Huron Pines AmeriCorps

12/20/2024

After 18 years of conservation service in communities all across Michigan, the Huron Pines AmeriCorps program has come to a close.

In all, 359 members served in the program, fostering environmental stewardship by engaging volunteers and students in hands-on projects that promote lasting change for our state's natural resources. They built trails and planted trees, surveyed remote landscapes for rare wildlife, installed rain gardens to support healthy water and much more, all for the sake of protecting what makes Michigan special.

As Huron Pines shifts its organizational focus, we remain immensely proud of the program’s accomplishments and all who supported its mission, many of whom now lead successful conservation careers in Michigan and beyond.

Our sincere thanks go to the staff of the Michigan Community Service Commission for supporting this program for nearly two decades, and to every member who has served for the betterment of our natural resources. We look forward to seeing you all again.

09/20/2024

Thank you for your year of service, Taylor, and best of luck to you in your future career in conservation! We'll see you out there!

08/30/2024

Nicolette Sexton is our member serving at Michigan Natural Features Inventory in Lansing. In that role, Nicolette explores far-flung corners of Michigan in search of our state's most rare, threatened and endangered species, gathering data on their populations and the health of -- and threats to -- their habitats.

Earlier this summer, Nicolette ventured to Northern Michigan to check on a known population of spotted turtles, a state threatened species. Nicolette and her colleagues found dozens of new turtles during the weeklong survey, notching the shells of each one so they can be identified when recaptured to determine their numbers.

"The second to last day of our surveys was a sunny, cool day, perfect for basking if you are a turtle," Nicolette said. "I noticed a tiny circle on top of a grass hummock and bent down to investigate. It was a hatchling spotted turtle, the first found by MNFI at this site."

By the end of the day, Nicolette found three more hatchlings, an indicator the population is doing well. Protecting sensitive wetland habitats ensures animals like spotted turtles always have a home in Michigan.

"It made me happy to see such a large, healthy population of these state-threatened turtles and to collect important data that will be used in their conservation efforts," Nicolette said. A total of 40 turtles were collected, notched and released during the week's survey.

07/31/2024

Julia Morin is serving as Imperiled Species Education & Outreach Program Coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and has enjoyed many field encounters with some of Michigan's rarest wildlife.

"As a kid, I could never choose my favorite animal," Julia said. "This carried into my academic interests in college. I was always told I liked too many things and had to narrow my focus if I wanted to become a wildlife biologist someday. I had to choose one species or taxonomic group and become an expert in it to aid conservation. I am glad I didn't listen, since it led me to my AmeriCorps position with the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

"Throughout my service term, I have been able to make a difference in conservation and engage in all sorts of meaningful work," Julia continued. "In just the past few months, I have learned a lot about imperiled species, have surveyed for karner blue butterflies, Hungerford's crawling water beetles and Eastern massasauga rattlesnakes. I also was able to band and take blood samples from bald eagle chicks to inform contaminant research and assisted with captive rearing Poweshiek skipperling butterflies before their release into the wild.

"Although these efforts are small individually, I know they are important to the recovery of endangered and threatened species," Julia concluded. "My AmeriCorps service term has given me excellent professional experience and showed me that I can have a career in wildlife biology doing a lot of different things. I definitely have a lot more favorite animals now."

06/12/2024

Here's Tyler Lancaster, our second-term member serving as Stewardship Technician at Leelanau Conservancy, transplanting pink lady's slippers to a nature preserve on the Leelanau Peninsula.

Wildflowers should typically be left alone but the pending development of this site made intervention necessary. A volunteer group affiliated with Leelanau Conservancy, called the Wildflower Rescue Committee, relocates plants from sites that are slated for construction.

"We managed to save these lady's slippers and planted them at Houdek Dunes Natural Area which has a healthy population of the native orchid already," he said.

Good save, Tyler!

06/07/2024

Katie Benedict, serving as Conservation Program Developer for the Michigan DNR Forest Resources Division in the Pigeon River Country State Forest, teaches a Girl Scout Daisy how to interpret a compass.

The young Scout and others were working to earn their "Make the World a Better Place" petals, and Benedict helped lead a program sharing how careers in conservation can help accomplish that goal.

