03/13/2026
HOWL’s Story: 2003–2026
Twenty-three years of outdoor wildlife education — from the California Redwoods Forest to The Forests of Northern Michigan
🌲 CHAPTER ONE · CALIFORNIA · 2003–2017
2003: HOWL Is Born in the Redwoods
Sarah Brummel founds Hands On Wildlife Learning in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California. The mission: give children hands-on positive experiences in wild places to create stewards for our earth.
2003–2013: After-School Programs & Summer Camps
Hundreds of California children encounter redwood salamanders, banana slugs, and Pacific tree frogs for the first time. K–5 after-school wildlife education and summer camps flourish in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Programs Grow — Curiosity Spreads
HOWL expands its California programs, deepening its curriculum around coastal wildlife, redwood ecology, and hands-on field science.
🌍 CHAPTER TWO · TANZANIA · 2013–2017
2013- HOWL Reaches Kilimanjaro
HOWL launches conservation education outreach in Tanzania — connecting students to East African wildlife at their schools. Children taught one another about animals and conservation efforts.
2014-2017- East African Student Safari Trips
Four Years of annual Tanzania expeditions teaching children to read wildlife behavior— elephants, lions, wildebeest, and the great migration. Students visited National Parks for the day to observe animals up close! HOWL learns something that will carry forward: wonder is universal.
🍂 CHAPTER THREE · THE Rest Phase· 2018-2025
2018- California Chapter Closes
After fifteen years in California, HOWL's California programs wind down. The curriculum, the mission, and the founder's conviction — all of it travels east to East Africa.
2018-2025- Seven Years of Hibernation
Director was teaching in Tanzania at UWCEA, then raising a child in Northern Michigan.
🦉 CHAPTER FOUR · MICHIGAN · 2026 – NOW
January 2026: Re-Incorporated in Ga***rd, Michigan
HOWL Nature Co. (Hands On Wildlife Learning, Inc.) re-incorporates as a Michigan 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 41-4756603, based in Ga***rd.
2026: Planning of Six Programs
After-school wildlife education · Class field trips to the Forest· Teaching Outside Educator PD· Personal Teacher Forest Days · HOWL Pack nature curriculum kits · HOWL Tanzania expeditions.
2026: Nature in a Box Kits
HOWL Pack nature curriculum kits ship to northern Michigan classrooms, families, and libraries. Five themed kits covering Michigan Birds, Mammals & Tracking, Insects & Pollinators, Water & Wetlands, Plants in the Forest. Every kit includes a nature journal.
2026 and beyond!
The Chapter We Are Writing Right Now
HOWL is building an outdoor wildlife education network in Northern Michigan. It is time! The elk are in the pines. The loons are on the lake. The hawks are overhead.
2028- A Look Ahead: HOWL Tanzania Returns
HOWL Tanzania is reborn under the Michigan organization — annual Serengeti expeditions with a Kilimanjaro option, open to families, students and teachers. Two of the wildest places on earth, connected by one mission.
23 YEARS OF PROGRAMS
2 CONTINENTS
6 PROGRAMS taking root in 2026
1 MISSION "Every Child Deserves Nature."
HOWL Nature Co. · Ga***rd, Michigan · EIN 41-4756603 ·
