Archive for the ‘Entertainment’ Category

4-Mile Trail Run and 1-Mile Kids’ Fun Run

Saturday, September 30, 2017
8am-Noon
Independence Lake County Park

Are you a runner? Or a walker?  Do you like beautiful trails, fall color, and helping your favorite watershed council (that would be us) AND supporting Washtenaw County Parks? We have the event for you! The Washtenaw County Parks & Recreation Commission is partnering with the Huron River Watershed Council in the Big Foot Small Print Trail Run to support healthy and vibrant communities in Washtenaw County.

Your $35 ($40 after September 18) entry fee lets you enjoy a beautiful fall morning at Independence Lake County Park while running or walking a scenic 4-mile course. Also on offer – a 1 mile kid’s fun run/walk for children of all ages, for just $10 ($15 after September 17), so bring the whole family! Park entry fee is included in the registration for both county residents and non-residents. Sign up on the county parks website (click the “Browse Activities” link and search using keyword “run“).

“Running? Uphill both ways? Not me!” you might be saying. We need volunteers too! Contact Hannah Cooley, at cooleyh@ewashtenaw.org or (734)971-6337 x 319. Lots of fun jobs from helping with registration and packet pick-up to handing medals to racers at the finish.

Join us on the Huron River National Water Trail!

Sunday, September 24, 2017
Noon-3pm
Riverside Park (North End), Ypsilanti

Free-Family Fun!

Paddle a kayak from Frog Island Park to Ford Lake ($10). Check out river raptors. Learn the history of the Huron River in Ypsilanti from a local historian. Go on a guided nature walk with a naturalist. Hear about community efforts to restore and feature the river in Ypsilanti through RiverUp! and the Huron River Water Trial initiative. Try your hand at river fishing.

There will be kids crafts, cider and donuts and more fun river-related activities.

Ypsi Fall River Day is hosted by the Ypsilanti Parks & Recreation Commission and is free and open to the public.

For information and the schedule of events go to ypsiparks.org.

Join HRWC at the Michigan Theater, August 3rd or 5th

FOR An Inconvenient Sequel, part two to the Academy Award-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” that opened our nation’s eyes to the climate change problem a decade ago.

Thursday, August 3, 7pm
Saturday, August 5, 4:30 and 7pm
Michigan Theater, 603 East Liberty Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Ticket prices:  $10 for general public and $7.50 for Michigan Theater members, $8 for students/seniors/veterans

Get TICKETS from the Michigan Theater.

Come for a post screening talk There’s Still Time: Climate Change Solutions, August 7th

Monday, August 7
6pm – 8pm
NEW Center, 1100 North Main Street, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Free and open to the public
Please REGISTER for the talk by emailing kolsson@hrwc.org.

Join HRWC’s Watershed Ecologist Kris Olsson and Watershed Planner Rebecca Esselman for a presentation on potential climate change impacts and threats as well as hopeful and exciting trends in clean energy and community activism. Learn how a changing climate will affect the Huron River and how HRWC is working to help our watershed communities become more climate resilient.

This past March Kris traveled to Denver Colorado for “Climate Reality Leader Training” and joined the thousands of volunteers in 135 countries who have been personally trained by former Vice President Al Gore to educate the public about climate change. “I learned that while the scale of the problem is monumental, the opportunities to fix the problem are tremendous, with renewable energy costs plummeting and capacity skyrocketing. U.S. states and cities and many countries are already turning to solar, wind, and energy conservation at record rates.”

Saturday, March 4, 9am-5:30pm
Pavilion for Livestock and Agriculture Education
4301 Farm Lane, Lansing
Adults $10; Students $5; 12 and under Free

Join the Huron River National Water Trail and over 200 exhibitors and speakers at this year’s indoor show for Michigan’s outdoor enthusiasts. Its the perfect place to plan your summer adventures.

Attend a talk given by experts and authors who entertain with personal stories, photos and practical tips on camping, paddling, biking, adventure travel and more. Featured locations include Lake Superior, Thunder Bay, Isle Royale, Manitou Islands, the North Channel, the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, Canadian Shield, Northern Yukon, Cuba, Croatia, Zambia . . . and many more.

Walk the show where water and bike trail representatives, outfitters, book sellers, and wood boat artisans from across Michigan share resources and information.

From beginner to adventurer, there is something for everyone at the Quiet Water Symposium. Trust us, it is well worth the trip to Lansing!

