Native Wildflower Plug Planting in the Huron-Manistee National Forest (Manistee County)

On the Ground, MUCC’s volunteer stewardship and habitat improvement program, will celebrate its 200th habitat improvement project in Manistee County on Saturday, May 13, 2023 from 10 AM to 3 PM.

Volunteers are invited to help us celebrate by planting more than 2,000 native wildflower plugs in a partnership project with the MDNR and USFS. The wildflower plugs planted near 6 Mile Bridge in the Huron-Manistee National Forest will support MDNR and USFS habitat management goals at an oak-pine barrens restoration site in the Cadillac-Manistee Ranger District.

This project will involve moderate physical activity including walking on uneven terrain, bending and lifting handheld power tools. All ages are welcome to attend. Registration is open to 25 volunteers. 

Project Location: Volunteers will meet at the work site on 6 Mile Bridge Road in Manistee, MI, about ¼ mile south of the 6 Mile Bridge River Access Site.

• Google Maps link: https://goo.gl/maps/yJmonxh9egJppoPd6
• Coordinates: 44.180389, -86.170750

More about the work site: The oak-pine barrens is a semi-open fire-dependent savanna community, with a vegetative structure midway between a forest and a prairie. This natural community is one of the most imperiled in the state, and it provides habitat for a variety of rare species, including dusted skipper, grizzled skipper, monarch butterfly, numerous bumblebees, eastern box turtle, red-headed woodpecker, and eastern massasauga rattlesnake. It’s also home to game species such as wild turkey, white-tailed deer, and even the occasional black bear. Participants will be planting butterflyweed, common milkweed, sand coreopsis, wild lupine, horsemint, wild bergamot, blazing star, and other species. The Forest Service will also provide an overview of the management tools used in barrens restoration and how this restoration work is helping to recover the federally Threatened eastern massasauga rattlesnake and numerous species of rare turtles.  

Please note that registration will close once we reach the limit of 25 volunteers. If you registered but can no longer attend, please email Habitat Volunteer Coordinator Kristina Kennedy at kkennedy@mucc.org.