Rain doesn't dampen enthusiasm at Monarch Trail event on County Grounds

The Monarch Trail is an 11-acre protected butterfly habitat that circles around the Echelon Apartments on the Innovation Campus of the Milwaukee County Grounds in Wauwatosa. It is currently awash in a magnificent spread of brown-eyed Susans.

The Friends of the Monarch Trail held their annual migration season kickoff celebration yesterday. Despite periods of light rain a good crowd enjoyed displays about monarch and other butterflies, the remarkable story of the 3000 mile migration, and the significance of the County Grounds as a roosting site. For the first time the event was held in the courtyard of the Echelon Apartment complex, in front of the recently renovated Eschweiler-designed historic Administration building. In a sign of the growing popularity of the event the Milwaukee County Parks Department provided a traveling beer tent and Cousins dispatched a food truck.

Ceole Cairde, the Irish ensemble, were on hand to provide musical accompaniment, as usual. A new feature this year was the McDonald family troupe of fife, drum and Irish dancers (above).

As if on cue, in the midst of all the merriment wild monarch butterflies quietly began to flutter into the courtyard and roost on the tree closest to the action (below). This bit of serendipity caused a sensation. Barb Agnew, the director of the Friends of the Monarch Trail considers it the precursor to what is likely to be an excellent season for butterfly watching. For updates on trail activities go to the Friends of the Monarch Trail website.

To see more photos of the Milwaukee County Grounds and Monarch Trail go to my Flickr album.

Eschweilers to come down as Echelons rise: Photo essay

Followers of the Milwaukee County Grounds likely have already heard the sad news: At least two of the four historic Eschweiler buildings are to be "partially" demolished. The Mandel Group, which is in the midst of constructing their Echelon apartment complex in a ring around the site, has plans for all four. The former Administration building is to remain as a centerpiece to the Echelon development. The small engineering building may be converted into a single family home. The dormitory and dairy buildings are to be demolished down to the first floor. The remnants are to be re-purposed as "walled gardens."

There's more to the story, which was covered nicely and very thoroughly by WUWM's Susan Bence & Michelle Maternowski. To read it click on: Striking An Imperfect Balance: Development, The Eschweilers & Monarch Butterflies .

I thought I'd add a few visuals to the story, so I went out yesterday and walked around the entire site to document the current situation:

The Eschweiler Administration building (left), which is to remain, and the northernmost apartment building under construction. View from Discovery Parkway.

The dairy building (background) has had its roof tiles removed. The interior is being gutted prior to deconstruction. The Administration building is on the right. New windows and roof tiles have already been installed.

The apartment building in the northwest corner of the site was the first to get underway and is the furthest along. View from the Monarch Trail.

Workers constructing one of the Echelon buildings (foreground) while other workers remove roof tiles from the Eschweiler dormitory building (background).

View looking southeast from the Monarch Trail of the Echelon complex (left) and the ABB building (right).

View looking northeast from the Monarch Trail of the Echelon complex.

Milkweed pod spreading its seeds on the Monarch Trail.

To see more photos of the County Grounds, go to my Flickr album. 

The Friends of the Monarch Trail and followers of the County Grounds have their eyes on another issue. The section of the grounds known as the east woods, which is located north of the power plant and Ronald McDonald House (see map below), has long been an area of concern as the last remaining segment that may or may not be preserved. I've written about it before, but there will be more to come.

 

7th Annual Migration Celebration on the County Grounds a great success!

Yesterday the Friends of the Monarch Trail held their 7th Annual Migration Celebration on the Milwaukee County Grounds. The activities took place in the quadrangle of the Eschweiler buildings and around them in the butterfly habitat zone. It was a beautiful day!

Many of the usual activities took place. Butterflies were tagged and released. A long line of people took a tour of the Monarch Trail. Ceol Cairde once again provided lively Irish music.

A new addition this year was a "Moving for Monarchs" Program featuring dancer Gwynedd Vetter-Drusch. It became far more than a performance as Vetter-Drusch engaged with the large crowd, solicited interactive dance moves, and led everyone in a group dance celebrating the Monarch migration. It was lovely to see so many enthusiastic supporters dancing together. I was too enthralled myself to take photos during the group dance but here is Vetter-Drusch in butterfly costume performing later with Ceol Cairde.

Friends of the Monarch Trail invite you, your family and friends to the 7th Annual Migration Celebration!

