MIAD Bridge

MIAD BRIDGE

ECO URBANITE

SERPENTINE SURVEYOR

THE URBAN ECOLOGY CENTER EDITION

SUSTAINABLE AMBASSADOR

TABLE OF CONTENTS

FEATURES

LETTER FROM THE EDITORPAGE. 2

FROM THE INSIDEPAGE. 15

HEALTHY URBAN LIVINGPAGE. 9

URBAN GARDENINGPAGE. 7

Meet the Editor, Liz Rasper, and hear what it is she has to say about this issue of the MIAD Bridge focusing on the Urban Ecology Center and the way it benefits the commuity.

Learn to grow plants and produce in an urban environment! Here are some easy techniques for a healthy and environ-mentally friendly way to grow your own foods at home and do it in a sustainable way.

Compiled by RYAN STRZOK here are five steps to living a more sustainable lifestyle. From composting to watering plants, these steps will help any home become a sustainable and unified living environment.

SUSAN WINENS, the UEC’s volunteer coordinator, gives readers a look at what it is like to volunteer at the Urban Ecology Center. In this interview we cover her experiences with volunteers, how to get involved, and how she has seen this work benefit the community.

ECO URBANITE BY RYAN STRZOK, PAGE. 3

SUSTAINABLE AMBASSADOR BY KATHERINE WALTON-MYERS, PAGE. 1 1

SERPENTINE SURVEYOR BY LIZ RASPER, PAGE. 17

Ryan Strzok writes about his exploration of urban sustainability and ‘living off the grid’. He elaborates on many ideas and inspirations and how they tied into his experience in the community volunteering at the Urban Ecology Center.

This article is about a true story of transformation, and it gives us a different point of view on service. Those who are skeptical will relate and will see how someone can benefit their community and at the sametime benefit themselves.

Serpentine Surveyor informs us of environmental concerns in the Milwaukee area, what the UEC is doing for our wildlife and efforts researching native Butler’s Garter snakes.

E N V I R O N M E N T

FA C I L I T Y

W I L D L I F E

LETTERFROM THE EDITOR

As a fellow environmentally conscious Milwaukee citi-zen I wanted to bring this issue to your front doors so to speak. My intension for this book is to communicate that this is a small world and because of that we all should be contributing to the betterment of the world we live in. NOT just because we have too. Normally people use the expression ‘it’s a small world’ when conveying the magnitude of how many people we are all connected with and therefore are connected to other people we know as well. Keep this state of mind when journeying through the experiences within these pages, I want to hit everyone on the head with how easy and fun and in-teresting and ‘social’ it can be to serve your community in ways that even you can be passionate about. It is a small world and in this Urban Ecology issue, I am going to show you that there are people that you may know who are involved and it is a big deal because in your own community if someone says to themselves ‘Oh, there are other people who will do it, I don’t have to get involved.’ YOU are the one they are referring too. For this issue we will be exploring how you can use the environment to get involved in your community, either if on purpose or by accident. In the great city of Milwaukee there are many environmental organizations that come to mind, however since this is the Urban Ecol-ogy Edition of the MIAD Bridge, we will be exploring the central organization of the city, The Urban Ecology Center. There are a great many people in Milwaukee and I am sure that many of them have heard of the Urban Ecology Center, but I am sure that there are quite a few

that also have not. This edition of MIAD Bridge is going out to all the young people in Milwaukee who may or may not have heard of the Urban Ecology Center, but are interested in the environment, green issues, plants, animals, being outdoors, or community. We are going to find out in what ways we can all do right by our environ-ment with help from the Urban Ecology Center. There are three main topics in this issue, one being the green stuff, plants, how we can cultivate and utilize them in environmental techniques for a more sustain-able environment. The second topic will be covering the animals within our environment, our wildlife. We are not the only animals on this earth and yet we cause massive amounts of harm and destruction to our planet with out a second thought and the consequences do not only effect humans. The Urban ecology center has multiple research programs centered on field projects that help other Wisconsin environmental and nature organizations gather data and information on specific wildlife in the Milwaukee area. I hope that you readers will utilize this issue to do more in the Milwaukee community. There are more great opportunities out there besides the Urban Ecology Cen-ter, but it is a great place to get your feet wet. I think that we all should think about how we contribute from time to time, and if we lived in a world full of people that just DID instead of assuming someone else will DO, then the entire community would benefit so much more.

EDITOR IN CHIEF LIZ RASPER

CONTR IBUTORS

EDITOR: LIZ RASPERWRITER: RYAN STRZOKWRITER: KATHERINE WALTON-MYERSWRITER: LIZ RASPERILLUSTRATOR: AUDREY MANTOOTHPHOTOGRAPHS: JULIA ROBSONPHOTOGRAPHS: ROBERT KJENDLIEINTERVIEW:SUSAN WINANS

I chose to volunteer my time and energy to the Milwau-kee Urban Ecology Centers at both the Riverside location and the Washington Park location. Living in Milwaukee and being on my own I live more so around my ideals and want to began my journey as this sort of eco urban-ite. Creating an urban homestead catered towards my ideals on environmentalism. My ideas are a bit more ex-treme than that of the petty term of being green. I want my journey of being environmentally active to stretch into the ideas of minimalist living, living off the grid, and acting outside of conformity. For this paper I am sticking to researching and discussing only the living off the grid portion of that equation. Service learning has connected me to my community in a way I never thought I would. Volunteering at the Urban Ecology Center’s opened me up to the idea of living a more self-sustained life. What I am going to be discussing is the Urban Ecology Center and a detailed description on what it is they do and who they are. Then I will be researching living off the grid and how the Urban Ecology Center sparked my interest in it. Finally I will look into what the agency has taught me and what were the experiences I gained from volunteering. During the early years of living in Milwaukee and biking down the bike path I would cruise by a towering rock climbing wall with a sleek solar powered building next to it. Never really knowing what it was until visit-ing it with my service learning class. Realizing at that moment my need to get involved with the organization. The congregation of people there who shared similar

