Apr 26, 2008 (Sat)    

The Inside Story



Janice Stiefel, author of "The Inside Story" articles which appeared in past Wild Ones Journals, has passed away. We know not everyone had the privilege to know or meet Janice, but she was a speaker at our Wild Ones conferences and at our regular chapter meetings, as well as a writer for the Journal.

For those of us who were around in the early years of Wild Ones, we remember her for the wonderful articles which appeared in the early version of the Wild Ones newsletter then called The Outside Story. Janice's articles were a regular column entitled "The Inside Story" and covered information about a specific plant, it's characteristics and specialness including medicinal uses and "old wive's tales."

Janice wrote 71 "The Inside Story" articles between 1990 and 2002. Monetary gifts sent in Janice's memory will help Wild Ones publish these articles into a book to share with the rest of the world.

A gifted photographer with a special interest in insects, butterflies and moths, some of Janice's most current work at BugGuide.

    Apr 21, 2008 (Mon)    

Project BudBurst



Carol Andrews, national Wild Ones president, wants you to know about a fun new thing that her chapter is trying this year. You may have read about Project Budburst in the Wild Ones Journal. Her chapter has decided to form "BudBurst Teams" of a few people that want to watch the same plant and will then share notes with each other about when, for example, their Juneberry starts to bloom, when they first get fruit, etc. She's hoping it's a way for everyone to have that much more reason to really get in tune w/ the local flora while also helping to contribute scientific data to an important cause.

You might like to try to set up some teams of your own. Download a copy of the Information Card or the Sign-Up Form

    Apr 10, 2008 (Thu)    

In Search of a Name



We are now the proud owners of our very own permanent headquarters, so now is the time for us to seriously think about what we are going to call our new home. A possible name suggested by the EcoCenter Steering Committee is the WILD Center (Wild Ones Institute of Learning and Discovery Center). We'd like to know what you think. Give us your suggestion by May 16th. Suggestions will be presented to the Committee for review with final voting to take place by members at the annual meeting/conference to be held this year at the Wild Ones EcoCenter in the Wisconsin Fox Valley.



Remember the current site includes a building, roughly 3/4 of an acre of open land to be developed into demonstration gardens, and 3 acres of riparian hardwood and floodplain forest.



Although we have not gathered sufficient funds to purchase the remaining 12.5 acres of upland/riparian woodland/marsh which would complete our EcoCenter, we will continue to apply for grants and solicit donations with the hope of being able to do so by the end of 2008. To donate.



So celebrate the new year with Wild Ones! Mark your calendar for the grand opening celebration this summer, August 22-24th.

    Feb 23, 2008 (Sat)    

Wild Ones Announces Landscape Design Challenge



Wild Ones is inviting everyone who is involved with natural landscape design -- professional or amateur -- to develop an appropriate design for our landscaping and demonstration gardens at our new Wild Ones EcoCenter and Headquarters. As many of you are aware, Wild Ones has recently purchased a 3.5 acre parcel of land complete with a house which we will be using as a working ecology center and Wild Ones national headquarters. The site is located on the west shore of Little Lake Butte des Morts and is adjacent to Stroebe Marsh in the Town of Menasha, Wisconsin. Little Lake Butte des Morts is part of the Fox River waterway and the Green Bay of Lake Michigan which is part of the Great Lakes watershed. We are in need of a special landscape design for our new headquarters and we are inviting you to submit plans. Your reward will be that you’ve contributed to the overall concept of the Wild Ones EcoCenter and its mission, and the recognition of your efforts will be prominently displayed at the EcoCenter.

The site is approximately 3/4 acre upland with the balance in riparian hardwood or floodplain forest. We are looking for recommendations for the design for the overall landscaping, but most specifically the demonstration gardens; i.e., theme, location, plant choice, walking paths, signage and other appropriate amenities. The demonstration gardens will be the focus of our educational goals related to natural landscaping. There will be some restoration efforts necessary with regard to the riparian buffer zone including reintroduction of native woodland species. Currently the forest floor is covered primarily with moneywort and dense upper-story growth.

A preliminary sketch has been uploaded to the Wild Ones website. A slide show and videos are available also.

Slide show with captions

YouTube video

On-line video (Some Windows machines will not play this video unless they have installed the QuickTime video plug-in)

Please note that the fallow field shown on some of the slides has not yet come under our ownership. It is on our wish list, however, to be able to expand into it with an oak savanna area at some time in the future. Please also note that the crab apple trees will likely have to be removed to make room for parking. And, although the evergreen trees do provide some protection from the northwest winds and are quite mature, they are not native species. So no need to feel obligated to retain these existing plants.

