United States Forest Service Forestry Technician and Bay Mills tribal member Joe Carrick was recently awarded the Multicultural Organization Award for his work on the "Protectors of the Earth Program" on Sugar Island. The program, which was held last July, was sponsored by the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and was facilitated by the Sugar Island Youth Camp.
Carrick taught 20 minority students from across the state of Michigan about natural resource management. The group stayed in bunkhouses on the island for the week-long project. In addition to teaching the students how to tell the age of a tree by taking core samples and analyzing them, Carrick also shared with them the ins and outs of fighting forest fires.
Carrick is a timber sale administrator with the USFS and is also trained as a strike team leader, running crews that battle forest fires across the United States.
