Mid-Michigan Cluster - The Stewardship Network

Lake Lansing North Park photo courtesy of Roger Darden ©

Mid-Michigan Committees

Mapping Invasive Species in Mid-Mich

Useful Links

Contact us at: midmich@stewardshipnetwork.org

Feel free to share your questions and ideas with our cluster. We'd love your help in achieving our goals!

The Mid-Michigan Cluster, which began in October 2008, includes as partners the Ingham County Parks Department, Meridian Township Parks Department and Land Preservation Advisory Board, Michigan Natural Features Inventory, and The Nature Conservancy, with additional expertise from Michigan State University, Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Mid-Michigan Land Conservancy, and local residents. Our activities are geographically centered in Ingham County with an emphasis on publicly owned natural areas and surrounding private lands. We will officially Kick Off as a Cluster in the fall 2009. Please check back at this website for the finalized date of our Kick Off Community Visioning event!

Mission Statement

Our aim is to educate and involve the community in protecting and conserving native plants and wildlife in all their natural diversity in Mid-Michigan, while allowing for compatible and sustainable human use. In support of this mission, we:

· facilitate the sharing of expertise in natural lands management between public and non-profit organizations and the community

· inventory native plant and wildlife communities and existing or emerging invasive species, as well as other threats to biodiversity

· encourage community understanding and enjoyment of our native ecosystems by developing education, training, and volunteer opportunities

“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.”
–Charles Darwin, Origin of the Species, 1859

Are you an expert who would like to help as a member of our Mapping & Prioritization, Best Management Practices, Education, Events, or Development Committees? If so, please tell us of your expertise and interests by contacting midmich@stewardshipnetwork.org

Are you interested in participating as a volunteer in our field events or attending educational seminars/training sessions? Please let us know by contacting midmich@stewardshipnetwork.org

Would you or your organization like to support our efforts by joining the Mid-Michigan Cluster? Your donation will go towards educational events and valubable field work promoting the health and diversity of Michigan's native ecosystems. Use the following links to learn more about what joining the Stewardship Network will do for you: individual and family memberships or organizational memberships.

You can also become an MOU member within the Mid-Michigan Cluster. Please click here to read our Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and join our growing number of individual and organizational partners.

If you have never pulled Garlic Mustard before, select the “training” tab on the Michigan Invasive Species Information Network (MISIN) website and choose “garlic mustard”. All plants must be bagged, marked “invasive plants” and put in your garbage, NOT your yard waste. If you pull garlic mustard on your own, please report how much you pulled for the Mid-Michigan Cluster on the Garlic Mustard Challenge page!

Spring Nature Walk at Lake Lansing North Park
Sunday, May 3, 3 p.m.

Location: Meet at Sandhill Shelter in the park. The park entrance is on the north side of Lake Lansing, off Lake Drive.

Four nature experts, Kit Rich and Kati Adams from the Harris Nature Center, Steve Thomas from Michigan Natural Features Inventory, and Dave Ewert from The Nature Conservancy, will lead us in two groups for about an hour’s exploration of wildflowers, bird life, and a variety of habitats, trees and animal signs along the trails of Lake Lansing North Park. Questions? Contact Kit Rich (harriscenter@sbcglobal.net)

Wednesday, May 6, 4 p.m.

Location: Meet at the Land Preservation sign at the end of Porter Street, north of Biber Drive. Park in the street or at the Snell-Towar Recreation Center.

Spring is finally here! Every week the spring woods look a little different as more and more wildflowers poke up out of the ground. Join a park naturalist and other nature enthusiasts for a 45-minute guided walk in the spring woods to watch the changes. Questions? Contact Jane Greenway, Parks & Land Management Coordinator, 517-853-4610 or by e-mail at greenway@meridian.mi.us