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Wild Ones
WILD Center History
June 3, 2008 (Tues)
EcoCenter Landscape Design Challenge
Thanks to Diane Olson-Schmidt of Lacewing
Gardening and Consulting Services, Terry
Marvel of Terraforms, LLC, and Jennifer Baker
of Prairie Nursery, we have received some
interesting and exciting landscape designs
in answer to our "Landscape Design Challenge."
These design drawings are very large, and contain lots of fine, detailed work. Because of the large physical size of these drawings, it's difficult to show them in a way that does them justice, but check out the drawings and the accompanying plant lists and explanations, and you're sure to be impressed.
Please send e-mail to our Executive Director with your thoughts and comments.
November 20, 2007 (Tues)
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.
November 20, 2007 (Tues)
Wild Ones EcoCenter – A Dream Come True
Exciting news today! We got the word
today from the First National Bank - Fox
Valley that they have accepted our offer
for the house and 3 acres which will become
the first step toward the development of
the Wild Ones EcoCenter and national headquarters.
This doesn't mean that the rest of the acreage
including the marsh is ours – yet. We have
a lot of funding still to raise. But it's
a start! We should be able to move in to
the EcoCenter by the end of the year.
July 07, 2007 (Sat)
Wild Ones EcoCenter Challenges
We have another challenge going on right now to help us raise funds needed to develop the Wild Ones EcoCenter. An anonymous member from Illinois has challenged the other Wild Ones members to a 1:2 match up to $20,000 for any donations received after July 1st.
So if you haven't already made your donation, please do so now. We need all the help we can get! Call the Wild Ones National Office, toll-free, at 877-394-9453, with your credit card information. Or, just click the "EcoCenter Challenge Donation" button below, and make your donation through PayPal or your credit card online. Once you arrive at the PayPal checkout area, fill in the "Payment For" area (example, "Donation for EcoCenter Challenge") – and then fill in the "Amount" area with the dollar amount you'd like to send. Click the drawing to see full-size.
June 19, 2007 (Tues)
Wild Ones EcoCenter Site Featured in Workshop
Wild Ones EcoCenter site was featured in one of today's workshops held by the CDS-NRDP Community and Rural Development Conference in Appleton, Wisconsin. This workshop provided a close-up view of one aspect of the dynamic relationship between community and the environment. Participants visited one of the largest PCB contamination and clean-up sites in the world and learned about the community impacts associated with efforts to restore the natural environment.
Presentation stops included the Trestle Trail (which is part of Wisconsin's Friendship Trail System) to view the river and learn about the paper industry's role in environmental issues; the Little Lake clean-up site and facility, where PCB-contaminated sediments are being dredged; The Stroebe Island marsh, an ecosystem restoration site funded by fees paid by the paper companies; and, Wild Ones Ecology Center site to learn about the role of community-based non-profit organizations in education and advocacy efforts.
Apr 04, 2007 (Wed)
EcoCenter Challenge
Great News! The Fox Valley Area (WI) Chapter
of Wild Ones has issued an ECOCENTER CHALLENGE
to all the Wild Ones Chapters. Karen Syverson,
Chapter President wrote:
Now is the time to act! Wild Ones have a
rare and exciting opportunity to step up
its promotion of environmentally sound landscaping
practices. A permanent national Wild Ones
headquarters along with a working ecology
center will help immensely in this effort.
Having it in the Fox Valley, home of one
of the largest PCB contamination clean-up
projects in the world, will help make the
EcoCenter a showplace of what can be done
to restore the health of an ecosystem.
Members of the Fox Valley Area Chapter of Wild Ones wish to show our support for purchase of the Wild Ones EcoCenter with a 1:2 pledge of an amount up to $20,000 and a challenge to Wild Ones chapters across the country. FVAC will match $1.00 for every $2.00 raised by Wild Ones Chapters across the country with the hope that our $20,000 will raise an additional $40,000 by March 1, 2008.
Our chapter has been fortunate in the past 12 years to have raised substantial funds through our annual conference and plant sales in order to be able to support worthwhile efforts like this. Please encourage your chapters to step up to the challenge!
To add your contribution to this challenge, go to donation and click on "Other Purchase or Donation" or e-mail or call the Wild Ones National Office toll free at 877-394-9453 with your credit card info.
All proceeds will be placed in a restricted account until all funding is secured and the Wild Ones EcoCenter is acquired. Only with your help will this effort be the success we know it can be.
Apr 03, 2007 (Tue)
Members EcoCenter Capital Campaign
Requests for contributions toward the Wild Ones EcoCenter Capital Campaign have gone out to Wild Ones members and friends along with a beautiful 4-color 4-page brochure detailing the goals of the EcoCenter. If you didn't get your copy, please e-mail or call the National Office toll free at 877-394-9453 to request a copy.
To make your contribution, go to donation and click on "Other Purchase or Donation" or e-mail or call the Wild Ones National Office toll free at 877-394-9453 with your credit card info.
All proceeds will be placed in a restricted account until all funding is secured and the Wild Ones EcoCenter is acquired. Only with your help will this effort be the success we know it can be.
Mar 15, 2007 (Thu)
Anonymous Donor Gives to Wild Ones EcoCenter
Wild Ones has received a generous donation of $100,000, along with a $100,000 no-interest loan commitment, from an Illinois foundation (which is managed by Wild Ones members who wish to remain anonymous) in support of the acquisition and development of the Wild Ones Ecology Center project.
