Rock River wilderness near downtown Beloit

The electronic sign outside the M&I bank in downtown Beloit read 89 degrees yesterday afternoon. I didn't want to be there! Fortunately, just minutes away I discovered an urban wilderness with sufficient shade to make the sweltering day tolerable.

I don't know the status of the riparian woodland. There were no signs indicating a park but it wasn't posted with "no trespassing" signs either. The track I followed was faint. But an empty lawn chair sat on the gravel spit at the tip of a narrow island in the Rock River. Someone appreciates the solitude and serenity of the spot.

(If you look closely, the chair is just visible in the center of the shot below.)

Should UWM be more like UW - Madison?

A meditation after visiting the University of Wisconsin – Madison Arboretum, one of my favorite urban wildernesses! And a reflection on the contrast I see with another university with aspirations to emulate Madison.

I first discovered the Arboretum as an undergraduate at the university (too many years ago!) and I go back whenever I get the chance. I had an opportunity to spend several hours there over the weekend. I’m including just a couple shots here, but you can see many more: just click the link below to go to my flickr site.

As I enjoyed walking through forest, wetland, and prairie sections of the arboretum – I believe I saw more of it in one day than ever before – I couldn’t help reflecting on UWM’s plan for the Milwaukee County Grounds. They are focused on developing a research campus on one of the few places in Milwaukee County that could be similar to the Arboretum. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if we could have a University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee Natural Area and Education Center instead of a research “park”? What if land stewardship and wildlife ecology were the focus at the County Grounds?

UWM’s long range goal is to be more like U.W. – Madison. I’m cool with that. As an alumnus of both institutions, I’d like to see them both thrive. UWM thinks the way to be like Madison is to increase its research capacity. I’d also like to see Milwaukee benefit from research the way Madison has. But have you been to Madison lately? The campus I attended so long ago is barely recognizable. Huge new buildings block familiar views and dwarf familiar structures. But Madison is doing it through what’s called “infill” in architectural lingo: using previously developed land rather than sacrificing parks or natural areas.

Although it goes against my core values to lose any potential parkland, being realistic I've consistently supported the compromise that was brokered following the "Save the County Grounds" debacle over ten years ago. Deferring to overwhelming public pressure, that compromise set aside most of the land as open green space, but allowed for some development as well. I've also supported UWM's bid to be the developer of choice because I believe UWM ought to be a good steward of this incomparable property. But is UWM committed to stewardship, or only research unrelated to the spectacular setting on which it wants to construct a campus? Let’s make Milwaukee more like Madison. What do you think: University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee Arboretum? Or maybe UWM Wildlife Sanctuary.

More pictures of the Madison Arboretum at flickr.
Pictures of the Milwaukee County Grounds at flickr.

Milwaukee's three rivers in today's news

Important current projects on each of Milwaukee's three rivers made today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. The Headline reads "Urban river rebirth effort under way."

The specific projects covered in the story are

A) the new Menomonee Valley Passage that will link the Hank Aaron State Trail and the new business park in the Valley with the Silver City neighborhood to the south.

B) the Milwaukee Common Council's scheduled vote on the long awaited overlay district that will protect the Milwaukee River corridor. (see photo below, a view of the Cambridge Woods segment, which is just north of Locust Street.)

C) The planned removal of parts of the concrete channel that is a major reason the Kinnickinnic River has been designated one of the ten most endangered rivers in the US. (pictured above.)

They are all great projects. Read the whole story by clicking here.

Wauwatosa produces another book about loving nature!

Fellow Wauwatosan, Amy Lou Jenkins, has written a new book entitled Every Natural Fact: Five Seasons of Open Air Parenting about how to raise your children to enjoy nature. What a great idea!
She has a website that will tell you more about it.

She is having two back to back book launching events this week:

Monday, May 24, at 7 pm at the Urban Ecology Center - could there be a better place for it?!! Click here for directions.

Tuesday, May 25, at 6:30 at the Wauwatosa Public Library. Click here for directions.

Waukesha request for water diversion goes to DNR

I hope everyone is following the water issues, which have become hot ones around here. Today's story at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel outlines the latest step in Waukesha's bid to use Lake Michigan water and return it via Underwood Creek in Wauwatosa. Repeat: Waukesha's water will flow down Underwood Creek and then the Menomonee River.

Here is the cogent paragraph from the story:

"To meet the compact's requirement for return of the water, Waukesha proposes discharging treated wastewater to Underwood Creek near W. Blue Mound Road in Wauwatosa. The creek flows to the Menomonee River, a tributary of the Milwaukee River, which flows to the lake."

Check out the rest of the story at jsonline.

Below: Underwood Creek, South Branch, near Krueger Park and I-94 overpass.

Milwaukee's Urban Ecology Center needs YOU!