ECO URBANITE

This quote by Colin Beavan, the author of No Impact Man, touches close to home with me because taking the service learning class forced me to get out of my shell and volunteer. It’s allowing for me to volunteer for a cause that I see to be important, which is an environmental cause. With one of the most influential environmentalists saying that the best way to change the way the earth is being treated is to volunteer your time, passion, and self to an organization it definitely puts a giant smile on my face when volunteering.

WRITTEN BY: RYAN STRZOKEDITED BY: LIZ RASPER

“IT IS THE WORKERS AT THE ORGANIZATIONS I

VOLUNTEER FOR WHO CONFIRM FOR ME THAT

ENVIRONMENTALISM IS NOT ABOUT TRYING

TO USE LESS BUT ABOUT TRYING TO BE MORE” ~ Colin Beavan

3 MIAD Bridge T H E U R B A N E C O L O G Y I S S U E

MIAD Bridge 4T H E U R B A N E C O L O G Y I S S U E

E N V I R O N M E N T - E C O U R B A N I T E

viewpoints to mine truly sparked my interest. It’s a sort of vessel to meet people and to get better aquatinted with the environment and living off the grid. The UEC (Ur-ban Ecology Center) mission statement revolves around the idea of creating ecological empathy and using it as a tool for change. They also focus on providing an edu-cational science service for Milwaukee youth, protecting and enhancing the flourishing Milwaukee natural areas, building a community around volunteering, stewardship, recreation, and camaraderie, and finally the teachings of environmentally responsible behavior. The types of ser-

vices they offer are: Neighborhood environmental edu-cation project which supply existing K-12 science cours-es with more hands on experiences, urban adventures that get people active, field research, summer day camps, lectures, workshops, discussions, stewardships, intern-ships, and so forth. Riverside Park has been around for quite sometime and was once a flourishing attraction to the residents of Milwaukee County and travelers. Activi-ties such as swimming, boating, skiing, and ice-skating were very common in the early 1900’s. As the river be-came more and more polluted due to the growing indus-trial powers of Milwaukee the river became less active. It wasn’t until 1991 when Dr. Else Ankel started the revolu-tion to revitalize the Riverside Park system. Twenty years later it has morphed into a keystone of Milwaukee culture and community building. There are now two locations Riverside on the East side of Milwaukee off of Oakland and the other, Washington Park, is on 40th and Lisbon.

“IT’S A SORT OF VESSEL TO

MEET PEOPLE, TO GET BETTER

AQUATINTED WITH THE

ENVIRONMENT AND LIVING

OFF THE GRID.”

Although the two centers correlate with the same organization they differ. They each share differences and similarities. Each offers different or similar programs and activities. Riverside has a native Wisconsin animal room, river system tanks, a slide, a giant puzzle, crayfish tank, camouflaged classroom, observation tower with a rock climbing wall, and a sustainable building exhibit. Wash-ington Park on the other doesn’t have nearly the same amount of highlights. With Washington Park being only created in 2004 and being located in a supposed rough area of the city it can be seen the differences in the two locations. Washington Park’s funding does not seem to be as great. It states on the Washington Park section of the UEC’s website, “Washington Park is surrounded by a community of people looking to revitalize their neigh-borhood park, preserving it from crime and neglect.” The Riverside section does not state anything about ridding it of crime. When volunteering there I was surprised to see the state it was in. Ultimately coming to a conclusion that they need a lot of volunteers because of there loca-tion. It made me think of the history of Riverside and how the UEC was an attempt to rid the area of the crimes and rejuvenate the community around it. You can see how Washington Park is trying to do exactly that which is very exciting to see because it too is going to become a place that is less crime ridden, a strong community, and more diverse, I believe. It definitely needs the funding and the amenities that Riverside has to become that place. Funding is a topic that is important when discuss-ing the UEC’s because they are a non-profit organiza-tion leaving the question of where do they get funding? Their financial base is created by the donations from friends, program fees, grants, and annual fund raising events. An example of a fund raising event they just had would be the Summer Solstice Soiree. The UEC stated that, “We were able to surpass out attendance and fundraising goals for another record breaking year!” Do-nations go towards things such as providing a member-ship for a low-income family, supporting a high school summer intern, and sponsoring a school that will have


