ANNOUNCEMENTS New AmeriCorps positions running from May to October to be announced March 16. Details coming soon! Member spotlight: Service at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary 2009-2010 ...
Question: On average, how many of the 28 days of February are sunny in Northeast Michigan?
Answer: 4.6 days or 16% of the days in February (location: Gaylord)
Month
% of cloudy days
% of partly cloudy days
% of clear days
December
70%
25%
5%
January
56%
36%
8%
February
51%
33%
16%
Our data comes from NOAAs National Weather Service Forecast Office from 2005-2009. Dave Krzeminski of Sterling Heights guessed 12 days, the lowest of the submitted guesstimates.
Looks like 2010 is above average. To date, we’ve had 9 cloudy days, 10 partly cloudy days and 5 sunny days. Special thanks to Jim Lehocky, the Meteorologist at TV 9&10, for helping track down the weather data to answer this question.
Question: What looks like jumping dust or pepper on the snow?
Answer: Springtails, also called snow fleas (Hypogastrura harveyi and Hypogastrura nivicola)
They are tiny arthropods about the size of a grain of pepper that live in the soil under the snow and come to the surface to breed on warm days in late winter and early spring. Each snow flea has a pair of appendages like tails tucked under its body. When it wants to move, it flips them out and catapults itself into the air. That accounts for the jumping movement.
Research at Queen's University Canada have sequenced and synthesized the unique anti-freeze-like protein that allows snow fleas to operate in sub-zero environment. They found it prevents the formation of ice crystals in tissues and its sequence to be glycine-rich. Unlike proteins with similar functions in other species, the protein found in snow fleas breaks down easily at higher temperatures.
Answer: While we’re not sure if they’re flying away from the Thanksgiving dinner table, wild turkeys are able to reach speeds of up to 55 miles per hour for short distances. These year-round residents were reintroduced to the state after a combination of over-hunting and habitat destruction nearly eliminated them from Michigan in the 1800s.
According to the Michigan DNR, “Benjamin Franklin wanted wild turkeys to be our national symbol instead of the bald eagle. He felt that the stately, majestic qualities of the wild turkey would make it a fine symbol for the new country.” Read more about wild turkeys and other popular Michigan birds at the Michigan DNR website.
Question: What is a butterfly species that stays in the area over the winter?
Answer: Mourning Cloaks, among others, don’t migrate for the winter. Many others stick around in different forms such as eggs and caterpillars like the “wooly bear” type that are seen out and about in the fall. This trivia answer came from Resources for Rethinking, a website of sustainability resources for teachers. The website content was developed in part by the father of one of our Huron Pines AmeriCorps members, Abby Ertel. Abby is serving a second AmeriCorps term as a land protection specialist at HeadWaters Land Conservancy, helping to grow their volunteer outreach and programming efforts. She feels that “one of the most important things you can do to take pride in your community is to become involved with local organizations. Not only is Huron Pines AmeriCorps providing me with the opportunity to serve locally with HeadWaters Land Conservancy, but I have the chance to create an avenue for others to do so as well.” Look for Abby and our other members to stick around all year, furthering conservation and service in communities across Northeast Michigan. Visit the Huron Pines AmeriCorps page on our website or contact the program coordinator, Casey Ressl at casey@huronpines.org or (989) 344-0753 ext. 30 to learn more.
Question: Standing anywhere in the state, what is the maximum distance you can be from a Great Lake?
Answer: 85 miles. Michigan is also the only state that touches four of the five Great Lakes and has the longest freshwater shoreline in the world. The Huron Pines 11-county service area borders Lake Huron for 467 miles (not including nearshore islands), making our coastal area an important resource to conserve. In addition to attacking invasive species like phragmites, Huron Pines and partners are working to address coastal watershed issues like fish passage (through dams and road/stream crossings) and stormwater.
Funding opportunities like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, recently approved by a joint House/Senate committee to provide $475 million to projects targeting the Great Lakes, can help us to move projects forward and protect the coastline in Northeast Michigan. Huron Pines has been preparing proposals to submit for this new opportunity. Partners interested in collaborating on projects should contact Brad at brad@huronpines.org or (989) 344-0753 ext. 18.
Question: What is the highest amount of snowfall we've ever had in this area in October?
Answer: The record snowfall for the closest weather station to our service area was 7 inches on October 20, 1989. Record temperatures for the month range from a low of 17 to a high of 85, and there has been snow on record every day of the month in different years since the 1960s. This year may seem cold, but we’ve definitely had worse!
