Graduates of Nature

The birds, bees, trees, rocks and waters of Door County now have another line of defense against the exotic species and destroyers of nature: the 23 recently graduated volunteer naturalists of Door County.

Naturalist graduate Patsy Stierna completed the Door County Master Gardener program last spring and felt the Naturalist program at The Ridges Sanctuary in Baileys Harbor this fall was a natural fit to further her interests in preserving the natural wonders of Door County.

“I have been working to eradicate the invasive plant species in the park across from Sawyer School in Sturgeon Bay,” Stierna said. “I thought I should learn more about the native environment.”

Ridges Executive Director Steve Leonard and Naturalist Karen Newbern worked during the last two years on developing a Door County chapter of the Wisconsin Naturalist program. The Ridges program is the second chapter in northeastern Wisconsin; the first was formed by Professor Vicki Medland of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Aspects of the program are similar to the Door County Master Gardener Volunteer program. Students must complete a specified number of training hours covering Door County climate, soils, flora, fauna, restoration and management; 25 hours of volunteer work; and further their naturalist knowledge with continuing education after they complete the initial training program. The Ridges staff said they learned as much about teaching this first class about nature as the students learned from their lectures at the Crossroads at Big Creek Learning Center.

“We recognized that people wanted to learn more about what’s in their backyard and the natural areas in Door County, and that they want to do it with other people, rather than on their own,” Leonard said. “The learning hasn’t and won’t stop, even though the weekly class sessions ended Nov. 13. These students want to go out and teach others. We’re hoping that by taking this class, people who don’t know anything about the outdoors will develop a comfort level with nature. We want to give the students resources of networks to call, people to walk trails with, and from there, conduct more advanced programs.”

The Ridges started the Naturalist program with the intention of helping interested members of the community learn more about their backyards, but also with a bit of self-serving interest, according to Ridges Naturalist Karen Newbern.

“We wanted to get educated volunteers in the county,” Newbern said. “There are a lot of environmental issues, such as invasive plant species, and it’s helpful to have people on the lookout for them. Those educated volunteers are our first line of defense in preserving native species.”

Building a naturalist program from the ground up proved a positive experience for Newbern. The first class helped her identify areas to concentrate more energy on during the next round of students, such as native plant identification and plant communities, rare plants, trees, and definitely more time outside of the classroom. Program graduate Sandy Miller said one of her favorite class sessions was an all-day field trip.

“We went to three different properties, which were a good demonstration of the class that put everything together,” Miller said. “There are really some unique features in Door County, such as the geology of the Niagara Escarpment, water quality issues and the boreal forests.”

Miller said part of what spurred her into taking the Ridges Naturalist class was a desire to learn what to do with her property that was farmed at one time and is now bordered by forest.

“My question was ‘do you let the succession of plants occur?’,” Miller said. “Do you let the trees grow back in on their own, or is it better to control the invasive plants? With the information I learned from this class, I’m going to let the property go into succession. If you let the land grow back to forest, the trees will shade the invasive plants out. I’m going to try to manage the land for wildlife and as a natural area. That’s what it’s naturally going to do, why fight it?”

The next Naturalist program at the Ridges Sanctuary will begin in 2009. Whether the class is offered again in the fall or moved up to late summer is still under discussion, Newbern said. One change is certain, students will take more than the eight classes required of the first group.

For more information on the Door County Naturalist program offered at the Ridges Sanctuary in Baileys Harbor and the Crossroads at Big Creek classroom, contact the Ridges: 920.839.2802 or email [email protected].