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Northern Michigan University President to meet with students who have collected nearly 900 signatures to save an environment research project from being uprooted to build dorms

Students will explain effort to save the Native Plants Project at Lake Superior environment conference

(Marquette, Michigan) - Students have collected nearly 900 signatures on petitions they will present to the Northern Michigan University president during a meeting Thursday in hopes of saving an environment research project from being uprooted to build dorms.

Meanwhile, the Northern Michigan University (NMU) students will travel to the western edge of Lake Superior next week to make a presentation on the four-year-old Outdoor Classroom and Native Plants Research Area during a conference of international environmental professionals.
The Native Plants Project will be destroyed to build dorms if the proposed NMU Master Plan is not changed.

NMU student Michael Rotter, a senior biology major, said he and other students leaders will meet with Northern Michigan University (NMU) President Les Wong at 1 p.m. Thursday (Oct. 25, 2007).

NMU Student Michael Rotter is leading the fight to protect the Native Plants Project that has involved the blood, sweat and tears of hundreds of students

NMU President Wong stressed the master plan is a proposal and a final decision has not been made.

Students have gathered over 860 signatures in an attempt to stop NMU from removing the Native Plants Project that has received $24,000 in state and federal funding, said Rotter, who spent many hours protecting the plants from this summer's drought and is spearheading the petition drive with help from other students.

The five-acre Native Plants Project is located on the northside of the Northern Michigan University campus. (NMU Native Plant Project Photos by Professor Dr. Ronald Sundell)

NMU President Wong said that "there is no clear consensus on the location of the residence halls and there is considerable opinion that any structure that impinges on the Native Plant Project would not have campus-wide support."

Rotter said students are hoping that President Wong and other NMU officials will understand the importance of the Native Plants Project and change the master plan.

"I hope that once he sees the petition - President Wong will take a stand with his students that this is a project that must stay and be actively supported by the school administration," said Rotter, a member of the Northern Michigan University EarthKeeper Student Team.

Students are learning a great deal about the environment as the work inside and out on the Native Plants Project at NMU

"We will be asking President Wong and others in the administration will they support the Native Plants Project," said Rotter.

If the native plants project is taken off the chopping block, President Wong will prove NMU is sincere when it uses the slogan "Northern Naturally" to promote the campus, Rotter said.

Meanwhile - Rotter and NMU senior Emily Wessels, an environmental science major, will present information on the effort to save native plants from being uprooted to build dorms while attending the event entitled: "Making a Great Lake Superior 2007 - a conference linking research, education and management" on October 29-31 in Duluth, Minnesota.

The conference is hosted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network and the Lake Superior Binational Program. NMU is listed as one of several "working sponsors" because Dr. Sundell is one of the conference planners.

Northern Michigan University students are trying to save their four-year-old Native Plants project that will be a valuable seed tool for other northern Michigan environment efforts and help attract students to the campus along Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula if its not destroyed to make dorms

The students have been on the conference agenda for months but recently updated their presentation when they discovered the new NMU master plan includes removing the five acre project to build dorms, said Professor Ronald Sundell, director of the NMU Environmental Science Program.

The students are scheduled to present their poster session explaining the project and answer questions from 5:10 - 6:30 pm (CT).

"This is an opportunity for the students to present research materials in a professional setting," said Dr. Sundell, co-chair of the conference watershed stewardship session.

"During the poster session the students will discuss the development and ecological monitoring that is taking place by students on our campus involving the Native Plants Project," Sundell said.

"The students recently modified their presentation to include the efforts to save the project."

Thousands of students hours have gone into making the project a success and it includes The project includes field sampling of vegetation, insects, birds, small mammals, and is expected to attract reptiles and amphibians

"Attending the conference is a great learning experience for the students because they will meet with many environment professionals from government, private industry and nonprofit organizations," said Sundell, who is giving a presentation at the conference on how universities should coordinate their environmental research and monitoring efforts within the Lake Superior ecoregion.

The native plants outdoor classroom will include a northern open pine barrens, a retention pond/wetland area, upland mesic forest and shrub types representing various northern Michigan habitats. The project has attracted insects, birds, and small mammals and is expected to attract amphibians and reptiles.

Over the past four years, hundreds of NMU students have worked hard to build the Native Plants Project that will soon become a beautiful part of campus if it's not destroyed by NMU dorm planners

The outdoor classroom is used to study ecological modeling, plant identification, native plant propagation, restoration techniques and water quality.

Dr. Sundell said that campus planners have other areas to build dorms instead of destroying the native plants area.

"We understand the work that has gone into the planting project, and that some of the plants may not do well if moved," said Dr. Wong, who has toured the project. "We want feedback on the big ideas."

Rotter is receiving support from student organizations including the NMU Environmental Science Organization, Superior Geography Club, Sustainable Agriculture club, and the Students Against Sulfide Mining.

Native plants help keep waterways clean, build habitat for animals and other organisms, Rotter said.

The student founders of the project hope to be able to show to their children what they helped start.

"I have always told my students that the project they started is part of a long term green-scaping of the campus," Sundell said. "The university has started an environmental sustainability committee to make our campus greener and address other issues like reducing our energy requirements, and less pesticide and fertilizer use."

Beautiful flowers are part of the project that is coming of age and will soon have many flowering plants in brilliant colors

"Our Native Plants Project is a prime example to the university committee and the general community on how to develop more sustainable systems on campus and the U.P.," Sundell said.

"In the plan they state this a would be a green corridor - this is already a green corridor," Sundell said. "If they carry through with the plan they have a building that would block that green corridor.

"The native plants are part of a current green corridor that stretches north from classrooms in the new science building to the existing dorms," Sundell said.

Hundreds of students from the student environmental science organization and NMU classes have assisted in development of the Native Plants Project site, Sundell said.

NMU students who have helped Professor Sundell develop and manage the Native Plant Project over the past four years are Mike Stefancic, Jason Woodhull and Michael Rotter. The three students each spent a summer managing the native plants including planting, maintaining and developing of the site Sundell said.

This map shows the five acre project at NMU that is growing each year but now faces destruction to make way for dorms and other student housing.

Despite the worst drought in U.P. history the student volunteers added about 11,000 native plants to the project this summer, Sundell said.

"This Native Plants Project is valuable as an educational and research site and a native seed bank for future environmental restoration project in the central U.P.," said Sundell. "As the project moves forward NMU will become a major seed source for environmental restoration projects in the central U.P."

The Native Plants Project is coming of age and will add beauty to the campus including flowering plants and grasses in various shades of white, yellow, pink and purple, Sundell said
NMU students put loving care into the five-acre Native Plants Project on the north side of campus (NMU Native Plant Project Photos by Professor Dr. Ronald Sundell)

[IMG] http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee225/YOOPERNEWSMAN/NMUNativePlants8.jpg [/IMG]

Student Michael Rotter can be reached by calling 231-250-3061email: mrotter@nmu.edu

The NMU EK Student team can be reached by calling 906-475-5068email: earthkeeper@charter.net

Project Prof. Dr. Ronald Sundell can be reached at 906-227-1359email: rsundell@nmu.edu

"Making a Great Lake Superior 2007" conference related websites:

http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/superior2007/

Great Lakes Sea Grant Network

http://www.greatlakesseagrant.org/

Lake Superior Binational Forum

http://binational.on.ec.gc.ca/superior/intro-e.cfm

United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/