First NAP crew week of the year!

What a nice week to get back to work. Wasn't Tuesday an interesting day? 43 degrees for a high temperature. Nice and sunny. Worked in the Olson Park wet meadow, as usual, doing our cold weather shrub cutting. Very fun to get right back into it.
We are using the beginning of the season to get into wetlands. Due to the fragile nature of wetland soils, we do our shrub cutting work when the ground is still frozen.
Saw some little insects flying around in the afternoon!
And boy-o-boy... that fog Wednesday was wonderful. We were lucky enough to be working right along the river all morning. The fog shrouding the river was absolutely beautiful. There were also quite a few tiny skunk cabbage poking up in pockets of melted snow.





Thursday saw us at the Gallup sedge meadow where the buckthorn, honeysuckle, and black alder suffered a serious setback at the mercy of our blade. If you go for a jog or bike, or just a nice stroll, you'll see a lot more sedge meadow this year.


Its good to be back, we hope to see you all out and about in the parks this year.
Billy Kirst

Field Season begins!

Hello there,

The air is warm, the sun is shining, our field crew is back! We are quickly transitioning into the field season, with the crew out cutting shrubs and our volunteer kickoffs just around the corner. After being in the office all winter planning and preparing for the months ahead, we are excited to get outdoors and into our natural areas! We hope to see you all very soon!

A few announcements for you all...

Our WEBSITE has been updated! Stop by to find a complete list of our Spring events, as well as newsletters new and old, updated fact sheets, and photos from our 2006 Photo Contest winners.


Upcoming events include...

*Frog, Toad, and Salamander kickoffs this Sunday, February 25th
*Prescribed Ecological Burns
-Public Meeting next Wednesday, March 7th
-Volunteer Crew Training next Thursday, March 8th
(see previous entry for more information)

Jason Frenzel, NAP Outreach Coordinator, will also be hosting a workshop with Barbara Major of Matthaei Botanical Gardens and Nichols Arboretum...

Stewarding a Workday
Saturday March 3rd
9:00 am to 12:00 noon
at Matthaei Botanical Gardens, 1800 N Dixboro Road, Ann Arbor
Join local experts in discussing and comparing how stewardship workdays are led by various organizations. We will be reviewing how to work with different volunteers and volunteer groups, touching on various components useful in preparing for events, as well as how to give thanks and recognition. Additionally we’ll talk about how workdays are run, what equipment can be brought, what documentation we all use, and – most importantly – safety procedures. This workshop is meant for staff and volunteers who will be leading stewardship workdays. Register here or give us a call at 734 996 3266.

til next,
michelle