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West Michigan Cluster was formed in 2006 to increase the overall stewardship efforts in Western Michigan. Our region includes Kent, Ottawa, North Allegan, Muskegon, and Newago Counties. The Cluster is made up of a diverse group of non-profit and for-profit organizations as well as governmental agencies including: The Nature Conservancy, the Land Conservancy of West Michigan, Ottawa and Kent County Parks, Ada Township Park, Calvin College, Wittenbach/Wege Agriscience and Environmental Center, and Howard Christensen Nature Center.
Like the other clusters, we held a brainstorming session where we listed and prioritized what our region's needs were. We determined that collaborative communication of stewardship events was top priority. Therefore, utilizing the Stewardship Network's Community Calendar and database we are able to post all stewarship events on our region and email reminders to our members. This has been and excellent means of increasing the awareness of programs across organizations.
Also, we hold educational workdays/workshops on stewardship related topics such as Invasive Species ID and Management and Dune Restoration workdays. Our participants have enjoyed having access to experienced land stewards and having the opportunity to help protect our region's natural lands.
Our Cluster is growing fast. We look forward to the success that other clusters have had and hope we have our own set of accomplishments to share with others. Please feel free to contact us to share ideas.
To become a Participating Organization within the West Michigan Cluster, please click here to read our Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and become one of a growing number of MOU Members.
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