24 field trips to inner city youth. The UEC’s have a wonderful staff on hand, at both locations, who are there to teach and get you involved. Riverside has a much larger staff than that of Washington Park. As for the volunteers go there seem to be a pretty steady flow at riverside but at Washington Park there are only a few. They’re always in need for constant volunteers. There are over 250 active volunteers. The Urban Ecology centers have sparked my interest in the idea of living off the grid and creating a more sus-tainable way of living. I biked to the Milwaukee Library and utilized my local community resource and looked up green living solutions. Three books that peaked my in-terest were No Impact Man, The Urban Homestead, and Living Off the Grid. Each discusses a new way of looking at ones consumption of energy and the idea of living off the grid. Key topics I found to be important to understand while on my journey to sustainable ways of life were the 5 essential projects when creating a homestead, harvest-ing water, obtaining power, dealing with human waste, and transportation. I feel, out of the vast majority of top-ics there are when looking into sustainable living, these are some of the toughest and biggest ideas to grasp and that is why I researched them and would like to share with you the knowledge I received. The five essential projects, proposed by Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen in their book The Urban Homestead, revolve mainly around starting your own food source. Growing your own food source is a huge project and can be overwhelming and a daunting task. It is an important move for anyone looking to becoming more self-sufficient. Creating a food source is extremely important. Knowing where it is your food is coming from and how it is grown is some-thing that seems to have been lost for quite sometime. Being able to grow and maintain a portion of your food source is incredible. Along with food another impor-

tant step in living off the grid is the ability to get a water source and power source. Radical climate changes have sparked water short-ages in many parts of the world according to scientists at the National Center for Atmosphere Research (Coyne 239). I get most of my water from the tap and with the impending crises over water shortages it has pushed me into the territory of creating my own water sup-plies and harvesting water from a renewable source. Just like plastic and paper water can too be recycled. It can be put to better use than just being put down the drain and emp-tied into the sewers. There are six ways to harvest rain-water outside of city water. The first technique is to start depaving your concrete. Taking a sledgehammer to pave-ment will allow for more rainwater to fall onto perme-able surfaces. Pavement is unhealthy for the earth. There are ways to cut down on it such as paving only the tire tracks with gravel on a drive way and allowing for grass growth around it. The second technique is smart gutters and downspouts. Roofs and gutters are another imper-meable surface that can be changed to better harvest rainwater. The run off can be redirected towards gardens or water basins to better harvest the water. Thirdly there are earthworks, which are ways to maneuver water flow around your home with natural elements such as rocks. Next there are mulch basins that are good for dealing with floodwater or washing machine water. Mulch basins are shallow trenches with raised walls that are filled with woodchips. They hold large amounts of water resulting in a good soaking of the soil. The fifth technique is terracing. This is mainly for properties located on hills. When rain falls down the hill and into the street it doesn’t have the adequate amount of time to seep into the soil. Terracing slows down the rainwater allowing for a better soaking by cutting stair stepped terraces in the earth. Rain barrels are the sixth and final technique. This technique is my favorite because you can utilize it for many things such as showering which some urban revolutionaries have been able to do. It also has the capability of creating drink-ing water (Coyne 253). This is a very complex task but is worth it in the end. Harvesting water is going to become more and more necessary when catastrophes arise from water shortages around the globe. Having the technology and will power to have a self-sustainable resource for wa-

“KNOWING WHERE IT IS YOUR FOOD IS

COMING FROM AND HOW IT IS GROWN

IS SOMETHING THAT SEEMS TO HAVE

BEEN LOST FOR QUITE SOMETIME.”



ter is something everyone should strive for. There would be less water wasted and would open up to new ways of delivering water to the masses. Power is another one of these resources that is important to get on your own. Generating your own power is something I will strive for in my journey of living off the grid. With all of the talks about clean energy it makes me won-der why we don’t implement more solar powered and wind powered energy sources. I would cer-tainly like to implement solar energy in my home. Photovoltaic panels have the ability to convert the light coming from the sun into electricity. They come in all sorts of shapes from small to multiple panels that can run a whole house. There are off grid and grid tied options when it comes to using solar energy. Off grid means you are completely independent from electrical companies and a power out-age would have no effect on your home. The only down fall to this is during the evening hours or a lengthy storm you will have to rely on back up batteries and cut down immensely on power consumption. The more common practice is that of grid tied. This is when you are still in contract with your electrical company but run your

house off of solar power during the day. The more energy your solar panel makes and the less you use the less you will spend and can lead to the electrical company pay-ing you. During the evening hours you rely on the com-pany to deliver electricity. There are many options when it comes to buying solar panels and are becoming more integrated in society and less expensive due to low cost manufacturing of PV panels in China (Coyne 297). I hope one day I will be able to be completely off the grid when it comes to solar power. Another topic of concern is that of dealing with waste in a living off the grid environment. Handling fecal matter in a way separate from that of a traditional toilet

has been a curiosity to me when researching this topic. Sewage is broken down into two categories gray water and black water. Gray water is the water from bathtubs, bathroom sinks, and laundry machines. This water is con-sidered to be gray water because it is not contaminated with feces. Black water on the other hand is the water that has been in contact with human fecal matter. It is extremely pathogenic but can be used if treated and pu-rified. Gray water also contains pollutants that can be sifted out and used for use around the house. Two types of off the grid waste management that peaked my interest are septic systems and composting toilets. Septic tanks are the high-end means of disposing of human waste. It is a large tank that collects and releases wastewater. Bacteria in the tank break down the solids beginning a separation process. When new wastewater pours in old waste is poured out into a drain field. Sediment in the drain field acts as a natural filter and allows for the soil to break down bacteria as nutrients (Black 156). The second is composting toilets. They are warmed, “well ventilated container[s] with diverse microbes that break down and create a dry, fluffy, and odorless compost” (Black 157). This compost can be then put into your compost pile creating a completely renewable resource. Dealing with human waste in a manner that can be a renewable source is something I see important and can benefit the earth as a whole. I would like to say that one day on my journey to becom-ing off the grid I would attempt the composting toilet or even further drastic choices. Along with waste handling another topic that re-ally sparked my interest was the living off the grid ideas of transportation. I looked into this because I would say that my methods of transportations are most certainly off the grid. My thoughts on how I impact the earth really started to stem and get serious when I began to bicycle everywhere around the city. The shape I am in and the connections I feel to my neighborhood spark a serious interest in other ways I can begin to live off the grid. Biking and mass transit transforms our living spaces. We get out of the isolation of cars and meet face to face on the streets. Guy Debord stated, “Traffic Circulation is the organization of universal isolation. In this regard it constitutes the major problem of modern cities. It is the opposite of encounter, it absorbs the energies that could

