Spring Challenge 2025
April 9th – June 30th
Introduction
Since its foundation in 2008, TSN Spring Challenge has always been a call to do more together. Each year, we challenge our stewards and our communities to spend a little longer caring for their local lands and waters, knowing from experience that action inspires action. Our role is to collect, calculate, and celebrate all this combined impact, inspiring our wide-reaching audience with the power of stewardship at scale and hopefully making field season as fun as possible along the way. For 2025, qualifying categories of stewardship activities include:
Plant Removal | New Planting | Trash Removal | Ecosystem Monitoring | Prescribed Burning | Education/Advocacy
If your stewardship doesn’t quite fit in, additional activities are welcomed under our Other designation!
2025 Program Results
With passion and perseverance, you made TSN Spring Challenge 2025 incredible. The reporting was even more early and consistent than last year, the images and stories you shared were once again top notch, and the work was awesome to behold. In truth, last year’s totals were so high that we weren’t sure what to expect this time out, but you all have done it again!
At the close of reporting, we’d received reports of over 56,800 hours of stewardship from over 18,200 participants (a staggering +35% increase from 2024, shattering all previous records) equaling over $1.9 million of work-hour value poured into local ecosystems. Each year, we ask you to show us the true power of “do more together” and every time, you inspire us to no end. Thank you, everyone!
#TSNspring Honors
Whether you report one hour or ten thousand hours, we’re all on the same team and none of us can win alone when it comes to stewardship. That said, we’re always excited to make a big deal about the groups that take our “do more” challenge to heart and end up “doing the most.” If you’re looking for a little peer inspiration, check out these reporting standouts from TSN Spring Challenge 2025:
The Community Cup WINNER
Huron Arbor Cluster
The Root Cup WINNER
West Michigan Conservation Network
The Partner Cup WINNER
Milwaukee Riverkeeper
The Inspiration Cup WINNER
Lake St. Clair CISMA
A special award for groups that report prolifically and share loads of images to encourage others
The Solo Cup WINNER
Jon and Susan C.
Awarded to the unaffiliated individual or family reporting the most total stewardship hours
The Teacher Cup WINNER
ECO Center, LLC
Boosts are Back!
We know how tempting it is to delay reporting and how much more inspirational it is for your peers if you don’t, so TSN Spring Challenge Boosts are back to make timely reporting an extremely compelling choice! Each Tuesday during this program, our staff will draw a random name from amongst all the people who submitted a report by 11:59pm Monday night. If the name drawn is an independent steward with no stated organizational affiliation, that person gets to choose any of the remaining tokens of appreciation we’ve procured for this effort. If the name drawn has claimed any group affiliation, they get their pick and the organization does, too!
To clarify, any number of reports in a single week still equals one name in our drawing and the number of hours per report does not impact your chances, so while it pays to report early and often, you can feel very free to combine each week’s reports into one entry at your discretion.
Currently Available Boosts
Any 25-seedling bundle of shrubs courtesy of Forest Agriculture Nursery (one still available)!
Twelve pairs of “Hex1” work gloves courtesy of HexArmor (1 set still available)!
Twelve pairs of “Heavy Duty” work gloves courtesy of HexArmor (2 sets still available)!
Nalgene Wide-Mouth Water Bottle in “Sticker/Clear” courtesy of REI Co-op (5 available)!
$50 gift card courtesy of Zingerman’s Community of Businesses!
$100 gift card courtesy of Downtown Home & Garden!
2025 Annual Park Pass and gift bag courtesy of Huron-Clinton Metroparks!
ForLife Cold Brew Iced Tea Maker and two bags of organic tea courtesy of Arbor Teas!
Pack of 4 One-Day Passes courtesy of Dow Gardens in Midland, MI (two packs available!)
Epson EX7325 Projector with Gator carrying case (lightly used – three available)!
Boot & Shoe Brushes from NAISMA!
Free shipping on your next TSN Gloves for Good request!
“Bluebells” 6in x 12in acrylic painting by Paul Muelle
Framed, historic photo of Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, or Detroit (three available)!