As a friend of the Monarch Trail I am passing on the following invitation. Since its inception 7 years ago this celebration has become livelier and has drawn larger crowds each year. I hope you'll join me there!

Sunday, August 24, 2014, 4-7pm
See schedule of events below.

Sunset from the Monarch Trail

This FREE, family friendly event is dedicated to preserving and protecting Monarch butterflies and the fragile ecosystem they return to each year, the precious parcel of land known as the County Grounds.

The celebration takes place outdoors, rain or shine, at the Monarch Trail on the Milwaukee County Grounds, with plenty of parking available on Discovery Pkwy. and Eschweiler Dr. off Swan Blvd.  Just look for the colorful flags and you'll find us! Please visit www.theMonarchTrail.org for a site map and more information.

photo courtesy Moving for Monarchs

This year’s event begins with a special interactive dance performance by Gwynedd Vetter-Drusch of the touring project “Moving for Monarchs,” and includes guided tours of the monarch trail, monarch release, plein air artists, lively Irish music by Ceol Cairde (Music of Friends), educational displays about Monarch butterflies, face painting, milkweed plants for sale, butterfly boutique items to benefit the Friends of the Monarch Trail and snacks too.

This is a great opportunity for artists, photographers, and videographers, especially during the Monarch release!

Schedule for the Event:

1. 4-4:50 pm - "Moving for Monarchs" Program featuring dancer Gwynedd Vetter-Drusch www.movingformonarchs.org
2. 5 pm - Monarch Release
3. 5:15-6:45 pm - Lively Irish Music by Ceol Cairde "Music of Friends" www.CeolCairde.com
4. 5:30 & 6 pm - Guided Tours of the Monarch Trail
5. 7 pm - 7th Annual Migration Celebration ends

For more information, please call Barb Agnew at 414-454-0222 or visit www.theMonarchTrail.org

(Please share this information.  We hope that everyone of all ages and all communities will be able to experience the wonder of all the creatures that inhabit the special place we care for so dearly: The County Grounds Monarch Trail.)


To see a selection of images from the County Grounds, go to my flickr set.  

Beautiful day on the County Grounds draws supporters to the Monarch Trail

Cool and breezy, not a cloud in the sky: a great time to visit the Monarch Trail on the County Grounds in Wauwatosa. A steady stream of people did just that. Many had come to take advantage of the lovely weather to walk the trail. Others stopped by to purchase plants being sold to support the Friends of the Monarch Trail and their efforts to preserve and maintain butterfly habitat.

I stopped by to chat and take a few photos to share.

Friends of the Monarch Trail supporters gathered along Eschweiler Drive.

Walking the Monarch Trail near the Eschweiler complex.

Monarch Trail leader Barb Agnew showed me where to find this warbler nest in the tall grass of the Eschweiler complex quadrangle. It was completely invisible to the untrained eye (and therefore easy to miss and step on!) Good reason to stay on the marked trails and to keep dogs on a leash. Moreover, it demonstrates the importance of maintaining unmowed sections of grassland.

I can think of few things that better symbolize the fragility of life and the importance of habitat preservation than ground nesting birds.

The ABB building is now open for business. Beyond, construction continues on the new Watertown Plank Road interchange.

Three seedlings have been planted here on the ABB parcel of Innovation Park, across the road from the Monarch Trail.

The brisk wind drew at least one kite flyer to the hilltop next to Discovery Parkway.

The Milwaukee County Grounds, as I have long advocated, can be a place for small adventures as well as for health and well-being. The healing potential of nature nearby has come to be more widely recognized as our lives have become more urbanized. Dr. Marc Gorelick of Children's Hospital has written a blog post about this recently: Hitting the Wellness Trail.

“Mingle for Monarchs” at Sugar Maple

The Friends of the Monarch Trail invite you to a FREE event:
“Mingle for Monarchs” at Sugar Maple

Wednesday, April 9, 2014
5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
441 E. Lincoln Ave. Milwaukee, WI

Enjoy an evening with fellow supporters of the Monarch Trail for free appetizers, a cash bar and awesome silent auction items including:

~For Foodies~

Restaurant certificates to:
Café Manna, Pizza Shuttle, Le Reve, Blue’s Egg, Maxie’s, Centro Café, Milwaukee Food Tours, beverages from Horny Goat Hideaway, Sprecher, Great Lakes Distillery, and more!