Friday, February 24, 7pm
Michigan Theater, 603 East Liberty Street, Ann Arbor

Love rivers? Fishing? Both? Our friends at Schultz Outfitters are hosting this year’s Fly Fishing Film Tour. The spectacular locations, notable characters, unique storylines and unparalleled fishing in this year’s line up of films are guaranteed to lead you on an adventure around the globe! Check out the Tour’s Stoke Reel for a taste. Tickets available at the shop.

Need convincing? Just take a look at the photo and description for “At the End of a Rainbow” which features the Ozernaya River in a remote corner of Kamchatka in Far East Russia.

In one of the most intact eco-systems left in the Northern Pacific, rainbow trout eat mice for breakfast, and the salmon run in the hundreds of thousands. This bounty attracts two kinds of people; those who want to protect, and those who want to exploit. Rampant salmon poaching is big business on Kamchatka, and once the salmon are gone, entire eco-systems collapse. “At the End of a Rainbow” explores how fly fishing can help protect the wilderness, and celebrates the beauty and wonder of one of the most vibrant places on Earth.

When you get to the F3T, stop by the HRWC booth to learn about efforts to protect our home waters and our river’s well-known bass fishery!

We have a very large whiteboard in the conference room at HRWC, and the holidays prompted some doodling across its vast expanse. Suddenly, the Huron River was populated with all sorts of creatures having some winter fun, skating away…you know, like they do.

The scientists loved it – mostly. Just a few quibbles, really, and what struck me was that the concerns were NOT that the scene included Santa and his reindeer, a snowman, and that all the watershed animals were on skates. Oh, no. That was all fine! The two issues were:

1. the crayfish was skating forward and not backward as nature intended
2. there was a bear in the scene, and there are no bears in the watershed

The ensuing conversation, while amusing (the 2011 black bear sighting at Hudson Mills was submitted, and rejected, as evidence as it seems he/she was “just passing through”), showed the depth and breadth of scientific inquiry that is the norm at HRWC. We take a good hard look at everything, and that is to the advantage of the river, the watershed and all the creatures in it.

You just can’t get away with fake news at HRWC. A skating bear on the Huron is going to get fact-checked in all directions. A crayfish with forward momentum is simply not right, and all the

scientists on staff are going to let you know this (nicely, of course!), and then you are going to get to examine the crayfish poster (yes, we have a crayfish poster!) for information, and the conversation spirals off into what are common to the watershed (virile, northern clearwater and others) and can you eat them like crawdads (yes) and what kind of crayfish are crawdads anyway (red swamp crayfish – invasive to Michigan).

And when you have that level of examination over a cartoon crayfish, you can imagine what happens here on the more serious issues. Impacts of 1,4 dioxane on aquatic life? We are searching globally for the latest science. PAH content of “synthetic” coal tar sealants? We’re on it.

Because that’s how we do things here.

To learn more about the science behind our work, please join us on Thurs, Jan 19, 6-8pm for our Volunteer Appreciation and Season Results Presentation. Through the lens of the Huron’s many creeksheds, HRWC staff will share stories and lessons learned from our 2016 field season at this fun annual event. We will feature 2016 highlights and 2017 plans from our Bioreserve, Fish Habitat, River Bug Studies, and Water Quality programs. NEW Center, 2nd Floor, 1100 North Main Street, Ann Arbor. Register by email: jfrenzel@hrwc.org.

–Rebecca Foster, Development Associate

Celebrate Earth Day! Watch inspiring award-winning films like “eXXpedition” and meet local non-profits working together to protect the environment.

Wild & Scenic Film Festival
Date:  Thursday, April 21, 2016
Location:  Michigan Theater, 603 E. Liberty, Ann Arbor
Time:  Doors open at 6pm; films start at 6:30pm

Tickets are available online through the Michigan Theater.
$10—general admission
$8—students and seniors and donors to any of the presenting organizations
$7.50—Michigan Theater members (Gold members will not be admitted for free) and host organization members

Featured films include eXXpedition, Monarchs and Milkweed, I Heard, Soil Carbon Cowboys and HRWC’s own Osprey Return to the Huron, produced by local film makers 7 Cylinders Studio.

Motivation to take on the world’s most pressing environmental challenges often stems from a personal connection to nature and the resources involved. Wild & Scenic films speak to the environmental concerns and celebrations of our planet telling stories about the environment and outdoor adventure.

