Menu Washtenaw County Conservation District Assisting residents with the conservation, management and wise use of natural resources in Washtenaw County since 1948. Conservation Newsletter Stay up to date with monthly Conservation Newsletter about Washtenaw Conservation District happenings! Subscribe Opt in to receive news and updates. Saturday, December 11th, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Freedom Township Hall 11508 E Pleasant Lake Rd., Manchester, MI 48158 Attention Washtenaw County Farmers! Having a hard time getting rid of those unused tires? The Washtenaw County Conservation District (WCCD) is working in partnership with the Washtenaw County Solid Waste Division to host the Agricultural Tire Drop-off Event. RSVP is required. Please call us at 734.302.8715 to reserve a time slot. Limit of 4 tires. Contact MAEAP Technician Nick Machinski at nick@washtenawcd.org or 734.302.8711 with any questions. RESERVE A TIME EVENT DETAILS Webinar: "Winter Woody Plant Identification" with Martha Holzheuer Tuesday, January 11th, 6-7:30pm. Zoom Webinar, registration will open soon. Join us for a virtual talk led by Martha Holzheuer, a landscape ecologist and owner of Nature Niche LLC. The talk focus on winter identification of common invasive and native shrub species that can be managed over the winter months, followed by a Q&A session with special guest, JLW CISMA Coordinator, Dr. Shikha Singh. 2022 SPEAKER SERIES Join us for the 74th WCCD Annual Meeting! Thursday, January 20, 2022 at 6:30 p.m. Robin Hills Farm Event Center 20390 Stockbridge Chelsea Rd. (M-52), Chelsea, MI The WCCD will be presenting conservation awards to farmers, landowners and residents for their ongoing commitment to applying conservation on the ground. Additionally, Director Election results will be announced and 2021 reports will be presented by the WCCD staff and partners. Dinner will be provided with vegetarian options will be available. Tickets are required. Each ticket is $15 and they are available to purchase from the WCCD online store. ANNUAL MEETING EVENT DETAILS PURCHASE TICKETS Congratulations to our 2021 School & Community Habitat Grant Awardees! We're please to announce the awards for the inaugural WCCD School & Community Habitat Grant! We received seven completed applications and were able to award all applicants with plant materials and/or consultation support. Learn more about the organizations and their projects here! Learn more or donate on our 2021 grant are on our School & Community Habitat Grant page. Learn about and RSVP for upcoming meetings, webinars and other events: UPCOMING EVENTS The Washtenaw County Conservation District, in partnership with the Huron River Watershed Council & River Raisin Watershed Council, is hosting a shop-talk at Saline Township Hall, 5731 Braun Rd. Saline, MI 48176 at 10am. Speaker Ron Doetch will be discussing his experience working with the farming community in Washtenaw County. He will be reviewing several trends in the industry as well as highlighting some of the changes that have taken place in his time here. Moreover, the talk will look at the importance of water and what can be done to use it more wisely. Finally, Ron will discuss the need to shift away from short term, season-to-season thinking and how producers might transition to a more long-term outlook that promotes conservation and profit. The event will run until 11:30am and refreshments will be provided. Questions? Call 734.302.8715 or email info@washtenawcd.org RSVP HERE Washtenaw County Conservation District is pleased to announce the Farmer Cost-Share Program! Possible projects covered by Cost-Share: Riparian forest buffer Cover Crop Installation Pollinator Habitat plantings Contributions towards high tunnel installation Water, Soil and manure samples Contributions towards forest management and grazing plans Soil sample tests Farm Safety Materials ...and more! For more information, click the "Learn More" button below. LEARN MORE "Kiss The Ground" Film, Live Viewing Friday, January 14th, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Acorn Farmers Market & Cafe 455 W. Main St, Manchester, MI We are partnering with Acorn Farmers Market & Cafe for a live showing of "Kiss the Ground" the movie narrated by Woody Harrelson. Released in September of 2020 on Netflix, this full-length documentary sheds light on a “new, old approach” to farming called regenerative agriculture, a practice with the extraordinary ability to balance our climate and feed the world. REGISTER FOR EVENT Rain Barrels, Totes, & more Preorders return in 2022 In 2021, the WCCD sold 148 rain barrels and 18 totes for water catchment! All together, that is potentially 13,090 gallons of rainwater diverted for each heavy rain! Would you like to join the others who are capturing this resource and helping to protect our drain ways & waterbodies from runoff? Click below to sign up for updates. Our friends at Wonderful Tiny Farm set the 2021 WCCD sale record with their large water catchment & distribution system supporting their flower & vegetable gardens (pictured). They wrote a great WTF blog post about their system and lessons learned, highly recommended read! SIGN UP FOR 2022 RAIN BARRELS SALES NOTIFICATIONS Our Mission To assist residents and landowners with the conservation, management, and wise use of natural resources of Washtenaw County. What We Do We assist Washtenaw County residents through countywide resource assessments, conservation resource distributions, conservation education, and one-on-one technical assistance. Who We Are The Washtenaw County Conservation District is a local government agency. Serving Washtenaw County, office located in Ann Arbor, MI. Our Partners New address: 705 N. Zeeb Rd Suite 201 Ann Arbor, MI 48103-1560 734.302.8715 (Main) Megan DeLeeuw - Executive Director - megan@washtenawcd.org, 734.302.8710 Summer Roberts- Community Forester- summer@washtenawcd.org, 734.302.8716 Doug Reith - Resource Coordinator - doug@washtenawcd.org, 734.302.8713 Dru Mark-Wilson- Outreach Coordinator- dru@washtenawcd.org, 734-302-8715 Nick Machinski - MAEAP Technician - nick@washtenawcd.org, 734.302.8711 Erez Brandvain - Conservation Technician - erez@washtenawcd.org, 734.302.8714 Washtenaw County Conservation District (734) 302-8715 info@washtenawcd.org 705 N. Zeeb Rd. Ann Arbor, MI 48103 Copyright 2020