Keep warm inside and read about all the conservation work that Huron Pines is continuing this fall. Projects still underway include the Muskegon Habitat Survey, South Branch Au Sable LWD, Huron Pines AmeriCorps and more. And, as we gear up for next year, submit project and funding ideas through our How to Get New Projects Started page.
Why do many tree leaves change colors in the fall?
Answer: They lose their green chlorophyll when the season changes.
Tere’s nothing like fall: bright days, cold nights, caramel apples and football. Whatever team colors you cheer for, the amazing fall leaf colors each year are something to celebrate. The reasons that trees change color each fall are grounded in the cycles of growth and energy for each tree species. Leaves are the energy factories for trees—they use green chlorophyll to turn the sun’s energy along with water and carbon dioxide into sugar, a storable energy that plants can then use to grow. In the fall, shorter and cooler days cause the trees to pull their sap back into their trunks and roots and shut down the chlorophyll, making the summer’s bright greens disappear. All that’s left in the leaves are reds, yellows and browns coming from glucose and other wastes trapped in the leaves during photosynthesis. Finally, the leaves fall on the ground and eventually decompose, releasing the trapped nutrients as fertilizer on the ground. Peak color viewing times vary.
Huron Pines helps landowners manage forests of any color through the Pigeon River Habitat Initiative and the Conservation First Responder Program. Through personal site visits with resource professionals, landowners can get questions answered and improve their land for wildlife habitat, natural beauty and many other benefits.
What do salmon eat when they begin their migration into streams?
Salmon eat nothing once they begin their migration upstream. They are focused on spawning, and live off the fat stored in their bodies. As they get farther upstream, their flesh also begins to lose flavor and color, meaning that the best time to catch them for fresh eating is as they gather in bays and near river outlets into the Great Lakes. Late August and early September, just when nights are cooling and the warm water masses near the shore are retreating, is the time of year when this is happening in Michigan.
Some salmon can travel quite far upstream to spawn, and fish passage is an important issue on the many rivers in our service area. Dams, improperly sized culverts and other barriers can prevent this valuable game fish from sustaining its population. To learn more about what Huron Pines is doing to increase fish passage for all species, visit our Watershed Protection project list.
What plant's leaves did American colonists use to brew a tea substitute following their Boston Tea Party tax protest?
Answer: The goldenrod's—the drink it yielded was known as "liberty tea."
Drive along any country road or large interstate in Michigan at this time of year and you’ll see clumps of bright yellow goldenrods in the fields and ditches along the road. While considered weeds by many, these are actually native wildflowers and there are several different species that grow here, including one rare species that only grows on the shores of the Great Lakes. While many people assume that goldenrods are the cause of late summer allergies, the real culprit is the less showy ragweed, which blooms at the same time and has airborne pollen that irritates the nasal passage.
Goldenrods are known as “short-day” flowers because they bloom at the end of summer when the days are getting shorter and nights are cooler. Because they bloom later than many summer flowers, goldenrods are an important source of food to bees, butterflies, and many other insects and birds. The showy goldenrod, Solidago speciosa, is one of the most common species in the state with a large pyramid-shaped group of tiny yellow flowers at the top of each 3-4’ plant stalk. Houghton’s goldenrod, Solidago houghtonii, is a much shorter plant with a flat-topped cluster of larger yellow flowers. It is listed as threatened in Michigan and the United States and endangered in New York. It can often be found in wetter areas than other goldenrods and is seen in the marshes and interdunal swales on the shores of Lakes Michigan and Huron, especially in northern Michigan counties like Emmet, Cheboygan, and Presque Isle.
Learn more about what Huron Pines is doing to prevent invasive species from overrunning Great Lakes habitats at our Invasive Species Program page.
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What is Michigan's official state soil?
Answer: Kalkaska Sand.Kalkaska sand, also called the Kalkaska soil series, is a group of yellowish and reddish brown sands unique to both peninsulas of Michigan. It was deposited across the state as the last glaciers left the area thousands of years ago. Deposits of this sand cover about 750,000 acres in Michigan. It was named the official state soil in 1990.
The sand, while poor in nutrients, forms the perfect filter for the groundwater that later becomes our abundant high-quality streams. Birches, maples, and pine trees are grown for timber and strawberries and potatoes are also produced from Kalkaska sand.
