Great news! Nationally known speaker and Wild Ones Honorary Director Doug Tallamy will be a keynote speaker for the Wisconsin Lakes Partnership Convention and Water Action Volunteers Symposium to be held April 10-12, 2019 at the Holiday Inn Convention Center in Stevens Point. Doug will speak on April 12th at 9AM.

Additionally, Mariette Nowak, Author of Birdscaping in the Midwest, Past Director of Wehr Nature Center, Milwaukee County and President of Wild Ones Kettle Moraine Chapter will be speaking later in the afternoon from 2:45-3:45PM.

The Keynote Presentation

With a conference theme of “Pay it Forward,” Dr Tallamy’s presentation argues we all can “pay it forward” to nature by including many more native plants in our domesticated landscapes. He will take a closer look at how nature can (and does!) provide for itself through the complex web of life which is most often based on the relationship between plants and insects. Whether at an “up north” cabin or in the middle of Milwaukee, our deeds will be multiplied and eventually will return to us in the form of a more diverse and resilient natural community.

Doug Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has taught for nearly forty years. His research demonstrates the enduring connections between plants and the insects that feed on them. Though we may think of these insects as pests, they are in fact critical food sources for native birds and small mammals.

Dr Tallamy is the author of the best-selling garden book, Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants, and was awarded the 2008 silver medal by the Garden Writers Association. He also co-authored with Richard Darke The Living Landscape: Designing for Beauty and Biodiversity in the Home Garden, a how-to book to “enable you to create a garden that is full of life and that fulfills both human needs and the needs of wildlife communities.”

Birdscaping Your Shoreline Property

Mariette will present ways to increase the variety of birds on your shoreline property by growing native plants which offer birds a natural habitat and a yearlong smorgasbord of berries, nuts, seeds and insects. By doing so, she’ll show you how you can play a vital role in preserving and enhancing native communities that support not only birds, but also other wildlife including butterflies, bees, and bats. By taking on this role, you become a steward of your piece of Earth and pay forward its diversity and beauty to future generations. 

To register See you there!

Wisconsin Lakes Partnership

Sponsored by the UW-SP College of Natural Resources, UW-Extension Lakes Department, the Wisconsin Lakes Partnership is made up of three partners: the Department of Natural Resources (which supplies scientific research, technical expertise and regulatory authority), the UW-Extension Lakes Program (which provides supporting educational materials and programs), and Wisconsin Lakes (which mobilizes citizens to be advocates for lakes).

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