Field Trips, Evening Programs and More

Each summer Madeline Island Wilderness Preserve sponsors free field trips and evening programs, open to both youth and adults, featuring the natural history of the Apostle Islands area, and highlighting issues important to the area's protection and preservation. The field trips are held in The Preserve or at other locations on Madeline Island. The evening programs are usually held at the Madeline Island Museum. Our Annual Meeting, held on Memorial Day Weekend, features a speaker on a timely environmental topic, and our 4th of July Parade entry highlights an important environmental issue. View our Events pages to explore our programs and events, and our 4th of July Parade page to enjoy our previous parade entries.

We also feature an educational article in our annual newsletters. Below are some of those articles:

By Jeff Rennicke, Executive Director of Friends of the Apostle Islands

Apostles sunrise © Jeff Rennicke — Jeff Rennicke

When the trails of the Madeline Island Wilderness Preserve lead you to the shoreline, look out to the horizon. What you see is not just the Apostle Islands but America’s gift to the world.

Since March 1, 1872, when President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law not only America’s but the world’s first national park, the national park idea has spread to over 100 nations — South Africa where lions prowl and elephants gather in Kruger National Park, the crystal waterfalls lacing the cliffs of Croatia’s Plitvice Lakes National Park, the sandstone pillars of China’s Zhangjiajie National Park, the Komodo dragons of Komodo National Park in Indonesia.

Here in the U.S. we now have 433 units managed by the National Park Service including 63 designated national parks. It is a system that protects everything from the heights of Denali in Alaska to the depths of the Grand Canyon, drawing 331 million visitors last year (14 million of those visitors came from outside the United States, one reason that national park brochures and interpretive signs are often found in an array of other languages).

Our national parks are a gift to the world. But now that gift is in trouble.

On February 14th, more than 1,000 national park employees were terminated nationwide (including four here in the Apostle Islands). This after the hiring of some 7,000 seasonal park staff was at first frozen and then slightly thawed but with parameters and without budget clarity. Another round of cuts aimed at reducing the NPS workforce by up to 65 percent is expected in the near future.

While these cuts are purported to be aimed at reducing waste and inefficiency, the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, with its $3.4 million annual budget, is an economic engine for our local businesses accounting for over $44 million in visitor spending. That is a 1,305% return on the dollar, hardly wasteful or inefficient. Nationwide, our national parks account for $26.4 billion in local spending and support 415,400 jobs with an over 700% return on the dollar.

These terminations cut deeply not just into the local economy but into the heart of our national park units including the Apostle Islands. Like many parks across the country, the Apostle Islands are facing the prospect of reduced hours or closures at national park visitor centers, park closures, loss of search and rescue capabilities, campgrounds sullied by garbage and human waste, wracked by vandalism. There may be no ranger talks or Junior Ranger programs, less wildlife protection, fewer services overall, putting the islands and the “best idea America ever had” in real danger.

Take a hike on the trails of MIWP. Look out at the horizon. What you will see is more than just the Apostle Islands. You are looking out at what has for over a century been America’s gift to the world: our national park system.

That gift needs your support. Here are a few ways you can help:

Speak up: Write or call your elected officials urging them to restore the funding and staffing levels necessary to protect our national lakeshore and all the parks. To find your representative and for tips on how to do this go to www.Congress.gov.

• Join: Many national park units have a park partner organization that will keep you informed and involved in supporting your favorite park. Here in the Apostles that is the Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore at www.friendsoftheapostleislands.org

• Leave No Trace: When visiting the islands this summer, travel lightly on the land by practicing the Leave No Trace principles found at https://www.nps.gov/apis/planyourvisit/leavenotrace.htm