Earth Day 2019

While it can be easy to overlook sometimes what is just in front of us, I hope that like me you will mark your calendar for Monday, April 22, as we all get ready again to celebrate Earth Day.

Its beginnings traced to 1970, Earth Day is nearing the half-century mark, and there has never been a more critical time to devote energy to protecting our natural environment.  While we should all do this every day, Earth Day is a chance to come together to affirm a commitment to protecting the beauty, the splendor, and the health that is all around.

This year, on Earth Day as well as the days surrounding the annual event, there are several opportunities to join forces with others to help celebrate Earth Day. A number of these include:

• Friday, March 29: Emmet County Conservation District Tree Sale:  This annual event offers conifer seedlings and transplants, deciduous trees, such as red maple and white birch, as well as small trees like crab apples and shrubs like black elderberry, among many others. There is also a separate fruit tree sale, as well as fruit tree-growing seminar. Tree orders are due by March 29, with tree pick up scheduled for Friday, April 19 and Saturday April 20.  Order packets are available at the district website, www.emmetcd.org
• Saturday, April 13: Earth Week Celebration with Earth Week Plus at Cheboygan High School.  This free event brings together an array of organizations promoting a healthy involvement with the outdoors, including Why Wolves Matter, Little Traverse Conservancy, Top of Michigan Trails Council, and more than thirty other groups.  For information, visit the group’s website at www.earthweekplus.org/expo
• Saturday, April 20: Earth Day Tree Planting sponsored by the Little Traverse Conservancy.  Volunteers plan to plant 1,000 trees at the Consuelo Diane & Charles L. Wilson Jr. Working Forest Reserve just north of Harbor Springs.   Last year saw a similar effort, and the LTC staff is hoping to maintain the momentum. Volunteers are asked to register by contacting LTC at [email protected]
• Saturday, April 20: Earth Day March for Science Rally. Leaving at noon from the corner of State and Main Streets in Cheboygan, this second annual event encourages marchers to bring signs, musical instruments, and a desire to support the importance of science in environmental decision-making.

Earth Day, nearly a half-century strong, comes around again soon, and while these are only a sampling of available local events, each is an opportunity for both celebration and support.