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2020Â Programs
The Kettle Moraine Wild Ones meets at 10 AM (unless otherwise noted) on the third Saturday of each month except December.
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Indoor programs are given at the South Kettle Moraine State Forest Headquarters, Eagle, Wisconsin: S91 W39091 Highway 59 (one mile west of Eagle). Indoor programs are open to the public and guests are welcome. No admission fee. Refreshments will be available. 10 AM (unless otherwise noted).
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Outdoor programs, April to September, are held in various locations and are for members only. No dogs allowed.
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Membership: Basic annual family membership is $40. For more information, email KMWildOnes@gmail.com. To join: wildones.org/membership/.
Banking on Savanna - a Timely Investment
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​New Year’s Potluck Party and Native Seed Exchange
January 18, 2020
Jim Uhrinak, Consulting Arborist, and Milwaukee Audubon Senior Representative
Presentation will be followed by our New Year’s Potluck Party and Native Seed Exchange
NOTE: This special program will be presented at the Mukwonago Library.
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Midwestern, deep soil, oak savannas have a variety of expressions and are globally endangered plant communities. Our oak savannas were the basis for Wisconsin’s early prosperity as the Dairy State. Today, remnant oak stands allow us to better understand land history and provide encouragement for those interested in land protection and restoration. Threats and opportunities at this time in history will be discussed.
Gardening to Combat Global Change
February 15, 2020
Laura Ladwig, Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Wisconsin, Madison
Humans have changed the earth at a global scale – reducing habitat for wildlife, changing climate, and polluting the air, water and soil. These global changes can have negative influences on natural systems, human health, and economics. In Wisconsin, the climate is changing fastest during the winter, leading to inconsistent snow cover and more freeze-thaw cycles, which can harm overwintering organisms. Although we as humans are the main cause of these problems, we can also be the solution. From planting trees, limiting fertilizer use, and maintaining native landscapes, activities in the garden and yard can help counteract climate change and other global changes. We’ll discuss the ecological benefits of different choices in the garden to help mitigate the impacts of global change and preserve our Earth.
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Laura Ladwig is an ecologist investigating the impacts of global change on the natural world, specifically focusing on plants. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Wisconsin – Madison where her research focuses on the long-term effects of global change on prairie and savanna plants of Southern Wisconsin.
CANCELED in response to the COVID-19 virus threat.
Herbicides: Minimizing Impact and Maximizing Benefit
March 21, 2020
Mark Renz, University of Wisconsin Extension Specialist
Can we succeed in an herbicide-free native landscape? Many times we can, but herbicides can improve the result and reduce the potential for failure in some instances. Professor and Extension Specialist Mark Renz of UW- Madison helps us understand when to use herbicides and how to use them correctly to minimize risk while maximizing benefit.
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This program has been canceled in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) threat. We hope to reschedule at a future date but no date has been set at this time.
CANCELED in response to the COVID-19 virus threat.
Fostering Wisconsin’s Native Bees in Your Garden
April 18, 2020
Susan Carpenter, Native Plant Gardener at the UW-Madison Arboretum
NOTE: This special program will be at the Mukwonago Library.
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Learn about Wisconsin’s remarkable native bee diversity. Explore their life cycles and where they develop and live. We can foster these important pollinators in our gardens with bee-friendly plants and practices. This presentation will help you appreciate and support native bees—from bumblebees to tiny solitary specialist species.
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Susan Carpenter is the native plant gardener at the UW-Madison Arboretum, where she works with students and community volunteers to maintain and monitor a 4-acre garden representing the plant communities of southern Wisconsin. She leads a bumblebee conservation project that monitors these important pollinators, including the federally endangered rusty-patched bumblebee, Bombus affinis, which lives at the Arboretum and perhaps in your own garden.
CANCELED in response to the COVID-19 virus threat.
Tour: Spring Flora in a Woodland or Prairie
Mid-April 2020Â (Date TBD)
Date/place to be determined by weather – watch for an email to members.
CANCELED in response to the COVID-19 virus threat.
Tour
May 16, 2020
CANCELED in response to the COVID-19 virus threat.
Tour
June 20, 2020
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CANCELED in response to the COVID-19 virus threat.
Tour
July 18, 2020
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CANCELED in response to the COVID-19 virus threat.
Tour
August 15, 2020
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CANCELED in response to the COVID-19 virus threat.
Special Meeting: Hummingbird Banding
September 12, 2020
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CANCELED in response to the COVID-19 virus threat.
Special Meeting: Monarch Tagging
September 19, 2020
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CANCELED in response to the COVID-19 virus threat.
Tour
September 19, 2020
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The Legacy of the Oaks
October 17, 2020
Greg Rajsky, Executive Director of the Kettle Moraine Land Trust
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Virtual presentation via Zoom
Oaks have followed the progress of humankind across the globe. Perhaps no other genus of plants has been more closely associated with human history than the oaks. From indigenous people who relied on acorns for sustenance to global explorers who plied the seas in timbered crafts, humans and oaks have gotten along famously over the years. But today, locally, our oaks are in decline, taken for granted as venerable specimens succumb to the stresses of the 21st century without leaving offspring in sufficient numbers to replace the loss.
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Aldo Leopold and Conservation on Private Lands
November 21, 2020
Dr. Stanley Temple, Professor Emeritus, UW Madison and Senior Fellow, Aldo Leopold Foundation
Virtual presentation via Zoom
Presentation will be followed by Annual Membership Meeting and Election of Officers
Aldo Leopold recognized that most of the land in the US is in private ownership, and private landowners would therefore have to play a central role in conservation efforts. Leopold knew there are many obstacles, among them: maximizing economic returns from one’s land, exercising the privilege to do whatever one wants with private property, feeling no obligation to act in the public’s interest, suffering no consequences for abusing land, and simply being ignorant and unaware of how one’s activities affect land. Leopold struggled throughout his career with how to overcome such obstacles. What would it take to induce land owners to practice conservation in the face of inclinations to do otherwise? He observed: “We seem ultimately always thrown back on individual ethics as the basis of land conservation. It is hard to make a man, by pressure of law or money, do a thing which does not spring naturally from his own personal sense of right and wrong.” This line of thinking ultimately led Leopold to his most enduring contribution: his land ethic. Professor Stan Temple will discuss the evolution of Leopold’s land ethic and explain why it remains so relevant today for private land conservation.
Happy Holidays!
December
No program in December.