Updated: Conservation District to hold Annual Meeting Jan. 19

By Michele Bourdieu

HOUGHTON -- The Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District (HKCD) will hold its Annual Meeting from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 19, in the newly remodeled Community Room of the MTU Lakeshore Center (former UPPCO building), 600 Lakeshore Drive, Houghton.

A Pot Luck Social will be followed by a Board Election. Board members Tom Collins, Mark Klemp and Gary Palosaari will be running for re-election. Other Board members, continuing in office, are Gina Nicholas, chairperson, and Sandra Palmore.

The meeting will include a presentation of 2009 HKCD activity highlights. One of these was the August 23, 2009, picnic celebrating the final payments for the purchase of the Bete Grise Preserve, which includes 1800 acres of pristine dune swale wetlands, 7500 feet of Lake Superior shoreline and 770 acres on the north side of the Mendota Canal, including sloughs of Lac La Belle. After the picnic some participants kayaked and canoed in the sloughs as part of a dedication of this new acquisition.

HKCD Chairperson Gina Nicholas, seated far right, relaxes with members of the Stewards of Bete Grise Preserve during a picnic at the Preserve last August. Second from right is Jeff Knoop, director of land protection for The Nature Conservancy, Marquette office; also seated is Evan McDonald, director of the Keweenaw Land Trust. These three conservation groups partnered in the purchase of the Preserve and are working together for its long-term management and protection. The Stewards of Bete Grise Preserve is a group of concerned residents organized last year, thanks to a Coastal Management Grant HKCD received in November 2008 to form an organization dedicated to stewardship for the Bete Grise Preserve. (Photos and video by Keweenaw Now)

At the Aug. 23, 2009, picnic to celebrate the Bete Grise Preserve, Jeff Knoop, The Nature Conservancy director of land protection, Marquette office, speaks about the funding for completing the purchase of the Preserve.

Special guests at the Bete Grise Preserve Picnic were musicians and singers of the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community drum.

Another current HKCD project is the Stamp Sand Stabilization at Central 1 and 2 Mine sites in Keweenaw County, thanks to a grant from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (now the Department of Natural Resources and Environment). Stabilization will prevent further erosion of the stamp sand into Eagle River.

Participants in "Shifting Sands," a 2008 Reading the Landscape field trip at Central, sponsored by the Gratiot Lake Conservancy, informed participants how stamp sand left from copper mining has impacted the Eagle River Watershed and how the Stamp Sand Stabilization project will help return some of the area to a more natural state. Pictured second from right is Sue Haralson, HKCD administrator. (Keweenaw Now file photo)

To find out more about HKCD conservation projects, including their Annual Tree Sale, come to the Annual Meeting!

In addition, Joe Youngman will give the guest presentation, "Birds of the Keweenaw."

The meeting is open to the public. An RSVP would be greatly appreciated. Call the HKCD Office at 482-0214. If you would like, please bring a dish to pass.

More information about the Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District can be found on their Web site.