I am always slow getting things to Laurie for the newsletter; in fact this message was put together for the spring/summer newsletter of last season and never got to Laurie on time. With a few minor changes I think this message is just as timely now as it was when I wrote it, maybe even more so.

After hearing Kristen Berry speak at our March banquet I have a new sense of hope for the environment. Kristen spoke on the results of grass roots activism and how it influenced the latest Senate vote on whether or not to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. By getting a key Senator's constituents to contact him just prior to the vote, the Senator was convinced to vote against opening the refuge to drilling. All too often things do not turn out in favor of the environment these days.

Now more than ever we will have to let our government leaders know we care about the environment. With a slowing economy and money harder to find, federal, state, and local government budgets are shrinking. This means less money for all government programs including the environment. We will have to fight to get environmental regulations currently on the books enforced. There are also some major environmental laws which are due for reauthorization. If we do not let our government leaders know we care about clean air, clean water, safe food, and a host of other environmental issues some of these laws may be weekend or eliminated.

People seem to rally when things get tough. Gaylord Nelson recently wrote in his book Beyond Earth Day: Fulfilling the Promise, "There is no time for on-again, off-again interest in today's environmental challenges. The global temperature does not rise and fall with the stock market, nor do the fates of the plants and animals struggling to keep their place on the planet." There is no time like now to turn "on-again" and stay "on" for the environment.

It's that time of year again. Your Chappee Rapids Audubon membership needs to be renewed.
Dues help fund educational efforts, environmental projects, the newsletter and operational expenses. Consider renewing at the Supporting or Contributing level.
Pay your dues to Treasurer Ruth Farrell at the September meeting. Alternatively, use the enclosed envelope to send in your check along with the renewal form on the back of this newsletter.
It is particularly important to include your e-mail address! This will allow you to receive notice of events that may not be in the newsletter. We will not send your address to any other organizations.

Sparky Rosenberger will present a program on spiders at our October meeting. Sparky teaches Environmental Education at St Mary's School in Peshtigo. She will use with us the same hands- on techniques she uses with her students. Sparky says, "Spiders are everywhere. They live at the tops trees, under water, on mountains, underground, in your yard, and in your home. Come and learn which spiders build webs and how they do this by building your own web, a bit of taxonomy, how they function, capture a web forever, and why they are so important to all of us."

Those who attended Sparky's program on Aquatic Insect Adaptation two years ago know to come and expect to be a kid again at this meeting. Or better yet, bring a kid!

Sparky Rosenberger will be teaching a new Ecology Class for adults at U.W. - Marinette this fall. The program will be field oriented with very few indoor class sessions. Each field trip will emphasize a unique aspect of Marinette County's ecology.
The class will be held every Tuesday morning, Sept 23- Oct 21.For more information, call Sparky at (715) 854-7143 or U.W.-Marinette at (715) 735-4300.

While NE Wisconsin held the reins on construction of sulfide metallic mines in Crandon, the mining companies are evaluating similar mining opportunities on the Michigan side of the Menominee River. Test drilling on properties on UP properties has already begun. At our September meeting, Mary Nitkowski, from the Front 40 Environmental Fight, a citizens group formed to oppose development of these mines, will update us on their efforts. Come hear a timely report on how this could affect all of us. The meeting will be held on Thursday, September 18 at 7:00 P.M. in Room M-107 at the UW- Marinette.

Chappee Rapids Audubon took on a project this year that will be an asset for visiting birders to our area, our members and local birders. Expert birders (Joan Campbell, Bob Brisson, Wendel Johnson, Denise Taylor and Dale Leitzke) have put together a bird check-list for Marinette, Menominee & Peshtigo that has a list of all of the birds seen here and the 10 best birding spots.

It shows how to find each of the 10 locations and which birds to expect at each spot. We are having 1000 printed and they should be available at the September meeting, the MI & WI Visitors Information Centers, the Chambers, Feed & Seed stores, etc. For more info please call Joan at 732-1277.
Joan Campbell

The International Sandhill Crane Count was held on Saturday, April 12. Twenty six volunteers counted cranes at 17 sites in Marinette County from 5:30 until 7:30 A.M. The morning was clear, with a temperature of 32 degrees and a northeast wind at 10 mph.

Volunteers, including 10 students from Paul Matty's Environmental Science class at Crivitz High, counted a total of 64 Sandhill Cranes, with 22 breeding pairs.
Lauri Lata

Members of the fen group continue to explore the area searching for flora and fauna species and getting a feel for the area to establish boundaries for the protected area. We are making good progress on plant identification and establishing the limits of the natural area. Kim Herman is confident that the Fen has enough plant diversity to warrant designation.

Kip Knudson continues to add new species to the list: Plantanthera lacera, Plantanthera clavellata & Plantanthera dilata were discovered recently, according to Kip, walking south toward Wiregrass lake. Spiranthes is the genus to watch for now. We have still to discover "Marge's & our" Ghost Orchid - Amerorchis rontundifolia- which blooms in spring.

A quote from Kip- "The fact that our group managed to add three or four species to a thirty year old species list may not be attributed to our great investigative skills, but rather due to natural succession of the plants within the habitat. I have no doubt that ten, twenty and thirty more years from now that list will change again."

A couple more GPS units should be among our group to help pinpoint our exploration and discoveries.

