Prior to European settlement, southern Michigan supported vast expanses of prairie and oak savanna. Today prairies and savannas persist only in tiny remnant patches, many in state parks. Seed collection is a key step in restoring these lost landscapes, but it is one that requires many hands. This is a unique opportunity to learn about the natural and cultural history of these rare landscapes while doing something positive to help restore and preserve them for future generations. Its fun, easy and a wonderful experience for the entire family and people of all ages.

We ask that volunteers bring a clean, empty gallon milk jug or small bucket to collect seed with and wear sturdy shoes. Hiking distance will vary depending on location. Prairie remnants are often very sunny places so a hat and drinking water are also recommended. If you are allergic to bees, please bring your sting relief kit. An adult must accompany children between the ages of 5 to 15.

If you belong to an organization, or group and prefer to volunteer during the week, specific arrangements can be made. For more information e-mail Laurel Malvitz malvitzl@michigan.gov or call 248-359-9057.

A calendar of fall 2009 workdays is now posted.  All volunteers are required to complete a registration form.  

Native Seed Collection Recap

Volunteers spent almost 1700 hours collecting native prairie plant seeds in nine southern Michigan state parks and recreation areas in the fall.  But, whatever happened to all of that seed? Well, this winter, staff members on the Michigan Civilian Conservation Corps stewardship crew have been hard at work cleaning seed. The final weights have been tallied! From about 25 different plant species a total of 175 pounds of seed was collected handful by handful.

If this doesn't seem like very much seed, picture that in a single pound of Indian grass there are approximately 175,000! So, if all the seed collected was similar to Indian grass in size and weight, 170 pounds would translate to over 30 million seeds! If only ten percent grow into viable plants, that's 3 million native plants for Michigan State Parks!

A huge thank you to all of the wonderful volunteers who helped collect this native seed. We could not have collected so much seed from as many different species without your numerous helping hands!

Most of the seed collected by volunteers, along with additional seed collected by DNR staff, will be used to plant close to 100 acres of prairie in the coming growing season. The rest of the seed will be grown into nearly 25,000 plugs (small seedlings) that will be hand planted this spring and early fall at the following parks: Waterloo Recreation Area, Pinckney Recreation Area, Fort Custer Recreation Area, Sterling State Park, Highland Recreation Area, and Algonac State Park.

If you would like to help us plant these plugs, please visit our "Calendar of Volunteer Stewardship Workdays"  for a schedule of upcoming workdays. If you are interested in helping water the plants after planting or monitoring their success, there will also be opportunities to help. Contact Laurel Malvitz at 248-359-9057 or malvitzl@michigan.gov for more information or with any questions."