MI DNR, Parks and Recreation Division, Stewardship Unit

Mission: To empower citizen stewards through education, involvement, and shared responsibility in the conservation of the state’s natural and cultural resources.

The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is committed to the conservation, protection, management, use and enjoyment of the state’s natural and cultural resources for current and future generations. The MI State Park Volunteer Steward Program helps carry out the Michigan Department of Natural Resource’s mission with a focus on protecting and restoring the high quality natural areas within state parks and recreation area in southern Michigan.

We help protect and restore natural areas at twenty parks in our state park system, across southern Michigan.  We focus on high-quality natural areas that are known or potential sites for species of greatest conservation need (species whose populations are rare or declining). Activities include invasive species control, native seed collecting, native planting and natural resource monitoring (animal and insect surveys, etc.).