2003 CFAS News Release
CEDARS FOR THE AU SABLE
An Au Sable River System Cedar Tree Planting and Protection Project
Presented by the Au Sable River System Property Owners Association (ARSPOA), P.O. Box 15, Grayling, MI 49738. Funding sponsors for this project are: Mason-Griffith Founders Chapter (Grayling) of Trout Unlimited, William B. Mershon Chapter (Saginaw) of Trout Unlimited, Paul H. Young Chapter (Detroit) of Trout Unlimited, Lansing Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Kalamazoo Valley Chapter (Kalamazoo) of Trout Unlimited, Headwaters Chapter (Gaylord) of Trout Unlimited, Clinton Valley Chapter (Rochester Hills) of Trout Unlimited, Challenge Chapter (Bloomfield Hills) of Trout Unlimited, Anglers of the Au Sable (Grayling), Upper Manistee River Association, Au Sable River Watershed Restoration Committee, and Mr. Craig Hinkle, Re/Max of Grayling. Grant Sponsors are Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation, AJD Forest Products, Trout and Salmon Foundation, The Hal & Jean Glassen Memorial Foundation, Town & Country Cedar Homes of Petoskey, and the Michigan Fly Fishing Club.
Contact: Howard N. Johnson, Project Chair
ARSPOA
3157 Church Street
Saginaw, MI 48604
989-753-6373
hnjohnson@aol.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Cedars for the Au Sable Receives Two $1,000 Grants
The Au Sable River System Property Owners Association’s is pleased to announce that their “Cedars for the Au Sable” project has received an additional two $1,000 grants this year from Town & Country Cedar Homes of Petoskey and the Michigan Fly Fishing Club. These grant dollars, along with funding from project sponsors, has been used to purchase northern white-cedar seedlings and their protective enclosures. Au Sable and Manistee River property owners have planted an additional 550 northern white-cedar seedlings along the river to help begin the reforestation of northern white-cedar.
The Au Sable River System Property Owners Association’s “Cedars for the Au Sable” project has completed the seventh year of this “one-of-its-kind” reforestation project. This project encourages northern white-cedar seedling planting by local river property owners to help maintain the delicate balance of the river’s ecological system. Since the beginning of the project in 1997, over 7,000 northern white-cedar seedlings have been planted and protected on the Au Sable and Manistee Rivers by local river property owners.
Project chairman Howard N. Johnson is pleased to announce that beginning this year planting assistance was provided to all river property owners on the Au Sable and Manistee Rivers. If you would like to help begin the reforestation of northern white-cedar seedlings on your river property, but are unable to perform the task of planting, volunteers are available to complete the actual planting and follow-up care for your seedlings. The property owners’ only expense will be $15.00 for ten northern white-cedar seedlings.
A program to further protect the maturing northern white-cedars that have been planted in previous years has been introduced. Past project participants may pick-up the taller enclosures at McLean’s Ace Hardware in Grayling when their seedlings out-grow their original enclosures. This taller enclosure is black PVC coated fencing material that will make the enclosure inconspicuous at the river’s edge. The cost of this larger enclosure, along with three additional wooden stakes, is $5.00 each. This expense is partially subsidized by project supporters and McLean’s Ace Hardware.
The northern white-cedar seedlings along the river’s banks provide needed shade to maintain the cold water fishery. The presence of the cedar sweepers at the water line provides protection for the fish, increases the amount of large woody debris in the water, as well as provides for the preservation of the riverbank by locking in the soil.
There is virtually no natural regeneration of northern white-cedar seedlings in northern Michigan; mainly due to the tremendous deer populations. Many river property owners have long recognized the complete absence of any young cedars in our area. They have attempted to plant replacement cedar seedlings only to have the deer eat them again.
Recognizing that this problem exists and a solution needed to be found, volunteer members of the Au Sable River System Property Owners Association (ARSPOA) pre-packaged northern white-cedar seedlings into a “planting kit”. Included in this planting kit were: 10 northern white-cedar seedlings, protective enclosure, wooden stakes, ties to secure fence; and complete planting instructions. Volunteer Committee members included: Bernie Fowler, Ed Parks, Don Zelenka, Dave Waltz, Rodney Ney, Ralph Rucinski and chairman Howard N. Johnson. Technical Committee members include: Keith Martell, NRCS State Forester, USDA, Ivan Witt, Register Forester, Forestry Consultants, Inc.
To order planting kits for next year, (or to start a similar project on your favorite river) please contact project chairman Howard N. Johnson at 989-753-6373, email to hnjohnson@aol.com, or visit the web site: www.cedarsfortheausable.org.
The actual cost for all the material in the planting kit was substantially more than the asking price. The purchase price was subsidized by the Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation, AJD Forest Products, Trout and Salmon Foundation, The Hal & Jean Glassen Memorial Foundation, Town & Country Cedar Homes of Petoskey, and the Michigan Fly Fishing Club, Mason-Griffith Founders Chapter (Grayling) of Trout Unlimited, William B. Mershon Chapter (Saginaw) of Trout Unlimited, Paul H. Young Chapter (Detroit) of Trout Unlimited, Lansing Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Kalamazoo Valley Chapter (Kalamazoo) of Trout Unlimited, Headwaters Chapter (Gaylord) of Trout Unlimited, Clinton Valley Chapter (Rochester Hills) of Trout Unlimited, Challenge Chapter (Bloomfield Hills) of Trout Unlimited, Anglers of the Au Sable (Grayling), Upper Manistee River Association, Au Sable River Watershed Restoration Committee, and Mr. Craig Hinkle, Re/Max of Grayling. Grant Sponsors are Weyerhaeuser Company Foundation, AJD Forest Products, Trout and Salmon Foundation, The Hal & Jean Glassen Memorial Foundation, Town & Country Cedar Homes of Petoskey, and the Michigan Fly Fishing Club.