News this week out of the Trump Administration in Washington is that there are plans to relocate the headquarters of the U.S. Forest Service from Washington, D.C. to Salt Lake City, Utah. Along with this there are plans to downsize the staffing of the forest service, downsize reseach offices from 57 to 19, and open up more of the federally owned forest lands to logging and other operations. There is also likely the plan to downsize or even eliminate national forests in specific areas as well.

Thic commentary focuses mostly on an article in Bridge Michigan, an online magazine about public affairs in Michigan that centers on the planned closure of all four of the Forest Service research offices in Michigan and how that may effect our forests. This however will affect all of our region as the same will happen in Minnesota and Wisconsin as well. It may also indirectly affect Ontario and the rest of Canada.

Bridge Michigan article:

House, Kelly."Trump administration plans closure of 4 Michigan forestry research centers." April 3, 2026 bridgemichigan.com/michigan-environment-watch/trump-administration-plans-closure-of-4-michigan-forestry-research-centers/

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In honor of Women's History Month, this week's guest Emily Macgillivray (The Outdoors Historian) joins the podcast to share the story of Ozhaawashkodwekwe, also known as Susan Johnston, an Ojibwe woman born in the Chequamegon Bay region of Lake Superior (Wisconsin), married to an Irish fur trader and a leader of her tribal clan in Bawating (Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan) where she owned a large sugar bush on nearby Sugar Island in the St. Mary's River.

Maple Sugar was an important food source and commodity for the indigenous people of the Great Lakes. It was an important part of the diet in the early Spring before other food was available. It was used for food preservation, similar to salt, and could be bartered for other food, exchanged for trade goods, and more.

Emily also touches a bit on the indigenous experience in the fur trade and also the importance of re-learning indigenous history in the 21st century as compared to how it was traditionally taught in the past in both Canada and the United States.

Emily Macgillivray is a historian and writer who lives in the Chequamegon Bay area of northwestern Wisconsin. She has worked as an educator focusing on histories of the Great Lakes, United States, and Canada, fo over fifteen years. She received her PhD from the University of Michigan and was an assistant professor at Northland College, where she also taught field courses focused on the Lake Superior watershed. She has also worked in both large and small museums focusing on Indigenous and Black historys. Born and raised in Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, Emily has also lived and worked in Kingston, Ontario, Ann Arbor and Detroit, Michigan, and Chicago, Illinois. She currently works in land use development for her municipal government. In her free time she combines her love of the outdoors and history in her wrting on Substack as The Outdoors Historian.

You can follow Emily on Substack at substack.com/@theoutdoorshistorian

Check out Emily's website at theoutdoorshistorian.com

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When the University of Michigan's School of Forestry was created in 1903, it was understood that an experimental forest was needed where forestry students could learn their trade. Saginaw, Michigan lumberman and University of Michigan Regent Arthur Hill stepped in and purchased an 80 acre tract of worn out farm land just east of the city of Ann Arbor for the program to develop the "Saginaw Forestry Farm" as Hill asked the University to name it.

The Saginaw Forest, as it officially became known in 1919 served as a training ground for future professional foresters for many years. As the School of Forestry transformed into the School of Natural Resources, studies at Saginaw Forest expanded into the flora and fauna of the forest and the aquatic life in Third Sister Lake and nearby wetlands. The Saginaw Forest is now part of the School of the Environment and Sustainability (SEAS) where it continues to be a laboratory for students studying the environmental sciences and related fields.

Episode Sources:

Arthur Hill, Saginaw County Hall of Fame. https://saginawcountyhalloffame.org/arthur-hill

Saginaw Forest website. https://seas.umich.edu/about/field-properties/saginaw-forest

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