MONTAGUE — The Montague branch of the Muskegon Area District Library didn’t know exactly what to expect when it decided to host an Earth Day nature hike at Clear Springs Nature Preserve Sunday and Monday, but the results were remarkable for a first attempt at it.
The Sunday hike saw just shy of 20 people turn up, but Monday’s hike, with postcard weather outside, yielded 31 attendees, including 13 kids.
On the hike, attendees followed a path to the far end of the Clear Springs Pond Side trail, which provided a bright and sunny look at the water. Montague library assistant Ty Bortell then read the kids a book from the library that gives kids some different everyday tips on how to take care of the environment.
The large contingent of kids on the hike was just fine with Sky Harsch, a Whitehall alum and a stewardship coordinator at the Oceana Conservation District, who relished the chance to spread her joy of conservation to the next generation. Harsch led the hike, stopping at a few predetermined points to show off how important everything is to the preserve’s ecosystem. Even a dead tree provides housing for insects and other animals, which in turn attracts birds and helps add to the area’s biodiversity.
“I just really get excited with how engaged kids can be in the woods,” Harsch said. “I think there’s a misconception now that there’s so much information at your fingertips that kids don’t have an attention span, and that’s not true. If you take them outside and you show them moss, they’ll stare at it for 45 minutes. Being able to foster that kind of deep connection with the Earth, I feel really fortunate to be part of it.”
Ty Bortell, an assistant at the library, was also part of the hike, reading a book to the kids at the halfway point as attendees admired the scenery, and said the library was looking for a way to encourage environmentalism as part of Earth Day.
“It’s so important for us to teach people to be good stewards of the Earth and the environment,” Bortell said. “That’s always an important message to spread, so we’re glad that we have a holiday where we can celebrate that.”
Harsch said the Montague library’s director, Christina Le Vey-Rowland, reached out to her to pitch ideas of how the library could get involved in conservation, and leading a hike struck her as a natural fit.
“I’m not the educator on staff, but it’s something that I really enjoy doing, working with kids,” Harsch said. “I do all of our nature camps in the summertime, but I do a lot of guided hikes to point out invasive species or species of special interest. This is a natural bridge for me to combine the two.”
