Marshall Area Conservation Corps

05/29/2026

With spring quickly leaning toward summer, and dry spells likely upon us, we are curious to hear if you would like to lend some additional care to the 100 trees we planted earlier this spring (e.g., watering some of them, occasionally).

If your response is, "Why yes, I would love to help!", 1) that is a great response, and 2) please complete the Google Form linked below. From there, we will be in touch with next steps!

Thanks in advance for offering up your time and support!

Thank you for your interest in continuing to offer care to the trees we planted as part of the Greening of Marshall spring planting! We look forward to hearing how you would like to help. Once you have submitted the form, we will be touch shortly with next steps!

05/06/2026

05/06/2026

Yesterday (Tuesday, May 5th), the MACC board had the special opportunity to partner with the Calhoun Conservation District to bring new life back to an oak savanna.

In just one day, we planted roughly 150 oak tree saplings—Burr Oak, Red Oak, and White Oak—laying the foundation for a Oak Savanna. Along the drain site, 25 native Highbush Cranberry shrubs were added to help stabilize the bank and protect it from further erosion.

Thanks to a controlled burn completed last month, the land was ready for renewal. With the savanna open and manageable, it created the perfect moment to plant—and the ecosystem is already thriving.

The site was alive with native species: thousands of goldenrod, along with Bee Balm, Spotted Bee Balm, False Sunflower, and Golden Alexander. In the woodland areas, we were surrounded by Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Mayapple, and Trillium—a beautiful reminder of what healthy ecosystems look like.

This is what conservation in action looks like.
The Calhoun Conservation District is a dedicated group working to protect and restore native landscapes while educating the community on why this work matters—not just for the environment, but for all of us.

We’re incredibly grateful to collaborate with such a committed group and to continue building momentum through partnerships like this. This is only the beginning—we can’t wait to keep growing this work together. 🌱

05/04/2026

Thank you to everyone that made this happen!

🌱 As we wrap up our appreciation for everyone involved in the Greening of Marshall, we pause to reflect on the many hands, countless hours, and shared passion that make this event such a success.

From early plans taking shape on cold January days to the joy of planting, supporting, and celebrating together, this effort is a true testament to what a community can accomplish. Thank you to everyone who helped bring this vision to life—your dedication continues to make Marshall greener and stronger. 💚

Interested in having a tree planted in the future? 👇https://www.cityofmarshall.com/formcenter/general-forms-4/tree-planting-request-51

05/03/2026

MACC just reached 1,000 followers this week!!
💚🌳🌿

What started as a small effort to care for and protect the natural spaces around our town has grown into something truly meaningful—and it’s all because of you!

Every follow, share, conversation, and helping hand makes a difference. Together, we’re building a community that values conservation, protects local ecosystems, and believes in leaving this place better than we found it for future generations.

This milestone isn’t just a number—it’s 1,000 people who care.

Thank you for being part of this journey. The work continues, and we’re just getting started! 🌎✨

If you’ve been here a while, we’d love to hear from you! —what inspired you to join us? Were you part of the organization in the past? If so what's your favorite memory?

05/02/2026

Hello Marshall community! The MACC will be partnering up at Holt Rice Creek to plant Golden Tamarack trees! The trees will act as support in the river beds to prevent erosion, and also serve as shade, to protect the spring creeks.

The spring provides cooling water from deep within the ground, to help cool the river, that leads into trout streams, and provide habitat for trout , and other native fauna. Since we are located on the most extreme cusp of cold-water streams, providing shade to springs with our tree planting efforts, we can mitigate the effects of climate change in the future.

If anyone would like to participate in the tree planting portion, feel free to message us! You will need waders. If needed, we may have some available to borrow.

We'll be building fishing line collection tubes in partnership with Kalamazoo Valley Trout Unlimited, to be utilized not only at Holt-Rice Creek, but also Hart's Lake, Stewart's Landing, and Ketchum Park!

Invasive species removal and trail maintenance efforts will be led by the Calhoun Conservation District. There will be an awesome team to learn from about trail maintenance, identifying invasive species, concerns of invasives impact on our native environment, and hands-on experience on how to properly remove invasive plants!

Lunch will be provided by the Calhoun Conservation District! 🥪

A huuuge shout out to Jon Ranger, for his donation of his Golden Tamarack trees!

🌿💛🌿💛

04/26/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined us to plant 100 trees in Marshall this morning! The Greening of Marshall was a huge success 💪🏻🥳 Today's efforts allowed us to expand the Marshall tree canopy's biodiversity with the planting of several native species. We couldn't have gotten all 100 in the ground without the help of the community. We had people of all ages join the fun - from 1 year old to over 80! The Greening of Marshall would not have been possible without these wonderful people showing up in full force!

Thank you to the City of Marshall, MI - Government for their efforts in making this happen. We already can't wait for the next Greening event!

04/19/2026

A big round of thanks to Kings Equipment for helping us get 100 holes dug around town prior to our Greening of Marshall planting event on Saturday, April 25th! And a special thanks to Franklin Irish, too, for helping coordinate this effort.

Friendly reminder to sign-up to volunteer, using our volunteer form: https://forms.gle/xQAUsEE3n7tDAbhe9

We're one week away from making Marshall a little greener!

04/17/2026

The MACC met with 'What's Brewing Marshall" Thursday April 16th. Jamie and Ian discussed the upcoming (Saturday, April 25th) "Greening of Marshall event, planting 100 native trees in the City.

Holt/Rice Creek Stewardship Day (Saturday, May 16th), invasive species removal, tree planting, and more.

They also discussed partnering with The Calhoun Conservation District, and getting volunteers together for a tree planting project (coordinated by the Calhoun Conservation District) in Jenney Woods. They plan to get 100 oak trees in the ground, to restore an oak savannah. We will be planting in May or June (date TBD).

Jamie Ranger (member MACC board and Kalamazoo River Watershed Council/ Calhoun Conservation District employee) discussed our new partnership with U of M’s SEAS that she recently established. She mentioned upcoming events, and students of U of M expected presence at tabling events, and other community engagements.

Many good things to come! We'd love to have you as a volunteer if you're interested, or your hear your input at our upcoming meeting Wednesday, April 22nd at Marshall District Library!

Pictured left to right in attendance at "Brewing of Marshall" Thursday morning April 16th.

Jamie N. Ranger (Chair of Development/Fundraising), Morgan Huggett (Administrative Director), Ian Campbell (MACC President)

04/17/2026

Hey Marshall!

Do you or someone you know, have kayaks or canoes sitting around that they no longer utilize, and would like to donate to a really great cause?

We'll pick up! No drop off necessary.
Contact Jamie Ranger with the Kalamazoo River Watershed Council, and she'll make arrangements to have them picked up!
Email: [email protected]

Kayaks will be utilized for environmental projects along the Kalamazoo River, and other community Kayaking events in the future! We appreciate your donations! 🚣🏻‍♀️

01/24/2026

As you may have noticed, our name has changed!

Why the shift from "Committee" to "Corps"? Simply put: Committees talk, Corps acts. While we value and encourage thoughtful dialogue, our hearts are in the dirt, the water, and everything that grow in it. We are a crew acting together—inspired by the spirit of the CCC—eager to get dirt under our fingernails and make a difference in the Marshall area.

Our goal for 2026 is simple: More people taking action = more trees, more birds, more bees, and a healthier community for all. When wild things thrive, so do we!

Whether you’re a long-time supporter or looking to get involved for the first time, we hope to see you at the MACC January Meeting, which will kick off with our Annual Meeting and then transition to our regular monthly meeting.