MICHIGAN ASSOCIATION OF CONSERVATION DISTRICTS
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Mission Statement
The mission of the Otsego Conservation District is to assist the people of Otsego County in the wise use and management of their natural resources, for a healthy environment and sustained economic growth. We do this through school and summer programs for children, and free or low-cost workshops covering a variety of natural resource topics for adults. We also offer free forestry assistance to the public through the Forestry Assistance Program, manage the Otsego County’s Recycling Program, and manage the Otsego County Soil Erosion Program.
About This Cause
Otsego Conservation District Outdoor Education For 22 years the Otsego Conservation District (OCD) has utilized the Otsego County Demonstration Garden as a space to host educational programs, volunteer opportunities, and community events. Over the years OCD has received funding and donations from various sources to develop the garden into a hub for enjoying nature and learning about native plant landscaping. The Otsego County Demonstration Garden and Forest includes a three-acre garden area complete with many educational spaces and interpretive signs including native plant gardens, pollinator gardens, children’s garden, herb garden, butterfly garden, hummingbird garden, public garden plots and perennial beds. Various trees and wildlife shrubs have also been planted throughout the gardens to serve as living examples of species that grow well in Michigan’s climate. The remaining 16 acres of northern hardwood forest adjacent to the garden are also well utilized due to the expansive walking paths complete with interpretive signs for forest management. For the last few years the community has come together to build an Education Center, which serves as a continuation of the gardens. It includes a classroom with Wi-Fi capability, a storage facility for garden equipment, and handicap–accessible restrooms. Building the education center provided a much needed indoor space that is a valuable addition to the garden and to the community for year-round educational programs and year round clean, handicap-accessible restrooms. Within the Otsego County Demonstration Garden there are accessible grass and gravel trails. It includes wheelchair accessible public restrooms and accessible brick pathways around the Education Center, to the Native Plant Nursery and up to the grass pathways with in the garden. At this time access to the Education Center is limited to dirt and grass. We need to connect Cross Street, which is a paved road to the brick sidewalk adjacent to the education center to improve public access to this remarkable community space. Through the development of the garden our top priority has been to make the area available to all individuals of all ages and abilities. Communication with the Otsego Community Mental Health, and Otsego Commission on Aging brought an awareness of the desire for those with special needs to participate in the garden program. Upon receiving funds, seven handicap accessible raised garden beds, and crushed limestone paths were built. This made gardening available to individuals of all ages with or without disability. Otsego County Demonstration Garden is just a block away from the Gaylord High School, which has made it possible to have the Horticulture class very active in the garden. Over the years they have designed and built the Children’s Garden, studied forest management and written a Forest Management Plan and worked with a Consultant Forester and Logger to have a timber harvest completed within the Conservation Forest. It is an ideal location to facilitate learning by getting students involved with the outdoors. School classes are invited to come to the garden to learn about water resource protection, gardening, wildlife, tree identification etc., then venture into the adjacent gardens and forest for “hands-on” learning. Conservation Day Camp is a three-day summer experience for children K-6 grade hosted by the Otsego Conservation District. This free day camp provides children with opportunities to take part in hands-on activities and outdoor learning with a conservation component. This is the 12 year OCD has offered the Conservation Day Camp program. Seed to Harvest is another program offered by the Conservation District for the Junior Master Gardener 4-H Club. From February to September, participants learn about plant disease, plant biology, water, soil, insects and much more. Participants can also select a variety of fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs to begin growing in the Conservation District’s Greenhouse. In the spring and summer months, the plants are transplanted to outdoor garden beds in the children’s garden portion of the demonstration garden and cared for throughout the growing season. The children are able to grow food for themselves and their families as well as donating a significant amount of their produce to local groups such as the Otsego County Food Pantry. Participants learn about food production, their role in environmental responsibility, and the benefits of teamwork and goal-making, further develop social consciousness, and help create a sense of community awareness and pride. The Otsego Conservation District provides many workshops and