“OFF GRID MEANS YOU ARE COMPLETELY

INDEPENDENT FROM ELECTRICAL COMPANIES

AND A POWER OUTAGE WOULD HAVE NO

EFFECT ON YOUR HOME.”


otherwise be devoted to encounters or to any sort of par-ticipation” (Coyne 307). Guy Debord is a huge influence on my thoughts when it comes to ideas on society. He was a Situationists, which was a group of people who attempted to get people to have directly lived experience outside of the spectacles of society. For a person living of the grid transportation can revolve around these four principles: The journey is the journey which means that our mode of transportation shouldn’t be that of a stressful one but should promote joy and commuting as a recre-ational activity. Low-tech which is your main source of getting around should be able to be fixed by you and not taken to some specialist that has to import parts from over seas. The bicycle is elegant and simple allowing for its rider to master its every part. The third principle is transportation as exercise. Who would of ever thought?

Crazy! The detrimental effects of obesity and type 2 diabetes can be directly correlated with the amount of time people spend in cars (Coyne 307). You save time with exercising while commuting instead of having to go to the gym and it is from a real life experience not a treadmill. Walking is also another transit choice that is for some one living off the grid. Walking allows you to meet your neighbors, actually feel the transitions of the seasons, and get in touch with the world around you. Hikers use this trick called Naismith’s Rule. It is the idea that the average person can walk one mile in twenty minutes. You technically add 30 minutes to each 1000 feet you elevate but for urban scenarios no need to worry on that (Coyne 308). I am glad to see how many of my transportation points are align with that of a person who lives off the grid.

BE MORE SELF SUSTAINED

URBAN GARDENINGThere are a few ways to grow your own fruits, veggies and flowers in an urban environment, indoors, outdoors, in multiple directions and in multiple medias.

COMMUNITY GARDENSA largescale way to grow your own produce is to partici-pate in your community garden. Anyone can be a part of a community garden, you rent a plot and its yours to do or grow whatever you like. There are multiple com-munity gardens in the Milwaukee area, the UEC has one as well as Bay View, Concordia and Tippecanoe. Contact the UEC or The Victory Garden Initiative for more infor-mation on getting involved and getting started.

CONTAINTER GARDENSThe easiest and most common way to grow your own produce is in container gardens. This allows urban resi-dents with small yards, patios or balconies to grow prac-tically any sorts of plants in practically any container that will hold soil. This way of gardening can be really cre-ative, thinking of new and different objects to reuse as places to grow plants in. Common things to use are wine barrels, used tires, kiddie pools, buckets, feed sacks leaky watering cans, and even shoes. You can also build your own self-watering containers if you have limited time in your day or just for added convenience.

AQUAPONIC GARDENSA very versatile and sustainable way to grow plants is aquaponics. It is a process that involves the keeping of aquatic fish. The fish are obviously kept in water and cre-ate waste, the waste water is cycled from the fish tank to the plants where they absorb nutrients from the fish waste and put good nutrients that the fish need back into the water. The water is then cycled back into the fish

tank, thus creating a sustainable system that benefits the fish, the plants and us humans. Aquaponics is versatile because you can set it up in a variety of ways, so no mat-ter your living situation its possible to find something that fits your needs. Horizontal or vertical arrangements are both do-able, scale is also something that is a variable and can be tailored. Aquaponics is very good for those people that may not have the time to dedicate to watering and tending to plants.



HEY!SUCKA

As it goes for the book report section these books have taught me a great deal in the absolutely massive world of living off the grid. The topics of essential farming projects, water and power, waste disposal, and transpor-tation are all topics I found to be a good pre cursor for anyone looking into living off the grid. For some these are huge life style changes but they are worth it in the end. Becoming self sufficient will allow for communities and the world to be more self sustained and less reliable on sources coming from thousands of miles away. Result-ing in fewer pollutants, stronger communities, healthier people, and a better world. Working at the Urban Ecol-ogy Center has taught me how to live up to these stan-dards. Before working at the UEC I didn’t know what to expect. My preconceptions were that it was just another nature park but once actually experiencing it fully it was much more than that. It turned out to be extremely engag-ing. The center brings the community together in many different ways that I had no idea about. What surprised

me the most about my placement in volunteer services was the difference between the Riverside Park and Wash-ington Park. I believe that the Washington Park needs a lot of up keep and more workers and I see funding being a thing that stands in the way of Washington Park blos-soming into the community that Riverside is. I believe it is on the right path though. As for experiences go I would have to say Washington Park proved to be the best. It all started on Saturday when weeding at Wash-ington Park for a good four hours. I was weeding by my-self minding my own business when a little voice came up behind me and exclaimed, “Hey! Sucka!” I turned around to see a ten-year old little kid with stitches under his eye. He then said, “Can I help you weed?” I replied, “Of course.” For about the next two hours we talked back

