For Friday, Aug. 31, 2018

…audio…

1 – State-threatened lake sturgeon are to be reintroduced to the Cass River during an event today, Friday, Aug. 31, in Frankenmuth.

A sponsor, the Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network, says it’s an event more than 100 years in the making. It will mark the first appearance of juvenile sturgeon in the Cass since the 1800s.

The project has a list of partners including government agencies, nonprofits, foundations and corporations who have worked to improve and restore streams and habitat across the Saginaw Bay watershed. Members of the public will help release the fish.

The release is part of a multi-year strategy to repopulate the system by reintroducing sturgeon to the Cass, Flint, Tittabawassee and Shiawassee rivers.

Sturgeon take 20 years to reach maturity and return to their home rivers, so it will be a while before they’re seen again.

2 – A forest management workshop is planned for Sept. 7 in Gladwin.

The Little Forks Conservancy, based in Midland, is inviting people interested in learning more about forest management to its Lane Preserve in Gladwin County.

The event is free and open to the public. It’s a 2 p.m. Sept. 7, and will focus on best management practices. Presenters will include a forester with the Clare and Gladwin Conservation Districts, a supervisor from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and representatives from Trout Unlimited.

Attendees will have the chance to explore the preserve, which is opening to the public this fall.

Registration is required by contacting Sara Huetteman at 989-835-4886 or shuetteman@littleforks.org.

For more details, call 989-835-4886 or visit littleforks.org.

This is the final workshop in the conservancy’s second year series of workshops focused on land and water stewardship.

The workshops provide opportunities for anyone who is interested in volunteering at Little Forks’ nature preserves, but who have limited or no experience working with natural resources.

– Mr. Great Lakes is heard at 7:49 a.m. and 9:49 a.m. on Fridays in Bay City, Michigan, on Delta College Q-90.1 FM NPR. Follow @jeffkart on Twitter #MrGreatLakes