Emma's Americorps Highlights

As my year at Little Forks Conservancy comes to a close, I want to reflect on the great variety of projects I've had the privilege to work on as a Huron Pines AmeriCorps member. These past 10 months have been filled with preserve stewardship, habitat restoration, volunteer engagement, conservation easement monitoring, invasive species management, and so much more. This experience has been invaluable in shaping my career in conservation and I am incredibly grateful to Little Forks for choosing me as their 2024 AmeriCorps member. 

Mushroom at Lane Preserve.

Projects 

​A big project I worked on this year was our tree planting initiative, funded by DuPont's "Clear into the future" grant. In total, we planted more than 500 trees to help reforest and restore habitat at Nelson Woods and Averill Preserve. My favorite part of the process was selecting the tree species. By focusing on climate resilient tree species, we're ensuring that these forests’ ecological communities will thrive and adapt to changing climate conditions in the future.

After getting the saplings in the ground, it was important to protect them from deer browse, wind damage, and munching insects. To do this, we used protective tree tubes, whos' bright blue color pop out from the forest floor. These tubes act as mini greenhouses, providing the ideal environment for the trees to grow strong and healthy. For the next 3-5 years, they'll shield the saplings and help their roots get established. Keep an eye out for them next time you're out at Averill Preserve-I think they're pretty neat!

Thanks to all of the wonderful volunteers from DuPont, Northwood University, and the Midland Morning Rotary for helping us get all of these trees into the ground!

Sign at Averill planting site.

White oak growing in a tree tube.

Protecting deciduous trees with tree tubes.

Another major project that took place over this year was trail building at Nelson Woods. Trail work is a passion of mine, and the timing of my service term aligned perfectly with the creation of trails at the new preserve. Some of my favorite workdays this year were spent out at Nelson Woods building trails with volunteers. There's something incredibly satisfying about seeing a day of hard work laid out before you in the form of a new trail. I can’t wait for people to get out there and enjoy it! ​

volunteers 

Volunteer tree planting at Averill.

In addition to trail building and tree planting, this year was filled with many great volunteer events, including the Cedar River Cleanup with Gladwin Conservation District, MiCorps stream sampling, Cedars for the Cedar, invasive plant patrols, and preserve steward workdays. It was so encouraging to meet so many volunteers who care deeply about enhancing the environment and their communities. Little Forks is fortunate to have so many amazing and dedicated volunteers- it was a pleasure to work with them!

Steiner Preserve with Chuck and Beth Martin.

11th Annual Cedar River Cleanup.

Conservation easements

I also had the opportunity to dive into the world of conservation easements and land protection. There are so many unique properties that are protected in perpetuity by the conservancy and I loved being able to explore them during monitoring season. These properties protect vital wildlife habitat, provide a diversity of ecosystems, and ensure that the land will be protected from future development. I had so much fun seeing the variety of ways that landowners practice sustainable land management. A big thank you to Shelby who taught me so much about this important method of conservation and shared her passion for land protection with me. ​

Conservation Easement

Field finds

Conservation Easement

As Land Steward, I spent much of my time doing fieldwork on the preserves. The best part about this was having my workdays enriched by all of the little wonders these natural areas protect and allow to thrive. It’s so important to slow down and appreciate the little things-the flowers and plants growing along the trail, the mushrooms sprouting from the ground and fallen logs, and the birds singing in the trees. There's rarely a bad day when you get to be working outside in the fresh air. Nature teaches us so much! And of course, it never hurts to take a photo. Here are a few of my favorite field finds this year:

Bee Hawk-moth.

Inky caps at Lane Preserve.

Clouded sulphur at Forestview.

Yellow warbler-CE

Michigan lily at Averill Preserve.

Eastern American Jack-o'-Lantern at Riverview.

Northern flickers at Forestview.

Song sparrow at Riverview.

thank you!

Winter at Forestview Natural Area.

Thank you to everyone at Little Forks for making my experience so rewarding and for teaching me so much! There are so many amazing conservation efforts happening in Mid-Michigan. There have been countless times this year where I stopped to think: “Wow! This is happening right in my backyard”.  I encourage you to go out and explore these wonderful natural areas that we have thanks to the conservation efforts of Little Forks Conservancy.

Staff selfie :)