Turkey in full spread

Event birders participating in the Global Birding Big Sit monitoring at our Spring Preserve on a windy day.

Event birders participating in the Global Birding Big Sit monitoring at our Spring Preserve on a windy day.

 

 

Dear GLC Friends,

November days will bring turkeys flocking up for winter, red squirrels and chipmunks frantically rounding up tree nuts and more of one of my favorites- lichens! Lichens are one of the longest living organisms, sometimes living past 4,500 years old. Lichens are the colorful blotches you see on tree bark, rocks and even in your backyard. I love examining them under a strong magnifier- they literally come to life! I am also hoping we have some good days of snow for wildlife tracking on our preserves this November. Watch for the full “Beaver Moon” the night of November 7th and the New Moon November 23rd.

Many of you have received the GLC membership campaign letters- thank you for your continued donations and support. Please check out our membership tiers and benefits below and consider an annual membership today! Your donation dollars help us continue to protect and preserve land in our five counties.
https://www.glaciallakes.org/membership.html

A few highlights of mention: The success of Land Trust Days brought over 200 participants out onto GLC lands and over half were new to GLC. These interactions increased our mission visibility. 

The December 21st Winter Solstice celebration will be a hike on our newest Conservation Easement in Fond du Lac County from 1pm to sunset. More information and registration can be found here:
https://www.glaciallakes.org/events.html 

Watch for our Fall/Winter newsletter in your mailboxes (some great stories about what we are doing on the land) and our annual Year End Appeal campaign (we can’t do what we do without our community support!) in November.

See you out on the trails!

Jennifer Born Rutten

Executive Director

 

Land Trust Day participants ending a hike on our Kewaunee County Hunner Preserve.

 

 

Conservation Connection via books

 

A GLC member suggested we include some conservation/nature reading resources in our newsletter and we loved this suggestion!

October read is The Soil Will Save US: How Scientists, Farmers and Foodies are healing the Soil to Save the Planet.– a book that explores what is being done to help the soil- it all starts with the soil, to save our lands! Here is a (random) link to it:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18050026-the-soil-will-save-us

Each month I will highlight reading material for our GLC community- if you’ve read a good book (fiction or non) lately on conservation/nature email me with the info here:
jennifer@glaciallakes.org

 

 

New!!
Wear your support for GLC with our long-sleeved shirts. Just in time for holiday gift giving!

 

You asked- we delivered!

New GLC shirts are in- just in time for the cooler temps and hunting season when wearing blaze orange on any trail is encouraged! Wear your support of GLC and every dollar donated towards a purchase will help our day-to-day work on our Preserves and conservation easements.

Please email sophia@glaciallakes.org to arrange for payment (online, check or cash) and delivery or pickup in our five counties.
Cost for shirts is $30.00 a piece

 

Blaze orange and black long-sleeved shirts are here!

 

The perfect holiday gift this year for friends and family (or yourself!) will be our GLC merchandise. We have new blaze orange and black long sleeved tees and blaze orange warm winter hats- be safe on any trail with blaze orange!

Please email sophie@glaciallkes.org and place your orders today!

 

 

 

 

 

GLC hunting policy

 

Hunting season is upon us and as landowners, we enforce this policy on our 5 owned Preserves. We have met with local sheriff and police departments and wardens in these three counties. Only Hunner Preserve will have active land management hunting this season.  There is NO hunting at Willow Creek Preserve, Grasshopper Hill Preserve, Winifred Spring Preserve or Christel Woods Preserve this season. For details please click on link below:
https://www.glaciallakes.org/glc-hunting-policy.html

 

 

GLC Volunteer Story Series
by Land Management Committee member and volunteer Paul Reinemann

 

Why I volunteer for Glacial Lakes Conservancy
By Paul Reinemann

Preservation of whole working ecosystems is very important to me.

The number of birds in North America has dropped drastically in the last 50 years, and I want to do what I can to slow this decline, and the decline of all species. GLC gives me the opportunity to work on preserving and restoring some vital ecosystems which support a wide variety of species.

Since I was a young person, conservation has been very important to me. My parents often took me camping in northern Wisconsin, and we visited some national parks around the country. These experiences solidified my love of natural places. I studied biology and conservation at
UW-Madison and then taught in the Sheboygan School District. I taught general science at Urban Middle School and biology and botany at North High School, which gave me the opportunity to share and teach ecology to the next generation.

I spend a great deal of time exploring natural places. I enjoy backpacking, and I completed the 485-mile Colorado Trail two summers ago. I also enjoy canoe camping, cross-country skiing, and bird watching. My wife, Amy, and I have a tandem, and a few years ago, we took a seven-
week bicycle camping tour across Europe with our two daughters. My family has also explored many natural areas, including many of our national parks.

The common thread in my interests is that they all involve being outside. I love being outside, particularly in natural settings.

I have enjoyed interacting with the staff and other volunteers at GLC. It is nice to interact with
like-minded people. GLC gives me the opportunity to help preserve ecosystems. I have helped remove invasive species and plant native trees at Willow Creek Preserve.. I want to stay involved in working on the Willow Creek Preserve and other preserves.

I look forward to seeing the land protected by GLC expand and improve over the years. We need to hand off this planet to the next generation as diverse with life as it was when we arrived upon it.

 

 

 

Spotlight on Willow Creek Preserve
Isabel Mueller, Willow Creek Preserve Project Manager

 

 

Fall is in full swing at Willow Creek Preserve with bold colors, cooling temperatures, and creatures galore! This week, I have run into a lot of friendly faces, from robins bathing in the creek to deer using our footpaths and of course a few cute fungi hanging around. 

With these lovely fall changes, the Willow Creek Team has been gearing up for an impressive year ahead! We are working on the final details of our Land Management Plan, laying groundwork for some exciting new research projects, setting up interactive activities on the trails, and of course monitoring plant, animal, and hydrology aspects of the preserve. 

We hope that everyone is getting out and enjoying the sights, but we also ask that all members of the public be respectful of the land. As a reminder, there is no hunting allowed on Willow Creek’s property. We have been vigilant about watching for this, however any eyes lended are always an asset as well! On the same note, there has recently been some commotion on the closed sections of the trails. We ask that any trail with a trail closed sign not be used as it is both a danger to hikers and a danger to the land. We also ask that everyone stay on trail. While there is a lot of beauty to see, going off trail can cause issues for the ecosystems.  We have doubled down on security measures, and we hope that these few instances are in the past so we can move forward to a better preserve! 

We love having Willow Creek Preserve accessible to the public year round, and with your help we can continue to make it a more healthy ecosystem. So please hike about and take in all the views Willow Creek Preserve has to offer, but do so kindly and safely! 

 

 

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING GLACIAL LAKES CONSERVANCY 

 

 

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529 Ontario Ave.
Sheboygan, WI 53081
920-273-1143

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