Natural Area Preservation News
Protecting and restoring Ann Arbor's natural areas and fostering an environmental ethic among its citizens.
Volume 18, Number 4
Winter 2013
In this Issue:
The Complex Story of Greenview Park; Past, Present, and Future
by Dana Wloch
I stood in Greenview Park, enjoying one of the last nice days of autumn. Park Steward Jim Rogers handed me an apple from one of the old trees in the park. He told me this was a bad year for worms—surely a good sign. The apple was full of flavor, and to my gratification, free of worms. Where we stood was once a thicket of buckthorn surrounding the old apple tree, indicated only by the dozens of cut stumps nearby. For several years, Rogers has been working ceaselessly with a group of Greenview devotees called Friends of Greenview. Most of the labor and improvements to Greenview are coordinated and executed by Friends of Greenview, and general management is directed through collaboration between the city and Ann Arbor Public Schools. Greenview, which includes meadows, woodlands, a pond, and a community garden, has a complicated history. It is part of a larger property, which stretches from Main Street to Greenview Drive, an area which was once a nine-hole golf course. This piece of land includes Greenview Park, Pioneer Woods, Pioneer Prairie, as well as Pioneer High School. There are no property boundaries between these entities. In 1953, the land was acquired by the University of Michigan to build Pioneer High School, and soon the question of land management arose. The City became involved when they agreed to mow Greenview biweekly. Today Greenview is mown only once a year in order to promote species diversity. Friends of Greenview is a 501c3 organization that predates NAP, and as fiercely dedicated volunteers they are the driving force behind countless improvements at Greenview. Once NAP was established, the two organizations were able to work together to combat invasives with new techniques. For instance, prescribed fire is now used to control invasive shrubs in the oak-hickory forest of Greenview Park and Pioneer Prairie, and NAP hosts two yearly public workdays (spring and fall) for controlling invasives. The biggest challenges facing Friends of Greenview are the large swaths of buckthorn present. Rogers has taken on this challenge, evidenced by giant piles of dead buckthorn waiting to be chipped. Taking out large patches of fruit-bearing shrubs does remove habitat for some migratory birds. But not to worry, Friends of Greenview has received grants from DTE Energy and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to remediate those areas with native plants. Among these, dogwood (Cornus spp.) and crabapple (Malus spp.) are the most ecologically important for migratory songbirds. In addition to controlling invasives and planting natives, Friends of Greenview has plans to increase the herpetological diversity of the pond, as well. They are working with a herpetologist, to reintroduce Northern Leopard Frogs into the Greenview pond. Depending on the weather and hydrologic conditions of the pond, egg masses will be introduced in the spring of 2014. Greenview is utilized by the classes at Pioneer High School as an outdoor science classroom, all the while learning the intrinsic and ecological value in restoration projects. In one simple – yet edifying – activity, a class monitors the ground water levels near the Greenview pond with wells. Students are then able to form connections between weather and the amount of water available in an ecosystem. Pioneer students are also given the opportunity to use class time to help remove invasive shrubs, fostering the environmental ethic necessary to appreciate the natural world. As NAP volunteers know all-too-well, buckthorn is not a plant that is easily defeated, and the long-term management goals of Greenview necessitate help from many hands. It requires years of dedication to clean out an area. Even then, the birds will always be there to plant more. “You might have ambitions to get rid of the buckthorn,” Rogers points out, “but what comes after that?” The only way to ensure the integrity of the ecosystems at Greenview is through the continuous help and diligence of Ann Arbor’s citizens. “People love this place,” says Rogers. And to that, we add, “protect what you love.”
Coordinator's Corner: Happy Birthday to NAP!