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival On Tour is a collection of films specially chosen by local hosts from the annual festival held the third week of January in Nevada City, California. Now in its 14th year, the 5-day event features over 150 award-winning films, guest speakers, celebrities, and activists. The home festival kicks-off an international tour to over 150 communities around the globe.

The Wild & Scenic Film Festival Ann Arbor is hosted by a unique partnership of six locally based environment and nature organizations – The Ecology Center, Huron River Watershed Council, Legacy Land Conservancy, Leslie Science & Nature Center, School of Natural Resources and Environment through the University of Michigan, and The Stewardship Network.

Plan your summer paddling adventures!

Algonquin canoe routes, the Georgian Bay coastline, the Grand Traverse Islands, the Northern Forest Canoe Trail, Canada’s Yukon and Teslin Rivers, Lake Superior, the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, the Huron River and more will be featured by over 30 presenters at the 21st Annual Quiet Water Symposium.

Join the Huron River Water Trail for “RiverUp! in Moving Pictures,” a screening of 4 short films, produced by HRWC with 7 Cylinders Studio that tell the story of our river’s revitalization. Talks from outdoor recreation experts on camping secrets, top backpacking treks and kayaking college campuses in Michigan, packing, portaging, safety, cycling and nature photography along with demonstrations and exhibits round out the day.

Date:  Saturday, March 5, 2016

Location: The Pavilion for Livestock and Agriculture Education
(Farm Lane, south of Mt Hope – on the campus of MSU)

Time: 9am to 5:30pm
(RiverUp! in Moving Pictures, 2pm in the Betsie Room)

Admission: Adults $10.00; Students (with ID) $5.00; Under 12 Free

Exhibitors include clubs and nature centers, handcrafted and historic watercraft, conservation and watershed groups, outfitters, liveries, and biking, hiking and water trails.

Come to QWS to plan your summer paddling adventures!

FOR MORE INFORMATION: www.quietwatersymposium.org

The Huron River Water Trail is a 104-mile inland paddling trail connecting people to the Huron’s natural environment, its history, and the communities it touches in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.

You know it. I know it. We all know it.

Nobody really wants another tie. And please don’t re-gift that fruitcake.

Shopping for a meaningful gift? Of course you are, and we have you covered. Shop with us this holiday season!

We have Paddler’s Companions, waterproof map flip books of the Huron River, for that river recreationist in your life – AND these are interesting and useful even if you don’t own a kayak or canoe. Want to float down a section of the river on an inner tube? Need to know where to park and access the river for fishing or just splashing around with the kids? Did you know the Huron is a National Water Trail? $15, and they are easy to wrap, mail or stuff in a stocking.

Are you an HRWC member? Do you want all your friends and relatives to be members? (We do.) Membership dollars help support our programs and new initiatives, adding to our ability to be responsive to issues as they arise in the watershed. You can join here, and also purchase gift memberships for all those friends and relatives. Membership levels start at $35.

For the map or history geeks (or art, or engineering, or river, or…just about any kind of geek, really) in your life, we have archival-quality reproductions of Gardner Williams’ survey maps of the Huron River, c. 1905-1908. Generously donated by Stantec engineering, and now housed at the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan, these maps are a detailed and beautiful view of the river and its surrounding landscape a century ago. The level of detail requires a large format, so these maps come in a 3 ft x 3 ft size for $110 and a 4 ft x 4 ft for $150. These maps are printed to order, so please order by December 9 for pick-up at our offices by December 22. Shipping is available for the 3 x 3 size only for an extra $10.

And now…for that impossible-to-buy-for-person. Everyone has at least one of these, right? I know I have, like, five. You can make a contribution to HRWC in their honor. Gifts to the Wilson Water Quality Fund are directed to our water quality programs that monitor river and watershed conditions to ensure science-based responses to protect the Huron. Just click the “make this a gift” box on the checkout page, and choose to donate on behalf, in honor, or in memory of that special someone.

Thank you for shopping with HRWC and supporting our river protection work in the process!

 

 

 

From guest blogger Karen Schaefer

(With apologies to real mystery writers everywhere)

The day began as any other for our Norton Creak Road Stream Crossing team—a 9:30 a.m. rendezvous at Dunkin’ Donuts to plot the day’s strategy. Sitting at our usual table,  Larry unfurled The Map, revealing twelve sites still unexplored. Sites 37 and 38 lay in a residential area. Typically, this means easy parking followed by a fairly straightforward study. A tempting target, perfect for three of us!

