On the Ground: A Year in Review

Kristina Kennedy • September 29, 2022

During the 2021-2022 fiscal year, On the Ground volunteers showed up to improve wildlife habitat and recreational access on Michigan’s public lands. Through 22 OTG projects, 546 volunteers spent more than 1,515 hours improving 255 acres of wildlife habitat throughout the state!

In 2022, grade schools participated in 6 habitat improvement projects, making students a large portion of our volunteer base. Student volunteers put their boots to the ground to plant mast-producing trees and shrubs, install pollinator gardens, and improve grassland habitat for upland wildlife.

Over the course of the year, the OTG program was able to build upon past projects and partnerships as well as create a few new ones. Since October 2020, OTG volunteers have joined The Nature Conservancy at Petersburg State Game Area to continue work on an oak opening project by planting native blazing star plants. These continued efforts benefit game species as well as songbirds and other pollinators that rely on this unique ecosystem type.

We were also excited to foster new partnerships during the last fiscal year. This summer we partnered with Kellogg Community College to host a clean-up of the wetland area that is encompassed by Linear Path on campus. The partnership between MUCC and KCC was sparked after each organization (along with Battle Creek’s Willard Library) received generous donations from the estate of late KCC professor and conservationist, Dean Barnum. At this event, we celebrated the life and legacy of Dean and took this opportunity to collectively improve habitat in an area enjoyed by humans and wildlife alike.

Heading in to the new fiscal year, we look forward to continuing to welcome volunteers of all ages and backgrounds, consumptive and non-consumptive users of the land and anyone who wants to be an active steward for Michigan’s public lands to join us in improving wildlife habitat in our great state.

To view an interactive map featuring our completed projects or to register for any one of our upcoming projects, visit mucc.org/on-the-ground/. Please contact Habitat Volunteer Coordinator Kristina Kennedy at kkennedy@mucc.org for questions regarding the OTG program.

Recent Posts

May 2025 NRC Recap

By Justin Tomei • May 8, 2025
The Natural Resources Commission (NRC) met for their May meeting today at Lansing Community College West Campus. The commission voted to return antlered opportunities to the Independence and Liberty hunts at the May Natural Resources Commission meeting. The amendment to restore this opportunity passed after Commissioner Walters withdrew his amendment from April to only partially restore antlered opportunity during these hunts. MUCC testified for the complete restoration of antlered opportunity during these two hunts, per a member passed policy from our 2025 Annual Convention. The commission also voted on, and ultimately accepted, a proposal to allow archery antlerless take in the high snowfall zone in the Upper Peninsula. Additionally, the commission also chose to leave on the table and postpone indefinitely the order to reopen the illegally partially closed coyote season. This prevents the order from dying after today's meeting and makes it eligible for action at a later date. This amendment will remain postponed until the June meeting at the earliest.  MUCC has created the Coyote Coalition to assist in unifying the voice of conservationists in support of Proposal G. To join the Coyote Coalition, visit https://www.mucc.org/coyotecoalition . The commission did adopt proposed fall turkey regulations unanimously. The June commission meeting is Thursday, June 12 in Bay City. To ensure our natural resources remain protected and managed thoughtfully and our outdoor heritage defended, join Michigan United Conservation Clubs today: http://bit.ly/JoinMUCC .

On The Ground: Volunteers at the Annual Jack Pine Planting Day

By Olivia Triltsch • May 8, 2025
In total, volunteers improved about 6 acres of habitat and planted around 6,000 trees in this stand to continue regeneration.

On the Ground Junior: Spring Event Recap

By Katelyn Helsel • May 7, 2025
Our student volunteers have been hard at work improving wildlife habitat on public lands! MUCC’s On the Ground Junior (OTG Jr.) program, a subset of the On the Ground program, is a fully funded field trip program that brings grade-school classrooms into the outdoors to improve fish and wildlife habitat in their local communities. Through activities like native plantings, brush pile building, and invasive species removal, students gain hands-on experience with conservation and positively impact the world around them. Students also participate in educational activities like predator-prey tag to teach them about population dynamics and other natural resources concepts. So far this spring season, MUCC welcomed 69 students, teachers, and chaperones who participated in multiple OTG Jr projects with more on the way! In total, they improved over 12 acres of wildlife habitat. Read on for a recap of each OTG Jr project and see what all our awesome student volunteers have been up to. 
More Posts