Please come out and join us for one of these free events!
September 2023
Stewardship Workday
Saturday, September 23, 2023
9 a.m. to noon
Barton Nature Area
Because of the many ecosystems found at Barton Nature Area, this park has a high diversity of native plants. However, encroaching invasive species can threaten native plants and animals. Join NAP to spend a few hours removing these invasives and enjoying the natural beauty of the park. Meet at the Barton Dam parking lot on Huron River Drive.
Volunteers will use hand tools to cut small-to-medium shrubs. Workday sites have unpaved trails and require going off-trail. Pre-register through VolunteerHub so NAP can plan on enough staff and supplies for a safe and successful event. For your safety, wear long pants, tall socks, and closed-toe shoes. All minors should be accompanied by a guardian. More information: How to prepare for a NAP workday (PDF).
Stewardship Workday
Saturday, September 23, 2023
1 to 4 p.m.
Bluffs Nature Area
Home to many trails, with access to a small prairie tucked away within the oak-hickory woods, Bluffs is around 40 acres of beautiful Michigan habitat. Under NAP's care, prairie plants and oak seedlings are establishing here after many years of disturbance. Continue the restoration work with NAP by reducing the number of non-native species. Meet at the park entrance on Orkney Drive.
Volunteers will use hand tools to cut small-to-medium shrubs. Workday sites have unpaved trails and require going off-trail. Pre-register through VolunteerHub so NAP can plan on enough staff and supplies for a safe and successful event. For your safety, wear long pants, tall socks, and closed-toe shoes. All minors should be accompanied by a guardian. More information: How to prepare for a NAP workday (PDF).
Stewardship Workday
Sunday, September 24, 2023
9 a.m. to noon
Kuebler Langford Nature Area
The natural areas in this part of town are connected by wooded areas, and this large forest offers habitat that smaller parks can't on their own. Help protect the plants and animals that depend on these woods by removing the invasive species threatening their habitat. Meet at the park entrance on Beechwood Drive, north of Sunset Road.
Volunteers will use hand tools to cut small-to-medium shrubs. Workday sites have unpaved trails and require going off-trail. Pre-register through VolunteerHub so NAP can plan on enough staff and supplies for a safe and successful event. For your safety, wear long pants, tall socks, and closed-toe shoes. All minors should be accompanied by a guardian. More information: How to prepare for a NAP workday (PDF).
Stewardship Workday
Sunday, September 24, 2023
1 to 4 p.m.
Fuller Park
Explore this hidden gem - a floodplain forest along the Huron River right near downtown tucked between soccer fields and Island Park. The many water-loving plants here help mitigate flooding downstream. Much restoration work has been done recently to help this natural ecosystem flourish, and you can help continue that effort by removing invasive shrubs and giving native plants a chance. You may even get to meet the resident fisherman - he's quiet but very focused! Meet at the Island Park parking lot, at the end of Island Dr.
Volunteers will use hand tools to cut small-to-medium shrubs. Workday sites have unpaved trails and require going off-trail. Pre-register through VolunteerHub so NAP can plan on enough staff and supplies for a safe and successful event. For your safety, wear long pants, tall socks, and closed-toe shoes. All minors should be accompanied by a guardian. More information: How to prepare for a NAP workday (PDF).
Stewardship Workday
Saturday, September 30, 2023
9 a.m. to noon
Ruthven Nature Area
NAP staff and volunteers have put in years of hard work to restore the native plant communities here, removing invasive shrubs that have a negative impact on wildlife habitat. Come out to continue this important work so more native plants can thrive. Meet at the park entrance off Huron Parkway. If driving: park at the Gallup Boat Dock parking lot, then follow the park path and use the crosswalk to get to the Ruthven Huron Parkway entrance (look for the NAP truck).
Volunteers will use hand tools to cut small-to-medium shrubs. Workday sites have unpaved trails and require going off-trail. Pre-register through VolunteerHub so NAP can plan on enough staff and supplies for a safe and successful event. For your safety, wear long pants, tall socks, and closed-toe shoes. All minors should be accompanied by a guardian. More information: How to prepare for a NAP workday (PDF).
Stewardship Workday
Saturday, September 30, 2023
1 to 4 p.m.
Huron Parkway Nature Area
Autumn is a great season to explore Ann Arbor's natural areas. Join us to enjoy the autumn colors while removing invasive plants, which will allow more native plant species to become established. Meet at the Park Steward's house—3470 Woodland Road, off East Huron River Drive.
