forests

When it comes to our environment and natural resources, it's important to know how your tax dollars are being spent. Every five years, the Washtenaw County Conservation District (WCCD) gets the public's opinion through an online survey, and the latest is underway. The WCCD's executive director, Megan DeLeeuw, joined WEMU's David Fair to discuss the survey and the impact it can have over the next five years. 

After a 17-year, underground incubation period, the Cicadas are coming.  The somewhat large, noisy insects will return this summer and swarm in huge numbers in portions of Washtenaw County.  WEMU's David Fair checked in with Washtenaw County Conservation District community forester Summer Roberts about the 2021 irruption.  There is some good they do for the environment, and there are ways to help mitigate the potential harm they bring to small trees and shrubs. 

There are many ways to relax and unwind, and certainly nature is known as being a good source for that.  One of the more unusual ways is with guided forest therapy.

89.1 WEMU’s Lisa Barry takes you into the woods with the area’s only certified forest therapy guide...hidden in plain sight.

According to recent Michigan Department of Natural Resources inventory data, more than 173 million hemlock trees grow in Michigan.  An invasive insect is now threatening the tree species.  In this week's "Issues of the Environment," WEMU's David Fair talks with Forest Health Monitoring Program Manager, Roger Mech about the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid and what you can do to help protect our trees and forests.