Antrim Conservation District

05/28/2026

Bringing invasive barberry to our native plant sale this June earns you a free native replacement shrub!

Barberry might look harmless, but it's quietly wreaking havoc on our local ecosystems. It crowds out forest understories, forming dense thickets that block wildlife movement and smother native plants before they have a chance to grow.

Barberry's thick, impenetrable branches trap humidity and shade the ground beneath them, creating the perfect environment for ticks to survive and multiply.

Swap it out. Your woods, your wildlife, and your neighbors will thank you.

No judgment if you've got Japanese barberry in your yard, but Michigan just added it to the restricted species list due to the ecological damage it causes, so now's a great time to make a swap!

This June, trade in your barberry for a free native shrub at one of our Barberry Trade-Up Days events. Swing by Charlevoix Conservation District or Antrim Conservation District native plant sales with your bagged barberry plant and we'll set you up with a native replacement from Birdsfoot Native Plant Nursery (species details coming soon!). We're giving folks one native shrub per barberry plant, up to 5 per household.

Can't make a plant sale? We can arrange a drop-off at our office in Central Lake. if you're not quite sure whether your shrub is barberry, reach out! We're happy to help with ID.

Please note: open to residents of Emmet, Charlevoix, Antrim, and Kalkaska counties only.

05/25/2026

Small changes can make a big impact. Skip the toxic sprays, plant native, and help us create healthier landscapes and cleaner lakes for future generations.

Save the date for our upcoming Native Plant Sale on June 19 & 20 at the TCC Artisan Market in collaboration with the Antrim Conservation District!

Native plants do more than look beautiful — they support pollinators and birds, improve soil health, reduce runoff, protect water quality, and create important habitat for wildlife throughout the Torch Lake Watershed.

05/07/2026

Wade and Tyler spent Earth Day with students at Ellsworth Community School!

04/29/2026

The CAKE CISMA crew is working hard out at Antrim Creek Natural Area!

Antrim Creek Natural Area (ACNA) HWA Update:

We are continuing invasive species management for hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) at Antrim Creek Natural Area into the spring and summer, with support from our colleagues at the Michigan DNR.

ACNA represents the furthest north known detection of HWA in Michigan. It is also an ecologically rich landscape made up of hardwood forest, forested wetland, conifer swamp, shrub thicket, meadow, wet meadow, and coastal dune habitats. (wetlands are shaded in green)

This work builds on CAKE CISMA's long-standing commitment to ACNA, where we have partnered for many years with the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy to host collaborative volunteer invasive species workdays and support long-term habitat protection and stewardship across the natural area.

On this map highlighting a portion of ACNA, each blue dot represents a hemlock tree (or small group of hemlocks) that are not currently infested with HWA, but are being proactively treated due to their proximity to confirmed infestations. The two red dots indicate the only two trees so far that have been positively confirmed to be infested with HWA.

You’ll also notice that if you visit ACNA right now, each tree has been marked with a small metal tag. These tags are important tools that help us distinguish individual trees, support record keeping, and guide treatment decisions. We kindly ask folks to please not remove the tags.

We also want to take a moment to recognize the incredible effort of our staff in locating what truly felt like the “needle in the haystack” at ACNA. E-DNA monitoring first alerted us to a potential presence of HWA in the area, and our staff followed up on the ground—muck boots and waders on—to confirm its location through careful, meticulous fieldwork.

We've surveyed and tagged thousands of trees at ACNA so far this year, and there's more work to do. If you're interested in following along with our work at ACNA and other local natural areas subscribe to our newsletter at cakecisma.org/newsletter.

This work is made possible by the Michigan Invasive Species Grant Program.

Antrim County Parks Department
Antrim Conservation District
Antrim Creek Natural Area
Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy
Green Elk Rapids

04/28/2026

We'd like to share a quick update on conditions at our recycling sites. Now that the snow has melted, we've seen a significant increase in litter that has been stuck in the snow all winter. Our staff are out daily picking up debris, and we're grateful for your patience as we work through spring clean-up.

