Volunteers and the Lakeshore Nature Preserve
We
welcome your help to provide the care and stewardship that the Lakeshore
Nature Preserve needs to flourish.
Volunteer opportunities vary
with the seasons and with the types of projects being pursued in the
field. Volunteers help keep the Preserve clean and healthy, improve biological
diversity, prevent erosion, and provide well designed ways for people
to experience its beauty.
Some volunteer activities are aimed at increasing our technical knowledge
to improve the quality of our stewardship. Some are aimed at adding and
maintaining infrastructures that will improve the effectiveness of our
management. And many volunteer activities enhance our care of the land
through hard work that enhances biological richness.
We welcome your interest in volunteering, and urge
you to get involved. We will never have all the funds
we need to accomplish the work of stewardship for this very special
and much-loved place, so we are dependant on the generosity of those
who give their hours and their dollars to care for it.
Perennial volunteer tasks
 Some tasks need to be done every year. Sometimes they can be accomplished
with a single event in which a sizable number of people participate; sometimes
they involve repeated, ongoing efforts, day in and day out, by individuals
or smaller groups.
Among these perennial volunteer contributions are:
- Reporting wildlife observations
- Removing garlic mustard, buckthorn, and other invasive species
- Picking up trash
- Recording seasonal changes to build a database of phenological
events
- Helping with planting and watering
- Helping with the activities of the Friends
of the Lakeshore Nature Preserve.
Volunteers contribute to the Preserve as individuals, as members of community
groups, as students in classes, as groups of friends
or family members,
as academic units, and so on. If you're part of a group that would like
to get involved with the Preserve, contact Cathie Bruner, Field Manager
Lakeshore Nature Preserve at cbruner@fpm.wisc.edu.
 Our
Garlic Mustard Pull-a-thon is a well-known event on campus. Field
Manager Cathie Bruner says: "One time a person asked students pulling
garlic mustard on Picnic Point, 'Are you practicing
for the competition?'
He
knew it was about time for a 'pull-a-thon' soon and thought
they
were practicing for it!"
Special volunteer stewardship projects
 Some volunteer activities are organized to accomplish longer-term
goals and initiatives led by Preserve managers, graduate students, and community
volunteer stewards on a project-by-project basis.
If students arrange
to work in the Preserve under the academic supervision of a faculty
member, they may sometimes be able to obtain academic credit for such
efforts. The Preserve has lately been having significant success with
major restoration efforts led by graduate student project assistants,
and is likely to pursue more such work in the future.
Among the volunteer efforts that can be pursued as special projects are:
- Removing garlic mustard, buckthorn, and other invasive species
- Recording seasonal changes to build a database of phenological events
- Helping with planting and watering
- Reporting wildlife observations
- Making inventories of plants and other species
- Surveying trails and other important features of a given tract
- Installing field management grids
- Building erosion control structures
- Building, rerouting, and closing trails
- Doing outreach to community groups and younger students
- Organizing volunteer projects.
April 10, 2007: Garlic Mustard Work Parties Spring 2007
Help restore the Preserve by pulling the invasive garlic
mustard plant. We supply all the tools (you may want to
bring gloves). Check out the schedule
for the next work party in this flyer...
PLEASE NOTE: All volunteers will be required to sign liability waivers.
Pre-arrangement with the Field Manager is requisite for individuals
under 18 years of age.
For the latest information on weather cancellations and schedules:
call Cathie Bruner at 265-9275 (recording).
Limitations on volunteer service
 Volunteering is most successful when done on an organized basis and as
approved by Preserve managers to support the Preserve's master plan and
stewardship goals—while assuring volunteer safety at the same time.
Special arrangements need to be made in the following cases:
Minors: Volunteering by individuals under 18 years of age requires careful
planning, and special forms need to be filled out. Be sure to contact
Preserve Field Manager Cathie Bruner if you wish to organize such activities.
Large Groups: Other than special clean-up events that can accommodate
any number of participants, the Preserve does not generally have opportunities
for very large groups to volunteer.
Call Cathie Bruner, Field Manager at 265-9275 or e-mail cbruner@fpm.wisc.edu for
details regarding scheduled work parties or opportunities to help with
other activities listed above.
For more opportunities
Please join us in caring for this place! If you are interested in learning
more about these opportunities, please contact:
Cathie Bruner, Field Manager Lakeshore Nature Preserve, at cbruner@fpm.wisc.edu.
The best way to get started volunteering in the Preserve is to do so
through events organized by the Friends of the Lakeshore
Nature Preserve.
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