State Park Stewardship Tidbits, January 2013
Michigan Department of Natural Resources sent this bulletin at 02/01/2013 02:15 PM EST
State Park Stewardship Tidbits, January 2013
Hi all,
I hope you are enjoying the recent snow and looking forward to spending some time outdoors in it. We hope you'll choose to spend some of that time with us! Volunteer turn-out at our January workdays was not stellar, so I'm hoping that February and March will be different.
We only have a few more months to get invasive shrubs cut before the growing season and there is plenty to do! Winter shrub cutting is one of my favorite activities; there are no bugs to contend with and you can find the perfect number of layers to keep you warm, but not too warm, while working!
Spring is right around the corner, so if you don't like the weather, wait a few days and it’ll change - it is Michigan!
I hope you enjoy the following tidbits,
Laurel
1) Spring Stewardship Workday Calendar – Coming Soon!
2) Individual project – Garlic mustard control!
3) Article: In Midwest, Bringing Back Native Prairies Yard by Yard
4) Article: When Trees Die, People Die
5) Job Openings: Oakland Township Parks and Recreation
1) Spring Stewardship Workday Calendar – Coming Soon!
Visit our Calendar of Volunteer Stewardship Workdays for a list of upcoming workdays! The April through June workdays will be posted soon! Join us this spring as we try to control garlic mustard and other spring invasive weeds (like Dame’s rocket and narrow-leaf bittercress) in our state parks and recreation areas.
In the meantime, check out the invasive shrub removal workdays we have planned for February and March! Regardless of the activity, we really need all the hands we can get to help restore our special natural resources!
2) Individual project – Garlic mustard control!
It’s looking like we might not have as many weekend volunteer days to pull garlic mustard this year. So, we need an army of good individual volunteers to work on their own to help control garlic mustard! Volunteers will pull known patches of the plant and keep a lookout for new patches. Volunteers are needed in targeted areas of the following southeast Michigan parks this spring: Algonac SP, Bald Mt. RA, Brighton RA, Highland RA, Island Lake RA, Pinckney RA, Waterloo RA and Sterling SP. Volunteers will work off of a prioritized list of sites within these parks and aim to pull 100% of flowering plants!
For more information visit our Volunteer Steward Program webpage and view details, including a Volunteer Position Description for Garlic Mustard Pulling!
If you are interested in helping please let me know soon so I can include you on subsequent emails. If there is sufficient interest and need, we may hold a training session on obtaining and using garlic mustard GPS data to control the plant and on updating this data. This training session will be critical for all volunteers who want to pull garlic mustard on their own and we’re hoping to schedule it for early March! If you have a GPS unit that you can take into the field and load data onto, that will be helpful. If not, we have a few units to loan out to volunteers dedicated to helping!
3) Article: In Midwest, Bringing Back Native Prairies Yard by Yard
By Becky Kessler
An article on prairie restoration that features work by David and Allisande Read near Dexter:
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/in_us_midwest_restoring_native_prairie_ecosystems_kessler/2603/
4) Article: When Trees Die, People Die
By Lindsay Abrams
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/01/when-trees-die-people-die/267322/
5) Job Openings: Oakland Township Parks and Recreation
We are gearing up for a busy year and have job openings!
Would you please post the attached jobs wherever you have space for them?
Thank you for your help in getting the word out, and please give me a call with any questions.
NATURAL AREAS STEWARDSHIP MANAGER: NASM Job_Announcement_20130108_Erin.pdf
LAND STEWARDSHIP TECHNICIAN: LSTJobPosting130111.pdf
For more information visit www.oaklandtownship.org or contact:
Carol Kasprzak
Administrative Assistant
Oakland Township Parks and Recreation
4393 Collins Road
Rochester, MI 48306
248.651.7810 ext 404
Fax 248.601.0106
ckasprzak@oaklandtownship.org
Laurel Malvitz-Draper
Natural Resource Steward
Stewardship Unit, Parks and Recreation Division
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
web: www.michigan.gov/dnrvolunteers
email: malvitzl@michigan.gov
phone: 248-359-9057
fax: 248-355-2669
I am generally in the office Wednesday through Friday.
I am generally in the parks Saturday and Sunday.
I will respond to your email as soon as I'm back in the office.
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. "
-Margaret Mead
***The Recreation Passport is your $11 ticket to Michigan's state parks and outdoor adventures! Check "YES" when you renew your license plate. Where can $11 take you? www.michigan.gov/recreationpassport ***