Chippewa Nature Center (CNC)

Department of programs: the visitor Center continues to be an important hub for connecting people to cncs programs, trails, and an authentic Nature experience. In 2023, we welcomed 28,869 people through the doors of the visitor Center, which is nearly 4,000 more people than in 2022. Attendance this year was about 400 people greater than our previous peak in 2019. Cnc welcomed 6,329 people to 266 public programs in 2023. Over 240 of these programs were free, ensuring that finances were not a barrier to a persons ability to connect to Nature through cncs programs. Homestead sundays provided 1,500 people with the opportunity to explore the homestead farm and log schoolhouse to learn more about the agricultural heritage and history of our area. Children and families enjoyed Nature play, a play- based program at the woods Nature play area hosted by volunteers. Nature story hour, birding hikes, full moon strolls, and golf cart tours remain popular and are core public programs providing people of all ages the opportunity to explore Nature in a meaningful way. Workshop topics focused on bee hotels, natural dyes and pinecone wreaths while adult field trips provided opportunities for birding in unique ecosystems. Each program is led or planned by a professional interpreter or educator ensuring cncs programs meet our mission and serve our visitors well. Major events continue to be well-attended and are a great way to connect with new visitors and long-time members alike. Maple syrup day offered pre-event and day-of sales for meal and admission tickets. A dedicated team of volunteers served 854 meals restaurant-style while staff and volunteers welcomed a total of 950 people to the festival on a very cold saturday. Cooking on the wood stove and a free play area were a couple of highlights of this years fall harvest festival, which welcomed 1,053 people to enjoy the farm on a chilly fall day. Nature at night was moved to a friday evening and attendance remained strong at 535 people. The native plant sale and Nature art show & sale were both popular with members for their early shopping opportunities and well attended by the public. Autumn reyes, visitor engagement coordinator, put together a wonderful member appreciation evening for the Nature art show & sale member presale.

Volunteers and outreach: a day at Chippewa Nature Center may consist of oxbow archaeologists working steadily to unearth history while evaporators and homestead volunteers demonstrate the maple syrup-making process. You may find land & facilities volunteers cleaning and caring for our property while board members help guide cnc into a strong and successful future. Nature day camp volunteers may be out on the property leading the next generation to champion Nature while our homestead gardeners may be out pulling weeds. There is so much that we rely on our volunteers for, and we could not connect all people to Nature without their hard work and dedication to Chippewa Nature Center. It has been a pleasure to see so many people volunteering at the Nature Center. This year, more than 400 volunteers gave over 8,000 hours of their time. That is over 260,000 worth of economic impact we are very thankful for all of the amazing volunteers who shared their time and expertise with cnc in 2023. We truly appreciate their volunteer support

Land and facilities: wildflower walkway upgrades the wildflower walkway was replanted with native wildflowers, and a shade cloth was added over patio tables to create a welcoming outdoor space for visitors. Maple syrup season staff and volunteers produced a total of 42 gallons of maple syrup during a 30-day collecting season. Invasive exotics after the 2023 season, approximately 906 acres (60% of cnc land) were considered relatively invasive exotic free. This is an increase of 560 acres since 2015 when only 346 acres were free of invasive plants. In 2023, 55.36 acres of new areas were reclaimed thanks to the summer crew of belinda wilson and collin haddad along with logan yonkus controlling invasive plants. Arboretum three new species were added to the arboretum this year: bearberry, lowbush blueberry and lead plant. Two additional jack pine were added as specimen trees as the old ones are dying out. This brings the total number of species represented to 116 and the total number of specimen trees/shrubs to 454. Most of the specimen trees and shrubs had woodchips added to their base for the first time since the 2020 flood. Deer harvest a total of 51 deer were harvested at cnc during the 2023 season, and the venison was donated to the midland county food assistance network. Staff continue to attempt to lower deer numbers, as they continue to have heavy browse on cncs vegetation. Dnr habitat grant cnc completed the work for a 2-year, 46,000 mdnr habitat grant. During that time, 3,000 trees and shrubs were planted and caged, 39 acres were forestry mowed in over 25 different locations and follow up treatments were completed, and 29 acres were planted to native wildflowers and grasses in 32 acres. Areas that looked mulched from forestry mowing during the spring of 2022 were looking great by the fall of 2023 additional habitat work a total of 289 native trees were planted and caged at cnc and 100 small maples in the sugarbush had solar tubes placed over them to protect them from the deer and visitors using the area. New forestry mower and trailer package cnc was able to purchase a new skid steer forestry mower and trailer to restore and maintain floodplains, forested wetlands and open grasslands at cnc and within the saginaw bay watershed. Funding was made available through the dow chemical and general motors settlement funds. Accessibility improvements adult changing tables were added to the resource building restrooms, and aed machines were purchased for the resource and Nature preschool buildings. Nature education Center preparations underway local contractor wolgast was chosen for the new education Center build, to develop plans and to complete soil borings. Site work will begin february and construction march 2024. Trail improvements the river point boardwalk was replaced, and ada-accessible gravel trails were constructed at the sugarhouse and homestead cabin areas.