Annual 5-day festival in the U.P. celebrates wilderness and nature conservation

HESSEL — The Aldo Leopold Festival is a five-day event in Hessel that celebrates nature and conservation efforts.

This is the eighth annual Aldo Leopold festival, and this year it will offer more events than ever before in the past. It will take place June 1-5.

Over 70 different events are available to attend over the course of five days; festival goers can take guided trips across the forest, take bird watching tours, attend educational presentations and more.

"We live in a unique area so we want to be able to share what we have with others and educate them on how to celebrate our area and the unique things we have to offer and we have at this time of year," said Kerri Smith, administrative director of the festival.

The event is hosted by Hessel School House, which was once an elementary from 1938 to 1978 but now hosts events.

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The festival is named after famous conservationist Aldo Leopold, who also has several awards and nature preserves named after him. Leopold was born in 1887 in Iowa but lived much of his life near or in Michigan forests.

The festival was named after Leopold as a way to honor and remember the man and his conservation efforts and celebrate his legacy.

"It's named after Aldo Leopold because he spent some time here as a young child. His family has property in the Cedarville area," said Smith. "There's a preserve named after him and we're using his name to promote the area."

Participants this year will also get to experience a new event where they can learn about the life and history of Aldo Leopold and his impact on environmental protection efforts.

Attendees will paddle tandem kayaks to what was once the Leopold cottage to meet Les Cheneaux historian Charles Fels, who will share a brief history of Aldo and his family. Afterwards they will paddle back to the mainland to take a guided hike through the Little Traverse Conservancy’s Derby Preserve, named for the family farm that supplied much of the club’s provisions.

This experience is being led by Sue Bakkila of Woods and Waters and Anne Fleming of the Little Traverse Conservancy.

Festival passes are $45 per adult, youth 17 and under are free. Pre-registration is required to attend. To register online and view a complete schedule of events, visit www.aldoleopoldfestival.org or call the Hessel School House at (906) 484-1333.

Contact reporter Brendan Wiesner at BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com. 

This article originally appeared on The Sault News: Aldo Leopold Festival to take place June 1-5 in Hessel