informational meetings regarding natural resources throughout the year. Workshops and educational meetings that are held at the Education Center and Garden include invasive pest and species management, forest management, tree and shrub identification, fruit tree care and grafting, raingardens, pollinator gardens, native plant identification, wildflower identification, water resource protection and more. We are also working on installing a visual learning component of the Demonstration Gardens, which involves installation of live video cameras streaming capability so that a webcam viewing page can be added to the OCD’s website. The Demonstration Gardens see extensive wildlife activity including deer, turkeys, songbirds, rabbits, and skunks that are attracted to flower seeds and berries in the garden. We hope to allow the public to witness these plant-animal interactions to increase public understanding of the natural area and the importance of providing natural winter food sources for wildlife. The Alpine Master Gardener Association frequently uses the Demonstration Garden area for their informational meetings and workshops as well. Over the years they adopted three gardens and have been instrumental in the design and maintains of the gardens. The Education Center’s classroom has been a gathering place for other community organizations and events. Every June, the Otsego Conservation District hosts the Art in the Garden Festival, an all-day event that gives the community an opportunity to celebrate the environment through art, music and a wide variety of hands-on, “make-it take-it” workshops for kids and adults. Numerous bands are invited to perform in our state of-the-art amphitheater during the festival. This will be Art in the Garden’s ninth consecutive year of operation. The county is proud of the newest addition to the garden, an amphitheater where various concerts and events take place throughout the summer. The outdoor venue has been met with enthusiasm by the public. Recent grants to the Otsego Conservation District have provided the amphitheater with a brand new, sound system. The proposed projects are to build a driveway and handicap parking to the Education Center, and enhance a fitness trail with various exercise stations within the Conservation Forest. At this time our access to the education center is dirt and grass. We propose to build a driveway going up to the education center with two handicap parking spots. This would connect the driveway and parking with the brick sidewalk, which goes to the education center, garden and greenhouse. By improving the entrance to the education center more people will be encouraged to utilize the gardens. Over the last 22 years many individuals and youth groups have helped with design and maintenance of the area. We continue to collaborate with Otsego County Commission on Aging, North Country Community Mental Health, Gaylord High School, Kids Outdoors, Headstart and Otsego Community Schools. The diversity of the trees and the variety of flora and fauna has made it a popular area to visit. Green space plays an important role in fostering social interactions and promotes a sense of community that is essential for social cohesion as well as for human health. Over the last couple years we have received feedback from the community on the necessity of improving the parking for handicap access and the concerns during inclement weather. In addition to individuals driving we have many people that walk to the garden and some of which are in wheel chairs. Gaylord Alpine Workshop is directly across from the garden which has clients that would benefit greatly by wheel chair accessibility. The fitness trail would be along the 1.5 mile existing nature trail. A sign mapping the trail will be installed at the entrance of the garden and at the trailhead. We will build eight different exercise stations, some of which will be along the Children’s Storywalk. The fitness stations include a warm-up station, parallel bars, triple pull-up bars, zig zag balance beam, sit-up station, stepping stones, rope climb, step-ups, and a lunges station. Six of the stations are built using powder coat painted galvanized steel. Cedar woodchips will be spread at each station to help keep weeds down. Instructional signs will be installed at each station for novice exercisers. By installing the fitness stations it will provide an assortment of activities for all age groups and encourage children and adults to get outdoors more and enjoy our natural resources. The addition of fitness stations would not only encourage an active and healthy lifestyle, but expand the user group of the gardens, where we continually strive to offer free outdoor opportunities for the diverse groups within our community. Studies have found that exercising in a natural environment “was associated with greater feelings of revitalization and positive engagement; decreases in tension, confusion, anger and depression; and increases energy.” Studies have also found that those who exercised outdoors “reported greater enjoyment and satisfaction with outdoor activity and declared a greater intent to repeat the activity at a later date.” Getting children and adults outside is a big reason we already have the gardens and interpretive trail. We want to stimulate an appreciation and curiosity for our natural