MSU's 2024 Conservation Stewards Program is a wrap!
By Georgia Peterson, Michigan State University Extension
Is using herbicides always bad for conservation activities? Is logging the primary reason for tree death in Michigan? Is it always best to let nature take its course? These questions and many others are main conversation points during MSU Extension's Conservation Stewards Program (CSP). The program celebrated over two decades of engaging residents in learning about and practicing natural resource conservation by expanding to four new locations in 2024: Berrien (far southwest), Macomb (southeast), Newaygo (west central), and Marquette (central upper peninsula) Counties.
The CSP is structured around 8 weeks of instruction, beginning with Michigan?s natural resource history and ecosystem concepts, and following up with a focus on lake, stream, wetland, forestland, and grassland ecosystem structure, function, and management. Introductory material for each topic area is presented online via the Desire2Learn platform. Participants then meet for a weekly 2.5-3 hour session, plus 2 field sessions that are held on various Saturdays. Field sessions are designed to reinforce concepts discussed in the classroom, giving participants hands-on experiences that are led by professionals in their respective disciplines.
A cornerstone of the program includes capstone projects, where participants take what they learn in the classroom and field sessions and apply it to real-world conservation needs in their own communities. Projects are either pre-set by conservation partners, or something the participants themselves want to pursue. All capstone projects are required to be conducted on publicly accessible lands.
A central tenet of the program is to foster lasting partnerships between MSU Extension and local organizations and agencies who share a desire to promote and sustain conservation efforts in their local areas. The CSP forges relationships before program delivery begins, gathering input from interested community partners about their particular needs. MSU coordinators then work with those partners to tailor delivered content using local experts that showcase work currently happening in that community. The program also helps to identify priority projects and organizations who are willing to work with participants as mentors on capstone projects.
Preliminary post-program feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. A majority of participants who have responded to the feedback survey felt that the in-person sessions, the variety of educational locations, and opportunities to make connections with local organizations exceeded their expectations. Increases in self-assessed knowledge about Michigan?s ecosystems, conservation history, and current management approaches substantially increased after participating in the program. Nearly all respondents to-date also said that the online material was easy to access.
Of the 95 who registered, for the program, 84 met all requirements to receive a certificate of completion. What sorts of impacts can we anticipate from the new program graduates? With 48 partner organizations engaged across the four cohorts, participants have pursued 84 different conservation projects, including:
- Community service: Assisting in trail closures to protect critical dunes, rare plant surveys, and invasive species control at Michigan State Parks;
- Community science: Mapping vernal pools, inventorying turtles, beavers, plants and trees;
- Public outreach/education: Developing educational signage and visitor brochures, outreach (oak wilt, freshwater mussels, invasive species), installation of native plant, rain garden and pollinator gardens at schools, nature centers, etc.;
- Restoration: Post-dam removal restoration at a township park, assisting local conservation groups with river habitat restoration; and
- Research: Studying effects of light pollution on UP ecosystems and human health.
Plans are already underway to offer the CSP in seven planned cohorts for 2025, including Wayne, St. Clair, Oakland, Washtenaw, West Michigan (Barry/Kalamazoo Counties), Newaygo, and Grand Traverse. Conversations are also considering bringing CSP to a brand-new location in Gogebic County in the Western Upper Peninsula.