Thanks to Matthew Reaume, our AmeriCorps member stationed with the Michigan Association of Conservation Districts, for this week's question. To learn more about the many interesting soils in Michigan, contact our partners at the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
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What year were Pacific salmon first planted in Michigan waters?
Answer: 1874. According to an article headlined “Fish Culture” in the December 1874 “Iosco County Gazette,” the State Fish Commission was making preparations “to deposit California salmon in several streams of northern Michigan.”
The article goes on to quote the State Fish Commission as “prepared to put 50,000 young salmon in the Au Sable River at Grayling, 50,000 in the Shiawassee River at Corunna, and 50,000 in the Manistee River at a point to be determined.” The method of planting young salmon directly into the streams after the long train ride from California probably accounted for this first unsuccessful transplanting.
Source: Along the Historic Riviere auxSables by Neil Thornton, Printer’s Devil Press, 1987, Tawas City, Michigan
Thanks Jerry Rucker for this week’s question. Jerry’s been a very active member on the Huron Pines Board for 3 years. He also serves as the president of the Au Sable North Branch Area Association and is an avid angler and conservationist.
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What Michigan tree has the largest leaves?
Answer: Kentucky coffeetree (Gymnocladus dioicus)
The Kentucky Coffeetree has immense doubly compound leaves, 30-90 cm in length, and about two-thirds as broad. The leaves emerge later in the spring than those of most other deciduous trees, and fall earlier in the autumn.
The common name "coffeetree" derives from the use of the roasted seeds as a substitute for coffee in times of poverty. They are a very inferior substitute for real coffee, and caution should be used in trying them as they are poisonous in large quantities.
Thank you William for this week’s question. Learn more about the Michigan Forest Association at http://www.michiganforests.com/
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What invasive species of the Great Lakes can be used to keep pesky squirrels from eating your freshly-planted spring bulbs?
Answer: Zebra mussels
According to a reader of HORTICULTURE magazine, he’s been using zebra mussels in his soil to keep the squirrels and chipmunks from devouring his spring bulbs for many years. Ground oyster shells have more commonly been used to deter the bulb-eaters, who don’t appreciate the rough, gritty texture the shells add to the soil. The zebra mussels provide the same effect and (sadly) they are free and readily available. While the mussels will keep the squirrels from eating your bulbs, they will do nothing to deter the deer from eating them the next spring.
While you’re out in your garden, make sure you aren’t using any invasive plants. Try to stick to what’s native- it means less maintenance and watering for you! Thank you Carol for this week's question!
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What is the single most effective management practice to prevent sediment, a highly contaminating pollutant, from flowing into rivers?
Answer: hardening the road approach
Backroads are unpaved or graveled roads. The top layer of these roads is shaped, compacted and smoothed so that surface water will move quickly from the road surface to established ditches. Some backroads are maintained year-round and some are seasonal forest roads. Seasonal roads are usually less traveled than year-round roads, yet because of tourism in the Upper Great Lakes region, year-round traffic can be considerable. Because many of these year-round and seasonal roads cross small feeder streams and other environmentally sensitive areas, it is important that road/stream crossings are designed to protect water quality.
A great way to reduce the amount of sediment entering the river is through hardening the road. By their nature, backroads are typically sand or gravel. If approach slopes are excessive, or if ditches are not installed, the road surface should be treated by hardening. Hardening is usually done with asphalt, seal-coat or limestone gravel. Surface hardening also minimizes maintenance and greatly reduces the potential for maintenance- related problems. To learn more about improving backroads, read the Great Lakes Better Backroads Guidebook.
Huron Pines works throughout Northeast Michigan to improve road/stream crossing (RSX) sites. In 2007, we completed the Crapo Creek RSX site (above). Six tons of sediment every year used to enter Crapo Creek at this crossing. Now we have better fish passage, better roadway safety, and better control of the sediment transport. The road surface will be hardened this summer.
We also launched the Silver Creek Super Project this year that will address 10 RSX sites. The focus of the project is to protect stream habitat by preventing sediment entry and to improve fish passage. By coordinating the restoration of all of these sites, project resources will be better utilized and resource impacts will be realized on a watershed scale. The total estimated project cost is $500,000 and the planned completion date is December 2010. Please visit Watershed Protection to learn about other projects.
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How fast do raindrops fall?
Answer: Raindrops fall between 7 – 22 miles per hour or 3 – 10 meters per second in still air.