Volunteers will use hand tools to cut small-to-medium shrubs. Workday sites have unpaved trails and require going off-trail. Pre-register through VolunteerHub so NAP can plan on enough staff and supplies for a safe and successful event. For your safety, wear long pants, tall socks, and closed-toe shoes. All minors should be accompanied by a guardian. More information: How to prepare for a NAP workday (PDF).
October 2023
Stewardship Workday
Sunday, October 8
9 a.m. to noon
Oakwoods Nature Area
If you're looking for fantastic mature trees and gently rolling hills, sonorous wetlands and vibrant ponds, shorebirds and frogs, the occasional orchid, and more than 20 species of sedges, Oakwoods Nature Area has what you're looking for. The abundance of wildlife and natural habitat at this park depends on the help of volunteers to stay healthy, so join NAP to remove exotic shrubs. Meet at the park entrance off Dunwoodie. Workday sites have unpaved trails and require going off-trail. Pre-register through VolunteerHub so NAP can plan on enough staff and supplies for a safe and successful event. For your safety, wear long pants, tall socks, and closed-toe shoes. All minors should be accompanied by a guardian. More information: How to prepare for a NAP workday (PDF).
Stewardship Workday
World Migratory Bird Day
Saturday, October 14
1 to 4 p.m.
Mary Beth Doyle Park
The theme for World Migratory Bird Day 2023 is Water: Sustaining Bird Life, which focuses on the importance of water to migratory birds. Virtually all migratory birds rely on water and some type of wetland habitat at some point during their life cycles. Ponds and wetlands – like those at Mary Beth Doyle Park – are vital for feeding, drinking, or nesting, and are extremely important as places to rest and refuel during migration. Join NAP in supporting the health of Mary Beth Doyle Park by removing invasive shrubs and collecting seeds from native plants. Meet at the parking lot at the end of Birch Hollow/Chelsea Circle (additional parking on Chelsea). Workday sites have unpaved trails and require going off-trail. Pre-register through VolunteerHub so NAP can plan on enough staff and supplies for a safe and successful event. For your safety, wear long pants, tall socks, and closed-toe shoes. All minors should be accompanied by a guardian. More information: How to prepare for a NAP workday (PDF).
Stewardship Workday
Sunday, October 15
1 to 4 p.m.
Folkstone Nature Area
Come to Folkstone to see one of the most underrated native shrubs in our landscape – bladdernut. This tall shrub with striped bark likes it shady and moist. In spring, bladdernut blossoms with hanging clusters of white tubular flowers that smell a little like vanilla custard. Then the “bladders" appear as green, papery, inflated seed capsules which mature over the summer and persist into winter. Let's remove invasive shrubs to keep the habitat healthy at Folkstone—for the bladdernut shrubs and all the organisms that depend on them. Meet at the park entrance at the north end of Folkstone Ct. Workday sites have unpaved trails and require going off-trail. Pre-register through VolunteerHub so NAP can plan on enough staff and supplies for a safe and successful event. For your safety, wear long pants, tall socks, and closed-toe shoes. All minors should be accompanied by a guardian. More information: How to prepare for a NAP workday (PDF).
Stewardship Workday
Saturday, October 21
9 a.m. to noon
Riverwood Nature Area
For centuries, flowering dogwood trees have been a boon for humans and wildlife alike. They are a larval host for butterflies, and they offer birds and other animals beautiful red fruits (or drupes) for food. The bark has been used as a traditional medicine to treat fevers, and the roots and bark can be harvested to make red dyes. The flowering dogwoods at Riverwood need your help to stay healthy and vibrant! Come remove exotic shrubs from the park with NAP. Meet at the park sign on Riverwood Dr just west of Newport Rd. Workday sites have unpaved trails and require going off-trail. Pre-register through VolunteerHub so NAP can plan on enough staff and supplies for a safe and successful event. For your safety, wear long pants, tall socks, and closed-toe shoes. All minors should be accompanied by a guardian. More information: How to prepare for a NAP workday (PDF).
Stewardship Workday
Saturday, October 21
1 to 4 p.m.
