On The Ground
Mark Your Calendar for 2020 Chainsaw Safety Training
Written by Makhayla LaButte, MUCC Habitat Volunteer Coordinator In March 2020, MUCC’s On the Ground (OTG) program will once again host its annual chainsaw safety training. Please see below for dates, locations, and general class information. These classes are designed for beginners wishing to improve their skills, and there is no sawyer certification provided. Priority…
Read MoreHappy Thanksgiving from the OTG Program
Written by Makhayla LaButte, MUCC Habitat Volunteer Coordinator It’s that wonderful time of year when family and friends gather to celebrate and give thanks, and I am looking forward to going home to the Upper Peninsula to do exactly that in the coming week. However, before I depart from the office, I want to take…
Read MoreState Game Area Highlight: Gratiot-Saginaw SGA
Written by Makhayla LaButte, MUCC Habitat Volunteer Coordinator Comprised of nearly 17,000 acres, the Gratiot-Saginaw State Game Area (SGA) is one of the largest managed wildlife areas in the Lower Peninsula. During its acquisition by the State of Michigan in 1939, much of the land that now makes up the Gratiot-Saginaw SGA was agricultural fields…
Read MoreOTG Program Reaches 3,000 Volunteers
Written by MUCC Habitat Volunteer Coordinator, Makhayla LaButte Following an On the Ground (OTG) Jr. event with Morrice Elementary on Wednesday, October 30, the OTG program has reached another volunteer milestone. To date, more than 3,000 volunteers have improved wildlife habitat on public land across the state of Michigan. This milestone comes less than six…
Read MoreOTG Jr: Morrice Elementary Volunteers at Rose Lake SGA
Written by MUCC Habitat Volunteer Coordinator, Makhayla LaButte On Tuesday, October 29 and Wednesday, October 30, two groups containing 53 fifth grade students, teachers and chaperones from Morrice Elementary removed large groves of invasive autumn olive and other woody brush from a portion of the Rose Lake State Game Area. The project site was the…
Read MoreGrand Traverse Academy Volunteers for Wildlife with OTG Jr.
By Makhayla LaButte On Wednesday, October 23, 70 students, teachers and chaperones from the Grand Traverse Academy improved wildlife habitat in the Traverse City State Forest by planting native shrubs in select openings. DNR Wildlife Biologist Steve Griffith began the project by providing students with an introduction to the history and management of the state…
Read MoreBehind the Scenes of MPHI
Pheasant season opens in the Lower Peninsula on Sunday, October 20, and thanks to the Michigan Pheasant Hunting Initiative (MPHI), there will be rooster releases at 11 Southern Michigan state game areas throughout the fall season in 2019 and 2020. The legislation that made this pheasant release possible was Public Act 618 of 2018, which…
Read MoreOTG Jr. Partners with Lenawee ISD in Chelsea
On Wednesday, October 9, 21 students and three chaperones from Lenawee ISD came out to the Michigan Out-of-Doors (MOOD) Youth Camp in Chelsea to help improve native wildlife and pollinator habitat on camp property. The MOOD Youth Camp is located at Cedar Lake and is part of the Waterloo Recreation Area, and every summer hundreds…
Read MoreHow OTG Benefits Sportsmen and Sportswomen
Are you a hunter, trapper or angler in Michigan? If so, then be sure to thank an On the Ground (OTG) volunteer for the time and hard work they have dedicated to ensuring your favorite game species or sportfish has the quality habitat it needs to thrive. This year, the OTG program impacted 512 acres…
Read MoreOTG: Looking Back and Moving Forward
Now that the summer field season for OTG has concluded, it is time to look back and reflect on the completed 2019 season and begin developing goals and projects for the upcoming 2020 season. However, as I was entering the data into the program, it became clear that our OTG program had a much bigger…
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