The range in speed depends on the size of the raindrop. The average size of a raindrop is 6 millimeters in diameter, about the size of a housefly. Of course all raindrops vary in size due to the strength of a specific rainstorm, but this is considered a reasonable value of a typical raindrop.
When a raindrop falls to the surface of the Earth, it is acted on by two main forces, gravity and drag. A stationary raindrop initially experiences acceleration due to gravity of 9.8 m/s2, as would any falling body. As gravity increases the speed of the raindrop in its descent, drag retards the downward acceleration of the raindrop. Usually, air resistance that comes in contact with the water molecules as they fall causes the drag. The combination of these two forces causes a raindrop to reach a terminal velocity when the drag force is approximately equal to the weight of the raindrop. At this point, a raindrop experiences no further acceleration and therefore falls at a constant velocity.
The magnitude of the terminal velocity of an object is also affected by its orientation. A common misconception is the shape of the raindrop. It is often depicted as pointy and lopsided. However, research has found the shape of a raindrop to be rather spherical or slightly flattened on the bottom by airflow like a hamburger bun.
The terminal velocity of a 6-millimeter raindrop was found to be approximately 10 m/s. This value has been found to vary between 9 m/s and 13 m/s when measurements were taken on different days. The variance has been contributed to different air temperatures and pressures. In comparison, a human being falling to the surface of the Earth experiences a drastically larger terminal velocity of approximately 56 m/s.
What is the only part of a poison ivy plant that is not poisonous?
Answer: the pollen
Poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans syn. Rhus toxicodendron, Rhus radicans) is a plant in the family Anacardiaceae. It is a woody vine (not ivy) and is well known for its ability to produce urushiol, a skin irritant that causes an itching rash for most people, technically known as urushiol-induced contact dermatitis.
Around 15- 30% of people have no allergic response, but most people will become sensitized with repeated or more concentrated exposure to urushiol. Urushiol binds to the skin on contact, where it causes severe itching that develops into reddish colored inflammation or non-colored bumps, and then blistering. These lesions may be treated with calamine lotion, Burow solution compresses, or Aveeno baths to relieve discomfort. In severe cases, clear fluids ooze from open blistered sores and corticosteroids are the necessary treatment.
The oozing fluids released by itching blisters do not spread the poison. The appearance of a spreading rash indicates that some areas received more of the poison and reacted sooner than other areas or that contamination is still occurring from contact with objects to which the original poison was spread. The blisters and oozing result from blood vessels that develop gaps and leak fluid through the skin; if the skin is cooled, the vessels constrict and leak less. If poison ivy is burned and the smoke then inhaled, this rash will appear on the lining of the lungs, causing extreme pain and possibly fatal respiratory difficulty. If poison ivy is eaten, the digestive tract, airway, kidneys or other organs can be damaged. An untreated rash can last up to four weeks.
Urushiol oil can remain active for several years, so handling dead leaves or vines can cause a reaction. In addition, oil transferred from the plant to other objects (such as pet fur) can cause the rash if it comes into contact with the skin. People who are sensitive to poison ivy can also experience a similar rash from mangoes. Mangoes are in the same family (Anacardiaceae); the sap of the mango tree and skin of mangoes has a chemical compound similar to urushiol.
Thanks Jennifer for this week’s question! Jennifer has been the ecologist at Huron Pines for 2 years now. She’s a plant whiz and can tell you all about Michigan’s Native Plants.
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What threatened and globally rare species found in northern Michigan typically lives 20 to 25 years before reaching sexual maturity, and then only reproduces once every four or five years?
Answer: Michigan’s Lake Sturgeon
The lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) is one of 27 sturgeon species found world-wide. Once plentiful across the Great Lakes states, lake sturgeon populations were drastically reduced by a combination of overfishing, dam construction, habitat destruction, and more recently, poaching. Yet the sturgeon persist at scattered locations, notably in northern Michigan’s inland waterway of Mullet, Burt and Black Lakes.
An evolutionary relic from the age of dinosaurs, the sturgeon is both the oldest and largest fish found in the Great Lakes system. Lake Sturgeon can grow to a length of 8 or 9 feet and weigh upwards of 300 pounds. While male sturgeon can live for 50 to 60 years, the females can live for as long as 150 years.
