Archive for the ‘Events’ Category

Volunteer to study the Huron River! We can’t do it without you.

At HRWC’s River Roundup, our long-running study of the Huron River, volunteers get to know a special place in the Huron’s tributaries, while helping us learn about the river’s health.

River Roundup is an all-age friendly event, where trained volunteers guide small teams in fieldwork to search through river samples for pollution-sensitive ‘bugs’ called macroinvertebrates, that live in our waterways. The event is followed by Insect ID Day where we work inside to identify the species found.
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Volunteer videographer: David Brown

David produced “HRWC River Roundup” from concept to creation and did all the scripting, narrating, directing, filming, music and editing. Thank you David for your support of HRWC and the Huron River!
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With Jason Frenzel, HRWC Stewardship Coordinator and Zaina Al Habash and Laurie Domaleski
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Sign Up! HRWC’s next River Roundup is Saturday, October 14, with Insect ID Day following on Sunday, October 29.

Ypsilanti turns to the river.

Enjoy our new video featuring the recent creation of Ypsilanti’s Frog Island Park mural by artist Mary Thiefels.

This waterfront mural is part of a public + private river access improvement project. Over two years, local volunteers and businesses renovated the canoe and kayak launch with support from HRWC and City of Ypsilanti. The renovations reflect Ypsilanti’s distinction as a Trail Town on the Huron River National Water Trail, a 104-mile inland paddling trail that connects people to the river’s natural environment, its history, and the communities it touches in Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.
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Produced by 7 Cylinders Studio
Director: Donald Harrison
Editing: Sydney Friedman
Post Production: David Camlin
Camera & Audio: Donald Harrison
Featuring: Mary Thiefels, Anne Brown, Sam Brown, Robby Borer, Jasmine Rogan
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Special thanks to RiverUp! partners: BC Contractors, Bill Kinley, City of Ypsilanti, Depot Town DDA, Margolis Landscaping, Walter J. Weber Jr. Family, Washtenaw County Convention & Visitors Bureau.

See the Mural in Person!

Join us for Ypsi Fall River Day on Sunday, September 24, Noon-3pm at Riverside Park. At Noon, “Walk to Frog Island Park” with Elizabeth Riggs HRWC’s Deputy Director. Elizabeth will share the new mural and improvements at the Frog Island Park launch and community efforts to restore and feature the river in Ypsilanti through RiverUp! and the Huron River Water Trail initiative.

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.”

Invite me to speak at your next community meeting or event!

This past March I 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 traveled to Denver Colorado for “Climate Reality Leader Training” from the Climate Reality Project.  There 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.

I would love the opportunity to share what I have learned throughout the Huron River watershed! I am available to give the famous Al Gore slide presentation (there are long and short versions) to town halls, club meetings, school groups, or any kind of event or gathering. I can customize the presentation to fit your timing.

To schedule a talk please call or email me, Kris Olsson, at (734) 769-5123 x 607.

The Next Big Action for Climate will be the People’s Climate March this Saturday, April 29! Get to Washington, D.C. or find a local sister march like Detroit or Ferndale to attend.

New resources and training for waterfront (river and lake) property owners.

Pleasant Lake, Freedom Township, by Lon Nordeen

Michigan Shoreland Stewards provides recognition for lakefront property owners who are protecting the waterquality and ecosystems of inland lakes through best practices. These include reducing fertilizer use, maintaining septic systems, creating fish habitat with woody debris and native aquatic plants, and using native trees, shrubs and wildflowers to capture runoff and prevent erosion. The free web-based questionnaire is designed to guide you through the practices and help you determine how to achieve Gold, Silver or Bronze status. Qualifying properties get a certificate and a sign. Many of the practices can be adapted for riverfront properties.

Wisconsin’s Healthy Lakes website includes five simple and inexpensive best practices that improve habitat and water quality on your lakeshore property. Factsheets, technical guidance and detailed how-to information for creating fish habitat at the water’s edge and on using native plant buffers, diversion, rock infiltration and rain gardens to capture and clean runoff. Most practices apply to riverfront properties.

Upcoming Workshops

Sat, March 25, 2017. Protecting Your Shoreline: A Workshop for Inland Lakefront Property Owners, Michigan State University Extension, Oakland County Executive Office Building Conference Center, Waterford, Michigan. For property owners interested in creating, restoring and managing natural shorelines. This workshop is designed to educate on natural erosion control methods and will discuss techniques for using natural landscaping along the shoreline for erosion control and habitat while maintaining the aesthetic value of the lakefront. Register by March 22.

