News & Blog

Saving our hemlocks

The deep green leaves of the Eastern hemlock add a dark, shadowy character to the forest. The stately trees can live for hundreds of years, but an invasive pest is devastating their populations.   Hemlock wooly adelgid (HWA) is an insect that feeds on the sap of

Skunk cabbage flowers emerge from the soil.

Spring’s Earliest Bloomer

Take an early spring hike through Minnie Skwarek Nature Preserve and you are likely to see the mottled, purplish spathes of skunk cabbage, Symplocarpus foetidus, poking through the snow and ice.

2021 Holiday Hike Challenge Results

This holiday season, many of you set out to find the big red holiday bows hanging on trees in 16 of our nature preserves. You travelled across West Michigan with your friends, family and pets and discovered gorgeous natural places—some for the first time!  A hearty thanks to everyone who participated in our Holiday Hike Challenge! Today we

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