by Dave Borneman, NAP Manager
You may have noticed from the past few issues of the NAP newsletter, that NAP just celebrated its 20-year anniversary, or was it a 20-year birthday? As I pondered this question during the 2013 festivities, I realized that it’s an important issue to resolve. In my experience, and without any additional research into the matter whatsoever, it seems that anniversaries are often acompanied by sentiments such as, “Congratulations.” “You’ve made it!” and “Wow, has it really been that long …” The focus seems to be on the past, looking back on where you’ve come from, celebrating past accomplishments. Birthdays, on the other hand, have none of that, especially not at NAP’s exciting age of 20 years old! These are the years of new opportunities. We earn the right to start driving around the age of 16. At 18 we’re considered legal adults and enjoy many of the rights, and responsibilities of that new age, although we don’t earn the privilege of drinking alcohol until we turn 21. Birthdays are forward-looking. They mark the arrival of a new era. We expect our lives to change as we hit those milestone ages. And people expect more of us from that point onward. In that sense, I hope that what we’ve just celebrated is NAP’s 20th birthday, rather than its anniversary. It is the start of a new era here at NAP, with new rights and responsibilities to accompany our entry into this third decade of work. People expect more of us now, and they should. We’re “grown up” now. We’re a much broader and more complex organization than we were ten years ago, or even five. And we’re running more programs and workdays, working with many more volunteers, and reaching out into more sectors of the community than we ever did before. Yes, we have accomplished much together over the past 20 years. There is much to celebrate. But our focus has to be on where we’re headed the next 20 years – that’s where the real excitement lies! So wish us a Happy Birthday next time you see us. Then come join us as we create the next two decades together!
Volunteers of the Score
Although thousands of people have volunteered with NAP in the past 20 years (a “score”), these volunteers and groups deserve some special recognition! Just a few ways volunteers of the score have contributed to NAP:
- Volunteered an outstanding number of hours in the field, or in the NAP office
- Recruited volunteers who worked an extraordinary number of combined hours
- Lead volunteers who worked a monumental number of combined hours
- Monitored a significant number of hours for salamanders, frogs, turtles, or birds
- Effected a remarkable impact on NAP’s restoration and education efforts
- Mentored, advised, or inspired NAP’s volunteers and staff
VOLUNTEERS
Peter Allen
Dan Anderson
David Baker
James Bardwell
Steve Bean
Brenda Bently-Goenka
Jane Bishop
Jan Bower
Bruce Bowman
Dave Brooks
Verena Brunner
Brian Bruns
Andrew Brush
Dawn Chalker
Mark Charles
Dick Chase
Drew Clark
Dan Comella
Alex Copp
Andrew Copp
William Cron
Jim Crosby
Brooks Curtis
Cheryl Darnton
Swartz Dawn
Phil Dinehart
Heidi Dodson
Mary Duff-Silverman
Ron Emaus
Aunita Erskine
Allen Eyler
Harold Eyster
Susan Falcone
Ted Fasing
Norman Fell
Jerome Fletcher
Laurent Fournier
Rob French
Jason Frenzel
Pat Frey |
Phil Furspan
Jacco Gelderloos
Shannan Gibb-Randall
Paul Girard
Brian Glass
Mary Glass
Bently Goenka
Maxime Goovaerts
Bob Gould
George Gray
Jacob Gray
Jerry Gray
Benjamin Hack
Matt Hack
George Hammond
John Heider
Bob Heinold
Ted Hejka
Mary Hill
Jim Hope
Ann Hubbard
Ray Hunter
Stephanie Hunter
Richard Isackson
Robert Isenberg
Maggie Jewett
Jacob Job
Judy Judge
Toyoko Kamada
Harvey Kaplan
Nancy Kaplan
Tim Kenny
Diana Kern
Bill Kidd
Tim Kieras
Jean Kluge
Tom Kraft
Howard Krausse
Roger Kuhlman
Tom Kussurelis |
Michael Landis
Drew Lathin
John Lawter
Sam Levine
Carl Loomis
Barbara Lucas
Mary Mathais
Mary Matossian
Isabel Mckay
Tim Mckay
Cathy McNair
Don McNair
Drake Meadow
Victory Mike
Sue Miller
Bill Minard
Rita Mitchell
Karin Monnett
Joanna Myers
Paul Newhouse
Sarah Newman
Gwen Nystuen
John Nystuen
Ross Orr
Cindy Overmyer
Jeannine Palms
Janice Pappas
Nathan Patel
Barbara Powell
William Price
Stacie Printon
Peggy Rabhi
Greg Richardson
Catherine Riseng
Jim Rogers
Elliot Rose
Joan Rose
Scott Rosencrans
Pat Ryan |
Judy Schmidt
Manfred Schmidt
Ken Shaw
Scott Spooner
Ann Sprunger
David (Drano) Steiner
Greg Stevens
Nancy Stoll
AC Tanner
Colleen Vance
Deb Vandenbroek
Kurt Vincze
Jeff Vornhagen
Bob Walters
Alice Ward
Wes Weaver
Will Weber
Bo Wei Peng
Kay Werthan
Nancy Witter
Jan Wolter
Doug Wood
Roger Wykes
Katherine Yates
Anita Yu
Ronald Zavislak
Steve Zekany
VOLUNTEER GROUPS
Three Fires Trail
CHS Group
Community High School
Concordia University
Friends Of Dicken Woods
Friends of Greenview
YMCA Youth Volunteer Corps |
eBird Have you ever wondered what birds you might see in a particular nature area? Now you can find out online, thanks to NAP Breeding Bird Survey volunteers and Cornell University’s eBird website! Since 1995, NAP volunteers have surveyed many of our natural areas. In the spring of 2013, NAP Inventory Specialist Chris McCreedy uploaded NAP’s bird data to Cornell’s eBird system. From the website: “A real-time, online checklist program, eBird has revolutionized the way that the birding community reports and accesses information about birds. Launched in 2002 by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and National Audubon Society….eBird’s goal is to maximize the utility and accessibility...of bird observations made each year by recreational and professional bird watchers.”