Each year at spawning time, an army of over 350 volunteers, organized by the non-profit group Sturgeon For Tomorrow, stand guard in shifts at spawning sites along the upper Black River, to protect the fish from poachers during the most vulnerable point of their life cycle. Additionally, a cooperative effort between Sturgeon For Tomorrow, the MI Department of Natural Resources and Michigan State University supports an ongoing fish tagging and research effort, along with a hatchery program to raise sturgeon fingerlings for restocking purposes.
Huron Pines has also been active in the sturgeon restoration effort, by undertaking habitat improvement projects along the upper Black River (click here for more information). Erosion control and bank stabilization techniques were applied at three critical sturgeon spawning sites, using a combination of slope terracing, fencing, riprap, re-vegetation and the “sweat equity” of some 60 Huron Pines volunteers.
Thank you Mary Ann for this week's question! Dr. Heidemann is a very supportive and active partner. She has been crucial in balancing land use and conservation issues in Northeast Michigan.
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What is a splake and how do you identify one?
Answer: A hybrid trout . . .
A splake is a hybrid produced from a male brook trout (also called "speckled trout") crossed with a female lake trout. Splake generally display characteristics intermediate between a lake trout and a brook trout. For instance, the caudal (tail) fin is not as deeply forked as a lake trout, but is more so than a brook trout.
Splake can be positively identified by counting pyloric caeca (below), which are finger-like extensions of the intestine. Brook trout have about 23-55 caeca, lake trout have 93-208, and splake have 65-85.
Thanks Neal for this week’s question!
Neal is a great partner; whether it’s speaking at AmeriCorps Clean-ups or hooking trees to a heavy-lift helicopter to enhance fish habitat (click here to learn more), he brings his extensive technical knowledge and positive attitude.
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What year did the State of Michigan officially begin a Forest Fire Control program?
Answer: 1923, but this is sort of a trick question. One could say 1903, 1907, 1914, 1921 or 1923
The first rudimentary protection began in 1903, when the first forest fire law was passed to authorize state expenditures for fire control, along with the creation of the first state forest reserves and state forestry nursery. It was 1907 when the first organized protection began with the appointment of district deputy game, fish and forest wardens. These men acted primarily as game wardens, but forest fire warnings were posted and they were encouraged to take action on fires as well.
The inadequacy of state and local protection efforts and the heavy losses of the 1908 fires led a number of larger timber operators to undertake the protection of their own holdings through the creation of private organizations. 1908 had been one of Michigan’s biggest fire years, which included the tragedy of the Metz fire in Presque Isle County on October 15, where 29 lives were lost in the fire. Michigan’s other great fires included 1871, 1881 and 1896.
Although there were efforts by both the state and private organizations to control fires before 1914, this was the year that the first full-time fire control officer, William J. Pearson, was appointed. A scattered number of fire towers were erected across Michigan, both by private associations and the state. The state’s first three fire towers were erected on the Higgins Lake and Houghton Lake Forest Preserves and the Hanson State Game Refuge. These three towers were the three-legged “windmill” towers that stood fifty-feet high with an open platform. The Higgins Lake Tower still exists on a different location at the Historic Higgins Lake Nursery and CCC Museum at North Higgins Lake State Park.
The Department of Conservation was established in 1921 which became the central agency for forest fire suppression (instead of splitting with the local governments and private organizations). “Fire bosses” were hired to oversee local firefighting crews and seasonal fire wardens and lookouts were employed.
The state continued to make improvements after 1923. The greatest amount of effort took place from 1933-42 under the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps. Through the effort of the thousands of young men working in the CCC in Michigan, 95 lookout towers, 8 lookout cabins, 1,958 miles of telephone line, 24 airplane landing fields, 6,818 miles of truck trails, 55 miles of foot trails, and 1,371 miles of fire breaks were constructed for fire control purposes. The ‘CCC Boys’ also spent 207,410 man-days fighting forest fires and 205,478 man-days on fire prevention and presupression duty, such as manning fire towers, cutting dead timber and the removal of other fuel.
Much of this information came from Forest Fires and Forest Fire Control in Michigan by J.A. Mitchell, Lake States Forest Experiment Station and D. Robson, Michigan Department of Conservation, 1950. For more information on Michigan’s historic fires see Michigan on Fire by Betty Sodders, Thunder Bay Press, 1997.
Things have really come full circle, though. We would like to add that the latest trend in ecosystem management has been to actually start fires in what are known as prescribed burnings. After all, fire is a natural ecosystem process. Data has shown that total fire suppression will actually cause more hazardous fire situations. As organic material collects
