Chippewa Nature Center Calendar

Visitor Center Hours:
Monday-Friday 8-5, Saturdays 9-5, Sundays and Holidays 1-5
Trails open every day from dawn to dark

Learn more about our affiliate groups

Download a Registration Form to sign up for fee-related programs

March 2008


1/1/08-12/31/08 Member: $5 Non-member: $7 All Ages	Walk 100 Miles Register at the office to walk 100 miles on Chippewa Nature Center Trails and you will receive a logbook in which to keep track of the dates and mileage you have traveled. To achieve your goal, travel along any of the nature center trails by walking, skiing or snowshoeing. Take in the beautiful views along the Pine and Chippewa Rivers, investigate the fields, forests and wetlands, see how things change throughout the seasons, look for and enjoy the bountiful wildlife and join the many guided hikes throughout the year. Travel 100, 200 or 500 miles in 2008 and receive a t-shirt to mark your achievement! Three additional prizes will be awarded to the three people who have logged the most miles. Registration: 989-631-0830 or scheduler@chippewanaturecenter.org
3/28/08 Friday 1:00- 4:00 pm 3/29/08 Saturday 9:00 am - 4:00 pm 4/11/08 Friday 1:00 - 4:00 pm 4/12/08 Saturday 9:00 am - 4:00 pm 5/16/08 Friday 1:00 - 4:00 pm 5/17/08 Saturday 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Free Admission All Ages	Building a Birchbark Canoe Starting in March 2008 Jim Miller, Director of Willow Winds Traditional Skills School will be constructing his latest birch bark canoe on-site at Chippewa Nature Center! Jim is one of the nation's leading advocates of the study and application of traditional skills and crafts. He is perhaps best known for his all-natural brain tanning method of producing buckskin. His birch bark boxes, in the design of the Woodland Indians, are featured at Colonial Michilimackinac, in Mackinaw City, Michigan. Jim is currently working on his fourth birch bark canoe, made entirely by hand using Michigan natural materials including birch bark, white cedar, spruce root and pitch. Jim has prepared most of the materials and will be set-up in the River Overlook of the Visitor Center to work on the assembly of the traditional watercraft. In addition, he will set-up an array of other traditionally crafted items to interpret our cultural heritage and natural history. The program series will culminate with a launching of the birch bark in the Chippewa River in May. Funding for this special program series is made possible by the Dale Dean Natural History Speaker Series.

3/29/08 Saturday 7:00 am - 4:00 pm Registration Deadline: 3/22/08 Member: $30 Non-member: $35 Ages: 15+	F08-08 Birding the Bay - FULL Late March is usually the peak of the Tundra Swan migration through the Saginaw Bay, and the beginning of migration for tens of thousands of other waterfowl. Many of them will spend two or more weeks feeding in the shallow waters of the Saginaw Bay, especially in the well-named Wildfowl Bay and at Fish Point, our destinations for the day. Join Janea Little and Jeanne Henderson for this birding field trip to the east side of the Bay. Participants should dress for the cold March winds on the Saginaw Bay, and bring a sack lunch. Transportation will be provided via CNC's vans.

3/29/08 Saturday 9:00 am - 4:00 pm 4/11/08 Friday 1:00 - 4:00 pm 4/12/08 Saturday 9:00 am - 4:00 pm 5/16/08 Friday 1:00 - 4:00 pm 5/17/08 Saturday 9:00 am - 4:00 pm Free Admission All Ages	Building a Birchbark Canoe Starting in March 2008 Jim Miller, Director of Willow Winds Traditional Skills School will be constructing his latest birch bark canoe on-site at Chippewa Nature Center! Jim is one of the nation's leading advocates of the study and application of traditional skills and crafts. He is perhaps best known for his all-natural brain tanning method of producing buckskin. His birch bark boxes, in the design of the Woodland Indians, are featured at Colonial Michilimackinac, in Mackinaw City, Michigan. Jim is currently working on his fourth birch bark canoe, made entirely by hand using Michigan natural materials including birch bark, white cedar, spruce root and pitch. Jim has prepared most of the materials and will be set-up in the River Overlook of the Visitor Center to work on the assembly of the traditional watercraft. In addition, he will set-up an array of other traditionally crafted items to interpret our cultural heritage and natural history. The program series will culminate with a launching of the birch bark in the Chippewa River in May. Funding for this special program series is made possible by the Dale Dean Natural History Speaker Series.

3/29/08 Saturday 1:30 - 4:30 pm Free Admission All Ages	Maple Sugarhouse Visit the Beech-Maple woods, where buckets "decorate" trees and where, on warm days, you can hear the sap dripping into buckets. Watch the steam rise off the evaporator pan in the sugarhouse as the sap is boiled down to make sweet maple syrup. An interpreter will be on hand to explain the whole process.

3/30/08 Sunday 1:30 - 4:30 pm Free Admission All Ages	Maple Sugarhouse Visit the Beech-Maple woods, where buckets "decorate" trees and where, on warm days, you can hear the sap dripping into buckets. Watch the steam rise off the evaporator pan in the sugarhouse as the sap is boiled down to make sweet maple syrup. An interpreter will be on hand to explain the whole process.