To help manage full bins, we've requested more frequent pick-up and added extra bins to several locations. These changes will begin to roll out this week and next.

Later this year, the Elk Rapids site will be relocated to a larger, better suited location near the village compactor. We'll keep sharing updates as that change progresses.

We're putting out a call for volunteers interested in working alongside our staff as we clean up around sites. Please contact our office at 231-495-1611 if you're interested in lending a hand.

As a general reminder, please flatten boxes and break down materials to maximize bin space and do not include bulky items or garbage in your recycling. If you're curious about how to recycle a specific item we have a great tool on our website for that: www.antrimcd.com

Thank you for your support in recycling and keeping the community clean! If you have questions or concerns about a specific site, please call us, we're here to help.

04/27/2026

Our staff member Katie led the invasive group this weekend at glacial hills. They pulled 54 lbs of garlic mustard!

04/23/2026

Happy planting season! 🌱🌳

We’ve been busy prepping your tree sale orders and can’t wait to get them into your hands. Here’s what to know about tree sale this year:

📍 Pickup Location: 7915 Cameron Street, Central Lake, MI 49622

Pickup Times:
• Saturday, April 25 | 8 AM – 3 PM
• Sunday, April 26 | 12 PM – 3 PM

🌲 Extras Available: We expect to have a limited number of extra trees for purchase— they are first come, first serve!

🍃 Bonus: check out our ACD Spring Garage Sale while you’re here! We’ll have leftover compost bins, birdhouses, and more available while supplies last.

Updated to add: we’re accepting card, cash and check.

See you this weekend!

04/16/2026

No one knows how to chill like the Wood Frog, and by chill, of course we mean freeze (almost) solid over the winter. 🐸

Wood frogs typically hibernate from Oct-May and can tolerate freezing of their blood and other tissues. When frozen, wood frogs have no detectable vital signs: no heartbeat, breathing, blood circulation, muscle movement, or detectable brain activity. The wood frog has evolved traits that prevent their cells from being damaged when frozen and thawed out.

Once they thaw, they typically breed in vernal pools. If you hear their distinct call, which some say sounds like a person chuckling or a duck quacking, you're likely close to a vernal pool. After growing up and leaving their pool they'll spend the summer hanging out in moist woodland understories, forested swamps, ravines, or bogs. Even more impressive? Many return to their exact birthplace to breed, a trait known as philopatry.

04/15/2026

On this day last year, we spotted bountiful blooms across Antrim County! 🌼🐝

With the early spring last year, we saw spring ephemeral wildflowers quite a bit earlier compared to this year. Spring ephemerals don't have a set date for their annual emergence but rather rely on cues from the environment, like soil temperatures and moisture levels, to tell them it's time to bloom.

Pictured here are hepatica, spring beauties, and bloodroot, which are some of the first spring ephemerals to bloom. As spring progresses, look for late bloomers like violets, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, and, of course, Trillium. Have you seen any of these spring wildflowers yet this year?

04/14/2026

Hold off on pruning your oak trees until mid-July to help prevent the spread of oak wilt! 🌳 Oak wilt is a fungal disease that affects oak trees and causes leaves to wilt and turn brown. The disease is spread to healthy trees in two ways:

1. By certain beetles that carry fungal spores from infected trees, logs, or firewood to fresh wounds on healthy oaks (such as pruning cuts).

2. Through the root system from infected trees to adjacent trees.

If you must prune your oaks, or if they're damaged, make sure you close the wound immediately using tree-wound paint or latex-based paint.

Check out this video from our YouTube of district forester, Mike Meriwether, visiting an oak wilt site in Antrim County: https://youtu.be/XnHQ5XQMKeE?si=06CpYidb9KdyYAII

Antrim Conservation District forester, Mike Meriwether, shows us what oak wilt looks like. See our website for more information, www.AntrimCD.com