CRYSTAL FALLS, Mich. (WZMQ) – Carly DeVet, the District Forester for Iron and Baraga Counties, announced several upcoming events on her calendar heading into spring.
On February 24th, she will host a snowshoe tree identification workshop, which will take place at Pentoga Park in Iron River at 9:00 a.m. central time. The workshop is free to the public, but those interested in attending are being asked to pre-register.
According to DeVet, tree identification can be more of a challenge this time of year.
“I’m going to explain how to identify trees in the wintertime. Some are easier like conifers, but a lot of deciduous trees are harder to identify without leaves, and it’s more of bark identification,” she commented.
The forester said that for those dreaming of spring’s arrival in the U.P., it’s almost time to think of spring in terms of tapping trees for maple syrup.
“It’s getting pretty close, people are starting to think about it. That’s a major thing in the wintertime, people want to know how to ID those sugar maples for their production,” DeVet noted.
DeVet said that she had so much success with her apple pruning workshop last year that she will be bringing it back this year. She will host the apple pruning workshop on March 25th at the Iron County Courthouse. She will give a presentation to explain different pruning techniques, and there will be a live demonstration in the field for pruning apple trees following the presentation.
DeVet was also excited to announce a workshop that she has on her schedule in March, in partnership with the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community.
According to DeVet, the KBIC forester and some wildlife presenters will be hosting an event with her to show how different forest management types can help out with the Ruffed Grouse population.
“It’s a huge thing in the area to have wildlife habitat on your property. A lot of people who love wildlife, hunters, just watchers in general. So we are putting on a presentation just showing how different forest management types can help with that Ruffed Grouse population, whether you have a small acreage, a large acreage, kind of planning from a landscape level along with just a single parcel level,” she added.
The Ruffed Grouse wildlife presentation will be in the evening on March 9th at 5:30 eastern time in Baraga County.
Those interested in pre-registering for the snowshoe workshop, participating in the tree sale, or finding out more details on the upcoming pruning or wildlife workshops can e-mail the forester at fap.iron.baraga@macd.org
The Iron-Baraga spring tree sale is also going on right now through April 1st, and anyone interested in participating in that sale can visit ironbaragacd.org