and forth laughing and joking about random stuff. He asked if I was a football player and dubbed me the nick-name Lil’ Wayne. I said, “Do I look like Little Wayne to you? He laughed and said, “No.” His name was Tavares and also went by the nicknames Chris Brown and Man Man. Everyone at the UEC knew him by Man Man so I stuck with that one. It was funny to find out too that he wasn’t even apart of any of the youth science clubs at the UEC. He was just from around the neighborhood and came to hang out. At the end of the day when we were done weeding I carted him around in a wheelbarrow through Washington Park while we talked about flying to the moon in cardboard space suits and drum lines. He made my work probably twice as difficult but he made my week. It was a real eye opener to see the kind of kids from that neighborhood. Overall the Urban Ecology Centers have opened me up to the community of Mil-waukee as a whole. It has made me closer to the people here and the causes they support. This class took me out of the typical classroom and put me into real life experi-ences with people who taught me real tangible things. The UEC sure has taught me a lot about life, invasive plants, and everything in between.

“THE CENTER BRINGS THE COMMUNITY TOGETHER IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS THAT I HAD NO IDEA ABOUT.”

Beavan, Colin. No Impact Man. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux,

2009. Print.

Black, David S. Living off the Grid: a Simple Guide to Creating and Main

taining a Self-reliant Supply of Energy, Water, Shelter, and More.

New York: Skyhorse Pub., 2008. Print.

Coyne, Kelly, and Erik Knutzen. The Urban Homestead: Your Guide to

Self-sufficient Living in the Heart of the City. Port Townsend, WA:

Process Media, 2010. Print.

Welcome to the Urban Ecology Center! Web. July 2011. <http://www.ur

banecologycenter.org/index.html>.

FIVE STEPS FOR SUSTAINABILITY

COMPILED BY: RYAN STRZOKEDITED BY: LIZ RASPER

1 . CREATE A COMPOST PILEYou can basically compost in any sort of bin you rightly choose but garbage cans or tires are ones fit nicely for the job. To kick off the compost pile all you need to do is begin throwing food scraps and lawn trimmings into the pile. Keeping a nice equilibrium between nitrogen rich material and carbonaceous material is a way to well-kept compost. Nitrogen material is classified as the green materials such as fresh leaves, kitchen scraps, weeds, manure, and coffee grounds. Carbonaceous material is classified as brown because it is mainly dead things such as dried leaves, wood chips, sawdust, and shred-ded newspaper. Turning over your compost once a week is also a task that will prove to result in great compost. It is supposed to decrease the amount of time needed for decomposition. Materials to avoid are bones, meat, fish, oils, and dairy products. The reason for not using these in the pile is the amount of heat needed for de-composition, which would be difficult to achieve with a small bin. It will also have the chances to attract pests such as raccoons. Finally the compost will have the same characteristics of soil. “The best compost we’ve seen al-most looked like crumbled chocolate cake” (Coyne 49).

2. VERMICULTURE OR COMPOSTING WITH WORMSWorm bins are a second source for composting. This kind is particularly important when living in an apartment setting without a yard of some sort. The reason this is such a good method is the worms will eat all your kitchen scraps and leave an odorless nutrient rich soil. Worms will consume vegetables, fruits, coffee grounds, tea bags, plain pasta, and cooked grains. Ground up eggshell is also a good material the worms can feed on because the calcium is necessary for there breeding process. Keeping the scraps underneath moist shred-ded newspaper detracts from flies. Properly keeping them in a plastic bin will not attract flies or an odor.

A good spot for them is underneath a sink in a room temperature room where they thrive best but they can survive in temperatures below freezing and over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. In the event you do experience bad smells and flies here is what you do: The bin is either to wet or overloaded with food and the worms can’t consume fast enough. Either puncture ventilation holes or stop feeding the compost for a while. In the event of flies the chances are they are getting to the im-properly covered food in the bins. Be sure to keep the food well buried or use a piece of cardboard to cover the bed in a final effort to deter the flies (Coyne 55).

3. MULCHING YOUR YARDMulching your yard is important to keeping healthy plants and rich soils around the homestead. This will keep your garden in top shape. The reason for using mulch in your garden is that it keeps in moisture while regulating temperatures and weeds. There is three types of mulching you can do for your garden: regular mulching, sheet mulching, and lasagna mulching. They range in complexity but essentially its just loads of organic matter placed on your gardens and yards. Regular mulching is just laying down a thick layer of organic mulch material around plants that allows for the soil beneath to get strong in nutrients. Sheet mulching is just like regular mulching but it is upgraded with a weed barrier. The weed barrier is something permeable and organic that will smother the weeds and not let any new ones get any sunlight. An example of this would be newspaper or cardboard. This will rejuvenate large areas plagued by weeds. Lasagna mulching is sheet mulching to the next level. It is the layering of different types of mulches to revitalize poor soil. The lasagna mulching process falls as so: Mow or stomp down weeds, layer high-nitrogen material, then the weed barrier explained before, a compost layer, and the top layer which is

Anyone can do these five steps in order to lead a low impact, more sustainable life. These techniques are fun and interesting and will open your eyes to a new world of urban sustainability.


HEALTHY URBAN LIVING

H E A LT H Y U R B A N L I V I N G


4. BUILD A RAISED BEDThis is an essential place in growing your own crops be-cause the type of yield you can get out of a raised bed is immense. Raised beds provide nutritious soil needed for healthy root development. They are also easier to weed and maintain. Soil in them is warmer so planting earlier in the spring is a possibility and they drain nicely so wa-terlogged soil is no worry. They are typically bottomless to allow for the healthy soil and easy water drainage. The height of these beds range from one foot to waist level. They are constructed mainly from something that can re-tain water and soil such as wood. It is more common to see that of the one to two foot beds (Coyne 61).

