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Wild Ones EcoCenter |
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Wild Ones EcoCenter |
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Thanks to Diane Olson-Schmidt of Lacewing Gardening and Consulting Services, Terry Marvel of Terraforms, LLC, and Jennifer Baker of Prairie Nursery, we have received some interesting and exciting landscape designs in answer to our "Landscape Design Challenge." These design drawings are very large, and contain lots of fine, detailed work. Because of the large physical size of these drawings, it's difficult to show them in a way that does them justice, but check out the drawings and the accompanying plant lists and explanations, and you're sure to be impressed. Please send e-mail to our Executive Director with your thoughts and comments.
In December we closed on the part of the Wild Ones Ecology Center which will enable us to move our headquarters to a permanent facility. But we still have lots of work to do to make the facility handicap accessible before we can move in, so please keep your donations coming in to offset the expenses. To donate. Although we have not gathered sufficient funds to purchase the remaining 12.5 acres of upland/riparian woodland/marsh which would complete our EcoCenter, we will continue to apply for grants and solicit donations with the hope of being able to do so by the end of 2008. To donate. So celebrate the new year with Wild Ones! Mark your calendar for the grand opening celebration this summer.
Exciting news today! We got the word today from the First National Bank - Fox Valley that they have accepted our offer for the house and 3 acres which will become the first step toward the development of the Wild Ones EcoCenter and national headquarters. This doesn't mean that the rest of the acreage including the marsh is ours -- yet. We have a lot of funding still to raise. But it's a start! We should be able to move in to the EcoCenter by the end of the year.
So if you haven't already made your donation, please do so now. We need all the help we can get! Call the Wild Ones National Office, toll-free, at 877-394-9453, with your credit card information. Or, just click the "EcoCenter Challenge Donation" button below, and make your donation through PayPal or your credit card online. Once you arrive at the PayPal checkout area, fill in the "Payment For" area (example, "Donation for EcoCenter Challenge") – and then fill in the "Amount" area with the dollar amount you'd like to send. Click the drawing to see full-size.
June 19, 2007 (Tues) Wild Ones EcoCenter site was featured in one of today's workshops held by the CDS-NRDP Community and Rural Development Conference in Appleton, Wisconsin. This workshop provided a close-up view of one aspect of the dynamic relationship between community and the environment. Participants visited one of the largest PCB contamination and clean-up sites in the world and learned about the community impacts associated with efforts to restore the natural environment. Presentation stops included the Trestle Trail (which is part of Wisconsin's Friendship Trail System) to view the river and learn about the paper industry's role in environmental issues; the Little Lake clean-up site and facility, where PCB-contaminated sediments are being dredged; The Stroebe Island marsh, an ecosystem restoration site funded by fees paid by the paper companies; and, Wild Ones Ecology Center site to learn about the role of community-based non-profit organizations in education and advocacy efforts.
Apr 04, 2007 (Wed)
Great News! The Fox Valley Area (WI) Chapter of Wild Ones has issued an ECOCENTER CHALLENGE to all the Wild Ones Chapters. Karen Syverson, Chapter President wrote: Now is the time to act! Wild Ones have a rare and exciting opportunity to step up its promotion of environmentally sound landscaping practices. A permanent national Wild Ones headquarters along with a working ecology center will help immensely in this effort. Having it in the Fox Valley, home of one of the largest PCB contamination clean-up projects in the world, will help make the EcoCenter a showplace of what can be done to restore the health of an ecosystem. Members of the Fox Valley Area Chapter of Wild Ones wish to show our support for purchase of the Wild Ones EcoCenter with a 1:2 pledge of an amount up to $20,000 and a challenge to Wild Ones chapters across the country. FVAC will match $1.00 for every $2.00 raised by Wild Ones Chapters across the country with the hope that our $20,000 will raise an additional $40,000 by March 1, 2008. Our chapter has been fortunate in the past twelve years to have raised substantial funds through our annual conference and plant sales in order to be able to support worthwhile efforts like this. Please encourage your chapters to step up to the challenge! To add your contribution to this challenge, go to donation and click on "Other Purchase or Donation" or e-mail or call the Wild Ones national office toll free at 877-394-9453 with your credit card info. All proceeds will be placed in a restricted account until all funding is secured and the Wild Ones EcoCenter is acquired. Only with your help will this effort be the success we know it can be.
Apr 03, 2007 (Tue) Requests for contributions toward the Wild Ones EcoCenter Capital Campaign have gone out to Wild Ones members and friends along with a beautiful 4-color 4-page brochure detailing the goals of the EcoCenter. If you didn't get your copy, please e-mail or call the national office toll free at 877-394-9453 to request a copy. To make your contribution, go to donation and click on "Other Purchase or Donation" or e-mail or call the Wild Ones national office toll free at 877-394-9453 with your credit card info. All proceeds will be placed in a restricted account until all funding is secured and the Wild Ones EcoCenter is acquired. Only with your help will this effort be the success we know it can be.
Mar 15, 2007 (Thu) Wild Ones has received a generous donation of $100,000, along with a $100,000 no-interest loan commitment, from an Illinois foundation (which is managed by Wild Ones members who wish to remain anonymous) in support of the acquisition and development of the Wild Ones Ecology Center project. The Wild Ones EcoCenter located on 13 acres on Butte des Morts Beach Road in the Town of Menasha will be a place where people can learn how to care for the natural world – a world we are rapidly losing in the face of global warming, invasive species, over-use of herbicides and pesticides, increased urbanization, and depletion of non-renewable resources. When speaking with Donna VanBuecken, Executive Director of Wild Ones, we were told that the anonymous donors sent the gift with a note saying: “We are happy to be able to help Wild Ones bring this project home.” Accounts have been established at both the First National Bank - Fox Valley, Attn: Kathy Blumreich, 320 Racine Street in Menasha, WI 54952 and at the American National Bank, Attn: Dawneen Berthold, 2200 N Richmond Street, WI 54911. Donors wishing to be part of this vital project should make their monetary gifts to either of these locations in Wild Ones EcoCenter’s name or credit card donations can be made now by going to donation and clicking on "Other Purchase or Donation" or e-mail or calling the Wild Ones national office toll free at 877-394-9453 with your credit card info. Oct 28, 2006 (Sat) Wild Ones Ecology Center Looking for Matching Funds
Oct
25, 2006 (Wed)
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A RARE OPPORTUNITY has befallen Wild Ones to assume ownership of a valuable property on the west shore of Little Lake Butte des Morts near our current headquarters. Because this property is located in the area already designated as West Shore Preserves, we are calling this property the West Shore Preserves Ecology Center.
