Tech Trails

In the fall of 2006, the FERM began a wildlife habitat assessment on the Michigan Tech Recreational Forest located near the main campus. The recreational forest is home to ski trails, bike/snowshoe trails and is heavily used by students and members of the local community. It is also home to a variety of wildlife including: whitetail deer, pileated woodpeckers, black bear, numerous songbirds, salamanders, squirrels and more. Some of the habitat variables the students are measuring include: overstory, understory, coarse woody debris (CWD), canopy closure, abundance of tree species and snags (dead standing trees). They also installed one deer exclosure to measure the effect of deer on Canada Yew and a series of transects/boards to monitor salamander populations.

The project is ongoing.