Dutchman's Breeches (available at sale) Photo by: Bruce Bodjack

NATIVE PLANT SALE: Sat, May 22 & Sun, May 23

It's that time of the year again.  Your favorite native wildflowers, ferns and grasses will be available at the Boardman River Nature Center in just a couple weeks.  Restore your backyard habitat with over 30 species including rescued and endangered.  Purchasing these plants at this sale not only supports the wildlife and biodiversity of Northern Michigan, but the proceeds support the GTCD as well.  Click here for detailed species information and pricing. 

 

We are still in need of volunteers for the preparation and the days of the sale.  Please contact Jon Prins at 231-941-0960 or jprins@gtcd.org if you are interested.

 

Summer Nature Day Camps are Back!  

Nurture your child's connection to nature this summer at our Nature Day Camp!  Your child will have loads of fun inside and out with great nature crafts and games.  Weekly morning sessions will be taking place in July and August for children ages 4-12.  Each week features a different subject matter for a different age group.  We look forward to seeing your little natural resource steward this summer!  Click here for details.

 

Students get Involved on Earth Day

Many school groups look for ways to get outside and help in our area parklands.  What better day to make this happen than Earth Day?  This year we worked with two groups of Agriscience & Natural Resources students from TBA-ISD to get them outside and involved in their community.  One group of students helped plant over 150 native seedlings at Kids Creek.  Kids Creek has been under a major restoration effort since last fall (click here for more information on the project).  The second group helped do some spring cleaning and pruning at the Sculpture Court downtown.  The Sculpture Court is a garden that honors the Boardman River Guardians that have committed to the long term stewardship of the Boardman River.  In all, these students spent approximately 150 hours helping make a difference for our natural resources!

As with many programs here, the number of Trail Stewards continues to grow each year.  Trail Stewards adopt a trail section in a specific parkland and commit to monitoring and addressing general maintenance issues that arise on that section.  Two trail stewards of the Natural Education Reserve, Steve Rouse and Heather Peyton, took this responsibility head on by organizing and leading a workbee.  Click here to read more & see some pictures! 

All are invited, and kids are encouraged, to test their luck in the recently reconstructed fishing pond at Kid's Creek Park.  It has been stocked with some nice Brown Trout and bluegills.  Click here for details! 

So you have Lots of Caterpillars!?!

You're not alone!  And like most people, you're wondering what to do with them.  There is no publicly-funded control program for them, so what next?  Well, the first thing to do is figure out what kind(s) of caterpillars you have.  Click here to see photos of how to distinguish between various caterpillars plaguing us this spring.  Then depending on what unwanted guest you have, click on one of the following links to learn what you can do about them: Tent Caterpillars or Gypsy Moths.  An important think to remember is that eventually they will go away and things will get better!