Great job, Katie!

05/24/2024

Reflections on the Russ Mawby Signature Service Project one week ago ~

On May 17, Huron Pines AmeriCorps members, AmeriCorps members from other programs in Northern Michigan, staff from partnering organizations, and community volunteers came together for a day of service in Grayling.

This year, Huron Pines led the Northern Michigan Russ Mawby Signature Service Project to build trails, plant at the Grayling Community Garden and Crawford County Commission on Aging, paint picnic tables and a bridge at Grayling Fish Hatchery, picking up trash at multiple Adopt-a-Forest sites and more. The diverse range of projects aimed to benefit the community in various ways, from enhancing recreational opportunities to promoting environmental stewardship and beautifying public spaces.

We thank each of the 77 volunteers who took part that day, and also the Michigan Community Service Commission for supporting our efforts to build community connections in Northern Michigan.

05/08/2024

Congrats to Huron Pines AmeriCorps alum Rachel Straughen, whose efforts as an environmental educator are getting national recognition!

Rachel served with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources in Traverse City in 2018. Seeing our past members celebrating big career wins always makes us smile. Great job, Rachel!

Congratulations to GTCD's Education & Camp Director, Rachel Straughen, for being nominated and selected as the 2024 Project WILD Facilitator of the Year!

The Project WILD Facilitator of the Year awards are presented by the Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies to deserving Project WILD facilitators, designated by the Project WILD state coordinators. The award will be presented to Rachel during the awards ceremony at the annual conference, which takes place this year in San Antonio, Texas.

Project WILD is an interdisciplinary conservation and environmental education program that focuses on wildlife and habitat. The goal of Project WILD is to develop awareness, knowledge, skills, and commitment resulting in informed decisions, responsible behavior, and constructive actions concerning wildlife and the environment.

Rachel has been a facilitator since 2020 and has lead many certification workshops for formal and non-formal educators in the Traverse City area and beyond. She hopes to continue to share the opportunities Project WILD and Project Learning Tree can bring educators in the world of environmental education.

Congratulations, Rachel, on this well-deserved award!

04/24/2024

Check out this StoryMap from our members serving at Michigan Natural Features Inventory, the state's leading source of information on biodiversity for conserving Michigan's unique natural heritage.

The StoryMap documents the last seven years of contributions by Huron Pines AmeriCorps to MNFI's mission -- including documenting 4,400 new element occurrences of rare and endangered species -- and catches up with some former members to see what they're up to now.

See it here: storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/b66140dbdf1d435cadcb10e29dcd51cc

Member Impact at Michigan Natural Features Inventory

04/19/2024

Great job, Emma!

03/21/2024

Meet Taylor Shay (l) and Emily Kemp, our members serving as Conservation Technicians at Huron Pines in Alpena.

A native of Rogers City, Taylor holds undergraduate degrees in biology, ecology, and wildlife conservation law & policing from Northern Michigan University, and is currently pursuing a graduate program in Wildlife Conservation Actions through Colorado State University. Taylor worked at a wildlife rehab facility in Ecuador, and enjoys hiking and bird watching.

Emily holds Bachelor of Arts in Environment & Sustainability Studies along with minors in Global Trade & Commerce and Middle East & South Asia Studies. Emily completed an AmeriCorps VISTA service term while in N.C. working with local urban community gardens, and an AmeriCorps term in Montana in 2023. Emily is from Marshall and enjoys hiking and reading.

Taylor will be assisting Huron Pines' stewardship activities including native seed collection, invasive species control and habitat restoration projects. Emily is helping develop the Thunder Bay Watershed Management Plan to protect and improve water quality.

Welcome, Taylor and Emily!

03/20/2024

On a quest to find fairy shrimp, three of our members serving at Michigan Natural Features Inventory spent some time helping Pierce Cedar Creek Institute catch and count salamanders in a unique wetland habitat. Read more here:

huronpines.org/blog/monitoring-vernal-pools-with-huron-pines-americorps

Three Huron Pines AmeriCorps members who set out to collect fairy shrimp from vernal pools found themselves immersed in a search for salamanders in a fleeting forest wetland.