Chippewa Nature Center Inc

Land and facilities: among the many accomplishments this year for land and facilities, two stand are certainly noteworthy. Construction began on a new building named nature education center. The building will primarily serve as the home for nature day camp, nature preschool and other school-aged childrens programs. The second major accomplishment was the purchase of just over 500 acres of land located along 1 mile of the chippewa river just west of chippewa nature centers west property edge. The land is predominately forested with a diversity of mature trees. A sand ridge adds varied topography, and numerous vernal pools can be found throughout the property. In addition to the two major accomplishments, maple syrup season yielded 20 gallons of maple syrup, and the deer harvest count was 112. The large deer population continues to pose a threat to vegetation at cnc due to heavy browsing. Land management work also continues with 1900 trees and shrubs being planted and either caged or tubed. Twenty-one specimen trees were added to the garret arboretum. Native wildflowers were plated in the wetlands area and at the river point area. Finally, land management consulting work continues as cnc collaborates with local partners to restore properties to native plantings.

Volunteers and outreach: in 2024, over 450 volunteers completed over 13,000 hours of their time. Volunteers participate in work including tree planting, day camp assistant counselors, land clean up, and festival demonstrations to name just a few. Cnc was represented at various outreach events throughout the regions such as midland riverdays, party on mccarty in saginaw, midland business alliance wake up, career fairs and walk midland. Cnc makes contribution of products and memberships to many local non profits for fund raising events.