~For those that appreciate nature or getting your hands in the dirt~
Gift basket from the Wild Ones, high class European garden tools, plants, Amish Craftsmen Guild Swallowtail Butterfly folding cabana reclining chair and certificates from Prairie Nursery and Fruit of the Bloom!

Other Silent Auction items:
Artwork and books from local artists, a dulcimer, Butterfly T-Shirts, Cream City Soap Co., tickets to: Milw. County Zoo, Discovery World, Milw. Admirals, Waukesha Skating, Landmark Theatre, Milw. Rep, and tours to: Sprecher, Great Lakes Distillery, and the Harley Davidson Museum!

The Friends are going to restore every area on the trail we possibly can to help bring back the monarchs!  This will take resources to purchase plants as well as outreach and education for people who want to join in our effort.
.
Please share this invite and bring family, friends, co-workers and all Monarch Butterfly fans to come out to enjoy a fun evening of “Mingling for the Monarch Butterfly!”

We NEED you there to make this a fun & successful event!
Thank you!

To download an event poster and for more information, please visit www.themonarchtrail.org

Sneak preview: the silent auction includes a framed print of this sunset I shot at the Monarch Trail on the County Grounds.

County Grounds update: Discovery Parkway opens

View of Discovery Parkway looking north toward Swan Blvd.

If you live in Wauwatosa, as I do, and have been avoiding the Swan Boulevard route through the Milwaukee County Grounds because it's been closed for so long, there is now a detour through Innovation Park. The connecting road, called Discovery Parkway, between Swan and Watertown Plank was quietly opened last Monday. It will become the main thoroughfare for Innovation Park, the first two components of which are currently under construction. For a more detailed account of these developments, read the article in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel business section.

Some of my readers will remember that the construction of Discovery Parkway began with a bang last January when the land was cleared of its tree cover. (See previous post.) As promised at the time, new trees have been planted (see below). Unfortunately, more trees have recently been cut to make way for the new cloverleaf ramp that will be part of the redesigned Watertown Plank Road interchange at Highway 45.

Location of the new ramp

I visited the Grounds over the weekend and have some photos to share. In addition to the new road I was able to check in on volunteers with the Friends of the Monarch Trail who were out in force with spades and trowels. They were planting milkweed, which is an essential plant for the Monarch butterflies.

500 plugs of milkweed were planted by Friends of the Trail

South entrance to Discovery Parkway from Watertown Plank

View of Parks Administration Building from new entrance

North end of Discovery Parkway

View west across Discovery Parkway towards Eschweiler Bldgs

View east across County Grounds Park towards Milwaukee

Friends of the Monarch Trail trail marker flag

Lu Ann and Jan planting milkweed

Fred and Dan doing likewise

Barb Agnew, director of the Friends of the Monarch Trail, leads a tour of the trail and, here, one of the new biofiltration basins that will treat storm runoff.

On my way to Innovation Park, I almost stepped on this garter snake. It quickly slid off the gravel road surrounding the detention basin where I was walking. I consider it a good omen that it escaped harm.

Wauwatosa Common Council to act on TIF for County Grounds

The Wauwatosa Common Council is set to debate and decide this Tuesday whether or not to grant a TIF--tax incremental financing district--to support plans by the UWM Real Estate Foundation and the Mandel Group for residential development around the Eschweiler Buildings.

The importance of this decision for the fate of the beleaguered historic structures and the Monarch Trail habitat surrounding them, as well as for the development plans, has been outlined in an op-ed article in today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The authors of the article are Barb Agnew and Jim Price, founders of the Monarch Trail and indefatigable supporters of habitat preservation on the County Grounds.

Click here to read "An important vote in Tosa for UWM plans."

Blue Moon event on the Milwaukee County Grounds

This annual event sponsored by the Friends of the Monarch Trail is always lovely. The full moon makes it especially wonderful. There are few places in the Milwaukee metropolitan region better than the County Grounds to watch the sunset and moonrise simultaneously.

 

For more information go to Monarch Trail.

County Grounds public hearing Monday May 2

Monarch Trail and Innovation Park site

I am forwarding the following announcement from the Friends of the Monarch Trail. I hope you will join me and give your input at this important meeting:

The City of Wauwatosa is hosting an open house for public input regarding trail connections on the County Grounds – Monday, May 2.

