February 12, 2015

SVSU professor and students recognized for conservation efforts

The Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy will present an Osprey Award to the group Friends of Frankenlust Township Park, which includes Marty Arford, associate professor of geography at Saginaw Valley State University, and SVSU student volunteers.

The Osprey Award recognizes individuals, groups and projects that have made great efforts toward conservation. Arford and the SVSU students will be honored for their habitat improvement and site beatification efforts toward the Frankenlust Township Park in Bay County.

The Friends of Frankenlust Township Park have done work to control the invasion of harmful species in the park, and to plant and maintain the park's native vegetation. This has greatly improved the park's wildlife habitat. Arford was coordinator for an invasive species removal project, and recruited SVSU students as volunteers for the project.

They will be recognized at the Osprey Awards for Conservation Excellence Conservancy Fundraiser Saturday‌, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. in SVSU's Curtiss Hall. Tickets are $30 per person. For more information, visit http://www.sblc-mi.org/ospreys.html‌‌.