R. R. Branstrom | Daily Press Renowned botanist Anton “Tony” Reznicek delivers an engaging and enlightening presentation about the history of plant surveying at the Terrace Bay on Monday as part of the Michigan Botanical Society’s annual Grand Foray. The convention brought over 100 academics and enthusiasts to the area this week.

Each year, the Michigan Botanical Society (MBS) hosts an annual convention in a different place in the Great Lakes region. Their 2025 Grand Foray began in Gladstone this week, with speakers presenting at the Terrace Bay ballroom three nights and field trips planned for various destinations on Tuesday and Wednesday. About 130 attendees are in the area for the event.

Founded in 1941 and originally called the Michigan Wildflower Association, MBS focuses on the conservation of native plants, education of the public on plant life and appreciation of flora, sponsorship of botanical research, establishment of sanctuaries and natural areas, and cooperation in programs involving the preservation of natural resources and scenic features.

Comprising the MBS are five chapters which alternate organizing the annual event. It may be held in Michigan or elsewhere around the Great Lakes. This year’s foray was the responsibility of the White Pine chapter. Chapter President Craig Elston said planning began about a year and a half ago. Escanaba resident Glenn Vande Water, a member of the White Pine MBS chapter, chose wild places for the visitors to venture to and rounded up experts to speak during the event, which is from July 7 to 10.

In addition to meals and talks at the Terrace in Gladstone, the MBS’s field trips during the foray are to the following destinations. Many are at the same time, so the botany enthusiasts — society members, nonmembers, and sponsored students — had to choose which trips to join.

SHAKEY LAKES

Within Escanaba River State Forest in Menominee County, the 1,520-acre Shakey Lakes natural area contains the largest oak and pine barrens in Northern Michigan. The savanna-type landscapes, historians believe, were maintained by indigenous tribes purposely setting fires to improve game habitat and berry production. For the first time after almost a century of fire suppression, prescribed burns have recently begun at Shakey Lakes.

CARNEY FEN

An area with diverse wildlife, Carney Fen boasts a 52.8 on the Floristic Quality Index (FQI) — “Sites with a FQI over 35 are considered regionally significant for the conservation of biodiversity,” as the MBS points out. 29 different species of orchids have been catalogued at Carney Fen in the past, though factors like climate change and the encroachment of European thistle and other invasive species have “significantly” hurt native flower populations in recent years. Like Shakey Lakes, Carney Fen also lies in the Escanaba River State Forest.

SKEELS AND CHICAGO LAKES

This field trip to a couple of the lakes in the middle of the Upper Peninsula within Hiawatha National Forest is done by canoe. Skeels Lake and Chicago Lake were chosen because they “harbor a diversity of submergent and emergent aquatic plants typical of hard water systems,” according to the foray schedule.

GARDEN PENINSULA

The limestone cobble shore and bedrock glade are prevalent features that will be observed when groups from the MBS visit Kregg Bay and Portage Bay on the eastern side of the Garden Peninsula. Delta County is one of only three counties in the state that MSU ranks as having high prevalence of limestone bedrock glade, a landscape that is characterized by graminoid plants and variable shrub and herb cover.

WEST SIDE RECREATION AREA

On the city limits of Escanaba, “this mixed dune and swale complex supports modest to rich species diversity, some areas having undergone heavy influx of glossy buckthorn,” states the MBS. The recreation area features trails that are utilized year-round for various non-motorized activities.

PORTAGE MARSH

A State Wildlife Area that includes a few hundred acres in Delta County, Portage Marsh is “an important coastal wetland” (per the DNR), and its sandy beaches support various flora. The life seen on its land will provide an example of the type of plants that thrive in such places following the lowering of lake levels.

BEAR POINT

“This northern floodplain forest system abuts the Menominee River and (supports) a diverse woody and herbaceous layer, with some species similar to systems occurring further south in Michigan. The floodplain is subject to seasonal overbank flooding, alluvial deposition, and erosion,” MBS material on Bear Point reads.

ESCANABA RIVER

The river shoreline hosts some State-listed species in its exposed alvar zones — an environment with limestone plain, thin soil and sparse vegetation. Daytrippers on this journey will visit two locations on the Escanaba River and hope to observe differing frequency of life, which can vary due to water fluctuations from the river’s dams.

NORTH LAKE

Wild rice, bladderwort and pondweed are among the species around this lake which lies south of the midpoint between Cedar River and Stephenson. Like the other lakes visited by canoe, the North Lake trip also requires a paddle but offers different submergent and aquatic plants than the ones at Skeels and Chicago Lakes.

RIVERSIDE CEMETERY

Near the Menominee River, this historic archaeological site, which includes burial grounds thousands of years old, may be an example of the “oak opening” landscape type recorded by early 19th century surveyors. Some vascular plant species at the site are found in savanna habitats and are State-listed.

DAYS RIVER

At the river’s outlet into Lake Michigan, the emergent and submergent plants found at this stop are characteristic of the Great Lakes Marsh system, while an old grown hardwood and conifer stand near the site is rarer.

Another trip brings fauna into the mix with a birdwatching trip into Hiawatha National Forest. Other stops are to the Delta Chamber of Commerce for a smartphone photography lesson; a workshop about garden herbs and how to use certain plants in the kitchen; and a visit to the studio of Carol Kasmer Irving, a fiber artist who is working on capturing the images of Michigan’s endangered wildflowers and bringing attention to their status.

Speakers, trip guides and others whose expertise comes into play during the foray are Jesse Lincoln, a conservation scientist and ecologist with the Michigan Natural Features Inventory (MNFI); Dr. Tyler Bassett, conservation associate and botanist for MNFI; Joe Sage, wildlife biologist with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR); Dr. Scott Warner, conservation associate / botanist at MNFI; Connor Wojtowicz, conservation associate / botanist at MNFI; Dr. Jo Latimore, aquatic ecologist at Michigan State University and Director of the MSU Extension Center for Lakes and Streams; Glenn Vande Water, retired biological/ecological consultant and current board member of the Delta Conservation District; Dr. Garrett Crow, former botany professor, department chair and herbarium director at University of New Hampshire; Don Drife, botanist for the Royal Oak Nature Society and president of the Southeastern Michigan MBS chapter; Dr. Paul Schilke, former MNFI botanist and current professor at the College of Natural Resources at UW-Stevens Point; Dr. Anton Reznicek, co-author of the Field Manual of Michigan Flora and vascular plant curator emeritus at University of Michigan; Randy Butters, self-taught photographer; Elizabeth Pitzer, retired biology, anatomy and home economics teacher; Brad Slaughter, senior botanist with Orbis Environmental Consulting and author; Dr. Rachel Hackett, conservation associate / botanist at the MNFI; Will Mackinnon, MNFI botanist; Bill Brodovich, field botanist and surveyor; Dr. Ryne Rutherford, ecologist and owner of ecological consulting firm Biophilia; Dr. Susan Fawcett, research botanist at the University and Jepson Herbaria at UC Berkeley; Craig Elston, naturalist for the City of Hudsonville and greenhouse manager at Hope College; Joe Kaplan, director of Common Coast Research and Conservation; and Robert Ayotte, current MBS president who studied natural history interpretation and worked in the field as a forest technician for MNFI.

An optional stop for those heading back downstate on Thursday will be to Pointe aux Chenes, which is a marshy natural area between Brevort and St. Ignace.

How the MBS’s various scheduled tours end up playing out will be seen; Elston joked that botanists famously have a tendency to turn a ten-minute walk into a two-hour study.