The Region 5 Tribal Wetland Working Group (TWWG) is a tribally led collaborative that includes Tribal wetland staff from across EPA Region 5 (including Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Indiana). The TWWG is holding a Wetland Vegetation Identification Training in the summer of 2024. The training will include online interactive sessions to review the basics of plant identification, followed by a one-day field training session. In order to reduce travel time and focus the training on regional vegetation, separate field trainings are being held in Michigan, Wisconsin, northern Minnesota, and southern Minnesota.
The wetland vegetation identification field training sessions are summarized below:
| Field Training Session | Trainers | Date/Time | Location | |||||||||||||
Michigan Wetland Plant Identification Field Training |
TBD |
TBD |
TBD |
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|
Wisconsin Wetland Plant Identification and Rapid FQA Field Training Will include a 1-hour online session prior to the field training |
Sally Jarosz and Allison Willman, WI DNR |
July 17
|
Lac du Flambeau Reservation | |||||||||||||
| Northern Minnesota Wetland Plant Identification Field Training |
Mike Bourdaghs, MPCA; Rhett Johnson and Rebecca Holmstrom, MNDNR | July 1 9:00am-3:30pm |
Fond du Lac Reservation / UM Cloquet Forestry Center, Cloquet, MN | |||||||||||||
| Southern Minnesota Wetland Plant Identification Field Training | Mike Bourdaghs, MPCA; Megan Benage and Dustin Graham, MN DNR | July 2 9:00am-3:30pm |
Ottawa State Wildlife Management Area, St Peter, MN |
Registration
The training is free to attend and is open to Tribal staff and interested Tribal members in EPA Region 5. To assist with planning efforts, please register using the form above by the following deadlines:
Friday, June 14: Minnesota Trainings
Friday, June 28: Michigan and Wisconsin Trainings
The field training sessions each have a capacity of 20 participants. First priority will be given to two attendees per Tribe. If you are interested in sending more than two attendees, please provide contact information for additional attendees at registration. Those who can attend the training will be notified following the registration deadlines above. Attendees who are interested in multiple sessions should register for their first choice and indicate on the registration form the other session they are interested in; attendance will be subject to availability of extra spots following the registration deadline.
Travel Assistance
There is no cost to attend the training. Limited funding is available to offset travel costs for participants to attend the training in their state or nearest to them. Assistance will be in the form of post-training reimbursement for travel expenses (e.g., mileage, hotel). To apply for travel assistance, please fill out the application form here.
Note that the first priority for travel assistance will be given to up to two representatives per Tribe. Any additional funds will be allocated following the registration deadlines above.
For questions or more information about this training, please contact Portia Osborne, NAWM Project Manager, at portia@nawm.org. If you would like more information about the TWWG, please email R5TWWG@gmail.com. This inbox is monitored by TWWG Co-Leads Mike Jones (Stockbridge-Munsee Community) and Alexis DeGabriele (Little River Band of Ottawa Indians).