FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Linda Whitlock
July 22, 2009Consumer Horticulture Coordinator
  (269) 383-8815



Connect With Nature In Southwest Michigan

Kalamazoo, Mich.- People interested in the outdoors, natural resources, conservation and the region’s environmental issues are invited to attend the Michigan Conservation Stewards Program starting in September in southwest Michigan. If you are a resident of the region, a retiree, a parent, a college student, or a young professional desiring to meet like-minded conservationists, then this program is for you!

This 40-hour course, hosted by Kalamazoo Nature Center in partnership with Kalamazoo County MSU Extension, will meet August 25 through October 13. The first session on Tuesday, August 25 will be held at Kalamazoo Nature Center. This kick-off session will include a look at conservation and ecology, and an overview of the Michigan Conservation Stewards Program. Additional evening sessions taught at Kalamazoo Nature Center on Tuesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. give hands-on learning on these topics: making decisions for natural resources, forests, grasslands, stream ecosystems and management, wetlands, agriculture and land use. There will also be a volunteer expo highlighting conservation volunteer opportunities in the multi-county area stretching throughout southwest Michigan.

Saturday field sessions are scheduled for August 29, September 19 and October 3, and run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. These will include detailed field experiences presented by professionals about Michigan’s natural features, as well as hands-on learning about plants, trees, forest ecology, prairies and invasive species, wetlands, streams and rivers in the region.

As a participant, you will get to:

  • Network with others and get to know people in your community;

  • Learn about your local resources, and how all ecosystems are connected;

  • Explore the landscape of the region as you learn about nature;

  • Experience the fun of being outdoors in nature; and

  • Be involved in improving your community and consider important local conservation issues.
Modeled after MSU Extension’s Master Gardener program, the Conservation Stewards Program starts with 40 hours of educational sessions. Those who complete the coursework are then asked to donate 40 hours of volunteer conservation service to receive their final certificate of completion as Conservation Stewards.

Instructors include MSU faculty and Extension staff members, representatives from the Michigan Natural Features Inventory, naturalists and scientists from the region, and Michigan Department of Natural Resources biologists. Additional presenters include conservation-minded people from various organizations and agencies responsible for natural resource management in the area.

The $225 registration fee for participants is due before August 14. Space is limited to the first 35 registrants. The full program brochure and registration materials are available at www.msue.msu.edu/kalamazoo.

For questions about registration, contact Karen Smeltzer at the Kalamazoo County MSUE office, 269-384-8197 (smeltze6@msu.edu). For more information about the learning experiences planned for the sessions, call Haley Breniser at 269-381-1574 (ext. 18), or Sarah Reding at 269-381-1574 (ext. 17), both at the Kalamazoo Nature Center.

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MSU Extension is an Affirmative-Action Equal-Opportunity Institution. Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, or family status.

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