Recent Blog Posts

by Barbara Dixson For the past two weeks, a dozen or so children of younger elementary age have spent their afternoons exploring Schmeeckle, led by Em Sinclair, a UWSP forest recreation major, and Adasyn Bullard, a UWSP soils major, with backing from Schmeeckle staff members Griffin Bray and Melissa Ruether. This is the first...

by Barbara Dixson More lovely photos from Steve Faber! Steve calls the one above “self-portrait from final wetlands bridge.” Maple leaf, fallen in our very moist late spring. Blue flag iris leans onto the boardwalk....

by Barbara Dixson The official opening of Moses Creek Meadows really was grand! Such an accomplishment to celebrate: a woods trail to be part of the Green Circle Trail, a spur trail over sedge meadows and across beautiful boardwalks, and a viewing platform offering a vista of the headwaters of Moses Creek. Such wonderful...

by Barbara Dixson Among the Friends of Schmeeckle Reserve is an amazing group of people called the Friends of Schmeeckle Volunteer Crew, sometimes lovingly known as the Tuesday Crew. These folks have been in action in the Reserve since at least 2017, launching themselves into projects as ordinary as cutting downed trees and as...

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...