Fri-Sat, April 21-22, 2017. 56th Michigan Lake and Stream Associations Annual Conference, “Bridging the Resource Gaps: Enhancing the Ability of Lakefront Communities to Prevent and Manage Aquatic Invasive Species,” Crystal Mountain Resort, Thompsonville, Michigan. The conference will provide participants with the knowledge, information, and ideas to improve their lakefront community’s ability to prevent and/or manage aquatic invasive species. Learn more about the latest efforts to control invasive mussel populations, the status of starry stonewort in Michigan waters, purple loosestrife management initiatives, and the efforts of the Michigan Swimmers Itch Partnership. MiCorps Cooperative Lakes Monitoring Program will also hold its annual volunteer training at the MLSA Conference, on Friday.

In the last 2 months I’ve been asked a lot about my thoughts on sustainability and climate going forward. At a recent climate rally I shared what we do best at HRWC—the climate science and trends, and what people can do.

Here is a synopsis of my comments:

For 50 years our job has been to study and protect the Huron River, which runs right through many communities, including Ann Arbor. We have 25 years of data about this ecosystem. And the data confirms what we’ve seen this February. We have a migrating climate. Days like this are what we would have expected to see in Kentucky 20 years ago. Within 50 years our seasons will feel more like Oklahoma. This has massive implications for our natural ecosystems and our economy, and our quality of life!

So let me tell you about what our science shows us about Michigan today:

• It’s warmer. Annually by 2 degrees F; by 2070 an increase of 3.5 to 6 degrees.
• Today, the growing season, or the frost-free season, has gotten longer by 9 days. In the future, it could increase by 1-2 months.
• Today, Michigan gets more rain and snow—an 11% increase. In Ann Arbor 24% more.
• The strongest storms have become more intense and more frequent. These rain storms are so heavy they overwhelm our storm sewers, our dams, and our wastewater treatment plants.

But, that’s facts and figures, let me tell you a couple of stories about how that affects us all.

• People might remember that three years ago, a rain caused flooding in our watershed and in particular, on the UM campus. It was so intense and with so much water, students kayaked down the East University Street.
• HRWC researches the river. Every January, we send about 100 volunteers out, up and down the river, to collect Stoneflies. Stoneflies are little bugs that are sensitive to changes and pollution, so they tell us how healthy the river is. Two years ago we had to cancel because of the extreme cold. The volunteers couldn’t break the thick ice to get in to the river. This year, we had the opposite problem: our volunteers could not get in the river in certain places due to high flows from a 50 degree thaw. We heard from volunteers that they were already seeing stoneflies that had hatched rather than in their larval stage. This means that when the fish start spawning in April, they won’t have as many stoneflies to eat….that damages the entire aquatic ecosystem.

So we’ve had an extremely warm February, but these unexpected extremes should now be expected.

So what can we do about this? Engage, engage, engage. I hear from people day in and out that they are frustrated and yearning to take action. We need big change; to change the way we operate major infrastructure systems of this country—transportation, energy, stormwater, housing, waste, and food.

As somebody who has spent my career working on environmental issues, here’s what I find effective: 1. Take individual steps on your own and with your family; 2. Build connections with people (your colleagues, elected officials, friends, neighbors) to work on issues at a larger scale.

Stand up against the things you don’t want (a weaker EPA, the Dakota pipeline, Line 5), but at the same time take actions to create the things you do.

There’s lots of things we can do as individuals. We also have elected officials, business, and government employees, and it’s important to do things collectively and scale them up.

• To change our transportation systems, Take the bus—and advocate for robust public transit;
• To change our stormwater systems, Put in a rain garden or rain barrel—and work with neighbors to push your university or town to install better rain capture systems on roads, parks, and rooftops;
• To change our energy system, Put in solar—and help your elected officials pass tax incentives and ease of permitting for alternative energy; and
• To improve our housing system, Live near your work or school—and encourage affordable housing so others can too.

Finally, it’s important to volunteer—engage in your community, sit on a board or commission. This is tough but necessary work. This is where change is made.

In my work as Director of HRWC, I bring very different people together to protect something we all love, the Huron River. I do that by talking to everyone who plays a part—farmers, drain commissioners, hunters, anglers, politicians, scientists, and homeowners. We’re all really different people with different political perspectives. We don’t always agree, but we find ways to make real change. Because all these people work together, the river is cleaner than it’s been in 50 years. It’s that steady engaged work that makes a difference and gives me hope.

Go get involved, take up the challenge, and let’s get to work!

Here are some of our projects that exemplify how our partnerships address climate change.

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.

The Ozernaya River, Russia. Credit: Rolf Nylinder.

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!