Wheels to Woods - INFORMATION

Wheels to Woods is a school to forest transportation grant program administered by the Michigan Tree Farm Committee.

Purpose: Wheels to Woods provides funding to PreK-12 schools in Michigan to pay for transportation costs for an educational field trip to a nearby forest or forest products company. Funds will be awarded if available and if the field trip provides education about forest ecosystems or forest management in a forest for PreK-12 students.

Eligibility: Any public or private PreK-12 school is eligible to apply for funds to go on a field trip to a forest owned by the school, or to a private forest (Tree Farm, family, organization) or to a public forest (federal, state, local). Other groups for young people like Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, 4-H, FFA and church groups are also eligible to apply. Any forest larger than 5 acres, regardless of ownership or location, is eligible to host the field trip. Wheels to Woods also provides transportation funding to visit a local sawmill, paper mill or other forest products company.

Award: The Wheels to Woods Fund will reimburse actual transportation costs up to $10 per student or $350 per bus or $1,000 per school per academic year. Typical transportation costs are about $5 per student. Notification of the award will occur within 15 days of receiving the Application. The payment will be made after the trip occurs and the school provides a Report and Invoice to document costs. Multi-day trips are considered one trip.

Forest Connections: If a school does not own forest land, the Michigan Tree Farm Committee can connect a school with a nearby private landowner who enjoys hosting field trips to their family forest that is certified by the American Tree Farm System. If a friendly “Tree Farmer” is not located near the school, the Michigan Tree Farm Committee can connect the school with nearby public land that is suitable for a field trip. Michigan Tree Farm can also connect the school with a natural resource professional (forester, biologist, etc.) to support the field trip.

Outdoor Education Curriculum: Teachers are strongly encouraged, but not required, to use lesson plans from outdoor education curricula such as Project Learning Tree, Project WILD, Project WET or the Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support on their trip. Teachers are strongly encouraged, but not required, to be trained in one or more of these outdoor education curricula prior to hosting the field trip to the forest.

 Project Learning Tree - www.MichiganPLT.org  Project WILD - www.Michigan.gov/MichiganProjectWild  Project WET - www.gvsu.edu/wri/education/michigan-project-wet-19.htm  Michigan Environmental Education Curriculum Support – www.Michigan.gov/deq-meecs

Additional Grants for School Forests: The DNR Forest Stewardship Program provides grants to schools of $1,000 to $3,000 to develop a Forest Stewardship Plan for a school owned forest. Additional funding may be available from the Michigan Forest Foundation. More information is available at www.Michigan.gov/ForestStewardship.

Professional Development for Educators: Teachers and informal educators who are interested in outdoor education are invited to attend one of two summer workshops hosted by the DNR or the Michigan Forest Association. The DNR’s “Academy of Natural Resources” is a week in July each summer at the Ralph MacMullan (RAM) Conference Center in Roscommon (www.Michigan.gov/ANR). The Michigan Forest Association also hosts a week long workshop for teachers in June each summer to showcase forests and forest management. This workshop is also at the RAM Center in Roscommon, and more info is at www.MichiganForests.org. www.WheelsToWoods.org 1 Version 3, October 2017 The Wheels to Woods Fund is generously supported by the following organizations:

Organization or Agency (funding source) Website Donation United States Forest Service, State and Private Forestry www.fs.fed.us/spf $107,500 DNR Forest Stewardship Program (USFS SPF) www.Michigan.gov/ForestStewardshi $20,000 p Michigan Tree Farm Committee (Forests for the Future) www.TreeFarmSystem.org/Michigan $7,500 American Forest Foundation (Pierce Foundation) www.ForestFoundation.org $5,000 MI Sustainable Forestry Initiative Implementation Comm. www.sfimi.org $5,000 Michigan Association of Timbermen www.Timbermen.org $4,000 Michigan Forest Foundation www.MichiganForests.org $3,500 Society of American Foresters www.eforester.org $3,000 Great Lakes Timber Professionals Association www.gltpa.org $2,000 Michigan Project Learning Tree www.MichiganPLT.org $1,000 Packaging Corporation of America www.PackagingCorp.com $700 Michigan Forest Products Council www.MichiganForest.com $500 www.Michigan.gov/ForestStewardshi Mike Smalligan $500 p Michigan DNR - Fisheries Division www.Michigan.gov/Fishing $350 Michigan Society of American Foresters www.MichiganSAF.org $350 Cannon Forestry Resources LLC www.CannonForestry.com $300 Rexx and Maria Janowiak www.greentimberforestry.com $300 Grossman Forestry Company www.GrossmanForestry.com $200 Metcalfe Forestry LLC www.MetcalfeForestry.com $200

Donations: Donations in support of the Wheels to Woods Fund can be sent to the Michigan Tree Farm Committee, a 501c3 organization. Donations are tax deductible and all donated funds are passed on to schools. Please make check payable to “Michigan Tree Farm Committee” and send it to Michigan Tree Farm Committee, 110 West Michigan Avenue, Suite 100, Lansing, MI 48933. Tree Farm is a forest certification program for family forest owners that documents for society how forests sustainably provide wood, water, recreation and wildlife.

Wheels to Woods has multiple objectives related to schools and forests: 1. Get urban and rural students outside into the forest to experience nature 2. Educate students about forests, forest management and forest products 3. Support teachers and schools for field trips to a forest or forest products company 4. Connect foresters and loggers with teachers and outdoor educators 5. Connect the American Tree Farm System and Project Learning Tree with a bright yellow bus 6. Promote the American Tree Farm System forest certification for family forest owners 7. Inspire Tree Farmers to host a local school for a field trip to their forest 8. Promote Project Learning Tree as an outdoor education curriculum for teachers 9. Inspire students to become foresters, loggers, truckers, and sawmill workers 10. Connect schools and teachers with the Department of Natural Resources and United States Forest Service

Send Applications and Reports to [email protected] Michigan Tree Farm Committee; 110 West Michigan Avenue, Suite 100, Lansing, MI 48933 Questions? Call Mike Smalligan at 517-284-5884 or [email protected] www.WheelsToWoods.org 2 Version 3, October 2017