The GLC Book Club will  discuss The Triumph of Seeds: How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, & Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History,  by conservation biologist Thor Hanson. This book is available in a variety of formats.

Hanson, a Guggenheim fellow and winner of the John Burroughs Medal for Nature Writing, pursues his subject with the humor and liveliness of a storyteller and keen eye of a scientist.  In telling the story of seeds, he deftly weaves together evolution, ecology, and human history. He takes us to the around the world and through time deftly telling the stories of seed adaptations that have allowed them to persist even in extreme environments and through local catastrophy. Hanson includes lively discussion of seeds that have been a crucial part of human survival, commerce, culture, and enjoyment.  Email director@GratiotLakeConservancy.org to get the virtual discussion link.

On Saturday, January 27 th from Noon – 1:15 Eastern Time we will discuss two books about the black bear. Read one or both and email director@GratiotLakeConservancy.org to get the discussion link.

Walking with Bears: One Man’s Relationship with Three Generations of Wild Bears by Terry DeBruyn, 272 pages. Published in 1999 the book is out-of-print, but available in many upper Midwest libraries and also for purchase though used book sellers. Wildlife biologist DeBruyn researched his subject in an up-close-and-personal manner for six seasons in the U.P. He slowly acclimated a wild black bear to his presenceand followed in her footsteps to observe her behavior.

Out on a Limb: What Black Bears Have Taught Me about Intelligence and Intuition by wildlife biologist Benjamin Kilham, with forward by Temple Grandin, 224 pages. Published in 2013 it is available in a variety of formats. According to the Goodreads review, “Out on a Limb delivers Kilham’s fascinating glimpse at the inner world of bears, and also makes a passionate case for science, and education in general, to open its doors to different ways of learning and researching―doors that could lead to far broader realms of discovery.” Kilham and his work have been featured in documentaries and in radio and TV shows. Kilham is an experienced wildlife rehabilitator and founder of the Kilham Bear Center in Connecticut which fosters orphaned bear cubs.

On Saturday, November 11th  from Noon to 1:15 PM the GLC Book Club will meet virtually to discuss "Gathering Moss" by Robin Wall Kimmerer. Winner of the John Burroughs Award for nature writing, this book touches on the biology and natural history  of these often overlooked plants. Indigenous lifeways and ways of seeing are included as Kimmerer tells the story of mosses from her personal point of view.   Email director@GratiotLakeConservancy.org to receive the discussion link. 

GLC is hosting its annual shore clean-up at Gratiot Lake. More information and specific times to follow.

Join Nancy Leonard and Bonnie Hay for a flower pressing workshop. The workshop will be in two parts: pressing and art/arranging. Part 1 will be on June 24 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. while Part 2 is the afternoon of Sunday, August 6 , from 1-4 p.m. There is still space in the August session. Please contact director@GratiotLakeConservancy.org

GLC is hosting a 25th Anniversary dinner to celebrate its members, donors, volunteers, and all who have helped with the success of the conservancy over the years.

Please add the date to your calendar if you expect to attend. Invitations will be mailed in early summer.

Join Nancy Leonard and Bonnie Hay for a flower pressing workshop. The workshop will be in two parts: pressing and art/arranging. Part 1 will be on June 24 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. while Part 2 is the afternoon of Sunday, August 6, from 1-4 p.m. Sign-up includes participation in both Part 1 and Part 2.

“The method of pressing flowers hasn’t changed much from what botanist Joseph Banks described in 1770, when leaving instructions for his team: ‘They are to be put between the leaves of a paper book, two leaves of which should be left between each plant…. The books are then to be filed upon each other.’

What is different now is how people display them. ‘When we started pressing flowers they were still viewed as something you’d expect in a dusty Victorian herbarium,’ Richardson admits. Now you’re more likely to find pressed flowers elegantly placed on a napkin at a dinner party or tucked beneath the ribbon of a present. While Edwardian ladies would create fantastical bouquets, a millennial approach is more authentic: JamJar’s aesthetic is about capturing beauty as if the flowers were still in the meadow – a dozen fritillaries together or a clutch of chocolate cosmos.”

- Excerpt from “The Forgotten Art of Flower Pressing,” Alice Vincent.

Register for the workshop by emailing director@gratiotlakeconservancy.org. Any questions should be directed to the email as well.

KISMA weed crew comes to Gratiot Lake to cut back European thistle and remove invasive plants at Gratiot Lake Preserve  (an opportunity to volunteer). Exact times are approximate.

Please email director@gratiotlakeconservancy.org if you are interested in volunteering for this activity.

Save Saturday, June 17th at Noon for the next virtual book discussion. Our next book(s) will be about one of nature’s prime environmental engineers, the beaver. Choose one or both of the books listed below. Although with a different perspective and style, both books cover the history and life of this remarkable mammal and its impact on the landscape and human endeavors. 

To receive a Zoom link to the book club meeting, please email director@gratiotlakeconservancy.org.

Botanist and environmental educator Robin Wall Kimmerer is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology and founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. She twines her scientific perspective and her Potawatomi heritage as the threads that weave together this thought-provoking collection of essays about nature and how we interact with it. In Kimmerer’s words: “I could offer you a braid of sweetgrass, as thick and shining as the plait that hung down my grandmother’s back. But it is not mine to give, nor yours to take. Wiigaashkbelongs to herself. So I offer, in its place, a braid of stories meant to heal our relationship to the world.”

What better book to read after Thanksgiving than one about Ben Franklin’s favorite bird (he thought the turkey was a more worthy choice for national bird than the eagle)? The success of wild turkeys in recently claiming the Keweenaw as their home has not gone without notice, and I, for one, am interested in understanding our new neighbors. This book, a very personal account by naturalist and wildlife artist Joe Hutto offers his experience rescuing wild turkey eggs about to be plowed under on farmland, raising the hatchlings, and ultimately releasing them back to the wild. Hutto immerses the reader in the art of seeing nature deeply. His book was inspiration for the PBS Nature documentary, “My Life as a Turkey,” which is about him and his imprinted chicks.

Photo copyright Dave Allen 2010.

Join our virtual discussion of this memoir by forest ecologist Suzanne Simard whose research uncovered the underground communication of trees. Email Director@GratiotLakeConservancy.org to receive the Zoom link.

An online presentation by our program director, Gina Marie, on the importance of using native plants in landscaping and gardening.

This is an online only event hosted via Zoom. Please email gmjarviglc@gmail.com to RSVP.

Together with Keweenaw Invasive Species Management Area and the National Park Service, we are excited to offer a free boat wash at the Gratiot Lake Boat Launch. This event is open to the public and no RSVP is required. Help stop the spread of aquatic invasives!

Join us for our discussion of biologist Noah Stryker’s book highlighting bird behaviors revealing their cognition, emotion, and artistic abilities.

This is a virtual only event hosted via Zoom.

RSVP by emailing gmjarviglc@gmail.com.