OWASHTANONG ISLANDS AUDUBON SOCIETY & MUSKEGON COUNTY NATURE CLUB — Natural features of Ottawa County

Description: This program includes: (1) A description of a Natural Features Inventory (NFI) and the process and methods used to complete an NFI. (2) A description of the Natural Features found in Ottawa County Parks, including their flora and fauna, species of Special Concern and Threatened and Endangered species, habitats, and unique features. (3) An explanation of how NFI data are interpreted and used by Ottawa County Parks, the community, and science.

Speaker Bio: William Martinus and his wife Shirley have lived in Western Ottawa County for over 50 years, wandering through natural areas and recording plants and birds, especially Ottawa County’s Parks. After teaching for 30 years, his focus narrowed to conducting inventories of what specifically occurs within the Parks’ 7400 acres in fifty+ properties. His official inventories over 20 years include those completed in Upper Macatawa, Stearns Creek, North Ottawa Dunes, Ottawa Sands, Rosy Mound, Port Sheldon Natural Area, Hiawatha Forest, Crockery Creek, Eastmanville Bayou, Grand Ravines, and Grose Parks. In the process, he has documented with specimens to the University of Michigan Herbarium, over 450 plant species new to Ottawa County and nearly 30 entirely new to the State of Michigan, as well as a native slug species new to the state!

The Owashtanong Islands Audubon Society and Muskegon County Nature Club offer educational and informative lectures and fellowship at meetings held on the third Tuesday of the month, September through May, at 6 p.m. at the Loutit District Library (407 Columbus Ave., Grand Haven, MI 49417).

This event was submitted to our community calendar page by an outside organizer and is not a Michigan Audubon event. If you have questions, please reach out to the event organizers or the contact information provided in the event description.