Category: Uncategorized

by Melissa Ruether With the Candlelight Hike just days away, Schmeeckle staff, Friends, and volunteers are busy putting together the final touches! The biannual Candlelight Hike brings in thousands of people for a night of themed activities. This May’s theme is Hopping into Spring! Visitors will meet some of Wisconsin’s bouncy, jumping residents during...

by Chris Thompson Chris is our trail cam wizard, who has shown us the secret lives of Schmeeckle’s critters, placing the cameras in woods and meadows far from the official trails. Who would have thought that, competing with deep-woods images of deer and foxes, we’d find these tall mammals? Over the last two years,...

by Barbara Dixson What could get 40 people out of their cozy homes and into the woods on a Saturday morning in April, when the temperature is below freezing and the wind is gusting hard? Earth Day tree planting! As Brittany Kaminski, pictured above with her 4 1/2 year old daughter Brielle, told me,...

by Barbara Dixson In the last full week in April, I requested the expertise of Griffin Bray, Schmeeckle’s grad assistant of the last two years, to help me understand what I was seeing as I wandered near the Visitor Center. In the photo above, Griffin points out the little cones of buds on the...

by Barbara Dixson Looking around the Reserve, you’ll see so many wonderful features that are the direct result of the Tuesday Crew. Since 2017, these folks have gathered on Tuesday mornings, or sometimes for nearly a regular work week, to create and maintain such features as the tables and benches in the Menzel Pavilion,...

by Barbara Dixson Steve Faber has been out in the Reserve again with his fine eye for beauty and interest. Quintessential spring images! Steve commented, “The students said they had no problem having their photo posted. The bird didn’t say.” Gliding in pink waters Pileated woodpecker Looking over Lake Joanis from east to west...

by Barbara Dixson Conservation, education, and recreation: these are the foundations of Schmeeckle Reserve’s mission, and conservation comes first. This fall’s practicum students have given us a window into four of the recent projects which have been restoring Schmeeckle’s widely diverse habitats. You can be surprised by them as you wander, or you can...

by Barbara Dixson Pictured above: Ron Zimmerman, Jim Buchholz, and Peter Fee, demonstrating the latest technical innovations as they work on the Moses Creek Meadows boardwalk and overlook “Great!” Bill Fisher said, when I asked what it was like to work on the Moses Creek Meadows Boardwalk and Viewing Deck project. “We have a...

by Barbara Dixson “Deer? What deer?” you might think on some days as you walk in the Reserve, whereas on others you could exclaim, “It’s the Times Square of deer!” We’ve never known just how many deer live in Schmeeckle. The Wildlife Society, a student organization at UWSP, studies the deer in the Reserve...

by Chris Thompson This fall, the Friends of Schmeeckle Reserve trail cameras were quite active, with many deer and coyote pictures daily.  However, we were not getting a lot of other species, so in December one of the trail cameras was relocated to a site in an area of secluded forest, near a wetland...