Raise Funds for Your Local Group by Pulling Invasive Plants

It’s time to pull together and raise funds during our annual Garlic Mustard Pull-A-Thon. Now in its sixth year, the event encourages folks across southeastern Wisconsin to protect their local woodlands by pulling this invasive plant. More people are participating each year, so spread the word and join us to help stop the spread of garlic mustard!

This is a great opportunity to raise funds for your own organization as well as our regional efforts to fight invasive species. You can form a team, join a team and/or donate. Our 2018 goal is to collectively pull 10,000 lbs. of garlic mustard and have a great time together while protecting natural areas from invasive plant damage. Securing pledges is easy – sponsors can donate directly through our website. Pullers are encouraged to ask friends, family and others to support their efforts in caring for the land.

The pull-a-thon is also a competition, so the team that collects the most pledges and pulls the most garlic mustard by June 30, 2018 will earn bragging rights and our legendary traveling trophy. Our natural areas will only avoid damage from invasives with long-term sustained commitment to invasives control. Half of all proceeds go to participating organizations that raise funds, and half go to SEWISC. All funds will be used for invasive species education, prevention and control in southeastern Wisconsin. Contributions are tax-deductible.

Visit 2018 Garlic Mustard Pull-A-Thon for more information. Register a team, join a team and/or donate to a team.

Check-out our web-based work day calendar

Get outside this spring with friends, family and co-workers and help to improve your neighborhood natural areas!  You can find opportunities on our web-based Volunteer Work Day calendar. Easily view the calendar by choosing Volunteer Calendar under the Volunteer tab on our website home page and selecting any of the eight counties located in our region. Click on a posted event to access additional work day details such as location, time and contact information. Join the opportunities in your neighborhood!

If your organization would like to advertise an event on the calendar, simply click Work Days Event Submission Form under the Volunteer tab on our website home page.  Make sure you include: 1) the name of your event, 2) date and time, 3) location with address, and 4) contact information.  SEWISC Staff and volunteers will receive your event submission and post the information to our calendar as soon as possible.

Plan to attend this informative fifth biennial conference

In January we extended tremendous gratitude to newly retired Board President Andy Holschbach for his decade of commitment to our mission. Andy is a co-founder of SEWISC, serving on the initial steering committee in 2007 and as a Board member since 2010. We will continue to benefit from Andy’s enthusiasm and expertise through his continued efforts to reduce the impact of invasive species.

The Board also thanks retiring members August Marie Ball and Bob Wakeman for their strong and thoughtful leadership and dedicated service throughout their terms of service on the Board of Directors. New additions in 2018 include two Directors who will each serve initial three-year terms. Join us in welcoming:

Meghan Wersel is the Conservation Manager for the Waukesha County Land Conservancy. She coordinates the management and monitoring of over 2,900 acres in Waukesha County and is the project manager for many large restoration grants. Early in her career, she was hired as a Land Stewardship Intern at the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust where she found and pursued a passion for restoring native habitats. She eagerly studied plant identification, as well as wildlife monitoring techniques, which lead to an understanding of Wisconsin’s natural communities and different stewardship techniques.  Meghan’s passions include: gardening, conducting invasive species removal workdays, participating in prescribed burns, and educating the public about the environmental significance of Waukesha County and southeastern Wisconsin.

Julia Robson serves as the Assistant Natural Areas Coordinator for the Milwaukee County Parks Natural Areas Program. She currently assists with the direct oversight of the 10,000-acre Natural Areas Program and has been the lead on a variety of projects, including county-wide baseline wildlife assessments, ephemeral wetland monitoring, citizen-based monitoring programs, and development of ecological restoration and management plans, as well as community education and outreach with the program’s 70+ partner organizations. Julia received a BS in Biological Sciences and Conservation and Environmental Sciences from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee in 2012. Julia is an avid birdwatcher and enjoys discovering the hidden gems of birding spots in Milwaukee County’s urban natural areas.

The New Zealand mudsnail (Potamopyrgus antipodarum) is a listed NR40 prohibited invasive species. The small snail can establish large populations that can out-compete native stream insects that serve as food for fish. The mudsnail populations can change the nutrient flows in streams. All of the locations where New Zealand mudsnails have been found in the state are popular for fishing and may also be used by paddlers, trappers and hikers. The spread of New Zealand mudsnails and other invasive species can be stopped by INSPECTING and REMOVING all plants, animals, mud and debris from your equipment, and DRAINING all water from equipment and drying as much as possible.