USING eBIRD:
Go to ebird.org
Select Explore Data
Select the Hotspot Explorer
Enter a natural area into the Location search bar
Click on the location pin
Select your data!
Staff Updates: Welcome...
 Becky Gajewski, Stewardship Specialist I am very excited to join the team at NAP! I've always had an interest in learning about nature and ecological restoration, and that led me to pursue my bachelor's and master's degrees from U of M's School of Natural Resources and Environment. After graduating, I spent 3 years completing natural resource management and restoration projects for the Huron-Clinton Metroparks. I am glad to return to Ann Arbor and give back to the city that has given me so much over the years.
 Quentin Turner, Adopt-A-Park CoordinatorMy background with community involvement began by working in the volunteer center of Eastern Michigan University, where I coordinated environmentally focused service opportunities for students with local organizations including NAP. My passion for community service, social justice, and native ecosystems has taken me across the country and as far away as New Zealand. I am excited to use my knowledge and skills to work with Ann Arbor’s passionate park adopters.
 Ashley Craig, Field CrewIn 2012 I volunteered with NAP in hopes of gaining local ecological knowledge and field experience. I am happy to say I now have the opportunity to work with the NAP crew through the 2013 fall and winter season. Not only have my experiences as an intern this summer proven invaluable, but working here is a constant reminder of why I have chosen biology as a field of study. Improving the world around us is something everyone should strive for. Lucky for me that's all we do! - Greg Bowlby - Dolph Nature Area
Many thanks to the following groups who volunteered with NAP recently. We could not make such a difference without you! - Alpha Omega Dental Fraternity
- Concordia University
- EMU Cirlce K
- EMU VISION
- FedEx Ann Arbor
- Girls Group Summer Employment Program
- Greenhills School Seventh Graders
- KT’s Trails Running Group
- Michigan Community Scholars Program
- Skyline Interact
- Toyota Boshoku American
- UM American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists
- UM Indian American Student Association
- UM Law School
- UM Rotaract
- UM Theta Xi
- YMCA Youth Volunteer Corps
The Stewardship Network was awarded the Natural Areas Association’s 2013 Carl N. Becker Stewardship Award! NAP has been actively involved in the Network since 1995, when it was just an idea. Dave Borneman, NAP Manager, has been on the Board since it began, and currently serves as President.
Epic Workdays Bring Almost 500 Volunteers to the Parks in 2013
CONCORIDA UNIVERSITY - 101 VOLUNTEERS
MICHIGAN COMMUNITY SCHOLARS - 161 VOLUNTEERS
GANDHI DAY OF SERVICE - 125 VOLUNTEERS
GREENHILLS SCHOOL - 95 VOLUNTEERS Each year, NAP works with hundreds of volunteers in Ann Arbor’s natural areas. Sometimes, one private workday can bring scores of volunteers out to work. This fall, just four workdays totaled nearly 500 people! NAP coordinated several types of work for each group at a handful of natural areas and parks. Many volunteers used hand saws to cut buckthorn and honeysuckle to create space for native plants to thrive, and in most cases scattered the brush to allow for nutrients to be added back into the soil as they break down. Other groups trimmed back overgrowth along trails, and added woodchips to make the trails more accessible. Finally, smaller volunteer groups added mulch around trees in the open areas of the park to ensure the long-term health of the trees, and hand-weeded play areas to remove thistle and other unfriendly weeds.
For NAP's 2014 Volunteer Stewardship Calendar, please clickhere |
