This is rescheduled from May 16 due to high water (over 500 cfs, on that date when the optimum for collection is 325 cfs or lower).
Try something different. Here is an opportunity to do some citizen science and collect insects for a real measure of stream quality. The aquatic insects being collected, when identified to family level, provides a direct measure of stream quality.
This is the first year we will be doing this; the Quality Assurance Project Plan for the Pine River has just been approved by MiCorps (The Michigan Clean Water Corps) which means we have approval to enter our findings into the statewide MiCorps database for use by people interested in stream quality assessments. We will collect at three sites along the permitted section of the Pine River; Silver Creek, Elm Flats, and Peterson Bridge.
A sampling team consists of people wading the river taking samples from all the habitats at each site, a runner who brings samples to shore, and people sorting and preserving insects from the samples. So, people with their own waders are a plus. Depending on what interests you, I will do training at the spot. We expect to be finished by 2 - 3 pm.
We start at 10 am, first meeting and collecting at the Silver Creek canoe launch.
So if you are interested in seeing some of the life that we usually canoe over, then this is for you.