Tracking changes in our natural communities helps inform our land management decisions. Without notes, pictures, or other information, we can’t answer basic questions like: What did the Wet Prairie look like 5 years ago? Have blue-winged warblers been observed at Bear Creek Nature Park before? How much as rough dogwood expanded in this field? Is prescribed fire killing the glossy buckthorn as we hoped it would?

Our monitoring efforts include annual photo monitoring, bird surveys, vegetation surveys, and vernal pool monitoring. We would like to continue and expand our monitoring efforts, but that depends on help from dedicated volunteers. Some monitoring requires prior expertise, but for most monitoring you will only need to participate in a training session with us. If you’d like help, please contact Ben VanderWeide at 248-651-7810.

Otherwise if you have informal observations of stewardship needs or observations in the parks, please report them here. Examples of stewardship needs and observations include:

• Overgrown trails
• Invasive species
• Notable wildlife observations
• Notable plant observations

Please use this form to let us know what you see.