Coming Events
For 37 years, MIWP has preserved Island lands, helped manage invasive plants and explored environmental issues important to Island residents.
Our 2024 education series invites you to experience and learn the wonders of our natural world. Please join us this summer to hear about our storied wilderness and immerse yourself on this special place that is Madeline Island. All programs are free and open to the public, except the Annual Meeting & Evening Reception. Classes and hikes will be held rain or shine. Programs at the museum theater have a 70-person capacity.
Here are our coming events in a handy "list" view. Click an event title to see more.
Free and Open to the Public!
Meet at the Big Bay Town Park Pavilion.
A hike for beginners and experts alike.
You never know what we are going to see or hear!
Bring binoculars and wear good waterproof footgear.
Saturday, May 25th, Reception: 6:00pm, hearty appetizers and wine, Program: 7:30pm
Location: Madeline Island School of Arts
Cost: $35.00/person
RSVP: Deadline: Friday, May 17th, or 100-person limit
Click here to RSVP
Peter Annin, author of Purified: How Recycled Sewage is Transforming Our Water.
Veteran water journalist Peter Annin shows that purified wastewater is the unexpected hero in America’s efforts to address water scarcity…
Free and Open to the Public!
Meet at the Capser Trail, Middle Road Trailhead, Fire #640
Leader: Samantha Dobson: naturalist, educator, forager and year-round island resident.
Learn about how to ethically and sustainably harvest early season mushrooms—specifically, oyster mushrooms—on Madeline Island. Learn about weather patterns, phenology, habitat, and safe harvesting techniques. Also learn about how to store, preserve and prepare your harvested mushrooms. Finding mushrooms is not guaranteed but likely.
Free and open to the public!
Location: Madeline Island Museum
This program will cover the biology and ecology of foxes, coyotes and wolves as an important part of a healthy ecosystem. There will be skulls, skins, scat replicas and track casts available for comparison.
Speaker: Jane Weber, retired Master Naturalist and Educator, and speaker for Timber Wolf Alliance. Jane has a passion for presenting fascinating facts about Wisconsin’s wildlife, hoping to promote understanding and coexistence with our unique wildlife neighbors.
Free and open to the public!
Location: Madeline Island Museum
Learn about the bats of Wisconsin, and which bats call the Chequamegon Bay Area home. Explore the diversity and importance of bats and the role they play in ecosystems around the world. They are an integral and amazing part of our ecosystems and our everyday lives.
Speaker: Brian Heeringa, Wildlife Biologist Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest.
Free and open to the public!
Harry Nelson Recreation Center, Middle Road at Rice Street
Two Shows: 10:00AM and 2:00PM
Experience the magic of birds like owls, hawks, falcons and eagles live and up close. Discover what a raptor is, how to identify in the wild and meet the birds.
Funded by the Grutzner Madeline Island Fund and the Michael Madeline Island Fund of the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation.
Free and open to the public!
Harry Nelson Recreation Center, Middle Road at Rice Street
Two Shows: 10:00AM and 2:00PM
Experience the magic of birds like owls, hawks, falcons and eagles live and up close. Discover what a raptor is, how to identify in the wild and meet the birds.
Funded by the Grutzner Madeline Island Fund and the Michael Madeline Island Fund of the Duluth Superior Area Community Foundation.
Free and open to the public!
Location: Madeline Island Museum
When a young lady from a cultured New England background came to La Pointe in the final years of the fur trade, it seemed unlikely that she’d do well on the frontier. Florantha Sproat didn’t take long to prove doubters mistaken. Astonishingly, Florantha’s time at LaPointe was just the first chapter in a remarkable life that would take her from the Lake Superior country to gold rush California and the peaks of the Sierra Nevada. Along the way she faced hardship and personal tragedy but rose to every challenge with unmatched strength and courage.
Speaker: Bob Mackreth, Apostle Islands National Park Service Historian
Free and open to the public!
Location: Madeline Island Museum
This program will focus on understanding nearshore currents, storm surges, seiches and edge waves and Great Lakes hydrology.
And it will provide lidar images of Madeline Island.
Speakers: Dr. Chin Wu and Sarah Peterson, WI Sea Grant Coastal Engineering
Free and open to the public!
Location: Madeline Island Museum
This program will look at centuries of wave action, freezing and thawing that have sculptured shorelines throughout the Apostle Island National Lakeshore. Dr. Fitz will discuss the evolution of these beautiful arched and vaulted chambers and honeycomb passages.
Speaker: Tom Fitz, Northland College Professor of Geoscience, Affiliated Faculty, Burke Center
Free and Open to the Public!
Meet at the Schoolhouse Trailhead in the North End Forest, 2865 Schoolhouse Road
Learn about how to ethically and sustainably harvest late season mushrooms on Madeline Island. Learn about weather patterns, phenology, habitat, and safe harvesting techniques. Also learn about how to store, preserve and prepare your harvested mushrooms. Finding mushrooms is not guaranteed.
Leader: Samantha Dobson: naturalist, educator, forager and year-round island resident.
Free and Open to the Public!
Meet at the Sowl Trailhead, 3547 North Shore Road
Enjoy the beautiful fall colors in this pristine forest of hemlocks, oaks and maple. The trails are rustic so good hiking boots (waterproof), and an adventuresome spirit are required.
Leader(s): MIWP Board Member(s)
Free and Open to the Public!
Meet at the Sowl Trailhead, 3547 North Shore Road
Enjoy the magic of fall in this pristine forest with stand of old hemlock, oak and maple. The trails are rustic so good hiking boots (waterproof) and an adventuresome spirit are required.
Leader(s): MIWP Board Member(s)