Sturgeon Bay, Wis. (June 17, 2022) – The inaugural Land Restoration School at Crossroads at Big Creek opened this week. On Saturday, June 18, Crossroads will hold the 13th annual Crossroads Trail Run & Walk with a restoration twist, and even our activities and lectures this week will focus on restoring the land.
As many know, Crossroads has built two fabulous new physical bridges this year and will build a third this coming winter. And, in a way, our restoration efforts have created a vegetative bridge between degraded properties and what we hope in the future will be ecologically sustainable habitats.
To answer the question of many runners and walkers who plan to participate in the Trail Run – YES! The 2K, 5K, and 10K courses will all pass over one of the new bridges. Our repeat runners, who will remember bouncing or slipping on the old crossings, will be amazed. The new bridges and boardwalks are solid! And the views are spectacular.
This year, runners will see a blue blur along many stretches of the trail; walkers will see blue tubes and colored flags numbering in the thousands. Each blue tube shelters a native tree or shrub which has been carefully selected to enhance the habitat and to protect water quality. Runners and walkers will also notice sizable and abundant piles of woody debris, the remains of invasive species plants which have been removed over the past two years.
And speaking of native trees, each participant in this cross-generational Trail Run event will receive a native tree in addition to a race t-shirt. They will also, of course, have the satisfaction of knowing they are helping support Crossroads’ “Ski-for-Free” program and other educational programs at Crossroads while increasing awareness of “living green” in our community. For more information and/or to register, (it’s not too late; you can even register the day of the race) click here.
Even a Trail Run will not deter our Habitat Healers, the volunteers who meet between 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. every Saturday (excluding holiday weekends) to help heal the land. Habitat Healers welcomes volunteers of all ages and experience who want to help with our restoration projects. Meet at the Workshop.
The lectures this week are almost a world tour, and all, in some way, relate to restoration. On Thursday, June 16, at 6:30 p.m., Robert Bender will offer the lecture: “A suburban volunteer conservation project on a riverside reserve, Melbourne Australia.” He will describe how Australians deal with invasive species.
On Monday, June 20, at 6:30 p.m. at the Collins Learning Center, Crossroads joins the Door County Heritage Alliance and the Door County Historical Society in celebrating Door County History Days with a program about Crossroads’ Ida Bay Preserve. This property is a microcosm of the cultural heritage of Door County and since Crossroads acquired the land, a gift from The Nature Conservancy, restoration efforts have been underway. In fact, as a part of our Restoration School’s “shoulder season,” restoration school participants have been doing invasive remediation at the Ida Bay Preserve.
The Door County Beekeepers will hold their June meeting on Tuesday, June 21, 6:30 p.m. in the lecture hall of the Collins Learning Center. This group, which has a special interest in trees, shrubs and flowers that provide pollen and nectar, will leave their hives to learn about “Swarm Management” from Paul Kenyan. Visitors are encouraged.
One of the benefits of having a Land Restoration School is that the guest faculty members will present lectures for the public. On Thursday, June 23, at 6:30 p.m. Dr. Alfonso Morales, Chair of the Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture, UW-Madison, will present the public talk: “How does the rebuilding of Notre Dame cathedral in Paris compare to ‘restoring’ the ecology of a place?” He will explore the meaning of the keywords restoration, resilience, and reconstruction in a time of climate change and examine and compare the application of those keywords with respect to the ecology of a place and the rebuilding of the Notre Dame cathedral.
Crossroads at Big Creek Learning Center and Nature Preserve is located at 2041 Michigan. Crossroads is a 501(c)3 organization committed to offering education, conducting research, and providing outdoor experiences to inspire environmental stewardship in learners of all ages and from all backgrounds. We welcome your support! Become a member of Crossroads by mailing a contribution to P.O. Box 608, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235, or donate online at crossroadsatbigcreek.org
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