5. SELF-WATERING CONTAINER GARDENSThe problem for a city dweller and watering their plants is time. It is difficult to judge when your plants need wa-ter and on certain high heat days in the summer mul-tiple watering trips are required. Not to worry anymore though. Building a self-watering container is the quickest way to solve this problem and keep your plants healthy and strong. Pots have a tendency to dry out fairly quickly. A solution to this is instead of there being a hole in the bottom there is a water reservoir. Water is then pumped through the soil by various mechanisms, such as a pipe, keeping the plant constantly moist. It is possible to span watering up to once a week depending on the depth of the reservoir (Coyne 67). This is crucial to keeping your crop and garden in top condition because not everyone has the time in a day to keep an eye on their plants con-stantly. These 5 steps are truly important steps in making sustainable living become a reality.

materials that will work its way through the layers bit by bit such as wood chips, sticks, or pine needles (Coyne 58). We’ve got all these nice composting techniques but now what about the place to grow your crops?

THE CYCLE

ADD KITCHEN SCRAPS TO WORM BOX OR COMPOST PILE.

TURN COMPOST ONCE A WEEK TO ACHIEVE

THE SAME CHARACTERISTICS OF SOIL.

USE COMPOSTED SOIL FOR PLANTING IN

RAISED BED OR SELF WATERING CONTAINERS.

HARVEST PRODUCE, EAT

PRODUCE, START OVER.

The UEC is a place; I personal ly, would never have found OUT about, v is i ted or have cared for i f i t was not for this c lass. I took a tour and im-mediately fell in love with the area, the mission, and the opportunities. I have always been a fan of, and a follower of the sciences, biology in particular, and by hearing that there were research opportunities available to participate I was sold. I am also not an outdoorsy type of girl; I rarely leave the house if it is not for a concert, or school. I have

found myself outside, working, and working hard this summer, something I have never done before. I love it.

“THEY WILL GO OUT OF THEIR

WAY TO FIND A FIT FOR YOU

THERE THAT WILL BEST USE ALL

OF YOUR SKILLS.”

Not only did I find that with the UEC there is a great deal of trust in the people that they work with, but also that they will go out of their way to find a fit for you there that will best use all of your skills, desires and talents to the fullest of your abilities. This is something I found very comforting and exciting about what I was doing at the

WRITTEN BY: KATHERINE WALTON-MYERSEDITED BY: LIZ RASPERILLUSTRATION BY: AUDREY MANTOOTH

SUSTAINABLE AMBASSADOR

UEC. I was mulling about, attending the regular sched-uled volunteer opportunities, when I got up the idea to send an email and ask if there could have been something more, “me,” more my style that I could do. Just to see. And sure enough I was given the name of a person who I could contact about opportunities. Within the week I was able to not only be participating in more artistic, more ful-

filling projects, but I also was trusted with very expensive equipment, keys and money with which to run errands. The warmth and trust given by the people who I was working with was startling. It was as if they had always known me, knew what I was capable of and what they wanted from me. The UEC uses their volunteers in a way that I find really endear-ing. They want you to give your best with the time, energy and effort that you are offering, so why not make sure it is something you can stand behind and

“THE CONFIDENCE THEY SHOWED IN ME WAS

QUITE HEARTENING, AND THEREFORE I WAS

MORE ABLE TO STAND UP AND DO WHAT

THEY ASKED ME TO DO.”

FA C I L I T Y - S U S TA I N A B L E A M B A S S A D R

I also got an assignment, to both repair and spruce up an exhibit in the basement of the UEC. It was a dona-tion from another MIAD student years ago. It was a thesis project all about recyclables. I spent hours re-researching the information so I could understand the topic, but also do a good and proper job at honoring the original work of the student. It then became my mission to contact the companies that make certain kind of plastic product and not only tell them about my project, but also spread the word about the UEC. I am promoting something that I actually believe in. Some-thing that I can stand behind, and I am excited to see if there will be any donations made to the group, not only for the project, but in the name of sustainability. It’s exciting, and exhilarating. And maybe, just maybe, I will keep donating my time to the crew of people that I am working with. The UEC is not really going anywhere. I used to think charity and volunteerism was a, pardon my French, crock of shit. I am one who often thought “where are the people helping me?!” and “bullshit this is it’s own re-ward!” but how wrong I was. This has become something

enjoy doing. The confidence they showed in me was quite heartening, and therefore I was more able to stand up and do what they asked me to do. Running errands was something I was more than happy to do, although, riding bikes is not my favorite activity. I was excited to do the work, saw where I was coming from, as in the case as the great adventure to Utrecht, and ask for not only discounts but to hand over a card that said “I am an am-bassador for this organization, please take me seriously!” “I AM AN AMBASSADOR FOR

THIS ORGANIZATION, PLEASE

TAKE ME SERIOUSLY!”

really exciting, fun and something I may want to pursue. I am now a proud member of the UEC, I will be using their kayaks and canoes and other activity equipment on my own time, possibly attending seminars, and continuing to help out whenever I can.

I do not like to sound cheesy, but this class has actually made a huge difference to me in finding pride in a city I resented, (I have missed Chicago so desperately for the past 3 years) and I have really gotten a sense of bearing within the city for what the compass of fun and quality points to beyond the bars and the state fair, the baseball games and the Rave concert hall. There is a great deal of fun to have beyond the borders of what I ever would have expected. And although I still do not enjoy the cur-riculum of this class, I am more grateful to have taken it. It is a feel good, quality project that I hope others will learn as much, and gain as much as I have from in the future.

