RIVEREDGE IN THE NEWS!

Sturgeon Spawning Marked with a Splash

Fish biologists and sightseers alike gathered along the Wolf River as a relic of the Middle Ages of fish evolution, Lake Sturgeon, gathered in one of its spawning grounds just below the dam in Shawano, Wisconsin.  Spawning hinges on water temperature. 
This spot on the Wolf hit that sweet spot - somewhere in the mid 50s degree Fahrenheit - Monday. 
Department of Natural Resources scientists harvested eggs for several programs, including a project located off the Milwaukee River outside the town of Newburg. 
Approximately 70,000 eggs headed to Riveredge Nature Center where a specially equipped trailer is maintained. 
Volunteers nurture the wee fish in tanks - filled with Milwaukee River water - until sometime next fall when some 1,000 fingerlings are released downstream... Read more here! 

See How Real Maple Syrup is Made on Real Milwaukee

Bat Monitoring Program:  Video on The Morning Blend

A Life for (the beauty of) the Birds

by Carol Pomeday, Ozaukee Press

It was 65 years ago — when Penny Ficken was 13 — that the now retired University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee biologist and ornithologist went on her first Christmas bird count.  “I remember it well because I was in Washington, D.C., and we were leaving the country the next day,” said Ficken, who lives in Grafton.
Grafton ornithologist Penny Ficken trains binoculars on birds in her back yard. The daughter of an Army officer, Ficken moved extensively as a child, including living three years in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  “I was educated all over. I went to four high schools, including one in San Juan, and graduated from a high school in Louisiana, where I lived for only two months. That was long enough,” Ficken said.  Through all those moves, Ficken’s constant companions were her binoculars and bird field
guides. 
On Saturday, Dec. 17, she will have both handy as she participates in the annual Riveredge Christmas Bird Count for the Wisconsin Society of Ornithology...  Read More Online Here  -  Or  -  View the article in PDF
 

Profiles in Excellence

Westlawn Woods: Surviving and Thriving

By Julie Larrivee, News Graphic Correspondent

9/14/2011 The Art of Recycling (Ozaukee Press)

8/31/2011  Riveredge Holds Butterfly Count (Ozaukee County Guide)

Riveredge Nature Center in Newburg hosted its annual Butterfly Count recently.  The public was invited to join a naturalist to learn how to identify and document butterlies at the center...  See photos (pdf) by Deb Kranitz

8/3/2011 Grafton Dam Fish Passage Not Dead (JS Online):

Click the link for more details...

http://www.jsonline.com/news/ozwash/126739843.html?page=1

The ubiquitous pasture walk Wisconsin-style attracted a new group of participants July 16 when David and Angelita Heidel hosted "Who's Your Farmer?"

When grazing proponent Jerold Berg of Sheboygan County approached representatives of the Riveredge Nature Center in Ozaukee county about a pature walk, the response was inquisitive, Berg said.  "One of the things they asked about was what is a pasture walk," Berg Said.  "I thought everyone knew...  READ MORE HERE

July 26, 2011 (WISN.COM)

Meet Bethany: This Week's Tuesday Child

This week's Tuesday's child is a Big Brothers Big Sisters matchmaking success story. 

Riveredge Educator, Carrie Hiestand, at Riveredge with her new "sister" Bethany.  Read more: http://www.wisn.com/video/28668300/detail.html#ixzz1TWkO9DKo

June 14, 2011   (view in pdf)

For immediate release:
The Riveredge Nature Center is proud to announce that Mandie Zopp has been hired as the new Larsen Legacy Senior Naturalist. Mandie is currently employed by the Wisconsin DNR and is a biology lecturer for the University of Wisconsin – Platteville. We are very excited to have her join our
wonderful and talented staff.

Working with the other members of the Riveredge staff team and a
variety of highly educated and committed volunteers, the Larsen
Legacy Senior Naturalist is the principal educator, scientist and
naturalist for Riveredge. In this capacity, he/she is responsible for the planning and delivery of exceptional and innovative environmental educational programs for adults, and for the supervision and coordination of the land management and research programs.

On accepting the position Mandie said, "The people that work at
Riveredge, as well as those who volunteer their time, are some of the
most dedicated, compassionate, and welcoming individuals I have ever met. To be surrounded by such individuals is inspiring and exciting. I am excited and honored to begin working with these individuals and to
start a new chapter in Riveredge’s history."