Little did we know, Site 38 had other plans.

Our drive to the site was uneventful. We found the cross streets within minutes of leaving our rendezvous location. Jumping out of the car, mind Ryan’s sharp eyes scouted for a culvert. He quickly identified a cement structure surrounded by trees and brush, well below road grade. So this was the much sought-after Site 38! We donned our sturdiest waders to tackle the 6-foot culvert (and to avoid the clearly visible poison ivy).

Ryan and Karen disappeared into the culvert. Amid the piles of cobble in the creek bed, they quickly determined this was Site 38’s outlet. Larry went on a search for the other end. Surely, a 6-foot cement pipe would be easy to find!

Alas, no. Foiling Larry’s best “Lewis and Clark” maneuvers, Site 38’s inlet remained shrouded in mystery.

Larry returned with a proposal to the team: Were we up for risking an in-culvert search to solve the mystery of the missing inlet? The response was unanimous.

Larry broke out the “really serious gear”: hard hats for everyone, and a light. Larry and Ryan grabbed the trusty multi-purpose poles (aka specially modified 8-foot tomato stakes). Karen held onto the data sheet and her phone (because every adventure needs pictures). She added the tape measure at the last minute; you never know what might need measuring!

Bravely, we entered the gaping mouth of the culvert outlet.

We were quickly outnumbered—and surrounded on all sides—by very large, unhappy spiders! Larry led the way, fending them off right and left. The trusty pole even worked its magic by clearing the webs. Still, despite our best efforts, some spiders managed to hitch a ride and enjoyed the trek alongside of (and on top of) us.

We made our way carefully, uncertain of what lay beyond. We were shrouded in complete darkness. Zero cell phone reception. Only the occasional drain cover provided a tiny glimpse of daylight.

The depth and muckiness of the substrate varied, fortunately never deeper than our calves. Ryan attempted to open a drain cover to get our position and determine whether escape (if necessary) would be possible; it was locked tight.

Onward we trudged. For hours, it seemed. Around a slight curve. Then two bends, each approximately 45 degrees. At one point, Karen asked Larry if he had checked the weather forecast for any flash floods. Larry assured us that he had, indeed; the forecast was perfect.

Suddenly, after what was certainly hours, substantial daylight appeared in the distance. Eureka!

Our relief at seeing “light at the end of the tunnel” quickly turned to dismay…as a trash rack covering the inlet came into view. Yes, we had found the inlet! Only to be thwarted by a grate covering the entire inlet. Except….

At the bottom was a very small opening. Narrow, with metal grate spikes projecting both top and bottom. Ryan examined it and commented he just might be able to get through. Suddenly, hope! We might discover the location of the hidden inlet after all! If only Ryan could manage to escape…

Sloooowly, carefully, Ryan slid himself over the grate….and out to safety! Well, except that he popped out into the backyard of a private residence. Karen gave Ryan her phone, knowing he’d be able to call for help should the situation turn dire.

Using his backpacking orienteering skills (and making his way carefully along property lines), Ryan located the street on which the adventure had begun. He set out on the long journey back.

Trapped inside the culvert, with no hope of escaping through the inlet, Larry and Karen determined the only way out was the same as the way in…back through spiders, webs, muck, and darkness. Realizing this was an opportunity to assess the actual culvert length (albeit from the inside rather than out), they began measuring with the tape, stepping through in increments. Holding the tape’s end, Larry walked 75 feet. Then Karen reeled in in the tape while walking toward him. They repeated this…75 feet, 30 feet….

Suddenly, Larry proposed measuring a length of culvert pipe and counting the sections. Brilliant! and much quicker.

Eventually, many 8-foot culvert sections later, Larry and Karen emerged from the darkness. They were greeted by Ryan at the culvert outlet. He had found his way back from the mysterious inlet down the street—previously hidden, but no longer a secret!

A quick nose count revealed the only casualty of the day: one trusty, multi-purpose pole (aka, the pink tomato stake). It will be greatly missed.

Success was enjoyed by all as we filled in key sections of the data form: inlet data with pics, actual culvert length (928 feet!), and even a somewhat representative site drawing. The thrill of completing the NCRSC data sheet was more than ample reward to the team who bravely faced the risks at mysterious Site 38.