History of the Stewardship Network

A land conservancy purchases the development rights on 80 acres along the river. A township parks department buys a new piece of land. The state owns a 1000 acre property. This land is now protected, right? Sadly, the answer is no.

We used to think purchasing land and setting it aside was enough to protect it. We now realize that in order to preserve the ecological and cultural value that made these properties valuable in the first place, we have to care for them. This means active land management to preserve the native spring wildflowers; informed stewardship to keep the migrating birds returning; cutting-edge information to inform us of new threats to our natural lands and waters; and knowledgeable volunteer stewards to protect the splendor of our native fall colors.

What remains of our prairies, savannas, oak barrens and other important natural areas is owned by dozens of groups, both public and private, and by hundreds of individuals. These natural areas are fragmented in isolated patches, with little or no oversight. That’s where the Stewardship Network plays a role. We help groups and individuals think differently about stewarding natural lands and waters. We train volunteers and professionals in science-based stewardship practices. We link conservation groups to preserve our natural and cultural heritage.

Why the Network’s here

The Stewardship Network was established to build the capacity of organizations, individuals, and businesses to care for natural lands and waters. The Network works with dedicated individuals, private property owners, nonprofits, governmental agencies, and private businesses to achieve that goal.

The Stewardship Network connects a broad range of groups, rallies volunteers, and fills the gaps in today’s preservation efforts. Every day, we’re out on the land and on the web -- making connections, providing hands-on training, building relationships, sharing information and tools. We work diligently to strengthen the effectiveness of the people and groups that protect our natural areas – improving our land, our water, and our communities, together.

Where we are today:
In 2007, three years after receiving 501c3 status, the Stewardship Network partnered with over 55 groups and had more than 3,000 participants (representing more than 1,100 unique individuals) at our events. Our five local collaborative conservation communities, Stewardship Network Clusters, held 85 events at 35 unique field sites lake to lake across the southern half of the lower peninsula. Our mission to increase capacity to care for natural lands and waters through collaboration, cooperation, education, networking, and training is met with a hunger for more. As one Michigan Department of Natural Resources official recently said, “The Stewardship Network is one of the few rays of hope in an otherwise gloomy conservation forecast.” With resources stretched in every aspect of caring for our natural areas, Michigan is demanding this model of making the whole of natural areas protection more than the sum of its parts.

How we got here:
The Informal Partnership 1995 - 2000
During 1995, three local groups caring for their areas’ open spaces and natural areas began working together to find a way to provide connections among the work their respective organizations did. They began to discuss how to address the challenge of caring for the region's fragmented natural areas in a holistic way and developed plans to launch a Huron River Watershed Volunteer Stewardship Network loosely modeled after the Illinois Volunteer Stewardship Network.

The Huron River Watershed Volunteer Stewardship Network was born in 1998 with an aim to improve existing volunteer stewardship programs and expand efforts throughout the Huron River basin to protect a variety of plant and wildlife species and the ecosystems where they are found. Through this project, the partner groups worked to develop a coordinated and expanded network of volunteer stewardship programs and activities for the protection of biodiversity, ecosystem integrity, and open space.

Meaningful stakeholder involvement in the design and delivery of programs has been a hallmark of the Stewardship Network since its inception, with representatives from local land conservancies, watershed council, municipal parks departments, the University of Michigan, and local schools involved in an advisory committee that planned future direction, assisted in program delivery, and contributed expertise. The advisory committee also evaluated the effectiveness of activities, planned future events, reached out to new partners, and looked for ways to sustain the Network beyond initial funding.

Expanding & Building the Organization 2000 - 2005
Years three through six (2000 to 2003) were years of great expansion of the Network. With a successful working model under our belt and increasing interest in our efforts, we responded to demand from local land trusts/conservancies to broaden our geographic focus to southeast Michigan in late 2001. As we expanded our effort we created programs built on the foundations which make our programs successful: grassroots local efforts, partnerships, and meaningful stakeholder involvement in program design and direction. The following year we launched our collaborative conservation community or “cluster” approach and our Stewards’ Training.

While the Network works across all of Michigan, its local Stewardship Clusters increase communication and resource-sharing among people and conservation partners in a targeted geographic area. The Network works with on-the-ground partners to establish clusters that serve as subnetworks on a scale that increases frequent face-to-face interaction, informal conversation among professional and volunteer land managers, science-based education and training, and collaborative projects.

Our Stewards' Training course became a launching pad for our state-wide trainings, cluster workday/workshops, our online webcasts. The Stewardship Network’s educational programming is a collaborative effort among community-based volunteers and partners, leading conservation organizations and agencies, and educational institutions throughout Michigan. This partnership develops and delivers high-quality, scientifically-based trainings to a wide variety of audiences with the aim of increasing our participants' abilities to explore, better understand, and put to use the skills need to care for Michigan natural heritage.

As our reputation grew so did demand for our programs in other areas of the state. Local groups outside southeast Michigan and statewide organizations (e.g., Michigan Nature Association, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, the Michigan Chapter of the Nature Conservancy, local land trusts/conservancies across Michigan, parks departments, nature centers, etc.) called on us to once again expanding our geographic focus, this time to the entire state. As a result, we developed a phased approach to building a strong foundation for an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit and developed a governance model that allows the strength of partners and an independent Stewardship Network to increase on-the-ground management of natural areas throughout the state.

In 2004 the Network received our 501(c)3 non-profit status and began the task of building the organizational foundation while continuing to deliver and expand our stewardship programs across the state aimed at preserving Michigan’s natural beauty and heritage.

As we look to the future, having listened in each of the communities to what our constituents want and need through community-wide visioning sessions held during each of our clusters’ launch, we are trying to respond to the demand for new clusters in mid- and northern lower Michigan; in the Detroit area; and the Upper Peninsula.