Want Better Public Land Hunting? Volunteer for Wildlife Habitat!
Michigan United Conservation Clubs is organizing two volunteer opportunities in April to improve wildlife habitat on public hunting lands as part of the Outdoor Life award-winning On the Ground program. We're looking for volunteers in southern and northern Michigan for projects that will provide food and thermal cover for game species.
On April 12, we need 15 to 20 volunteers with chainsaws to hinge-cut trees in the Grayling State Forest north of Mio. Hinge-cutting keeps the trees alive so that their tops are closer to the ground, where they provide food for snowshoe hares and whitetail deer.
The next Saturday, April 19, we need 15 to 25 volunteers to plant white spruce trees at the Crane Pond State Game Area. White spruce and other conifers provide thermal cover to shield deer and other game from snow and wind.
Volunteer projects like these are great ways not only to improve game habitat on public land, but to learn techniques for improving habitat on your own land or teaching youth or scout groups about the important connection between conservation and our outdoor heritage. All volunteers will receive a free t-shirt, lunch, and a subscription to the digital edition of Michigan Out of Doors Magazine (requires email).
Click here to sign up!
Michigan On the Ground (OTG) is a partnership between Michigan United Conservation Clubs and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to build a conservation community through volunteer fish and wildlife habitat improvement projects. Outdoor Life Magazine awarded On the Ground their inaugural Open Country Award in 2014 for improving public access hunting habitat with volunteers. Email Drew YoungeDyke, MUCC Grassroots Manager, at
[email protected] or call (517) 346-6486 with questions or to volunteer.
On the Ground is supported by grants from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, Consumers Energy Foundation, Enbridge Energy Partners, the Healing Our Waters Coalition, and the Community Reinvestment Fund, which is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development Sustainable Communities program to the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission as part of the Mid-Michigan Program for Greater Sustainability and is administered by the Mid-Michigan Environmental Action Council.