“I AM NOW A PROUD MEMBER

OF THE UEC, I WILL BE USING

THEIR ACTIVITY EQUIPMENT

ON MY OWN TIME... AND

CONTINUING TO HELP OUT

WHENEVER I CAN.”

FA C I L I T Y - S U S TA I N A B L E A M B A S S A D R

T H E U R B A N E C O L O G Y I S S U E

FROM THE INSIDE

SUSAN WINANS VOLUNTEERING AT THE UEC

Susan Winans is the volunteer coordinator at the Urban Ecology Center. She has helped many people dedicate their time at the Urban Ecology Center and is one of the keys to why they have such a great experience along the way. I asked Susan if she would give me a small inter-view in hopes that she may be able to help and pursuade those people looking for more, that it is very close by and always a blast. I was personally helped by Susan when I decided to volunteer at the UEC and she was ex-tremely helpful and guiding. She takes into account your strengths and weaknesses as far as skills and what may or may not be in your comfort zone. These are things that you will discuss with Susan when determining where and how you would like to help out at the UEC. But I will let Susan explain better.

COULD YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM AT THE UEC?

The UEC is a community organization, so its part of our mission is to be a community center and we want to make sure there’s community involvement and support in everything we do and its also our hope that those peo-ple will help continue our mission and spread the word. We encourage people to get involved in the various pro-gramming we do with the citizen and science and the field research we do and we also need volunteers for our educational and recreational programs with students and young kids.

CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT KIND OF AN IMPACT YOU HAVE SEEN THE VOLUNTEER PROGRAM AT THE UEC MAKE ON THE COMMUNITY?

A big impact is in the preservation and restoration work that we do. We have 40 acres at Riverside Park and 15 acres at Washington Park, and they are being restored and conserved and they give the land stewards and field researchers more opportunities and we would not be able to do that with out the volunteers. The parks are free of litter and garbage, they are better educational and learning environments for our students all because of the work our volunteers have done. So I would say that’s a

PHOTO COURTESY OF: ROBERT KJENDLIE

15 MIAD Bridge

F R O M T H E I N S I D E


major impact. And then with regards to the school pro-grams that we do and the other educational and recre-ational programs that we do with kids, when we have volunteers engaging in the programs, we are able to have more individualized attention with the kids which I think goes a long way in weather or not they have a positive experience and the amount that they learned during the program.

WHAT KINDS OF PEOPLE GENERALLY COME TO VOLUNTEER? IS THERE A BROAD SPECTRUM?

I think that that’s a really interesting question. At the Ur-ban Ecology Center we find that we really have an inter-generational appeal and we do have young kids coming in to volunteer, in elementary and middle school, we have high school students, we have college students, we have young professionals, we have retirees, there’s really a wide range of volunteers. In addition to that we have corporate groups and other non profit organizations in the city who send groups of volunteers to volunteer with us, so I would say that we really do have an intergen-erational appeal, both men and women volunteer at the Ecology Center.

WHOW CAN PEOPLE BECOME A VOLUNTEER?

So we encourage any interested person who wants to volunteer to attend the volunteer orientation and we hold several of those each month. At the orientation folks fill out an application with their interests and their skills and their availability and then we try and match the indi-viduals with opportunities at the center.

HOW DOES THE UEC UTILIZE ITS VOLUNTEERS?

All of the ways I have mentioned already. We have vol-unteer that are a very high level of kind of overseeing the governance of our organization, those folks are con-sidered our board members, they’re also considered our

board committees that are also made up of volunteers as well. So we have volunteers at that level we also have volunteers helping us with our day-to-day operations of our center, so, working on restoration and preservation projects, interacting with kids and helping to engage kids in recreational and educational opportunities at the center. We have volunteers who answer the phones and greet visitor and we have volunteers who help with ad-ministrative tasks like updated entry and mailing and fil-ing and we have volunteers who are out there doing bio-logical field research. And then we have several special events throughout the year and volunteers are involved in most of the planning and they help out with those events as well, so we engage a wide variety of people with a wide variety of skill and talents.

DO YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC STORY OF A PERSON THAT CAME INTO THE CENTER AND DIDN’T REALLY KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOING OR WERE VERY SKEPTICAL AND THEY WERE AFFECTED POSITIVELY BY THE CENTER?

Yea, I have a particular story I could share, it was actu-ally written up recently. I have a picture of an older blind woman who wasn’t sure if she was going to be able to contribute to the volunteer program and then we found an opportunity for her cleaning seeds which didn’t re-quire the use of sight, it really made an impact on her and I think made a big impact on us as well that we were able to engage her in doing service at the center. There’s also a woman with downs syndrome who comes in weekly and has been for the last 8 years. She did a lot of clerical jobs for us as well, again that’s an example of somebody who might not otherwise think they could get involved in the community and yet there’s a place for them to make a meaningful impact.

To get in contact with Susan if you have any questions or would like to become a volunteer you can email her at [email protected] or call the Urban Ecology Center at 414-964-8505.

Julia Robson, the snake survey field research leader, cotterizing number markings onto the scales of a butler identifying it for future re-capture.

A very cute and curious little Butler.

