Let’s talk about the environment, conservation and climate change

From staff reports

Northern Michigan’s heritage landscapes are changing as invasive species, urban development and climate change alter, damage or destroy familiar plant and animal communities on the land and in our waters. Longtime science journalist Joe VanderMeulen understands the challenges these developments pose to volunteer conservationists, natural resource professionals and the organizations working to manage, protect and preserve the forests, wetlands, streams and lakes of our beloved region.

As observers of the natural world, they know that our region’s renowned natural beauty and most productive ecosystems are at risk. To give them a voice, and to tell those stories, VanderMeulen launched the online magazine NatureChange.org last year. Nature Change facilitates conversations about conservation and climate through documentary videos and essays.

We asked VanderMeulen about how the online magazine has been received.

Glen Arbor Sun: What was the inspiration, or impetus, for starting Nature Change?

Joe VanderMeulen: Actually, most of my career has propelled me in this direction. Over the last 25 years or so, first as a science researcher for the Michigan legislature and then as the director of a nonprofit community service organization (Liaa.org), I’ve worked to better understand and translate what a changing climate means to our communities. With every passing year, researchers have delivered more data and greater certainty about the risks people and communities face—from deadly heat waves, severe storms and flooding to less obvious stuff like increasing allergies and asthma. Those are the risks and impacts we’re most likely to hear about—and it’s hugely important that communities work to become more climate resilient.

What we don’t hear a lot about is how the natural resources are being affected by climate and related drivers of change. Long time residents of Leelanau County know there’s less ice on Lake Michigan, notice the increasing severity of storms, or recognize that the forests are losing whole species of trees (e.g., ash, beech). In fact, resource managers and scientists have been coping with these challenges for many years, but the extent and rapidity of these changes are not always obvious to the untrained eye. Most of us don’t know how development, invasive species and climate change are interacting to completely alter our landscapes. We wonder, what can be done? Who will protect what’s left or rebuild for the future?

And that’s why I worked with a number of nonprofits in the region to create NatureChange.org. We need to hear from local and regional experts about how things are changing and what we can do, individually and together. Nature Change was created to help inform and encourage community-wide conversations about development, invasive species and climate change.

Through video essays and photo essays, we hope to give our viewers and readers a better sense of what the threats are to our resources and why it matters. Most important, we want to help people become informed participants in protecting natural diversity and guiding the redevelopment of natural areas for future generations.

GAS: Who funds Nature Change? What stakeholders contribute to it?

VanderMeulen: Nature Change has been developed with grant funds provided by the Americana Foundation (Novi), Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation (Traverse City) and the Petoskey-Harbor Springs Area Community Foundation. Many regional nonprofit organizations are direct stakeholders in Nature Change, participating as advisors and supporting content development, including: Conservation Resource Alliance, Grand Traverse Conservation District, Grand Traverse Stewardship Initiative, Grass River Natural Area, Land Information Access Association, Leelanau Conservancy, Little Traverse Conservancy and the Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay.

GAS: What have learned most since the project launched? What has surprised you?

VanderMeulen: Honestly, there have been surprises in every one of the 55 plus video essays we’ve completed since launching Nature Change on March 7, 2016.

In a general sense, it’s not surprising that non-native, invasive plants and animals would get a boost from development and climate change. But the scientists and resource managers working in our region—our back yards—really bring that point home. Here’s an example that surprised me.

Dr. Phil Myers has shown that many southern species of small mammals have moved north into Michigan in recent decades, replacing species that were here. White-footed mice now predominate where deer mice once were in our region. And these mice are key hosts for black-legged ticks, the primary transmitters of Lyme disease to people. That’s one very real, local impact of our changing climate coupled with development.

Of course, there are many more examples. Invasive plants like garlic mustard grow in disturbed soils and take advantage of the longer growing seasons caused by our changing climate. This plant can really damage woodland habitats and grow into massive monocultures. The spotted-winged drosophila, an invading fruit fly that damages cherry crops is also getting a boost from the extended growing seasons. That means more spraying and added costs for local farmers.

Again, in a general sense, it’s not surprising that there are dozens of organizations working to preserve and protect regional resources, like the conservation districts, conservancies, watershed organizations. But there are a surprising number of volunteers working really hard to help these groups push back invading plants, like garlic mustard. Volunteer conservationists are helping scientists track migratory raptors at the Mackinac Straits. They’re planting trees to help manage the impacts of a growing amount of stormwater resulting from increasingly severe storms. These stories are really hopeful.

GAS: What’s been the biggest challenge or hurdle with this project?

VanderMeulen: Like any nonprofit endeavor, I suppose, funding has been limited and that limits our ability to research and relate these stories. And there are so many stories to tell. Development, invasive species and climate change are impacting every part of our environment, from lake and stream water quality to Lake Michigan’s fisheries and from northern hardwood forests to vegetable crops. I think we all need to know more about how these changes fit together and how local governments and organizations can respond.

GAS: What stories have you published that you’ve found most impactful or profound?

VanderMeulen: That’s an impossible question, like choosing between children. Of course, some stories are more popular than others. For example, we’ve seen a huge amount of public interest in a story about a strain of Lake Trout discovered in Elk Lake that has the lineage of the original Lake Michigan population. Fisheries managers have worked for decades to re-establish a self-sustaining population of Lake Trout in Lake Michigan and hope this strain of fish will help.

For me, the stories about young people and their teachers participating in citizen science have been particularly meaningful and hopeful. The video essay we call Vernal Pool Middle School spotlights some amazingly articulate young people who are working with Harbor Springs Middle School teacher Kelli Polleys to document a vernal pool in a wooded preserve. Another story, Creating Interpretive Signage for the Kids Creek Watershed, highlights the work of some incredibly bright 8th graders at Traverse City West Middle School. Just beginning to grapple with the challenges of invasive species and climate change, these young people offer real hope for the future of our natural resources.

GAS: Since Nature Change’s tagline is “conversations about conservation and climate”, tell us about where those conversations are, and where they’re headed?

VanderMeulen: Nature Change stories are designed to provide specific, local examples of what resource managers, scientists and volunteers are working on while introducing our viewers and readers to some very engaging people. We want to introduce you to local scientists, resource specialists and volunteer conservationists—people you could meet on the street or see at the local grocery store. In this way, we are sparking discussions about change and how we are or are not responding. In many cases, our stories have been picked up by other media outlets, researched and retold. As these conversations spread, we are seeing a broader discussion connecting the experts with citizens about what we want to preserve and protect and what our priorities really are.

GAS: Do you have a sense that the general public, and the powers-that-be in our community (business leaders, politicians, etc.) are growing more conscious of climate change and what to do about it?

VanderMeulen: People across the country are becoming more conscious of climate change. The Yale Program on Climate Change has documented that. Here in northern Michigan we are protected from many of the most dramatic and dangerous human impacts of climate variability, but we see and feel our natural resources changing. However, we’re still working on responses; everybody is. Becoming more resilient to climate change requires a lot of flexibility, experimentation and information sharing. We all need to be in this conversation.

GAS: Can you share, or hint, what stories are next on the docket?

VanderMeulen: Nature Change is always looking for new stories and welcomes submissions on relevant topics, including photo-essays. So, we’re never really sure what’s next. But our viewers and readers are likely to see new video essays soon about a conservationist drone pilot, heroic boat washers, and tipping points in habitat change.