May 2^nd –   4:30 - 7:00 pm

Wil-O-Way   @  Underwood Parkway

10602 W Underwood Creek Parkway (across from Hanson golf course)

Please come share your ideas for the “master trail plan” that is to be implemented by the National Parks Service. Several parcels that are owned and must be maintained by different agencies will have trails, including the State Forestry Education Center, the new Milwaukee County Park, and the MMSD detention basins, as well as the UWM Innovation Park complex.

The Friends of the Monarch Trail have worked hard to preserve the Monarch Trail, the butterfly habitat, and the natural environment on the County Grounds. Now is the time to get the Monarch Trail on the official Map! We thank you for being persistent in your efforts to preserve this critical habitat~

  

**Brief presentations describing the project will be given at 5:00 and again at 6:00 pm 

Please take time to stop in wherever you can fit it in between 4:30 and 7Pm. This is the one chance to show our interest in the Monarch Trail and how it will connect with the rest of the trail system being created on the County Grounds.

  

Talking points to comment on:

·        End results should provide first and foremost for the needs of the habitat; this is the main attraction and the reason for the Monarch Trail.

·        Connecting the Monarch Trail to the other trails will make them all more successful because it is and attraction and highlight that stimulates curiosity and interest.

·        Mention possible negative impacts along with solutions.  The 11-acre monarch habitat is too small to accommodate paved paths or room for bicycles. The idea for this segment of trail is to provide a peaceful place for observation, photography, and not a tract for commuting through; a good comparison would be Wehr Nature Center. There are areas for tramp trails and more appropriate places for bike trails.

There will be thoroughfares for bicycles and vehicle access to the habitat via the residential roadways and parking lots.

·         Preservation of the natural scenery to provide views is also an attraction as well as the historical features such as the Eschweiler buildings. All planning of trails that is not in keeping with the scenery or which would obscure, distort, or detract from the integrity of the environment should be avoided. The trails are for humans, but the environment comes first.

·         The wildlife and ecosystem depend on our protection. The trails should be integrated in a way that enhances and protects the landscapes that support wildlife.

·        Promote the need to preserve the woods behind the Ronald McDonald House as part of the trail system. Milwaukee County should retain these valuable woods in order to reconnect the environmental corridor. 

Metaphor? I hope not.

Sent DOT your Comments about Zoo Interchange plans

Friends of the Monarch Trail and the Milwaukee County Grounds:

This is an update to my last post regarding a public hearing on the plans for Zoo Interchange reconstruction that could destroy valuable acreage along the Monarch Trail on the County Grounds. The public hearing has concluded but there is still time to send public comments to the Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation (DOT). Contact info below.

Dianne Dagalen, conservation chair of the local Sierra Club group, was interviewed on Lake Effect. I recommend listening to her compelling arguments, which you can do by clicking on this link.


The DOT does listen to the public! After viewing the new plans, it was clear to me that comments from the last public hearing, about a year ago, had affected the current plans - positively, I thought. They are still debating whether to widen the freeways to 8 lanes or keep the current 6 lanes (or, if not debating, at least both are still on the table.) Please urge them not to add lanes. (Experience elsewhere has demonstrated that larger freeways create larger traffic problems and do not relieve congestion in the long run.) 

DOT Stormwater proposals:

·               A three-acre toxic stormwater pond (instead of nectaring plants) to replace the South Berm of the Monarch Trail, with the surrounding wetlands filled in by excavation.

·               A five acre pond to replace the Oak Leaf Bike Trail at Underwood Creek Pkwy.

·               Four acres clear-cut for a pond on the historic Honey CreekParkway.

12 acres of county parkland may be lost to these ponds, which are designed to hold toxic runoff that salt and heavy metals from vehicle exhaust and brake wear. Furthermore, Milwaukee County taxpayers will be responsible for pond maintenance and liability.

There are alternatives: permeable pavement for highway shoulders, roadside swales

with catchment tunnels, underground cisterns, and bio-filtration fields.

Let DOT know that you don't want county parkland used for stormwater ponds.
> Come to the hearings and submit a DOT Comment Form.  > Mail a form from on-line: www.sefreeways.org

> Email your comments to: dotdtsdsezoo@dot.wi.gov or
> Fax them to: 262-548-5662. 
Deadline:  Comments must be postmarked by April 4, 2011.

All Wisconsin residents may comment on the Zoo Interchange.

