Chippewa Nature Center Inc.

Filing Period

Jan 1, 2012 to Dec 31, 2012

Signed

Aug 26, 2013

Return Version

2012v2.1

Gross Receipts

$7,696,097

Mission

Major Activities

Activity 2

Interpretation: did you get a chance to venture out with chippewa nature center in 2012? Thousands of people did and they enjoyed the exciting interpretive programs designed to connect people to the natural world. In 2012 a total of 9,280 people attended interpretive programs, up over 1,000 people from 2011 the program offerings once again included hikes, off-site field trips, paddling trips, hands-on workshops, and lectures, as well as major events like maple syrup day and the return of bioblitz after a hiatus for several years. Drop-in visitors are also an important part of our interpretive programs. See schedule o. Interpretation (continued): in 2012, in addition to the number of people attending naturalist-led programs, there were an additional 18,582 people who came to the visitor center on their own - an increase of just under 3,000 people from 2011 and the second highest annual drop-in attendance in 10 years exploring nature and history with field trips and workshops in 2012 nature center staff offered 33 field trips on local rivers, birding the saginaw bay, a trip to crane creek in ohio, and a new program series exploring michigan's wild pathways. Participants on these field trips get an excellent opportunity to immerse themselves in the outdoors for a longer period of time than possible at a 1 hour hike on-site. We work hard to develop a variety of exciting outdoor experiences for our membership and the general public in an effort to create meaningful experiences to build solid connections to nature. Chippewa nature center offered a wide range of hands-on workshops in 2012, including soap making, nature photography, aquatic biology, stone tool making, basket making, fungi identification and more. Hands-on workshops are a great way to dig deeper into specialized skills related to our cultural heritage, natural world and the great outdoors. Major events celebrate nature, history and outdoor enjoyment major events always pull in large crowds eager for fun and educational activities. Maple syrup day led the way in 2012 with 1,705 attendees ready to usher in spring by participating in a variety of crafts and activities related to the unofficial kick-off of spring. The banff mountain film festival sold out the bullock creek auditorium with nearly 600 tickets sold the annual native plant sale also provided a great opportunity for gardeners to "go native" in their home landscaping projects. After a six year hiatus bioblitz returned to chippewa nature center in september. Over the 24-hour event 809 visitors enjoyed hikes and programs while scientists counted 413 plant and animal species. Nature art show and sale wrapped up the year's major events with 760 attendees for the weekend. Homestead farm celebrates rural life the 2012 season of sunday afternoons at the homestead farm will definitely be one to remember. In spite of scorching temperatures in july, many families visited the homestead from may 24-september 2 and during a busy cider sunday on sept. 30. A total of 1,782 visitors were counted at the cabin over the course of the season, far outpacing our previous record. A dedicated group of staff and volunteers worked hard to provide special experiences for all these visitors. Thanks go to our seasonal staff team of angela oros, greg allington and abigail keel for leading activities, providing tours and managing our talented volunteers. Herm gieseler spent many sundays carving slip bark whistles and rob maxwell led a fantastic team of volunteers in the heirloom vegetable garden. This year, 20 volunteers donated more than 425 hours of their time leading tours and hands-on activities, conducting demonstrations and working in the garden. This year, the heirloom vegetable garden reached a potential we hardly dreamed possible in the past. In all, over 600 pounds of fresh, organic produce was donated to the h.e.l.p. Food pantry at midland's memorial presbyterian church from the homestead. Drop-in and connect to nature it would be

Activity 3

Land & facilities: facilities the 1776 hubert house property, on the pine river, was sold in the spring, 2012. Many updates were accomplished in 2012. Some of the highlights included redoing the rb hallway and kitchen floors, remodeling the duplex restrooms, purchasing a new mini van and 15 passenger van and the addition of a new shed for the preschool trikes see schedule o. Land universal access sites - after doing some final landscaping and paving the hill down to the launch, the universal access site opened for the first time on may 1. During the summer months, use was very heavy and during many weekends the parking lot overflowed with user vehicles. The new dock was also heavily used by cnc staff leading paddling trips and this made river entry and exit much easier. Deer harvest - even with mild weather throughout the season, a total of 32 deer where harvested with archery equipment at cnc during the 2012 season. Of the 32 deer harvested 26 where antlerless. 2012 was the 20th year of the deer harvest and a total of 633 deer have been harvested since the start. Although deer numbers are much lower than 20 years ago due to the harvest, there are still large numbers of deer, and the impact of their over browsing is evident. In addition to reproduction of deer that live on cnc's property, deer move in from the city, dow and golf course properties as well. Power line right-of-way grant - native grassland seed that was purchased with a grant received from itc (a subcontractor of consumers) was planted underneath some of the high tension power lines. By maintaining the power lines with native grasses, there will be less disturbance compared to letting it grow up and then having unknown contractors coming in every 4-5 years to do major cuttings. Invasive exotic plant control - once again large amounts of invasive plants were removed from cnc. The homestead area, nsb/sugarbush woods, wetlands, riverpoint, the native grass fields by the oxbow and by the homestead, the native grass fields at the wetlands, the roadside near the bicentennial forest, the entrance road, the visitor center and meadow mouse area were the main areas of focus for 2012. In addition, a generous donation from dow agri-sciences of herbicides to be used for invasive plant control was received. Bird banding summary - the 9th year of bird banding at the chippewa nature center's wetland area was completed this summer. The project's goal is long-term monitoring of the breeding success of birds using the site while also educating the people about the science of bird banding as well as bird identification, ecology and appreciation. Large numbers of visitors enjoyed seeing the birds up close, which included highlights like a mourning warbler, great crested flycatcher, eastern wood-peewee, ruby- throated hummingbird and many recaptures from previous years. Programming and program support maple syrup collection - with the year's sap collection starting and ending very early as a result of a mild winter, over 30 gallons of syrup was made

Filer

EIN

38-1859315