Sunset Brooks Nature Area
Sunset Brooks needs your help to continue hosting, feeding, and protecting organisms that are essential to the local ecosystem. One shrub in particular offers birds – like Eastern Bluebirds – a meal of fruit as well as dozens of species of tasty, nutritious larval and mature insects. A peculiar member of the gooseberry family, wild black currant's stems are gray and winged with brown woody ridges. Come out to make more room for wild black currant shrubs by removing invasive plants. Meet at the park entrance on Sunset Rd, at the end of Brooks St. Workday sites have unpaved trails and require going off-trail. Pre-register through VolunteerHub so NAP can plan on enough staff and supplies for a safe and successful event. For your safety, wear long pants, tall socks, and closed-toe shoes. All minors should be accompanied by a guardian. More information: How to prepare for a NAP workday (PDF).
Stewardship Workday
Sunday, October 22
9 a.m. to noon
Miller Nature Area
Miller Nature Area continues to beat the odds, year after year! This site was heavily used—and abused—by extractive practices and dumping for nearly 200 years. At the heart of a loving community working hard toward Miller's restoration, the land has transformed into a natural haven. Neighbors consistently show up to steward at Miller, and you're invited to join them and others on this October Sunday morning to cut and remove invasive shrubs. Meet at the Arborview Blvd entrance, just east of Wildwood Ave. Workday sites have unpaved trails and require going off-trail. Pre-register through VolunteerHub so NAP can plan on enough staff and supplies for a safe and successful event. For your safety, wear long pants, tall socks, and closed-toe shoes. All minors should be accompanied by a guardian. More information: How to prepare for a NAP workday (PDF).
Stewardship Workday
Make a Difference Day
Saturday, October 28
9 a.m. to noon
Argo Nature Area
For more than 30 years, people have been showing up for their communities during Make a Difference Day on the fourth Saturday in October. Even after official sponsorship by national non-profit organizations was phased out, groups and individuals at the local level have continued to answer the call to serve on this day. Join NAP in keeping up the tradition of volunteering to steward our natural areas. Meet on Longshore Dr at Amherst Ave. Workday sites have unpaved trails and require going off-trail. Pre-register through VolunteerHub so NAP can plan on enough staff and supplies for a safe and successful event. For your safety, wear long pants, tall socks, and closed-toe shoes. All minors should be accompanied by a guardian. More information: How to prepare for a NAP workday (PDF).
Stewardship Workday
Make a Difference Day
Saturday, October 28
1 to 4 p.m.
Cedar Bend Nature Area
The fourth Saturday in October is a national informal holiday known as Make a Difference Day. NAP is proud to offer opportunities to make a difference by stewarding the natural areas in Ann Arbor's parks. Join other volunteers in removing exotic shrubs from the natural habitat that sustains us all. Meet at the Island Park parking lot, at the end of Island Drive. Workday sites have unpaved trails and require going off-trail. Pre-register through VolunteerHub so NAP can plan on enough staff and supplies for a safe and successful event. For your safety, wear long pants, tall socks, and closed-toe shoes. All minors should be accompanied by a guardian. More information: How to prepare for a NAP workday (PDF).
Stewardship Workday
Sunday, October 29
9 a.m. to noon
Berkshire Creek Nature Area
The soil in this oak-hickory forest is mesic – it holds moisture, but also drains well. It's like a big sponge that collects, stores, and releases water slowly. This is a great feature for our oaks and woodland plants, but it also attracts those pesky exotic shrubs that can quickly change the habitat. Help support the nature that supports you at Berkshire Creek Nature Area by removing invasive honeysuckle and buckthorn with NAP. Meet at Exmoor Rd, just past Stonehaven St. Workday sites have unpaved trails and require going off-trail. Pre-register through VolunteerHub so NAP can plan on enough staff and supplies for a safe and successful event. For your safety, wear long pants, tall socks, and closed-toe shoes. All minors should be accompanied by a guardian. More information: How to prepare for a NAP workday (PDF).
Stewardship Workday
Sunday, October 29
1 to 4 p.m.
Stapp Nature Area
With fewer than 9 acres, the diversity of trees at Stapp Nature Area makes it something of a novelty among Ann Arbor's parks. White, black, and bur oaks; shagbark, bitternut, and pignut hickories, as well as red maple, black walnut, white ash, and slippery elm. Biodiversity is one of the most important aspects of a healthy ecosystem, and the many trees at Stapp need your help to stay healthy. Come out for an afternoon of removing invasive shrubs threatening biodiversity. Meet at the park entrance on Traverwood Dr, south of the library. Workday sites have unpaved trails and require going off-trail. Pre-register through VolunteerHub so NAP can plan on enough staff and supplies for a safe and successful event. For your safety, wear long pants, tall socks, and closed-toe shoes. All minors should be accompanied by a guardian. More information: How to prepare for a NAP workday (PDF).