The Wild Ones EcoCenter located on 13 acres on Butte des Morts Beach Road in the Town of Menasha will be a place where people can learn how to care for the natural world – a world we are rapidly losing in the face of global warming, invasive species, over-use of herbicides and pesticides, increased urbanization, and depletion of non-renewable resources.
When speaking with Donna VanBuecken, Executive Director of Wild Ones, we were told that the anonymous donors sent the gift with a note saying: “We are happy to be able to help Wild Ones bring this project home.”
Accounts have been established at both the First National Bank - Fox Valley, Attn: Kathy Blumreich, 320 Racine Street in Menasha, WI 54952 and at the American National Bank, Attn: Dawneen Berthold, 2200 N Richmond Street, WI 54911. Donors wishing to be part of this vital project should make their monetary gifts to either of these locations in Wild Ones EcoCenter’s name or credit card donations can be made now by going to donation and clicking on "Other Purchase or Donation" or e-mail or calling the Wild Ones National Office toll free at 877-394-9453 with your credit card info.
Oct 28, 2006 (Sat)
Wild Ones Ecology Center
Looking for Matching Funds
Wild Ones Natural Landscapers is seeking matching funds to be used toward the purchase of the West Shore Preserves Environmental Center. Your assistance in accomplishing this financial goal of approximately $400,000 is needed.
If you have suggestions as to contacts from which to solicit funds, i.e., foundations, grant sources, environmental organizations, etc, we'd like to hear from you as well. Or, if you'd like to make a contribution, go to donation and click on "Other Purchase or Donation" or e-mail or call the Wild Ones National Office toll free at 877-394-9453 with your credit card info.
Only with your help will we be able to make this happen!
Oct 25, 2006 (Wed)
WILD ONES HQ and ECOLOGY CENTER
A rare opportunity has befallen Wild Ones to assume ownership of a valuable property on the west shore of Little Lake Butte des Morts near our current headquarters. Because this property is located in the area already designated as West Shore Preserves, we are calling this property the West Shore Preserves Ecology Center.
Wild Ones will be able to assume ownership of this property through the assistance from grants from the Trustees Council for the Fox River and the Habitat Area funds from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program and from Wild Ones matching funds. The overall goal of the Ecology Center is to involve citizens in the protection and restoration of habitats associated with the Fox River ecosystem which is part of the Great Lakes Watershed.
Our purpose in creating the Center is to provide both an indoor and outdoor "home" for organizations, individuals and students who are working on projects and/or learning about ways to protect and restore the environmental quality of life in our communities.
Our indoor focus will be on providing space and administrative support for the activities of many area conservation and environmental science partners who do not have their own dedicated facilities and staff. We especially want the Center to develop the capacity to promote the efforts and projects of all our partners through project planning, grant writing, and communications using a variety of media.
Our outdoor focus will be on the restoration and maintenance of the Fox River through wetland and associated upland habitat preservation, re-establishment and enhancement.
See what columnist David Horst who writes for the Appleton Post Crescent has to say about our newest undertaking at House could become foundation for several eco-groups HELP US MAKE IT HAPPEN!
To see a PowerPoint presentation
of the Center go to Wild
Ones Ecology Center & HQ
To see location maps for the Center go to Town
of Menasha Master Plan Map.
To see President Joe Powelka's message to
Wild Ones members on this rare opportunity
go to A
Rare Opportunity.
To read Past President Bret Rappaport's message
to Wild Ones members on how this new headquarters
will be a destination for Wild Ones members
everywhere, a place for landscape demonstrations,
and a center for learning, go to Wild
Ones Headquarters.
To download a copy of the promotional sheet
developed for soliciting partners for this
project go to Flyer.
To read a copy of the preliminary environmental
management plan which includes a listing
of plants, animals, etc go to Management
Plan.
To download a copy of "The Marsh – Nature's
Water Purifier" from the July/August 2006
issue of the Wild Ones Journal go to Nature's
Water Purifier .
To download a Word file of a Letter of Support,
go to sample
letter.
Letters of Endorsement
Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust
Wolf River Conservation Alliance
East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission
School on the Lake Charter School
Community Foundation of the Fox Valley Region
The River Group of Valley New School
Citizens Natural Resources Association of Wisconsin
UW-Oshkosh Aquatic Research Laboratory
UW-Extension
Basin Educator for Natural Resources – Upper Fox and
Wolf River Basins
Waupaca County Natural Resources Foundation
UW-Fox Valley Department of Biological Sciences
Fox Valley Technical College Natural Resource Program
Winnebago County Land and Water Conservation
Please join us in our good fortune to be
part of this rare opportunity. If you have
questions e-mail us at Preserve.
If you want to volunteer your services in
helping us to fulfill all the requirements
related to obtaining the funding and opening
the center (grant writing, speaker presentations,
telephoning, developing partners, etc.) e-mail
us at Help
Us Make It Happen.
If you wish to donate toward the fulfillment of the amenities (gardens, boardwalk, computer center, laboratory, library, etc.) which will eventually be part of the West Shore Preserves Ecology Center please go to Help Us Make It Happen!
Wild Ones: Native Plants, Natural Landscapes
2285 West Buttes des Morts Beach Road, Neenah,
Wisconsin