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Happenings in the Keweenaw Peninsula Posted October 15, 2003. Text © 2003 Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District. Photos © 2003 Michele Anderson.

Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District to meet Oct. 18 in Copper Harbor

HOUGHTON -- The Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District (HKCD) will hold its 52nd Annual Meeting at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18, at the Mariner North in Copper Harbor. A Smorgasbord Dinner will follow the meeting, with guest speakers Phyllis Green, superintendent of Isle Royale National Park, and Jim Rooks of Copper Harbor. Rooks will give a Slide Presentation of the Estivant Pines.

Everyone is invited to attend. Tickets for the dinner are $15 per person and are available by calling the Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District at 482-0214 by Wednesday, Oct. 15. Reservations are required.

Gina Nicholas, Keweenaw County resident, and Scott Noble, registered Michigan forester, were appointed to the District's Board of Directors at their September meeting. They will be up for election at the 2004 Annual Meeting.

Nicholas has been active in land use planning and conservation issues in Keweenaw County. She was a  member of Grant Township's and Keweenaw County's land use planning committees in 2001-2002. These committees worked with the Western Upper Peninsula Planning and Development Region (WUPPDR) to develop the recently adopted Keweenaw County Land Use Plan. Gina Nicholas is also a member of the South Shore Association and a Keweenaw Now guest author.

Noble, a resident of Torch Lake Township, was appointed to replace former Board Director Tom Tervo, who moved out of the District this year and was no longer eligible to serve on the Board. Noble has an M.S. in Forestry from Michigan Tech University's School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science.

During the Houghton County Fair this past summer, Sue Haralson, center, Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District administrator, and Jim Sweeting, HKCD's forester/wildlife biologist, speak with a visitor about the District's conservation programs. Sweeting provides state and local government organizations and private landowners with practical technical assistance in the areas of forest and wildlife management. (Photo by Michele Anderson)

The Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District helps local people find answers to their land management questions by linking them with natural resource professionals, products and services. The  Board of Directors, consisting of elected community volunteers, makes decisions about conservation programs and services and hires qualified staff to conduct and carry them out.

The Houghton Keweenaw Conservation District (a local unit of government) began more than 50 years ago and is one of eighty-two districts in the state of Michigan. The District is here to serve its constituents. Their monthly meetings are open to the public.

This annual event provides an excellent opportunity to meet your Conservation District Board directors and staff along with their partners from the Michigan Department of Agriculture, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Torch Lake Superfund Project Engineers, Copper Country Ducks Unlimited, Keweenaw Land Trust, North Woods Conservancy, Keweenaw Industrial Council, Western UP Planning and Development Region, and the Houghton and Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners.

The following is the Agenda for the Oct. 16, 2003, Annual Meeting:

4 p.m. - 5 p.m.:  ANNUAL MEETING

Opening Comments
Marsha Klein, HKCD Board Chairperson 

Staff Updates
Sue Haralson, Administrator

NRCS Staff Updates 
Bruce Petersen, District Conservationist
Rob Aho, Project Manager, Torch Lake Superfund Project

2003 Recognition Awards
Friends of Conservation-2 awards
Friend of the District

5 p.m. - 6 p.m.: SMORGASBORD DINNER

6 p.m. - 8 p.m.:  GUEST SPEAKERS

Phyllis Green, Superintendent of Isle Royale National Park

Jim Rooks, Copper Harbor
Slide Presentation of the Estivant Pines

Drawings of Donated Gifts for Door Prizes

For more information about HKCD, check out the Houghton/Keweenaw Conservation District Web site.  

Read about recent HKCD activities and projects in their September Newsletter, available in pdf on their Web site.

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