Spring Event Season Has Sprung

With mid-April comes snow rain showers and Earth Day events. Last week on the 13th, Camp Director Max Bass headed down to Chelsea to participate in their spring expo. Max was down in camps back yard trying to recruit campers and staff for the 2019 season.  Historically this event has been a great spot to recruit our day camp attendees.  Day camp is the smallest sliver of our program; we only run it for one week so it is limited to 20-day camp slots.  This event takes place at the Chelsea Community Center and has a good turnout year after year. While Max was passing out camp brochures and TRACKS magazines, he was also teaching about Michigan mammals and talking about the improvements planned at Cedar Lake this season.

While Max was down in Chelsea, I was in Ludington at an earth day event hosted by A Few Friends for the Environment of the World (AFFEW). This group began in 1990 and has been a very active organization in Mason and Lake Counties over the last nearly 30 years. According to the group, “AFFEW has held numerous presentations on environmental concerns, workshops, Earth Day Celebrations and balanced forums for the community. AFFEW has worked with many businesses, agencies, schools, and citizens in projects such as dune grass planting, Christmas tree and battery recycling, cleaning Ludington beaches, eradication of invasive plant species, river monitoring, household hazardous waste collection day, and recycling.” You can find more information about this group on their website https://www.affew.org/.

MUCC was the only organization focused on hunting, fishing and trapping at the event. Some of the event organizers felt that for an environmentally focused event hunters, anglers and trappers should be highlighted for their contributions to the environment and Michigan’s natural resources. During the event there were several guest speakers, the John Ball Zoo was in attendance with an animal program, there was a speaker on using green householder cleaning products, and there were a few garden programs with a focus on native plants and pollinator habitat.

Beyond having the chance to host a booth, I also was one of the afternoon speakers.  My talk focused on who MUCC is and what we do throughout the state.  I also highlighted our recent economic study and the impact that hunting and fishing have on the economy in Michigan.  Finally, I talked about the importance of our On the Ground program. I highlighted how it gives people the chance to make a positive difference for habitat in their area, as well as brings people from different user groups and backgrounds together to work for the greater good of habitat improvement.

Visit https://mucc.org/on-the-ground/ to see what upcoming habitat projects may be happening near you.

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