Ottawa Visitor Center to Host Evening With Forest Ecology Expert

WATERSMEET, MI - Tuesday, July 28, 2009 – The Ottawa National Forest is pleased to announce a special Tuesday evening program on August 11, 2009, at the Ottawa Visitor Center, US 2 and Highway 45, Watersmeet, Michigan. Special guest speaker Dr. Lee Frelich will be presenting, “Wind, Fire and Deer in Northern Hardwood-Hemlock Forests,” beginning at 7:00 PM (CST) and will be available to answer questions after the program.

Dr. Frelich is a recognized expert in Forest Ecology, and particularly the ecology of hardwood-hemlock forests of the Upper Great Lakes Region, receiving a Ph.D. in Forest Ecology from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1986. Dr. Frelich and his graduate students have done extensive research in Sylvania Wilderness and other areas within Upper Michigan and Wisconsin, giving him additional insight into our local forests.

Dr. Frelich is a senior member of the Conservation Biology, Natural Resource Science and Management, Ecology, and Invasive Species Graduate programs at University of Minnesota. Frelich has published numerous papers on forest ecology and has been listed among the top 1% of all scientists in the world in the Science Citation Index, Ecology and Environment category. His current research interests include fire and wind as forest disturbance factors, long-term dynamics of old-growth hemlock and maple forests, invasive earthworms in forests, and climate change.

We invite you to spend the evening with us and look forward to Dr. Lee Frelich’s presentation. All evening programs at the Ottawa Visitor Center are free of charge. For more information, call (906) 358-4724 or visit us on-line at www.fs.fed.us/r9/ottawa.