Stories indexed with the term ‘Dicken Woods’

Gardeners spend a lot of time working in their own world – moving the perennials, planning their walkways or weeding their vegetables.

But for some gardeners, the Michigan Conservation Stewards program has ushered in a larger world outside their backyard landscapes.

“My garden is something I do for me, but the stewardship program is what I do for others and for the larger environment,” says Mary Duff-Silverman, who went through the course last year.

The stewardship program introduces participants to the plants, animals and forces of nature that defy outsiders’ attempts to impose order. Instead, the steward-in-training has to understand the rules of that larger environment, with its invasive plants, water aeration, ground water and other natural processes.

This spring is only the second year the course has been offered in Washtenaw County. It’s a series of 11 classes that range over a number of ecological topics, including the ecosystems of wetlands, forests, lakes and streams.

This year’s program begins Saturday, April 10. If you’re interested, get more information online – you can also download the three-page application form from that website. [Full Story]

Ann Arbor City Council (Feb 17, 2009): City council’s Tuesday meeting began and ended in the woods: Dicken Woods (celebrating its fifth anniversary) and Bird Hills Park (off-leash dog problems).

In between, the deliberations on the Fifth Avenue underground parking structure sometimes ran off into the weeds, with some councilmembers seemingly more interested in rhetorical flourish than in just laying out an unadorned case for or against the decision they eventually made, with only Mike Anglin dissenting: to approve the site plan and financing (up to $55 million in bonds) for an underground parking garage at the “library lot.” The facility will, on the slightly reduced scale approved on Tuesday, provide around 670 additional parking spaces in downtown Ann Arbor.

The agenda item drew a mix of downtown merchants to the meeting, who were in favor of building the garage. Among them was Tim Seaver, co-owner with his wife of Tios Mexican Cafe on Huron Street, who offered a single wistful sentence of support: “I just want to let you know: I firmly support underground parking.” He had spoken earlier during public comment time against the use of the Huron Street property, purchased last year by the city of Ann Arbor, in order to create 16 (above ground) parking spaces. [Full Story]