OK, if you have been following Urban Wilderness, chances are you’ve heard of the Urban Ecology Center. In my humble opinion, it is one of the jewels of Milwaukee. Their programming is bringing the urban wilderness to school children in our city on a daily basis. If you aren’t already a member, I encourage you to become one. Not only will you be supporting a great place, but membership is a GREAT DEAL!!! Read on.

The following is excerpted from a message sent out recently by Judy Krause, who works at the center.

The Urban Ecology Center is an amazing place with a great mission. (If you are already a member, thank you, and please consider asking a few of your friends to join, enjoy the membership benefits and support this great place!)

The Center provides outdoor learning experiences for tens of thousands of urban youth who rarely, if ever, get the chance to be outside in the natural environment. They learn things like: 

• How to canoe, while discovering the science of a pond
• How wild birds are netted, banded and released, while assisting researchers as they do their work
• Where their food or water comes from through hands-on lessons in our gardens and with explorations along the Milwaukee River or the Washington Park lagoon.
• How solar power works with tours of our green building in Riverside Park.

It is a one-of–a-kind program for the kids ... but more than this, the Center provides incredible experiences for the whole community. If you are not a member, I am asking that you consider becoming one. It is only $25 for an individual (which allows you to bring a guest to most programs) or $35 for a family. For this small tax-deductible contribution you get four things:

1) The good feeling of knowing that you are supporting a way for kids with limited opportunities to get outside and active in natural setting within their neighborhood.

2) A year's subscription to the UEC newsletter. Check it out! There are a lot of amazing programs being run here that I think you would enjoy. Many of them are reduced or free with your membership. Download a sample newsletter here.

3) The ability to borrow a broad array of equipment from the center for FREE. This includes kayaks, canoes, cross-country skis, posthole diggers, extension ladders and more. This service easily pays for the membership. For example, you can borrow one of the Center's tandem bicycles and cycle two miles on the Oak Leaf Trail down to the Art Museum with a friend for lunch, or strap a Center canoe to your car (we even lend out the straps) for a weekend getaway.

4) The chance to support this amazing place. We currently have over 3,500 households that have figured out the value of the Urban Ecology Center. The more people that are involved, the more kids we can serve and community programs we can offer. It’s a win, win, win.

You can become a member by clicking on this link: UEC Membership

You can learn more at our website: Urban Ecology Center.

Thank you for your consideration!

Judy Krause

Director of Finance and Operations
Urban Ecology Center
1500 E. Park Place
Milwaukee, WI 53211
414-964-8505 x. 102
414-964-1084 (fax)

Milwaukee county parks: Mangan Woods

I was in Brookfield around 4 pm on Friday afternoon. Usually I would go home, but the weather had finally turned warm, the light was beautiful. I’d wanted to revisit Mangan Woods ever since Brian Russart, Milwaukee County Parks Natural Areas Coordinator had introduced it to me. (See previous post.) Red trillium—new to me—had just been budding out and I’ve been afraid I’d miss them. I headed south. Traffic was crawling on the Freeway so I took side streets. They were only slightly faster. After bumper to bumper traffic on Hwy 100, I drove through Whitnall Park and finally reached Mangan Woods at 4:30. I didn’t have much time.

As soon as I got out of the car I felt my body relax. After all that noise and congestion, there was no one around. Walking through magnificent, tall trees—some of the oldest in the county—I felt both humble and at peace. I wandered slowly down the trail, looking for flowers. I spotted a few Jack in the Pulpits and then a few more. A quartet of them finally impelled me to lie on the dirt of the trail take a group portrait.

I finally spotted a few isolated plants with the three variegated leaves I could identify as the trillium, but none with a bloom. I wandered along a trail that divided two distinct zones of the woods. On one side the old growth oaks, maples, and ash towered overhead. There were large patches of May Apples, also in bloom. Again I managed a worm’s eye view of them without crushing any. There was very little understory above the ground hugging flowers.

The other side of the trail had a dramatically different character. The trees were mostly all the same size and weedy varieties like box elder. Below that was a dense understory of brush and invasive species like buckthorn. Brian had explained that the 300 acre core of Mangan Woods, which is wedged between Whitnall Park and the Root River Parkway, had survived the logging that occurred throughout Milwaukee County following European settlement. This trail ran along the edge of that relatively pristine wilderness. The brushy side was second growth.

It was getting late. I turned down a new trail towards the parking lot. Finally, just as I was leaving, I spotted trillium—not just one but a whole patch of them. The flowers still seemed new but they were a deep, burgundy red and pricked up like a candle flame.

That would be a nice end to my story: a successful hunt and a peaceful stroll. Sadly, as I turned to leave I found the patch of native trillium surrounded by masses of garlic mustard. After that, more bumper to bumper traffic getting home. But I was grateful, as always, for the blessing of urban wilderness, however short the stay.