Updated: Reading the Landscape field trips to explore changes in land

The Keweenaw Land Trust's Paavola Wetlands Preserve will be the scene of the July 19 Reading the Landscape session, "Revised Landscapes and Home Grounds." KLT has expanded the preserve to include a trail system available for educational hikes through the marshland. (Keweenaw Now file photo © 2006 Evan McDonald. Reprinted with permission.)

GRATIOT LAKE -- Reading the Landscape of the Keweenaw 2008: Changes in the Land is a series of art and natural history field trips on diverse topics for adults. It is co-sponsored by a group of conservation-oriented non-profit organizations including Copper Country Audubon, Copper Country Trout Unlimited, Gratiot Lake Conservancy (GLC), Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District, Keweenaw Historical Society, Keweenaw Land Trust (KLT), and Michigan Nature Association.

Sessions will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on four Saturdays: June 28, July 12, July 19 and August 9. Participants in the trips will visit a variety of places in the Keweenaw Peninsula. Reservations for the trips are necessary and group size is limited. The fee is $15 per trip with discounts available for members of KLT or GLC.

Teachers interested in attending any of the field trips may apply to the Gratiot Lake Conservancy for a Janet Avery Scholarship that will cover the $15 fee.

The first session, "Phenology: what happens when and why," offered on June 28, may be of particular interest to birders. Participants will discover how to note and record the timing of natural events -- from the nesting of birds to the bursting of flower buds. They will learn how such observations can enhance our understanding of changing climate and how phenology data can be collected by students and amateur naturalists. The walk will be moderately strenuous. Participants will explore Mount Baldy (near Eagle Harbor) with conservation biologist David Flaspohler, research ecologist Erik Lilleskov and visiting photographer Randy Richmond.*

The July and August sessions are as follows:

July 12 -- "Shifting Sands: examining the unnatural and natural history of stamp sands." Visit the historic Central Mine site with artist Linden Dahlstrom, Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District Board Member Gina Nicholas and remediation experts from the Central/Winona Stamp Sand Stabilization Project to discover what effect the mining that took place over a century ago still has on land and waters there. Find out how mining has impacted the Eagle River Watershed and what the mitigation plan is for returning some of the area to a more natural state. Update: This session is already completely booked.

July 19 -- "Revised Landscapes and Home Grounds." Explore Paavola Wetlands and Boston Pond with nature writer Michael Moore and environmental engineer Heather Wright. These guides will lead participants on a nature walk and writing workshop, which will include discussions along the way of the kinds and causes of environmental change -- some natural, some human-made.

August 9 -- "Shaping Succession: visiting private lands restored." Visit private lands which are models of forest and wetland restoration. Join artist Joyce Koskenmaki and two Chassell landowners to see positive changes people can make on their own property to attract wildlife and revive the natural ecology.

More information on the complete Reading the Landscape 2008 series (including a downloadable brochure) visit the Gratiot Lake Conservancy Web site or contact the Keweenaw Land Trust at 482-0820 to obtain a paper copy.

*Editor's Note: Visiting photographer Randy Richmond of Muscatine, Iowa, has an exhibit of his photographs in the Community Arts Center's Kerredge Gallery in Hancock through June 28. The artist will give a talk about his work at a closing reception from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, June 27, in the Gallery.