Conservation district foresters in Michigan get the opportunity to educate the public in many different ways, including through educational outreach events. This winter, the Iron Baraga Conservation District (IBCD) partnered with many other agencies across the state and the Women Owning Woodlands Network (WOW) to bring learning opportunities to different areas across the state. The WOW Network strives to bring topical, accessible, and current forestry information to woodland owners and forest practitioners through news articles, blogs, events, resources, and personal stories. They support women in forest leadership, women who manage their own woodlands, and all who facilitate the stewardship of forests.

After partnering up with many other conservation districts, Michigan State University (MSU), Michigan Technological University (MTU), the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), and others the IBCD was able to bring statewide field events to Michigan. The district and its partners decided to change the slogan to “Women Owning and Appreciating Woodlands” to ensure everyone felt welcome to attend, even if they don’t own any forest land.

In order to spread the word about the event and pass information along to those unable to attend a field day, the district offered a webinar. Following the webinar, field days were scheduled for any and all who were interested. The field days covered many different topics and activities, no two were the same.

The field day IBCD hosted was at Michigan Tech’s Ford Forest in Alberta, MI. The Ford Forest is about 3700 acres, owned by MTU, and used as a classroom for students studying natural resource professions and for ongoing research at the university. Two of MTU’s professors joined IBCD at this event to talk about wildlife habitat and ongoing research on the Ford Forest focused on climate change adaptation. During this event, attendees walked through many different forest stands and research sites. Wildlife habitat, forest health, silviculture, timber harvesting, and climate change were the main points of discussion.

While the adults walked around to learn more about forest management, kids were welcome to participate in activities, including building a bird feeder, a scavenger hunt, and more with the Women in Natural Resources Club at MTU. At the end of the walk, attendees enjoyed coffee, hot chocolate, and cookies! The public was welcome to hang around and talk with any of the Natural Resource professionals in the area. Lots of connections were made and knowledge obtained!

This is just one example of the many amazing events conservation districts in Michigan put on. If you are interested in hearing about events in your area, contact your local conservation district or follow their Facebook page!