Restoring Aquatic Ecosystems in Northwest Lower Michigan
Nature Change (naturechange.org) is delighted to announce the release of a new documentary film about the restoration and protection of rivers and streams
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Challenging Choices
Northwest Lower Michigan is well known across the nation for its natural beauty – Great Lakes shorelines, clean cold water streams, lakes, forests, farms and heritage landscapes. However, these natural resources are under increasing pressure from the advance of development, invasive pests and diseases, and a changing climate. The immediate impacts of these drivers of change may not be clear, but most observers of the natural world can describe dramatic shifts that have occurred in just the last decade or two, from the loss of ash and beech trees from our forests to the appearance of disease bearing ticks.
Nature Change is all around us and rapidly advancing. The people of Northwest Lower Michigan are being challenged to size up the drivers of change and make choices now about the future of our treasured natural resources and heritage landscapes.
The multimedia stories presented in this section help answer the question: What are the challenges and choices we need to consider if we want to preserve, protect or re-build the natural beauty and heritage landscapes of our region?
Who Protects the Public Trust?
Who Protects the Public Trust is a very short presentation by Professor Richard Norton, Taubman College, University of Michigan. Norton is an expert
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Why Shore Armoring Inevitably Fails
In this short film, Professor Guy Meadows (Great Lakes Research Center, Michigan Technological University) describes how high-water levels and waves are changing the
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Plague Phase – voices in response to ecological decline
Nature Change and Crosshatch Center for Art & Ecology are very pleased to present this experimental short film, Plague Phase. On the evening
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The Secret to Life – Part Two
In this “explainer” video, we’re invited to take a harder look at the earth’s atmosphere and how the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2)
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Earth Day 2020 – The Unimaginable
In this essay, author and environmental policy specialist Dave Dempsey reflects on the challenges humans face today, fifty years after the first Earth
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Viewers’ Choice 2018
Fish and goats, boats and butterflies, rivers and snails are all topics of the most viewed Nature Change stories published in 2018. With
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Revealing Connections – Two Years of Nature Change
Northern Michigan’s landscapes are changing as invasive species, urban development and climate change alter, damage or destroy familiar plant and animal communities on
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Are You a Shore Walker? Sharing Our Water Resources – Sharing Our Shorelines
Who controls the Great Lakes shorelines and their tributary rivers? How much access do you have? This essay by Dave Dempsey offers some
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Investing in Solar – Personal Choices with Public Benefits
“First and foremost,” Jim and Kelly Lively tell us, “going solar is a personal family decision.” This video essay reveals some of their
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Viewers’ Choice 2017
In all, 39 photo and video essays were published on Nature Change in 2017. Here’s a quick review of the ten most popular
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Eating for Climate Resilience
This very timely essay and guide was submitted by nutritionists, Kelly Wilson and Paula Martin from Taste the Local Difference (TLD). Please read
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Climate Weirding & the Mysterious Great Lakes
Complex systems with weird behavior might describe both the global atmosphere and the Great Lakes. In this essay, noted environmental policy expert and
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Climate Change Bites – Apple Farmers Face New Risks
Apples! One of Michigan’s largest and most valuable crops, there are over 11 million apple trees in commercial production helping to support 825
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Invasive Phragmites: Discovering the Tipping Point
It’s late summer at Fisherman’s Island State Park on Lake Michigan’s coast, just south of Charlevoix. And a team of researchers in chest-high
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Improving Tree Canopy for Climate Resilience
The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay is sharing some good news. Mature trees can play an important role in controlling and limiting stormwater
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Moving to the Land of Milliken – The Values of Place
Submitted by Dave Dempsey, this essay starts with a critical question. How important is place? To Michigan’s longest serving governor, Traverse City’s own
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Of Monarchs and Climate – A Conversation with Nature Photographer Charles St. Charles
In this video, we join District Forester Kama Ross for a conversation with the award-winning nature photographer, Charles St. Charles. They got together
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Keeping Carbon in Forest Soils: The Necessary Snowpack
Randy Schaetzl studies the processes of soil formation and the interactions of soils with regional hydrology, biology and climate. A Professor of Geography
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Jim Olson & Dave Mahan on Natural Resources Stewardship
Executive Director of the Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation, Phil Ellis invited two of our region’s most respected and experienced environmental leaders to consider the
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The Most Viewed Stories of 2016 – A Year End Review
In March of this year, we launched Nature Change to offer educational short videos and photo-essays on how people are responding to on-going
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Diversifying the Local Economy – What Do Birds Have to Do With It?
This is a story about a Northern Michigan community responding to the economic challenges brought on by changes in the region’s natural resources,
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Escaping Ornamentals: A Threat to Natural Area Biodiversity
Essay by: Miriam Owsley, Outreach Assistant, Northwest Michigan Invasive Species Network Northern Michigan boasts some of the most beautiful natural landscapes in the country,
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Invasives, Climate Change … What’s a Land Conservancy to Do?
Essay By: Tom Bailey, Executive Director, Little Traverse Conservancy Change is coming to northern Michigan in a number of ways. The Great Lakes have
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