Volunteerism

About

From shore to shore, Michigan State Parks and Recreation Areas provide both great recreation opportunities and high quality habitat for rare species. Our state park system is home to many unique ecosystems, such as forested coastal dunes, native tallgrass prairies and rare prairie fens that are home to rare birds, insects, turtles and other animals.

This webinar will provide an overview of the DNR Volunteer Steward Program and our approach to protecting these unique ecosystems for species of greatest conservation need. The program integrates volunteers with our overall habitat restoration plans in select parks. Volunteers are trained and have contributed tens of thousands of service hours in removal of invasive woody shrubs, like buckthorn and honeysuckle, and herbaceous plants, like garlic mustard and spotted knapweed. More advanced projects include insect monitoring and forest health surveys.

Participants will receive an overview of Michigan Volunteer Steward Program and ideas on how to successfully integrate volunteers in natural resource management at beginner and advanced levels.

Learning Objectives

At the end of this session, participants should:

• be able to identify diverse groups for volunteer recruitment
• be able to identify potential volunteer habitat restoration projects
• be able to find creative ways to engage volunteers in public lands

When: Recorded

Sponsored by

This Professional Development Webinar Series brought to you by Eppley Institute & National Association of State Park Directors