| Volunteers
SWMLC volunteers provide immeasurable assistance to our conservation efforts, allowing us to broaden our resources. There are many different ways to volunteer, depending on your area of interest.
Volunteers are needed for stewardship work at preserves (see workdays below), lopping brush and pulling invasive plants; conducting species inventories; setting up and staffing information tables for events; archiving photographs at the SWMLC office; stuffing envelopes for mailings; and taking photographs at preserves, easements and at special events.
Volunteers also service on committees such as Outreach Team, Stewardship Team, and Land Protection Team, or on our Board of Directors.
This is only a partial list of ongoing activities requiring volunteer assistance. Your support as a volunteer will have a lasting impact on the natural and scenic features that make our region so unique. Please contact us if you would like more information or check the volunteer box on the membership form, fill out your name and address, and mail or fax it to SWMLC at 6851 S. Sprinkle Road, Portage, MI 49002, 269/324-9760.
Volunteer Profile
The phrase, “like father, like son,” certainly applies to Chuck Benner and his son, Ross. Chuck is a long-time volunteer at SWMLC, and Ross has become active in the last several years, working around his schedule at Parchment High School, where he just graduated.
Chuck Benner grew up in Detroit. He had an interest in wildlife from a very young age. This interest flourished when he studied plant pathology in graduate school at the University of Georgia. Upon completing his Master’s degree, Chuck was offered a position at the Upjohn Company and was able to return to Michigan. Soon after moving to Kalamazoo, he started volunteering for SWMLC, helping on workdays and taking minutes for the stewardship team meetings (which he continues to do). Although more recently his interests have turned towards the restoration of hopeless British automobiles, he continues to have a solid appreciation of wildlife and habitat preservation.
Ross Benner loves the outdoors. He is an avid alpine skier and regularly competes in races, and also enjoys playing soccer. Ross realizes the importance of protecting the beautiful natural and scenic areas of southwest Michigan for people and for wildlife, so he offers his help to SWMLC wherever it’s needed – whether it’s cleaning out the “chicken coop” or filing away conservation easements. Just like his father, Ross knows that every little bit helps. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree in the Benner family!
Upcoming Volunteer Workdays
Wednesday Workday Warriors
The Wednesday Workday Warriors are volunteers who perform various stewardship projects on Wednesday mornings, starting in the spring. To get e-mails of their work schedule, contact the SWMLC office at (269) 324-1600.
Where do I start? Last Wednesday was a milestone day for the Wednesday Warriors. We welcomed our youngest Warrior, Chance, to the group (displacing last year's record-holder Sarah). We saw a bounteous display of spring flowers. We found scattered garlic mustard at Pritschett-Davis, thanks to Bea's sharp eyes. We celebrated the sight of NO garlic mustard at the corner we worked so hard on last year - so DaveW's scouting report was accurate. Now here's a mystery: is the reason the g.m. didn't return this year is because it's such a healthy woods full of native plants which crowded out the seedlings? Or could it be the fungus we saw on a few plants last year? Has anyone else seen any sickly garlic mustard covered with black fuzzy fungus?
We did miss Paul our resident botanist extraordinaire, but we bumbled along and identified (hopefully) the following plants at Pritschett: trillium, spring beauty, marsh marigold, wild leek, phlox, squirrel corn, wild lilly of the valley, rue anemone, trout lilly, strawberries, club moss, wild ginger, violets, solomon's seal, may apple. What a delightful preserve!
Next week, we'll stay a little closer to home in case anyone wants to catch the Stewardship Webcast at noon. Wednesday, May 14, we will converge on Chipman Preserve to - yes - pull garlic mustard. Come see the results of the burn four weeks ago. Meet there at 9:00 am. Directions below.
Hope to see you there. - Kristi & Paul
Directions to Chipman Preserve (Kalamazoo County) is on East Main Street, 3 miles east of Sprinkle Road. Go 1/2 mile past 30th St, past house number 8417, and pull into the parking lot on the north side of the road.
"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."
Please contact us at 269/324-1600 for last minute changes and directions to the Wednesday workdays.
Other Activities
Who woulda thought that a loose group of random people showing up on Wednesday to do stuff would be too structured for some tasks?? Well, Nate and Paul and I were talking, and we turned up three activities that really don't lend themselves to planning and organization. If that sounds like the reality you live in, and if you find one of the following activities appealing, here's your chance to join the good cause of conservation on your own terms. Read on...
Sand Creek Spin-Off - There are 59-1/2 acres of the 60-acre prairie left to be weeded. Last year, the field was planted, and little prairie plants popped up. Unfortunately, so did a dastardly mix of amaranth (tumbleweed), mullein, lambsquarters, pokeweed, and other nefarious weeds bent on crowding out the baby prairie plants, so lovingly collected and sown. Master Gardeners can earn volunteer hours doing this, Wild Ones can visit the plants they helped sponsor, and Conservancy members can monitor the progress of a first-year prairie restoration just west of Kalamazoo. You can work as many hours/days you like, and you can work on any day of the week that ends in "Y". Just contact Ilse Gebhard (igebhard@core.com), to set up a day and time, and she will get you started.
Seed Collection Spin-Off - Collecting wildflower seeds has its own rhythm - those little rascals just ripen according to the weather and species. And they live in secret nooks and crannies throughout the county. Jason Cherry knows all this stuff, and will share his passion of collecting seeds, and you can learn and explore, and make a valuable contribution to our seed supply. Contact Jason jasonchry@sbcglobal.net and he will show you what and when and where.
Burn Support Spin-Off - Prescribed burns are hard to schedule very far ahead because of the weather. So Nate needs people who can come and help out with a burn on about 24-48 hours notice. Helping out can mean watching professionals and stomping the stray spark to burning big bonfires of scotch pine. If that sounds like your idea of a good time, contact Nate fuller@swmlc.org to get on his list.
Hope one of these projects tickles your fancy and fits your non-schedule. I think these are great opportunities to make a great contribution as an individual, and really, isn't that what everything breaks down to?
All the best, Kristi
"Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life." - Rachel Carson |
