December Newsletter

We are thrilled at the reception to last month’s newsletter! Thank you for your support and kind messages. We are excited to continue to bring you updates on what’s happening at MCCD! We hope you are enjoying the holiday season whether gathering with friends and family, spending time at deer camp or in the woods or partaking in any other type of late fall outdoor activities. Those November sunrises were stunning! And have you noticed the golden hues of the tamarack or taken in the stillness of the early morning from a deer blind? Fall is such a transformative time of year and a great time to slow down and reflect on all that Mother Nature offers us in our beautiful UP!

As we reflect on our year, we are so thankful for our partners in conservation! We want to particularly highlight some of the businesses who partnered with us this year. Thank you to Landmark for hosting our first “Cocktails for Conservation” fundraiser this past Earth Day. That event raised $750 and allowed us to get many native plants in the ground throughout the county! Iron Bay and Ore Dock Brewing Company went native this year too, installing native gardens in their downtown spaces. Our native plant supplier, Designs by Nature continues to provide amazing native plants and goes above and beyond to make sure we have as many as we need. Thank you to all of the organizations, businesses, and residents who worked with us this year!

Wishing you the happiest of holidays,

MCCD Staff

Maddie, Christy, Elise, Sara, Landen, & Erica

Thanks to everyone who dropped off their pumpkins at our office. We collected over 100 pumpkins in November! They have been added to compost sites as well as utilized for wildlife. Composting is a safe, natural way to reduce landfill waste and create nutrient rich soil. Simple actions like this add up in helping overall conservation efforts in Marquette County!

Thanks to all who spent their Friday evening with us for our Holiday Craft Workshop! Attendees and district staff got creative making ecofriendly DIY holiday decor such as garland, ornaments and potpourri, using natural materials like evergreen boughs, pinecones, cranberries and dried oranges, as well as recyclable materials like packing paper, old file folders and glass jars! Along with crafts, we wrapped gifts, made Christmas cards, enjoyed cookies and hot cocoa and chatted about conservation. We're already looking forward to next year's workshop!

Stop by our office to check out our selection of great gifts!

Last week, our staff and directors attended the Michigan Association of Conservation District's Annual Fall Convention in Bellaire, Michigan. This is a great opportunity to catch up and network with our conservation colleagues and partners from around the state. Staff participated in training sessions, workshops and meetings in efforts to continue to bring great conservation, education and stewardship programs to Marquette County residents.

This year, two of our Directors, Randy Gentz and Bernie Huetter received certificates of recognition for their time serving on the MCCD Board of Directors. Bernie has been on the board for 20 years and Randy for 33 years! This recognition is very well deserved, and we are grateful for their participation and guidance at MCCD! Congratulations Bernie and Randy!

The Marquette County Conservation District wrapped up another great year doing some wildlife habitat improvement work through the DNR’s Deer Habitat Improvement Project Initiative (DHIPI)! This year we worked on land owned by Lyme Timber in Forsyth Township. This property was harvested recently and was designed to enhance biodiversity and wildlife habitat among the hardwoods and pine plantations on the property. We worked with the Lake-to-Lake CISMA and a local contractor to bulldoze and prepare the logging trails for seeding, as well as planted 200 trees and shrubs (burr oak, arrowwood, and serviceberry). This property is enrolled in the Commercial Forest Program and is therefore open to public foot access and hunting.

This property is located in close proximity to deer winter yards and is used for migration routes and spring breakup feeding areas, therefore the trail seeding and tree/shrub plantings will provide a critical and sustainable food source for many forms of wildlife (not just deer!). The work we did was made possible through valuable partnerships with U.P. Whitetails of Marquette County, Lyme Great Lakes Timberlands, and the Michigan DNR. We’re excited to see how this property thrives in the coming years and encourage you to check it out if you’re in the area! Reach out to MCCD for more information about this grant program.

Want to make some wildlife improvements on your forestland? Contact Sara Kelso, the MCCD District Forester to schedule a free site visit and get some forestry and wildlife assistance with your land.

With grant funding from the US EPA and the Michigan DNR, we will be inspecting Eastern hemlock trees along the Lake Michigan shoreline during the months of December 2023 through February 2024 to look for signs of invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA). If you own property on or close to the shoreline AND have hemlock trees on your property, reach out to us as soon as possible if you would like to schedule a site visit with us. We strongly encourage you to ask your neighbors to participate as well!

HWA is an invasive forest pest from Asia that uses piercing mouthparts to create a wound in hemlock twig tissue. As the tree attempts to heal this wound, the flow of water and nutrients to developing buds is blocked, preventing new growth. Infected trees will die gradually within 4-10 years. HWA insects are very small and often hard to see, but they can be easily identified by the white woolly masses they form during the winter months on the underside of branches at the base of the needles. There are look-alikes to be aware of, therefore a site visit by our trained and certified staff is recommended for proper identification.

In Michigan, HWA has recently been found as far north as Benzie County along Lake Michigan in the Northern Lower Peninsula. It has been previously thought that UP winters would be too harsh for HWA to survive. However, considering climate change and the insect’s ability to adapt, it is becoming more and more possible that HWA could survive milder winters in the southern half of the UP. It is crucial that we catch any populations early in order to protect our hemlock forests throughout the UP!

HWA can be moved by birds and other wildlife, and on gear or equipment that has come into close contact with HWA. It can also be moved when infested branches are trimmed and disposed of, and by vehicles or equipment brushing against infested branches.

HWA is on the Michigan Invasive Species Watchlist and has not yet been confirmed in the Upper Peninsula. If you notice white, waxy material at the base of the needles on hemlock trees, take photos, note the location of the affected trees and report it to:

Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, MDA-Info@michigan.gov.

Or - use the Midwest Invasive Species Information Network (MISIN) online reporting tool.

Or - Call or email us directly at 906-251-3068 or l2lcisma@gmail.com

To prevent spread, do not remove potentially infested material from the site!

We love seeing your nature photos! In fact, we would love to share them in future newsletters; wildlife, wildflowers, native plantings, homesteading, trees, sunsets - you get the idea. If you have a photo you would like to share, please send it, with a brief description to christy.foye@macd.org and we will be happy to feature it in a future newsletter!