Becoming Outdoors Smart in Summer Expands!
Ralph Lunderquist, left, Project Chairman for Wildlife Unlimited of Delta County, presents a $1,500 check to Mike Zuidema, representing the MWC. Photo credit: Anne Okanek
Winter 2017
By Dr. Patrick Rusz, Director of Wildlife Programs
The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy’s “Becoming Outdoors Smart In Summer (BOSS) program continues to gather momentum as it heads into its third full year. BOSS was initiated and first tested in 2014 to address a state and national problem—too many children are growing up without a basic understanding of nature and conservation practices. BOSS has since been revised and offered (free in areas where local sponsorships are available) to an increasing number of Michigan children. BOSS uses a self-study guidebook to help children, targeting (especially) 4th-6th graders, develop outdoor observation and monitoring skills together with family members and friends. There are ten education units that teach skills like animal tracking how to identify trees birds, amphibians and reptiles, and analyze habitat for Monarch butterflies, fish (in streams), and pollinators important to agriculture and wild plants.
This year, a new education unit that families can work on while traveling in cars was added to the BOSS guidebook. Called “The Big Picture: Michigan Landscapes and Agriculture,” it highlights forest cover types and the diversity of our state’s agriculture and is supported by Michigan Farm Bureau, the Michigan Foundation for Agriculture, and Agriculture in the Classroom. The Big Picture helps children discover how natural resources and agriculture tend to change as one travels through Michigan. Kids can also learn how to identify some of the more important forest cover types like Northern hardwoods, aspen, red pine, and Northern white cedar. The BOSS guidebook helps them spot different crops, and even water management systems with big irrigation rigs. A couple of activities focus on managed wetlands and even the vegetation in highway rights-of-way.
“A lot of people travel through Michigan all of their lives without knowing what kinds of trees they are seeing and how they might be managed,” said longtime Society of American Foresters member Glenn Moll, of Newberry, in Chippewa County. About 20 years ago, SAF developed an “Upper Peninsula Forestry Auto Tour” that includes signs along some of the major highways sections. The Auto Tour is incorporated into one of the optional BOSS activities and points out the major forest cover types and the role of fire in forest growth.
The Big Picture is complimented by another BOSS education unit—Michigan Trees: Tree Surveys in Modern Forestry—sponsored by the Michigan Association of Timbermen, based in Newberry in Chippewa County. The tree unit is a favorite of BOSS children and parents and is not just identification of trees. The kids can conduct basic tree surveys in urban areas along streets and in parks, and in forests and woodlots. Some “STEM” concepts— science, technology, engineering, and math—are introduced as kids learn to measure plots and individual trees.
"One of our important objectives is to educate people about Michigan trees and their uses,”We said the Timbermen’s Association president, Jim Maeder, of Weidman in Isabella County. Fortunately, kids are very interested in learning about them."
BOSS is also supported by the Michigan Forest Foundation of the Michigan Forest Association. The Eaton County-based non-profit organization is dedicated to education and natural resources stewardship. BOSS continues to be offered free or at low cost to participants because of a multi-level partnership/ sponsorship program. The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy seeks “perfect-fit” partners and sponsors at both the state and local levels.
Some of the top local sponsors of BOSS have included the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Community Foundation, Wildlife Unlimited of Delta County, Meijer, Inc., the Chesaning Parks and Recreation Commission, the Saginaw Field and Stream Club, smaller service organizations like International Lions Club chapters, and various local businesses and individuals. Local sponsors can earmark donations for children in their communities or other areas of interest.
For more information on the BOSS program, click here.
By Dr. Patrick Rusz, Director of Wildlife Programs
The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy’s “Becoming Outdoors Smart In Summer (BOSS) program continues to gather momentum as it heads into its third full year. BOSS was initiated and first tested in 2014 to address a state and national problem—too many children are growing up without a basic understanding of nature and conservation practices. BOSS has since been revised and offered (free in areas where local sponsorships are available) to an increasing number of Michigan children. BOSS uses a self-study guidebook to help children, targeting (especially) 4th-6th graders, develop outdoor observation and monitoring skills together with family members and friends. There are ten education units that teach skills like animal tracking how to identify trees birds, amphibians and reptiles, and analyze habitat for Monarch butterflies, fish (in streams), and pollinators important to agriculture and wild plants.
This year, a new education unit that families can work on while traveling in cars was added to the BOSS guidebook. Called “The Big Picture: Michigan Landscapes and Agriculture,” it highlights forest cover types and the diversity of our state’s agriculture and is supported by Michigan Farm Bureau, the Michigan Foundation for Agriculture, and Agriculture in the Classroom. The Big Picture helps children discover how natural resources and agriculture tend to change as one travels through Michigan. Kids can also learn how to identify some of the more important forest cover types like Northern hardwoods, aspen, red pine, and Northern white cedar. The BOSS guidebook helps them spot different crops, and even water management systems with big irrigation rigs. A couple of activities focus on managed wetlands and even the vegetation in highway rights-of-way.
“A lot of people travel through Michigan all of their lives without knowing what kinds of trees they are seeing and how they might be managed,” said longtime Society of American Foresters member Glenn Moll, of Newberry, in Chippewa County. About 20 years ago, SAF developed an “Upper Peninsula Forestry Auto Tour” that includes signs along some of the major highways sections. The Auto Tour is incorporated into one of the optional BOSS activities and points out the major forest cover types and the role of fire in forest growth.
The Big Picture is complimented by another BOSS education unit—Michigan Trees: Tree Surveys in Modern Forestry—sponsored by the Michigan Association of Timbermen, based in Newberry in Chippewa County. The tree unit is a favorite of BOSS children and parents and is not just identification of trees. The kids can conduct basic tree surveys in urban areas along streets and in parks, and in forests and woodlots. Some “STEM” concepts— science, technology, engineering, and math—are introduced as kids learn to measure plots and individual trees.
"One of our important objectives is to educate people about Michigan trees and their uses,”We said the Timbermen’s Association president, Jim Maeder, of Weidman in Isabella County. Fortunately, kids are very interested in learning about them."
BOSS is also supported by the Michigan Forest Foundation of the Michigan Forest Association. The Eaton County-based non-profit organization is dedicated to education and natural resources stewardship. BOSS continues to be offered free or at low cost to participants because of a multi-level partnership/ sponsorship program. The Michigan Wildlife Conservancy seeks “perfect-fit” partners and sponsors at both the state and local levels.
Some of the top local sponsors of BOSS have included the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Community Foundation, Wildlife Unlimited of Delta County, Meijer, Inc., the Chesaning Parks and Recreation Commission, the Saginaw Field and Stream Club, smaller service organizations like International Lions Club chapters, and various local businesses and individuals. Local sponsors can earmark donations for children in their communities or other areas of interest.
For more information on the BOSS program, click here.