Plant native, preserve nature
Join the hundreds of Michiganders supporting local conservation through our fall and spring seedling sales. The Michigan native tree species in our catalogs are featured alongside a variety of grasses and wildflower blends, each carefully selected to match Benzie County's ecology. Through these sales, you are not only supporting the Benzie Conservation District, but are also:
- Offsetting tree die-offs and deforestation
- Sheltering songbirds and other wildlife
- Bolstering native biodiversity
- Feeding local pollinators
- Participating in climate change research with ATREP species
Spring 2024
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Introducing the Neighbor Network!
Need some help planting all of your seedlings? Love planting trees but don’t need anymore yourself? Then this new program is for you!
The Neighbor Network is designed to help connect landowners with volunteers to help them plant their tree and shrub seedlings. Interested participants are invited to attend a special meetup where you can meet fellow participants and arrange group planting projects together. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 at 6:00pm in the Mills Community House (891 Michigan Ave, Benzonia, MI 49616).
How it works:
The Neighbor Network is designed to help connect landowners with volunteers to help them plant their tree and shrub seedlings. Interested participants are invited to attend a special meetup where you can meet fellow participants and arrange group planting projects together. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 at 6:00pm in the Mills Community House (891 Michigan Ave, Benzonia, MI 49616).
How it works:
- Sign up: Interested participants, both volunteers and landowners, should start by filling out the registration form below. It asks for general contact information and serves as your registration for a required training/networking event on April 2, 2024. Please fill out the form even if you are interested but unable to attend the event on April 2nd. We will be reaching out to interested volunteers with future opportunities.
- Attend the networking session: Please join us on April 2, 2024 at the Mills Community House. There, you will develop a shared understanding of the best tree-planting techniques, then have the opportunity to meet fellow members and arrange planting dates. Benzie Conservation District staff will help facilitate these conversations and answer questions.
- Coordinate planting events: Volunteers and hosting landowners will coordinate planting dates and details amongst themselves. The tree planting projects are not Conservation District events, but rather, we are fostering this Neighbor Network community in the spirit of volunteerism for a brighter future.
If you have any questions about the Neighbor Network, please contact us: info@benziecd.org or 231-882-4391.
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Planting Trees for Climate Resiliency with the Assisted Tree Range Expansion Project
During our spring sale, you can find a variety of species local to our region, as well as some that are more common in lower parts of Michigan. Those seedlings are part of the Assisted Tree Range Expansion Project (ATREP) line and are strategically chosen to support climate change research in our region.
ATREP is a citizen science initiative developed in response to the ongoing and impending impacts of climate change felt in our region. Simply defined, assisted range expansion is, “the human assisted movement of species to areas just outside their established range in response to climate change, facilitating or mimicking natural range expansion.” This project involves private landowners and community groups in reforestation using tree species where the native ranges reach their upper limits in southern to middle lower Michigan. By establishing species that are predicted to thrive in our region, you can help to increase ecosystem diversity, offset widespread tree die-offs, and ultimately improve the resilience of our future forests. |
Maddy Baroli, ATREP project manager; and Kama Ross, former BCD forester, explain more about ATREP.
For other ATREP questions, please contact District Forester Ellie Johnson at ellie.johnson@macd.org |