There are topo/aerial, soils and wetlands/shorelands maps available for this site (plus a lot more info) at the Winnebago County website
link to the parcel information

The parcel you will be working with is 00801010701. It includes the house site at 2285 Butte des Morts Beach Rd, Neenah, Wisconsin as well as the 3 acres to the north and west of the parcel. However, you won't be able to reach the various maps without first agreeing to the Terms of Use/Copyright Policy. So here are the instructions to get to the maps.

Go to Winnebago County website and click on "GIS/Maps" from the left-hand menu.
Go to the bottom of the next page and agree to "Terms of Use/Copyright Policy."
Then click on "Winnebago Towns and General Inquiries."
Then click on green box at the top of the page which says "Search Options Menu."
Curser down to the second set of windows and type in "2285." Click "Find It."
Click on the fifth entry: "2285 Butte des Morts Beach Rd, Neenah, Wisconsin"
It'll bring up the Winnebago County GIS Viewer and Property Profiler
Zoom out a little until all of parcel 00801010701 is in view.
Click on the check box in the yellow block to the right of the page.
Then click on the house number in the viewer/profiler window.
This brings up more information than you wanted to know, so don't forget to curser all the way down the page to find everything.

If you have any problems finding all the information you need to plan a design, contact the Wild Ones Executive Director or call toll free 877-394-9453. We'd like your design(s) back by May 16th either via e-mail or snail mail.

You can create a design for one or all the gardens or the entire landscape area. Just make sure to get your ideas to us by May 16, 2008 either via snail mail or e-mail at execdirector@for-wild.org The Wild Ones EcoCenter Steering Committee will be reviewing all the submitted plans and the Wild Ones members will pick their favorite at this year's annual meeting and conference to be held at the EcoCenter August 22-24.

And, oh yes, please feel free to share this invitation with others you may feel would be interested in participating.

Thanks for being a part of this very exciting year for us.

Donna VanBuecken, Executive Director
Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes
PO Box 1274
Appleton, WI 54912-1274

    Feb 11, 2008 (Mon)    

NO CHILD LEFT INSIDE Update




















ACTION ALERT
January 2008

Urge Members of the US Senate
to Support the No Child Left Inside Act of 2007

The No Child Left Inside Coalition needs you to step forward now and tell members of the U.S. Senate that you strongly support environmental education. The Coalition’s legislation, the No Child Left Act (S.1981), would strengthen and expand environmental education, and would reconnect children with nature through outdoor learning experiences. The NCLI Act provides funding for environmental education programs and teacher professional development in states with K-12 environmental literacy plans. Such funding is critically needed to help young people understand their natural world.

The action is now in the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which is considering education funding issues as it works to reauthorize the No Child Left Behind law. Sen. Edward Kennedy, chairman of the committee, plans to produce a No Child Left Behind bill by April. We want as many cosponsors as possible of the NCLI Act, which will send a signal to the Senate HELP Committee that support is broad and diverse.

The power of the No Child Left Inside Coalition rests with the members of its affiliated organizations, such as ours. So, please take a few minutes and call or write your senators and ask them to cosponsor the NCLI legislation.

Action Needed!

For a list of members of your legislature.

1. Call your senators, and ask them to cosponsor S. 1981, the No Child Left Inside Act.
2. Write a letter on your organization’s letterhead to encourage your senators to cosponsor the No Child Left Inside Act. (Sample letter below.)
3. Send a follow up report to the NCLI Coalition Grassroots Coordinator (Abby Ybarra so he can track which senators have been contacted.

Go to Coalition's website to learn more about the No Child Left Inside Act. The website includes a link to allow you to send an email to members of Congress as well as other useful tools, such as guidelines on writing a letter to your local newspaper’s editor.

Please get involved now. Together we can promote healthier kids and a healthier world!

Sample letter and list of senators on HELP Committee .

For more information about NCLI go to SFE webpages.

    Jan 01, 2008 (Tue)    

WILD ONES HAS A NEW HOME



In December we closed on the part of the Wild Ones Ecology Center which will enable us to move our headquarters to a permanent facility. But we still have lots of work to do to make the facility handicap accessible before we can move in, so please keep your donations coming in to offset the expenses. To donate.



Although we have not gathered sufficient funds to purchase the remaining 12.5 acres of upland/riparian woodland/marsh which would complete our EcoCenter, we will continue to apply for grants and solicit donations with the hope of being able to do so by the end of 2008. To donate.



So celebrate the new year with Wild Ones! Mark your calendar for the grand opening celebration this summer, August 22-24th.