Students, faculty and volunteers salvaged and relocated native plants from the portion of the Outdoor Learning Area (OLA) that will be impacted by the new residence hall project. The Earth, Environmental and Geographical Sciences Department supervises the OLA. It hired several student environmental science technicians to help with the native plant mitigation effort this summer.

The project began May 16. It involved transplanting about 30 trees and shrubs, relocating more than 8,000 plants using shovels to manually uproot each plant, moving more than 6,000 square feet of native plant sod and boulders using NMU Grounds Department machinery, installing split-rail fencing and putting in 2,500 plants started in NMU’s greenhouse. With the help of numerous Marquette County Conservation District volunteers, students hired for the project also removed thousands of invasive weeds from the OLA, including the new, expanded locations near New Science and Whitman Hall.

“Once the housing project was approved, we focused on working cooperatively with planning, grounds and other departments to salvage what we could from the impacted portion,” said Matt Van Grinsven, EEGS faculty member and chair of the OLA committee. “We’re excited about the new opportunities to expand the OLA into different areas across campus and to increase the acreage devoted to outdoor learning activities. According to the residence hall plans, the patio will overlook the native plant portion of the OLA, so that will showcase this naturalized green space to a broader audience. The OLA is not just for classes and students in related fields; we also want to make it enjoyable for everyone and promote passive participation with benches and bike access.”

Tabitha McAlpine, a senior biology major with a concentration in botany, served as the project manager.

“This has been an amazing opportunity for me,” she said. “I’m a single parent and field work is not always easily accessible, but this has allowed me to stay close to home while gaining experience in species identification, restoration, management and working with other entities. The Northern grounds crew has been awesome. I’ll admit I was disheartened to hear how much of the OLA would be impacted, but after seeing all the hard work we’ve put into relocating things, I think it looks great. Students can learn how plants seed, grow and bloom, and which pollinators prefer which flowers. We’ve tagged the trees we’ve relocated to check on their diameter and general health later.”

Van Grinsven said the OLA committee would like to create a website with an interactive map that details all of the educational and research-related features of the OLA including native plants, soils, rocks, weather, hydrology and ecology. It may also offer educational workshops for campus and community members.