Mike Berst

My uncle was a Park Service ranger, and as a child I was fortunate to spend summers with him at various national parks. He taught me to respect nature and all living things . Kathie and I have long been supporters of the Michigan Nature Association. Since retiring we have been propagating native plants on our property which is near the Saving Birds Thru Habitat Discovery Center in Omena.

One day in 2014 I was photographing plants along Omena Road and an energetic woman approached me. "Are you admiring my prairie?" she asked. "Um, no," I replied, surprised by the question, "but I am certainly willing to." That was how I met Kay Charter, the founder and at that time executive director of Saving Birds Thru Habitat. I told her I was photographing plants along the side of the road. She pointed to a plant and asked me if I knew whether or not is was a native species. (It wasn't, it was Elecampane (Inula helenium) a Eurasian plant.)

Over the next few years Kathie and I became friends with Kay and Jim. I led native plant walks as part of SBTH events, and we helped out where we could as neighbors and friends. In the fall of 2023 Kay said she needed to step down and that she was afraid the organization wouldn't survive. She asked us to take over. We didn't have any experience with that, and the loss of the founder and executive director, the impact of the COVID crisis, and ac aging membership meant that the organization would need to be rebuilt almost from scratch. Kathie and I strongly support the vision of SBTH and admired the work done by so many dedicated people, and after much soul searching we decided to take on the challenge.

Mike

May 21, 2025
Omena, Michigan