“Trees, Their Identification, Their Roles, and Our Relationship with Them”
With Larry Cornelis, Naturalist and Conservationist
Wednesday, September 25, 6:30pm
At our September 25 meeting, Wild Ones will welcome back Larry Cornelis, to speak on “Trees, Their Identification, Their Roles, and our Relationship with Them.” In his previous talk for Wild Ones, in 2019, Larry spoke on the plant communities and cultural history of Eastern deciduous forests.
Larry will speak to us about his new book, Trees, Forests and Nature. Illustrated with Larry’s own beautiful photographs, the book provides information about all the major species of native trees. But Larry’s emphasis is on relationships; the book is “really about knowing and respecting trees as fellow beings.”
Larry asks what trees are telling us. “We can ‘feel and listen’ to the trees through quiet observation and focus. There’s no replacement for learning from the trees and the land through firsthand experience.”
A farmer in Ontario, Canada, a few miles south of Sarnia, Larry practices natural landscaping on much of his property. “Native plants,” he says, are “the path of reconciliation with nature.” He’s given hundreds of presentations on trees, native plants, and healing our relationship with nature.
Earlier this year, he was part of a team teaching a course at the University of Windsor on “Relationships with and Connections to Nature.” His two colleagues were Clint Jacobs, the Indigenous Scholar at U. of Windsor, Director of the Walpole Island Land Trust and past supervisor of the Heritage Center on Walpole Island, home of the Bkejwanong (Anishinaabe), and Karen Cedar, Education and Outreach Coordinator for the Ojibway Nature Center in Windsor.
Larry has worked for many years with the Anishinaabe on Walpole Island on their prairie and savanna restorations. He’s recently been recognized as an “elder” of the Walpole Island community.
This is an in-person event at Portage District Library, 300 Library Lane, Portage, MI. View Map
The PDL facility has free parking and is wheelchair accessible. Come early to enjoy some social time, information tables and snacks, beginning at 6:00 pm; program begins at 6:30 pm
This program will be recorded and posted on our YouTube channel in the event you are unable to attend in person.