The Larsen Legacy was created in recognition of G. Andrew [Andy] Larsen, the first Executive Director of the Riveredge Nature Center who for 30 years set the standard for hands-on, self-discovery environmental education. He grew the Center to a nationally recognized environmental learning center, a natural preserve of exceptional diversity, prized by educators, naturalists, and scientists, where ecological issues of regional importance can be studied. Riveredge’s Larsen Fellowship is given to a person that exhibits the characteristics most identified with Andy: critical thinking, creativity, free spirit, uniqueness, inquiry, curiosity and thinking “outside the box.”

Mandie begins on August 1. A public reception will be held for her on Monday, August 8, at 5 PM at Riveredge.

For more information please contact Patrick Boyle, Riveredge Executive Director, at 262-675-6888 or patrick@riveredge.us.
 

June 8, 2011 (Journal Sentinel)

It's Bug vs. Bug in the Latest Attempt to Save Ash Trees (By Lee Burgquist of the Journal Sentinel): 

Town of Saukville - Tiny parasitic wasps, Wisconsin's newest weapon in the war against the emerald ash borer, took flight Wednesday in a forest that is under siege from the invasive tree killer.

Two species of stingless Asian wasps that feast on the larvae of the emerald ash borer were released by scientists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison at the Riveredge Nature Center.

It's All About Turtles - Riveredge River Valley Bike Ride: Celebrate the year of the turtle with a bike ride at Riveredge!  The 19^th Annual River Valley Bike Ride promotes protecting the dwindling turtle population.  Did you know that turtles are disappearing from the planet faster than any other group of animal? Today, nearly 50% of turtle species are identified as threatened with extinction. However, it's not too late for our turtle heritage to be salvaged. The United States has more endemic turtle species than anywhere on Earth; a turtle biodiversity hotspot. Our careful stewardship can preserve the rare species and keep 'common species common.'

The bike ride is being held on Sunday, June 26^th .  With seven great routes to choose from, it’s fun for the entire family!

February 19, 2011 (West Bend Daily News): 

Home schoolers take to the woods by GAY GRIESBACH For the Daily News

    Students participating in a new program took to the woods at Riveredge Nature Center Friday to find out more about the natural world that surrounds them. Ed-ventures is the first program of its kind offered to home schooled students at the center, according to Sunny Knutson, director of youth and family education programs. For nearly 40 years, the center has offered programs for traditionallyschooled children.

    Natalie Raasch, Glendale found information on a link to a Milwaukee area home school Web site and she signed up her children, Zigmund, 9 and Auguste, 8.

    “The kids love it,” said Raasch...    Read the full article here...

January 19, 2011 (West Bend Daily News):

Night Hike on Snowshoes at Riveredge by DAVE RANK Daily News Staff

The weather should be delightful Saturday for the Winter Snowshoe Night Hike Family Program at Riveredge Nature Center.

    “We do night hikes four times a year, so this is our winter hike,” said Naomi Cobb, an environmental educator at Riveredge, who will be a leader of the snowshoe hike, which starts at 7 p.m.   Read the full article here...

January 17, 2011 (JS Online):

Large Sturgeon Caught in the Milwaukee River by Paul A. Smith of the Journel Sentinel:   Greg Wagner of Milwaukee was fishing in the Milwaukee harbor last Friday and having good success on brown and rainbow trout.  Then a fish of a different color - and size - took his bait.  "I thought I had a huge northern on," said Wagner, 51, an avid angler who regularly wets a line along Milwaukee's lakefront. "Boy, were we surprised."  After 30 minutes, Wagner was able to lead a long, strong fish into the landing net held by his fishing partner, Roger Droukas of Brown Deer.  The fish wasn't a trout, wasn't a salmon. It wasn't any of the introduced or invasive species that most often fill anglers' bags today in southern Lake Michigan.  It was a sturgeon, a native species that's been getting an assist through a stocking effort in the Milwaukee River...

November 2010 (Silent Sports):

Riveredge Nature Center: A traditional skier's paradise by Jerry Kiesow - It was a perfect afternoon.  The sun was shining, the wind was down, the air was a crisp 20 degrees...

8/9/10 (Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel):

A Near Perfect Summer for Dragonflies by Meg Jones of the Journal-Sentinel - "Like squadrons of toy helicopters, dragonflies have invaded southeastern Wisconsin spurred by a bumper crop of mosquitoes, warm weather, an early spring and lots of flooded areas..."

Archived News Articles Can Be Found Here:

January-December 2009

January/February 2008