CO-OP Student Projects
The Pere Marquette Watershed Council partners with local colleges and universities to complete smaller bank stabilization and river clean-up projects. The Council obtains grant monies to fund the material cost of the projects, while the manpower is completed with volunteer student labor.
PMWC has been joined by eager adventuresome college students from the Ferris State University Honors Program (FSU) on several projects. The students have provided enthusiasm and manpower where cost or inaccessibility has limited other approaches.
In the case of the Custer Township Park completed in 2006, nearly 100 cubic yards of stone needed to be placed and arranged along a degraded public access site. PMWC member Dave Gibbs provided the heavy equipment necessary to move the stone to the river’s edge, while students rolled the rocks in place. The project received a $2,500 grant from Dow Chemical, $1,000 donation from PMWC with the remaining funds being covered by Custer Township.
The PMWC River Clean-Up Project in 2008, with partners Baldwin Canoe Rental and the USFS, provided transportation and access for 27 FSU honors students to collect stream garbage along almost 20 miles of river in a single day. The project was made possible by a grant to Sweetwater Township from Michigan’s Volunteer River, Stream and Creek Clean-up Program and funds from the Township.
To complete the 2009 Howard Johnson bank stabilization project, PMWC needed to hand-place many tons of fieldstone on an eroding bank where a wooden structure had failed. Under the supervision of PMWC Council members, 38 FSU honors students placed 70 tons of field stone on an eroding riverbank to curb the ongoing erosion. The result was so enticing that trout and drifting fishermen occupied the site during a forced break. PMWC Past Director Grant Snider stated that “this project is important for the students, because they can see we have a lot of great resources in Michigan and that they can help take care of the environment in the future. It’s another one of those great projects that Ferris (State University) does that is consistent with the values as a partner in the community.”
PMWC is planning for future CO-OP projects with Ferris State University as well as West Shore Community College and others.