We did lose some momentum as the weather grew hotter and the summer got busier. Also from Kip is the fact that some orchid species are ephemeral and we may have missed species that may emerge in a more favorable season. We appreciate those "die- hards" who continued to get out there despite the hindrances. You know who you are!! You continue to inspire us with your passion.
Ross Wolf

We had a great group of people get together for the spring clean up at the Hardwoods this past spring. George Bereza, Barb Bereza, Jim Goin, myself, and a very enthusiastic group from the Trail Blazers 4H Club were on hand to deal with the morning's challenge. Except for about five major trees that had fallen across various portions of the trail there was not a whole lot of work to be done! With two chain saws and a lot of young, willing hands things went very quickly. The 4H group was great to have along and they are willing to help out whenever asked.

If you did not make it to the grand opening of the new shelter at the Harmony Arboretum you missed a great day. While there, I saw at least 50 people looking at the wide array of displays set up by all sorts of organizations. I took a guided tour of the 20 acre prairie restoration led by the folks that provided much of the seed. It is beautiful; I stopped again to take a look at it over the Labor Day weekend. Big blue stem as tall as me was a delight to walk through. Take some time to go out and take a walk through the prairie. While you are out there look around the gardens and don't forget to take a hike in the hardwoods.

A piece about spiders, "A world in a leaf -Tiny spiders weave a niche in a few square inches," written by our own Leroy Lintereur, is included in the August 2003 issue of the Wisconsin Natural Resources magazine.

Lists of the Wisconsin natural areas by county and by alphabetical order are available from the Bureau of Endangered Resources. Fact sheets about many of the areas list the location, attributes, access points and management activities at each property. Many of these fact sheets also include maps.
Write: Wisconsin DNR, PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707. Web Site

Daryl Tessen, well known from the Wisconsin Society of Ornithology, has written his second book about birding in Wisconsin. The latest, a field guide, written with Robert Janssen and Gregory Kennedy, is Birds of Minnesota and Wisconsin by Lone Pine Publishing. When I first saw the book I thought, who needs another field guide, especially one that only has one picture of each bird, not showing them in their fall plumage, flying, females or immatures. But I found myself using this book many times in the first week I had it as a very good reference.

For the beginning birder, every bird is pictured in the front of the book for easy identification with the page number next to it. Each species has its own page with detailed information about it, a large picture of the bird, and the ID, size, status, habitat, nesting, feeding, voice, similar species and selected sites.

As Green Bay and Seagull Bar are frequently listed sites, this book is a great addition to your reference library. Birds of Michigan is an identical book written by Ted Black and Gregory Kennedy. J.W. Wells State Park is listed as the closest area to us. Chappee Rapids Audubon has copies of both books for members' use. Joan Campbell

Today the north winds seem to be bringing down an all too early fall. The summer started late after a cool moist spring that favored spruces, black flies and noseeums ( oh my!). Back in early April I estimated we were a week behind normal. By July 4th I felt we were two weeks lagging and as of September 2nd I still feel the vegetation is not caught up with the solar year. As a result, black eyed susans, sunflowers ( Helianthus), evening primrose, daisy fleabanes, silphiums and thistles are still in good numbers while goldenrods, turtlehead ( Chelones), touch-me-nots and the general fading of other leafy vegetation has combined to create a very yellow world against a clear azure sky. Couple that with dry, cool days and evenings and it's time for brisk walks- so let's go!

The cold, wet spring and a late freeze at least in the mid-county area delayed many small birds from nesting. Robins and bluebirds got off one brood here in June. Swallows were in good numbers but again- early nestings were lost and many young didn't come off till July. Cliff swallows fledged just last week here and headed south. Ruby throated hummers seemed to have a good year in spite of the weather and are still very abundant, but then so are the nectar sources! Nighthawks were first seen headed out on August 23 and are still seen each evening. I have not heard whip-o-wills or woodcock yet. Wrens left about the 3rd week of August, followed by common yellowthroats. Major warbler movements have not started. I was very pleased that at least one pair of crows and one pair of ravens raised young on the farm this year considering how low their numbers are now. Crows seemed to be in average numbers in the eastern U.P. I have had many reports of sandhill cranes staging in several fields between here and Green Bay.

Most of our avian migrants are yet to come, I hope! The last month has been very dry in many parts of our area. Some birds may leave early or land migrants may pass us by for greener parts of the state. Waterfowl should continue to be numerous along Lake Michigan and Green Bay. Deer and other mammals are starting to congregate in the wetter areas around the county. Squirrels are very numerous as acorns are now ripe and beginning to drop. It was a good year for Monarch butterflies locally and I noticed significant migration on August 20th. Hymenoptera ( bees and wasps) are at the peek of their population in the fall. Many, especially yellow jackets, are seeking out ripe fruits and will be getting a bit testy as winter nears and accommodations run short in the nests. Be careful in those orchards and try not to smack them; it only makes them mad!

As fall approaches trees and shrubs really come into their glory. The beautiful muted hues in angled sunlight are the essence of childhood memories for many of us. As I glance across the pasture I can already see a few sugar maples showing scarlet and a certain hierarchy of ambers beginning to appear. I really love trees AND the wood and products that come from them. Much of my fall is spent selecting, cutting and sorting our firewood as well as some saw logs for lumber. My goals are to derive my immediate wood needs and simultaneously leave the woodland as though I have not been there- we have the luxury of being able to work slowly. As a contrast I have been watching a local logger working on a nearby woodlot. They work efficiently and methodically. I have been amazed at the quantity of logs! All neatly sorted as to species and size and quality. I have also been impressed with how logging has changed in the past 40 years that I have been observing. This is a neat operation- gone are the ruts and holes, slash etc... Some large and a good many young hardwoods are left in reasonable shape and a respectable rim of older trees are also still standing. I can't say it's still a pristine old growth forest, but I will say logging practices have come a long way and that is encouraging. Now, it's time to watch a young forest grow again!