Marquette County

Thank you for your interest in the Michigan Conservation Stewards Program (CSP), an educational program for those who are enthusiastic about learning science-based ecosystem management principles and sharing this knowledge with others to help improve their local communities. Through this program, participants will learn essential strategies to understand and help restore and conserve ecosystems in Michigan communities.

The Marquette County cohort will host their weekly sessions from 6-8:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, beginning Aug. 26, 2026. Weekly sessions will meet throughout Marquette county at the locations listed in the chart below. Location details and more information will be distributed to registered participants in the middle of August. Please note, there will not be a weekly session on Oct. 14, 2026.

Marquette County's Saturday field days will be held on Sept. 12 at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and Sept. 26 at Yellow Dog River Community Forest.

Register for CSP: Marquette County

Marquette County Schedule 

Date

Topic

Location

Speaker

Aug. 26

Foundations of Conservation: Ecological Foundations; What is a Natural Community?

Peter White Public Library,
217 N Front Street

Marquette, MI 49855 

Josh Cohen, Michigan Natural Features Inventory

Sept. 2

Foundations of Conservation: Society & Conservation/Conservation Heritage; Indigenous Perspectives on Conservation (Past and Current)

Presque Isle Park,

Peter White Drve

Marquette, MI 49855 

Alisha Autio-Wiitala & Craig Aho, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

Sept. 9

Terrestrial Ecosystems: Grasslands

AuTrain State Wildlife Management Area

Caleb Eckloff, Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Sept. 12

Field Day: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Beaver Basin Wilderness

Leah Kainulainen, National Park Service

Sept. 16

Aquatic Ecosystems: Wetlands

Eagle's Nest Nature Preserve and Community Forest 

Superior Watershed Partnership

Sept. 23

Aquatic Ecosystems: Rivers/Streams

Compeau Creek

Trout Unlimited and Starflower Ecological Alliance

Saturday,

Sept. 26

Field Day: Yellow Dog Watershed

Yellow Dog River Community Forest,
Big Bay, MI 49808 

To Be Announced

Sept. 30

Aquatic Ecosystems: Inland/Great Lakes

Peter White Public Library,
217 N Front Street

Marquette, MI 49855 

Elliot Nelson, Michigan Sea Grant

Oct. 7

Terrestrial Ecosystems: Forests

Echo Lake

Sara Kelso, Marquette County Conservation District, and Alex Helmen, The Nature Conservancy

Oct. 14

Break - No Class

Oct. 21

Putting it All Together: Capstone Project Celebration

To Be Announced

Anna Ellis, MSU Extension

For cohort and content related questions, please reach out to Anna Ellis at ellisan9@msu.edu.

For general questions and registration assistance, please contact Shelby Warner at warner80@msu.edu.

Register for CSP: Marquette County