The Natural Resources Department hosts several volunteer days in the spring to target these early invasives. While there are many invasive plants on Metroparks property, we target garlic mustard and dame’s rocket in the spring because of their short life cycle. Both plants are biennials, growing a rosette the first year and blooming and going to seed the second. Garlic mustard starts growing early in the spring, flowering in early May and going to seed by mid-June.

Spring is the time for wildflowers in Michigan, but it is also a time for spring invasives. Invasive plant species are one of the first plants you will see in the spring, popping up and growing leaves right as our native plants are just starting to get going. The worst spring offenders are garlic mustard  and dame’s rocket. “National Pollinator Week is a time to celebrate pollinators and spread the word about what you can do to protect them,” according to pollinator.org.

The Metroparks Foundation is working to help the Metroparks fund their “Get Out and Learn” program, providing free field trips to qualifying schools in southeast Michigan. This year the foundation is hosting two events to help raise funds for the program at Kensington Metropark.  On May 11, the first ever Celebrate Moms Fashion Show took place.  Guests enjoyed brunch at Baker’s, special guest speakers, a silent auction and a fashion show that featured community members and Metroparks staff and families.

The fifth-grade students at Natalie Kreeger Elementary School in Fowlerville were the recipients of a special collaborative project with Metroparks Interpretive Services over this past school year. This program called Inspiring STEM Success, was funded with a $5,000 grant to the Metroparks Foundation from the Hanover Insurance Group with the goal of helping the students increase their science proficiency. The entire fifth grade class of over 200 students participated in the project.

The Huron River Watershed Council (HRWC), a long-time partner of the Huron-Clinton Metroparks, has worked hard to share information about PFAS with the public. As summer approaches and temperatures rise, water activities will increase and you may have questions about water recreation. HRWC answered many questions in their recent newsletter article, “PFAS and Recreation on the Huron River.” To read the article click here

As spring emerges at the Huron-Clinton Metroparks, so do the baby animals. Be on the lookout for young turtles crossing the road, birds fledging from the nest, and fawns being hidden in the grass by their mothers. We discovered yesterday that the albino deer that calls Kensington Metropark home gave birth to a set of twin fawns. 

If you’re a regular Metroparks visitor, you may have noticed that your annual pass this year has a barcode, and you may be wondering why. Here at your Huron-Clinton Metroparks, we’re committed to serving the community we call home: Southeast Michigan. That’s why we’ve implemented a new system to help us better understand who’s using the Metroparks and how we can better meet the needs of everyone across the community.

The Metroparks are excited to announce that three of our regular volunteer groups were awarded mParks Volunteer Service Awards at a ceremony last night. Our nominees and staff traveled to Lansing where mParks awarded Toni Spears, CRAMBA and Beyond the Seed Greenhouse & Gardens for their committed service to the Metroparks.

The Shelden Trail Development Project has great momentum and we are excited to share that at the December meeting of the Huron-Clinton Metroparks Board of Commissioners, they approved the concept design provided by Applied Trail Research (ATR).

In conjunction with the Huron Waterloo Pathways Initiative, Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation, Huron River Watershed Council and the Department of Natural Resources, the Huron-Clinton Metroparks was excited to host the groundbreaking ceremony of the new segment of the Border- to-Border Trail (B2B) on Saturday, February 9 at Dexter-Huron Metropark.