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Revised 02/27/08 |
A newsletter for the Red Cedar Chapter of the Michigan Botanical Club, Inc September 2005The purpose of the organization shall be:
October MeetingFrom program chairperson, Ron Priest Our October 4, 7:30 PM Red Cedar Botany Club speaker will be Dr. Donald Dickmann, recently retired from the Dept. of Forestry, MSU. He'll be discussing his newly published book, "Forest Communities of Michigan". You may recall that Robert Bloye invited him and Larry Leefers to discuss their co-authored book, "Forests of Michigan". Don is a very good speaker and his topic is sure to fascinate us all. If you have seen his book, the photos are tremendous and a wonderful read of our varied forest communities. Please Note: Our meeting location has been changed to Room 244A in the MSU Natural Science Building. The Natural Science building is located on the North side of East Circle Drive between Farm Lane and the Collingwood entrance on Grand River Avenue. Parking is available in front of the building. Nature Walk and Sandhill Crane Viewing From Mary Leys, Publicity Chairperson Join the Michigan Botanical Club on a nature walk with an opportunity to see Sandhill Cranes! On Saturday, October 8, meet at the MSU Natural Science Building at 2:30 PM to car pool to Big Marsh Lake in Calhoun County.
From the April Wildlife Volunteer: Michigan is Big Bird Country; page four (A Publication of the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy) …”Sandhill Cranes were nearly extirpated from Michigan by people hunting them for their own table or the market, and by farmers who believed their crops were in jeopardy. Drainage of wetlands also contributed heavily to their demise. The Michigan population was estimated to be only 27 breeding pairs in early1940’s. They had already been eliminated from northern Lower Peninsula and were found mostly in large wetlands in the Upper Peninsula and southern Lower Peninsula. Sandhill crane was on the menu at the Jackson Hotel as late as1900, according to the Atlas of Breeding Birds of Michigan, but the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 outlawed this. That and the establishment of refuges in nesting, wintering and migration areas helped the birds make a comeback. By 1973, there were 153 pairs in the Lower Peninsula. Today, Waterloo Township in Jackson County has one of the biggest nesting densities in North America. (0.8 cranes per square kilometer)” September Meeting, Program and Field TripThe September meeting took advantage of the fact that Red Cedar Chapter hosted the Fall Botany Club State Board and Foundation Meetings. Program Chairperson, Ron Priest, selected the Bengel Wildlife Center as a meeting site and cleverly made the State meetings, program, and field trips take the place of our usual September meeting. The State Board agenda focused primarily on business items related to the publication of The Michigan Botanist. The board discussed getting the journal indexed in widely searched databases, keeping the journal financially viable, taking steps to improve the editing process, and finding a business manager. President, Pam Lauretto presented these problems and proposed solutions in a well-organized paper, which greatly facilitated the discussion. Pat Fields reported that the fund used to help students attend the Botany Club Foray came from a bequest made by Joan Robb. The award will now be called the Joan Robb Student Foray Award or the Robb Award for short. Dennis Fijalkowski, executive director of Michigan Wildlife Conservancy gave the afternoon program. He introduced the program with a brief history of ways habitats have been destroyed. We learned how Russell Bengel, a successful businessman and one time mayor of Jackson, founded the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy to focus on habitat restoration. After twenty years of restoration success, his daughter Jean and husband, Sheldon Laughlin, helped the Conservancy build the Bengel Wildlife Center to provide the indoor and outdoor teaching facilities needed to train others how to replicate conservancy success. Dennis used a slide show to picture the Conservancy’s substantial efforts to make habitat restoration happen in Michigan. We learned that in some cases habitat restoration could be not only inexpensive but also profitable. Reclaimed wetlands frequently produce poorly. Farmers can restore unprofitable former wetlands by simply removing the drainage systems. Seeds from the former wetland are still viable for fifty years and come to life with restored wet conditions. Drain-commissioners have found that a number of techniques can get their drains to do double duty. In 1993, the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy and the Michigan Association of Drain Commissioners agreed to cooperate on wetland restoration and upland planting. By 1997, the Wildlife Conservancy had completed 30 significant habitat projects along the thousands of miles of Michigan drains. With help from conservancy consultants, drain commissioners have: 1. Included detention basins and wide drain channels to provide improved wetland dwelling for wildlife; 2. Used spoilage from drain construction to block outlets, which had been draining potholes, swales, borrow pits and other basins, 3. Created mini-wildlife refuges along the banks of drains, and 4. Used the drains as a way to link habitat fragments. We were inspired by his account of these and other conservancy restoration efforts. Many of us did not know the extent to which the Natural Wildlife Conservancy has already restored habitat all over the state. Dennis’s talk was followed by tours of the five habitats found on the 259-acre grounds of the Bengel Center. We walked through restored prairie and cranberry bog. As when we visited Welsh’s prairie restoration, we were thankful that places like this one exist because someone believed restoration is important and worked to achieve it. Ron Priest summed up the day; “The last of us begrudgingly left Bengel at 5:15 PM. I learned a lot, had a stimulating time, and had some good laughs too.” Thanks Ron, for arranging such a beautiful day. Red Cedar Chapter members provided refreshments for the day. Thanks go to refreshment coordinators Martha Davidson and Marlene Wesselman for bars and cookies and to Sherry Kovach, Mary Leys, and Pat Fields for their delicious biscotti, fruit plate, and brownies -made with twenty kinds of chocolate.
State Board at Work Doc Choc Habitat Bengel Cranberry BogWild About WildlifeA unique women’s night out shopping eventProceeds to benefit the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy Thursday, November 17, 2005, 6:00-9:30 PM Get a head start on you holiday shopping and help MWC restore wetland habitatsIn addition to the many unique items available in the MWC Dancing Crane Gift shop, products from the following vendors will be available: Carl R. Sans wildlife photographer and author of children’s books; Wannaplay Products- jewelry and handbags; Mark Carlson-wildlife photographs, books, calendars, note cards; Maddie & Shawnie - quilts; Bill Stovall-bird houses; JAAG-plush stuffed animals; Arbonne Products-lotions and beauty products; Leslie-memory bracelets; Bergdorf Winery-wine tasting and more……At the Bengel Wildlife Center, 6380 Drumheller Rd, Bath Tickets $20.00 at the door, $15.00 if pre-ordered from the MWC Call 641-7677 for more information
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