted to park stewardship in southern Michigan state parks, DNR volunteers put in time and effort to identify and help manage invasive species, improve wildlife habitat through opportunities like MUCC’s “On the Ground” program, clearing out illegal dumping sites via Adopt-a-Forest, and supporting fish health and production by cleaning tanks and feeding fish.

Visitor engagement

Visitors to our parks, trails and campgrounds can thank DNR volunteers for cleaner, safer, more welcoming spaces. This includes the 450 campground hosts, 48 lighthouse keepers, 55 friends groups, 112 motorized trail groups and 40 nonmotorized trail groups who delivered engaging programs, raised funds, groomed trails, answered questions and did dozens of other things to improve visitors’ experiences.

The DNR also trains and manages a network of more than 1,200 volunteer recreational safety and education instructors who help to ensure that future hunters, boaters, off-roaders, snowmobilers and other recreationalists know how to safely, legally and ethically enjoy the outdoors and understand the importance of conservation. More than 49,000 people earned their recreation safety certificates last year! Learn more at Michigan.gov/RecreationalSafety.

Several volunteers also provided environmental education training, while others served as docents within the Michigan History Museum system — teaching creative ways to help people of all ages connect with nature and our state’s collective stories.

National trends

The numbers are impressive, but, as with any endeavor, there is always room to do more. According to 2023 data from the U.S. Census Bureau and AmeriCorps, more than 75.7 million (or 28.3% of the U.S. population age 16 and up) formally volunteered, even as the average yearly number of volunteer hours per person declined from 96.5 (in 2017) to 70 (in 2023).

Join Michigan United Conservation Clubs’ On the Ground (a volunteer wildlife habitat improvement program in partnership with the DNR), the Kirtland’s Warbler Alliance and Huron Pines for the 2026 Jack Pine Planting Day in Crawford County, 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 2. The goal is to improve and enhance Kirtland’s warbler habitat by planting jack pine trees in the DNR’s Grayling Forest Management Unit.

Necessary equipment will be provided, along with lunch and an appreciation gift for all registered volunteers.

Register for Jack Pine Planting Day. (Registration closes May 1 at noon.)

The Adopt-a-Forest volunteer cleanup program aims to protect Michigan’s forests by sharing the importance of keeping them clean and healthy. This involves working to stop illegal dumping, improving recycling and encouraging responsible trash disposal. In the program's history, more than 2 million acres of forest land have been cleaned up, with 100,000 tires removed and tens of thousands of cubic yards of trash properly disposed of. This work is critical to protecting forest lands for future generations.

You can help keep the woods clean by reporting a dumpsite, making a donation or volunteering to clean up the forest. Learn more about getting involved at Michigan.gov/AdoptAForest.

We get it: May is right around the corner and you're getting eager to spend more time outdoors in your favorite places. While the spring and summer weather is surely on the way, state parks and recreation officials encourage everyone to check ahead for closures in the aftermath of recent flooding and damage from rain, snowmelt, ice and tornadoes.

In case you missed it, the DNR urged outdoor enthusiasts to "know before you go," exercise caution when visiting DNR-managed facilities, and check the 2026 Statewide Flooding Dashboard for information on weather-related washouts, erosion, and debris and water over the road. 

"With milder weather ahead, we want to ensure all visitors are informed and have the latest information on closures and safety," said Kristen Kosick, DNR Parks and Recreation Division chief. "Since these historic weather events began, crews have been working around the clock to assess damage and determine which sites are safe to reopen."

As always, Michigan.gov/DNRClosures offers the latest on closures and detours at state-designated trails, boat launches, parks and campgrounds due to improvement projects, repairs and weather-related events.