Exploring Your Backyard Through Service

Hello friends, family and fans of AmeriCorps! I’m Jocylen Fox. I am serving as the Outreach and Stewardship Coordinator at the Antrim Conservation District through the Huron Pines AmeriCorps program. It has been a pleasure to serve you and your communities throughout Michigan with my fellow AmeriCorps people.

First, let me tell you about this program. The Huron Pines AmeriCorps program is designed to serve the northeast portion of the Lower Peninsula in regards to conservation projects and environmental education. In my position at the Antrim Conservation District, I implement their mission statement, Explore your backyard," into my service through community events, education projects and volunteer opportunities.

The District’s backyard is the Cedar River Natural Area. When I came into this position in May 2012, this area was full of trails inviting people to get lost. Seriously. The trail maps were merely watermarked pages with bleeding colors, the trails had down branches and hadn’t been managed in years. What trail markers existed didn’t match the colors of the trails provided on the map. I’ll be honest, my first time back there, I got to a point when I had to stop and figure out where I was. I walked along the banks of the Cedar River following foot trails of the fishermen before me, but this was not apart of the actual trail system. I walked back and forth until I decided I needed to turn around, though I had not even covered half the trails nor was I sure I was headed back in the right direction.

Luckily, I found my way back through the woods and was able to start my service and really strive to make a difference in the Natural Area. I created interpretive signs for the area, maintained the trails, created trail maps to put at the crossroads in the natural area and told the community about what a great resource this area really is.

My favorite part of my service and being in the Cedar River Natural Area is the Conservation Kids Club we host every July. I take the kids to the area teaching them different environmental topics and help them learn to enjoy being outdoors. We collect bugs, look for salamanders, build survival shelters, bird watch, etc., anything to get their eyes off of a screen for two hours.

As I’m ending my service and looking forward to my next chapter at graduate school, I will definitely miss all the great friends I have made and wish I could do more to help Antrim County explore their backyards. There really is so much to explore, and I can’t wait to promote this mission in my new community.