If you have questions contact Dianne Dagelen, Sierra Club Conservation Chair:

ddagelen@sbcglobal.net

414-771-1505

The Monarch Trail in bloom

To see more images of the Monarch Trail and County Grounds, click here.

Zoo Interchange Public Hearing

Friends of the Monarch Trail and the Milwaukee County Grounds:

The reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange is imminent. The Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation (DOT) is holding two days of public hearings about their plans for this huge project on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Please plan to attend one of them and voice your concern for the preservation of wildlife habitat. The plans include the proposed creation of stormwater detention ponds for runoff from the freeway.

The following information was provided by Dianne Dagalen of the Sierra Club.

DOT Stormwater proposals:

·               A three-acre toxic stormwater pond (instead of nectaring plants) to replace the South Berm of the Monarch Trail, with the surrounding wetlands filled in by excavation.

·               A five acre pond to replace the Oak Leaf Bike Trail at Underwood Creek Pkwy.

·               Four acres clear-cut for a pond on the historic Honey Creek Parkway.

12 acres of county parkland may be lost to these ponds, which are designed to hold toxic runoff that salt and heavy metals from vehicle exhaust and brake wear. Furthermore, Milwaukee County taxpayers will be responsible for pond maintenance and liability.

There are alternatives: permeable pavement for highway shoulders, roadside swales

with catchment tunnels, underground cisterns, and bio-filtration fields.

Let DOT know that you don't want county parkland used for stormwater ponds.
> Come to the hearings and submit a DOT Comment Form. 
> Mail a form from on-line: www.sefreeways.org

> Email your comments to: dotdtsdsezoo@dot.wi.gov or
> Fax them to: 262-548-5662.
Deadline:  Comments must be postmarked by April 4, 2011.

All Wisconsin residents may comment on the Zoo Interchange.

ZOO  INTERCHANGE  PUBLIC  HEARING

Tues., March 22nd (2-7pm)  
Wed., March 23rd (4-8pm)

Tommy Thompson Youth Center 
640 N. 84th St.

West Allis State Fair Park, gate #5.

If you have questions contact Dianne Dagelen, Sierra Club Conservation Chair:

ddagelen@sbcglobal.net

414-771-1505

view of Eschweiler Buildings from the Monarch Trail

To see more images of the Monarch Trail and County Grounds, click here.

Milwaukee County Grounds habitat protections still an issue?

Supporters of the Monarch Trail and the County Grounds in Wauwatosa know very well the value of the land there as wildlife habitat and urban open space. But if we’ve learned anything in the 12+ years of effort to protect it, we’ve learned we can’t take it for granted.

As most of you know, for various reasons the purchase of 89 acres by the UWM Real Estate Foundation, agreed upon by the County Board in 2009, has been delayed many times. Now, after making a commitment, the foundation is requesting another extension on a payment towards the parcel. While I have questions about that I don’t have any real problem with it.

My concern is for the Habitat Plan that was adopted by the Board and agreed to by the Foundation as a contingent to the sale. At the time of the well-publicized signing, the County Board, the UWM Real Estate Foundation, and environmental groups saw this agreement as a win-win for the protectors of wildlife and the proponents of development. As the realities of proceeding with this development during the current economic climate unfold there is a danger that the original consensus and commitment will be diminished. This shouldn’t happen. Protecting the habitat and preserving the character of the open spaces are still in everyone’s best interest. There should be no transfer of ownership without an understanding that ownership entails stewardship of the habitat as agreed upon.

The Economic Development Committee meets on January 24 to deliberate on the request for an extension of payments. I urge you to contact the members of the committee and express your concern. The message is simple:

All requests should honor the original commitment to preserve, protect, and maintain the designated wildlife habitat areas and the implementation of the Habitat Plan should begin immediately. Delaying payments should not delay the implementation of the Plan.

Guidelines have been adopted. The Foundation has agreed to them. The County Grounds Preservation Coalition is ready to lend its expertise. But it needs to be funded and it needs to begin soon in order to prevent further damage.