“Ishkode: A Story of Fire” by Evan Larson & Nisogaabokwe Melonee Montano
“Water for Any Farm,” donated by the author, Mark Shepard!
“Beauty and the Beast: California Wildflowers and Climate Change” by Rob Badger & Nita Winter
Boosts Claimed in 2025
The perks of reporting early and often!
NSS Opti-Mist P Hand Pump Sprayer – 3 gallon (all four claimed)!
Any 25-seedling bundle of shrubs courtesy of Forest Agriculture Nursery (one claimed)!
Trail 5 Waist Pack in “Black” courtesy of REI Co-op!
“Nature’s Second Chance,” signed by the author, Steven I. Apfelbaum!
$100 gift certificate for any Th/Fr evening or Sun matinee performance courtesy of The Purple Rose Theater Company in Chelsea, MI!
Your choice of any tool courtesy of Rogue Hoe!
Flash 22 Print Pack in “Sunset Hill Cove Green” courtesy of REI Co-op!
Flash 22 Print Pack in “Sun Peak Blue Nights” courtesy of REI Co-op!
Flash 22 Pack in “Stone Green” courtesy of REI Co-op!
Trail 5 Waist Pack in “Fireclay” courtesy of REI Co-op!
Trail 5 Waist Pack in “Jasper Green” courtesy of REI Co-op!
Twelve pairs of “Hex1” work gloves courtesy of HexArmor (2 sets claimed)!
Twelve pairs of “Heavy Duty” work gloves courtesy of HexArmor (1 set claimed)!
Flash 22 Pack in “Black” courtesy of REI Co-op!
Spread the Word
Of course, the more people who join us in this effort, the more powerful it becomes. If you’d like to support us by inviting more of nature’s caretakers into the fold, we’d certainly appreciate it! Digitally, you can share this webpage, tag your social posts with #TSNspring, or follow along with our TSN Facebook page for updates and engage away! Due to popular demand, we’ve also prepared flyers that you’re very welcome to print out and post wherever makes sense in your community.
Measuring Across Categories
The single unit of stewardship effort for TSN Spring Challenge, whatever the category, is stewardship hours. If you spend 8 hours caring for your garden, removing trash from a local park, or volunteering for a TSN Member Community, that’s 8 hours into the program. If you and three friends do the same work in one quarter of the time, that’s (4 people x 2 hours) 8 total hours also. Easy, right? But here’s the catch: we can only celebrate you if we know what you did and we only know what you did if you report it!
Who Can Participate?
This program warmly welcomes all caretakers of nature in all geographies and ecosystems. Whether you’re doing a little or a lot, we’re excited to have you here. Volunteers are a huge part of this effort each year, but professional stewards, you’re invited too! As long as the time you’re reporting is spent doing a qualifying activity, it absolutely counts.
Then and Now
What was once the Garlic Mustard Challenge and then the Spring Invasive Species Challenge bloomed anew as the TSN Spring Challenge in 2022, adding more ways to help so everyone can get outside and get involved during this vital season. While the program has grown in scope to include activities beyond its invasive species tradition, groups focused on that form of stewardship remain warmly welcomed and strongly encouraged to participate. What certainly hasn’t changed is the importance of this program, which since its first iteration in 2008 has celebrated over 462,000 hours from nearly 71,000 people to create over $13.5 million in workhour value while removing over 2.5 million pounds of invasive plant species from local ecosystems.
In many ways, the spirit of TSN Spring Challenge is the spirit that formed The Stewardship Network itself. There is power in realizing that you are not alone in this work and there is power in showing the world just how much we can accomplish when we join forces. Some participants tell us that this effort helps with their own data management and some leverage the big group number to boost their own outreach efforts. Some have told us they’ve seen great benefits from being featured on TSN’s wide-reaching social channels and some say it just feels good to be part of it all. Whatever sparks your action, we love it and we thank you for your support!
Image courtesy of Milwaukee Riverkeeper (TSN Spring Challenge 2023)
An investment
in the future
TSN Spring Challenge is second only to TSN Conference in the level of investment our organization pours into an annual program. If you’re inspired by this collective effort and want to help us sustain it into the future, we’d be delighted to accept a donation of any size at the link below. Thank you!