Michigan Association of Conservation Districts Rallying for Spring

From fighting hemlock pests to landowner education, here’s what the MACD is doing this season

The wide-lens view of conservation may conjure images of massive preserves, sweeping initiatives, and prominent figures like Muir and Roosevelt. But if you zoom in a bit, you’ll find that the day-to-day impactful work of conservation considering soil health, water quality, forestry management, and more is happening much closer to home.

Supporting much of this essential conservation is the Michigan Association of Conservation Districts (MACD). Northern Express had the opportunity to connect with MACD Executive Director Rivka Hodgkinson and Adrienne Wolff, vice chair of the Northwest Lower Peninsula of the MACD State Council, to discuss the larger initiatives, challenges, triumphs, and the conservation work across Michigan.

Natural History

The creation of conservation districts and state associations did not come about until the 20th century.

“Conservation districts were formed in 1937 following the Dust Bowl,” says Hodgkinson. “And pretty shortly thereafter in the early ’40s, state associations were formed to provide support for those districts across the United States.”

Today, there is a state association in every state across the U.S. with a total of around 3,000 conservation districts nationwide. “Here in Michigan, we have 75 conservation districts that cover all 83 counties in the state,” Hodgkinson adds.

MACD offers training, tools, advocacy, and support to all those conservation districts. “We are helping districts both collectively work together on natural resource issues, as well as coordinate with partners and state and local government entities and be able to help them address funding concerns, technology needs, training needs, for all of the districts in the state,” Hodgkinson says.

One of the major events for bringing conservation districts together is the MACD Annual Conference. Held this past December in Bellaire, the event brings in a variety of stakeholders including conservation districts, state partners from Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development (MDARD), and federal partners from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). The multi-day event is centered around networking, training and improved coordination of effort.

This past year there were about 75 speakers, offering training tracks that were related to “everything from administrative operational management within the districts, to specific natural resources concerns like invasive species and soil health and everything in between,” says Hodgkinson.

Beyond the annual conference MACD also continues coordinated efforts with MDARD and other partners to support regional training throughout the state and is a strong advocate and ally for conservation district funding. “We do a lot of conversations with our legislators here in the state of Michigan,” says Hodgkinson. “Helping them understand what the work is that conservation districts do and how they fit into that system, and advocating for additional state funding for operation funds for conservation districts.”

Top of the List: The Hemlock Woolly Adelgid

Among a multitude of conservation targets there are several key initiatives that MACD and conservation districts focus on.

“One of the things I like to say is if it has to do with soil, water, or species, conservation districts probably have their hands in it somewhere,” says Hodgkinson. “It can be out on a farm, or it could be a rural green space initiative. Or it could be in a city working on water education for the community. So it’s a really wide diverse range of things conservation districts do.”

For northern lower Michigan, Hodgkinson points to forested land as a major area of focus for conservation in the region. “Upstate is for sure forestry and everything related to forestry,” she says. From invasive species, management plans, and education and promotion, the health of the northwoods is a central objective of regional conservation districts.

One foe threatening the ecological health of these woodlands is the hemlock woolly adelgid. According to the invasive species info from michigan.gov, this pest damages eastern hemlock trees by sucking the sap from the needles which can result in tree death within a few years if left untreated.

“We’re trying to keep it from moving north,” says Hodgkinson. “The hemlock groves up north are really valuable and important.” And that’s where the coordination of conservation districts can make a large impact. “My home district here in Ottawa County has been working very hard to hold the line—to keep those pests from moving north,” she explains. “Sometimes things that conservation districts are doing in other areas of the state are also helping their neighbors with some of those needs.”

Looking Ahead

MACD and conservation districts are looking to the future, preparing strategies for more wide reaching issues like climate change, increased storm severity, and preserving water quality.

“Conservation practices are a really vital protectant against some of those bigger picture issues,” Hodgkinson says. “One of the impacts of climate change is more severe weather and storms. So having really thoughtful and intentional conservation plans on your property that do things like plant a row of trees in strategic locations to help prevent some of those wind gusts.”

Hodgkinson also points to cover crops, which provide root systems that limit the impact of heavier rain and allows water to return to aquifers.

These strategies are not novel concepts. “Everything that is old is new again,” says Hodgkinson. “A lot of the things that we’ve been doing at conservation districts for the last 80 years are the exact things that we need to have higher levels of adoption.”

It takes wide support and intentional effort to make these strategies effective, so conservation districts are always reaching out to a broad group of stakeholders.

“One of the unique things about conservation districts is that we’re working directly with private land owners,” says Hodgkinson. “Our real sweet spot is helping provide assistance to those private landowners. Seventy-two percent of our land in Michigan is privately owned, so when you don’t reach out to the community and have those conversations with individuals, we’re missing a huge piece of our resource concerns.”

But the number one issue on the minds of folks at MACD is funding.

“Michigan funds its conservation districts at a lower level than any of the other Great Lakes states,” says Hodgkinson. “We provide $3 million in operational funds, which divided by 75 districts means every district only has $40,000 of operational funds,” she says.

Hodgkinson notes that some neighboring states like Ohio fund its conservation districts at $15 million and that such support can lead to other and greater investments, community support, better infrastructure, and greater capacity for accomplishing the range of conservation needed in Michigan.

“Michigan is a really critically important state from a resource standpoint,” says Hodgkinson. “The Great Lakes, our agricultural diversity, our forested land species, and ecosystem diversity are all really important resources worth protecting, and we need additional investment in order to get behind that in order to meet those needs.”

Moving in the Right Direction

For our specific neck of the woods, local farmer and vice chair of the Northwest Lower Peninsula of the MACD State Council Adrienne Wolff points to positive trends with community engagement regarding invasive species management and youth education.

“Conservation district invasive species management programs are phenomenal at public outreach and getting communities engaged in their work in Northern Michigan,” she tells us, noting that the involvement of the public aids in earlier detection, more rapid treatment, better response, and eradication of possible pests.

Wolff provides one example in which Antrim County partnered with CAKE CISMA (Charlevoix, Antrim, Kalkaska and Emmet Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area). “A community member who attended an outreach event about hemlock wooly adelgid, went home and spotted infested hemlocks on their property.”

Wolff also points to the popularity of the environmental education programming put on through the Grand Traverse Conservation District and how the camps for children sell out within minutes on registration day. “The year-round programming of the GTCD is a blueprint for communities to successfully and enthusiastically connect children—and adults!—to the natural world around them,” she says.

View On Our Website