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Fly-Fishing Workshop on the Yellow Dog
Our inaugural fly-fishing workshop for novice fly fishermen and women will take place on August 27-28 on the Yellow Dog River. This collaborative event is hosted by the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve (YDWP), the Fred Waara chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU), and Superior Outfitters. Classes and instructions will commence at the Zender/Dale Yellow Dog Forest…
Earth Day 2022: Honoring Those Who Inspired Us to Care for the Earth
Joseph Epes Brown By Jan Zender I grew up on a river that flooded every year. Most years, the river spent time in our house-one time over the keyboard of a grand piano. My mother made me feel like it was a fun adventure. Nature exists. We live with her. This was the foundation I…
World Water Day message 2022
A river is a magical moving flow of life itself. Preserving it should not just be celebrated on one day; it should be every day. Many native people have a saying that “water is life” (“Bimaadiziwin nibi” in Ojibwa), and they know that everything needs water to survive. We need to protect it; we need…
Preserving Shorelines and Protecting Water Quality
In recent years, the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve has received several calls from landowners requesting help for erosion problems, sometimes very serious issues. As with most things, prevention is usually the easiest and least expensive fix. The following slide presentation is a quick overview of the Yellow Dog River, some problems, what YDWP is doing…
October 16, 2021 Planting Trees for Restoration and YDWP’s 26th Annual Meeting
The Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve will again be hosting two back to back events this fall. On Saturday, October 16th in conjunction with the Fred Waara chapter of Trout Unlimited, Partners for Watershed Restoration, and the Brook Trout Subcommittee, we will head back to Lost Creek, a major feeder stream of the Yellow Dog River,…
Thinking About Earth Day
Nearly forty years ago, in a senior philosophy seminar, I was struck by an excerpt from Luther Standing Bear that was included in the compilation by T.C. McLuhan called Touch the Earth. As I was thinking about Earth Day 2021, this book came up in conversation. I dusted it off and started perusing the…
YDWP 2021 Photo Contest
Many of us navigated the months of social distancing and stay at home orders by getting outside and reconnecting with nature. Sometimes, or I should say often, I forget my camera, but on those rare occasions when I don’t, I am looking for that unusual flower, an eagle perched on its prey, or my…
2020 Contest-Winning Essay: Teague Whalen, “My Measuring Rock”
Photo by Teague Whalen On still days, Brown, Diane, and Ward Mountain reflect in Ward Lake as I walk the trail around the shore, where each morning I take the season’s pulse. The spring teams with returning life. A flock of Canadian geese rests on their migration north. A pair of trumpeter swans float in…
2020 Yellow Dog Annual Meeting Silent Auction
Once again the Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve is hosting a silent auction at this years 25th Annual Meeting! We are featuring a variety of unique handcrafted pieces made by local artisans. All pieces are custom made and materials were harvested and or collected from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. If you cannot join us for…