Contact info for the Economic Development Committee:

Johnny L. Thomas - 18th District  ▪  (414) 278-4259  ▪  johnny.thomas@milwcnty.com

John F. Weishan, Jr. - 16th District  ▪  (414) 278-4255  ▪  john.weishan@milwcnty.com

Peggy West - 12th District  ▪  (414) 278-4269  ▪  peggy.west@milwcnty.com

Willie Johnson, Jr. - 13th District  ▪  (414) 278-4233  ▪  willie.johnson@milwcnty.com

Lynne De Bruin - 15th District  ▪  (414) 278-4263  ▪  lynne.debruin@milwcnty.com

Theodore Lipscomb - 1st District  ▪  (414) 278-4257  ▪  theodore.lipscomb@milwcnty.com

Nikiya Harris - 2nd District  ▪  (414) 278-4278  ▪  nikiya.harris@milwcnty.com



Full Moon Party on the Milwaukee County Grounds

Where can you hear great music and also see a simultaneous sunset/moonrise? Only one place: the County Grounds this Saturday.

Sounds on the Grounds

featuring the drumming group Fanka Foli

October 23, 4-7 pm

Moonrise at 5:58 - Sunset at 6:00

It's the last party of the fall season sponsored by the Friends of the Monarch Trail. There will be sandwiches, caramel apples, and cider for sale. The last full moon party was a blast. Even though the full moon declined to show due to cloud cover, the many people who came enjoyed the music and a sensational sunset.

Park in the County Parks administration parking lot at 9480 W. Watertown Plank Rd. If it should rain, the party will move indoors to Barb & Dick's Flowers on Watertown Plank at 124th St.
For more information go to Monarch Trail.

Mowing the zone at the Milwaukee County Grounds

It seemed like such a small request. Now one can only hope it isn’t an omen.

For the past few weeks hundreds of people have been coming every day to witness the phenomenon of the monarch migration at the County Grounds in Wauwatosa. It’s been a very good year. The monarchs have chosen this particular spot for their unfathomable reasons – as unfathomable as the notion of generations of fragile butterflies making their way by instinct alone from Canada to Mexico. But there’s no mystery as to what they need to survive here in this place. They need the right combination of geographic features—water, trees, shelter—and hospitable vegetation. All of it happens to exist, in some small measure, on the hilltop surrounding the decaying Eschweiler buildings right here.

When UWM applied to the City of Wauwatosa to rezone the 89 acres Milwaukee County agreed to sell to them they laid out a compromise development plan that designated 11 critical acres around the Eschweiler complex as wildlife habitat. Their plan was approved by the Common Council amid much discussion of the value of the monarch migration to the community. UWM assured everyone that they would be good stewards and members of the Common Council proudly maintained that this would be a “win-win” for all parties: developers, conservationists, taxpayers, etc.

The 11 acres has remained untouched and suitably wild for the wildlife to gather in great numbers. However, since the butterflies recognize only actual conditions on the ground and not zoning boundaries, they have wandered freely over the entire 89 acre development zone, which had gone unmowed since earlier in the season and therefore contained attractive wild flowers.

And so the small request: Barb Agnew, the director of the Monarch Trail asked the contractor responsible for mowing to hold off until after the bulk of the migration had passed on through in October. The supervisor in charge, understanding the issue, consented eagerly. Despite this agreement in principle, a county worker who was “just doing his job” went ahead and mowed anyway. The supervisor noticed the accident before he was finished and put a halt to it but he’d already obliterated significant areas. Much of it was a swath immediately surrounding the habitat area (as can be seen in these images.)

And for what? Why mow at all? The tall grasses that grace the protected habitat and the new county parkland to the east are so much more beautiful, so much richer in color and texture, so much more attractive to wildlife. Mowing lawns is an anachronistic legacy of our colonial past, derived from the traditions of the English manor house. We mow to tame the landscape. It is a metaphor for our relationship to the earth. We don’t want an unruly landscape, just as Imperial Britain didn’t want unruly colonies. We fought to attain our freedom from England only after internalizing her values. We need some wild places—some urban wilderness—in which to roam, to daydream, to watch the butterflies.

What good are the assurances of good stewardship if an hour’s labor can, by accident, ruin those intentions? Good intentions cannot prevail over a culture that does not prize stewardship, a culture that hasn’t adopted Aldo Leopold’s land ethic. At all levels, corporate and governmental on down to every individual citizen and county laborer, we need to understand that we have paved enough, we have mowed enough.

There are places we should leave for the wildflowers and the butterflies. Those places are for us, too. Let us break the cycle wherein the default action is to mow rather than to let it be.

A prairie sunrise on the County Grounds