SERPENTINE SURVEYOR

The Urban Ecology Center is a community built organi-zation, which gives back to the environment, educates children on being environmentally conscious as well as provides a public space for any one to come and be a part of the community. The Urban Ecology Center at Riv-erside Park is where I spent most of my volunteer hours, the building is a great place for school groups and other programs to do activities such as rock climbing, canoe-ing, and gardening. I was mainly interested in the field research opportunities of the Urban Ecology Center as they pertained to my education in Natural Science as well as my own personal interest. I had the opportunity to work on a bunch of differ-ent outings, not only the field research projects. I helped out with the Teen Adventure Challenge which consisted of a number of teams made up of four teens and one adult, most came from schools within Milwaukee coun-ty. The teams then set off on their adventure to complete all the events in a timely fashion and score the fastest time. There was biking, where I was stationed at one of the checkpoints in order to take photos of the challeng-ers. I was also stationed at rock climbing and took photos of the teams completing that challenge as well. I really enjoyed helping out on the event, especially in the rock climbing area, many of the teens had never climbed a rock wall before and watching them fight to scale the wall with their team cheering them on was very inspiring and heartwarming, it was a great thing to watch. The majority of the opportunities that I helped out with at the Urban Ecology Center were the field research projects. I was considered a research intern and I helped monitor and conduct surveys in order to better under-stand populations of certain species of animals in the environment around the UEC and within Milwaukee County. I volunteered on the Turtle Survey Team, the Bat

WRITTEN AND EDITED BY: LIZ RASPERPHOTOS COMPLIMENTS OF: JULIA ROBSON


Top Right: This is a neo-nate, or a baby Butler, showing comparison in size to the female hand that is holding it.

Bottom Left: When snaking we had to flip over the plywood boards fast to catch the snakes off guard to we could scoop them all up before they slithered away.

Monitoring team and the Snake Surveying team. With turtle and bat monitoring, the time limitations were dif-ficult with only an hour-long survey, there were many times that I was unable to help out due to work and other responsibilities. However, I did enjoy helping out on both. For the turtle surveys we set up cylindrical netted traps along the shoreline of the Milwaukee River for the turtles to come into after being attracted by bate. We set them in areas that the turtles might be likely to look for food and bask, and we disguised the traps with driftwood in order to make them less obvious. We did not have much luck with the turtle surveys but I think that may have had mostly to do with the not so consistent weather. It was also a realization to me of the condition of the Milwaukee River, with the pollution and less than satis-factory water conditions the turtle’s habitat is becoming less and less desirable to them. For Bat surveys we gathered a group of at least four people to conduct a bat walk. We would go to one of the local parks in the area, Washington, Riverside, Klutsch, and Warnimot towards Cudahy and walk along the paths for at least an hour. The equipment we used for the bat walks was quite sophisticated, we had a PDA hooked up to a sonar device called an Anabat, the Anabat would pick up the sounds being emitted by the bats flying around the area and the PDA would track our GPS route and at the same time record it and display the calls that we were catching on the screen. The calls themselves were only curvy lines made up of lots and lots of tiny dots. These signals were in a specific frequency level that would help us determine what species of bat it may have been that made the call. The length of the frequency call as well as the shape it created on the screen were also factors in our deciphering the species. After one of our hour-long bat walks, with all the data recorded, we would upload the data onto the bat monitoring website for the state of Wisconsin. We would then enter the data into the UEC’s records on the computer as well as use a guide to try and decipher which species of bat each call may have been. The last research opportunity that I was a part of and most of my time was spent on was snake surveying. This research project was focused around the abundance and conservation outcome of the Butler’s Garter Snake. The

reason for monitoring all these different animals in the Milwaukee area is to establish how well our native spe-cies are doing as well as how our reintroduction and con-servation efforts are progressing. In the case of the But-ler’s Garter Snake, it was not all that long ago that it was actually an endangered species in Wisconsin, due mostly to loss of habitat. The Urban Ecology Center has start-ed the monitoring program to see how well the species is now doing after its conservation in the Milwaukee area.

The way that we did this was by placing medium sized plywood boards on the ground to collected sunlight and warmth. We placed boards on the East bank side of the Milwaukee river and on the west bank side, these boards were then left during the early hours of the day and afternoon to soak up as much sun as possible before we needed to start collecting data before the sun went down. Each survey took us at least 4 hours; needless to say I got most of my hours in through the snake surveys. We would go in order, each board was numbered, 48 boards on the east side and 21 on the west, flipping over

T H E U R B A N E C O L O G Y I S S U E MIAD Bridge 18

W I L D L I F E - S U R P E N T I N E S U R V E Y O R

“ . . . IT WAS NOT ALL THAT LONG AGO THAT IT WAS ACTUALLY AN ENDANGERED SPECIES IN WISCONSIN...”

A volunteer is SVLing a Butler, thats snout to vent length, from the tip of their nose to the vent which is a couple of inches before the end of the tail.

Another part of the recording process was weighing the snakes. We used a plastic bag clipped to a pulley scale in grams.

the boards to reveal the snakes lying beneath them. We would then grab the snakes throw then into pillowcases and one by one we would take out a snake, measure it, weigh it, SVL (snout to vent length) it and check to see if it was gravid if it was a female and then finally we

would mark the snake with a number just above the vent on its scales. We would catch snakes that had already been caught and this was really the point of the project and helped us see the progress of the species. We would count the number on its tail and then measure, weigh and SVL to make sure that we had the right snake and to see if it had grown at all. There were records of all the snakes that had been caught and numbered since the project started two years ago to reference. Endangered species is one of the things taught about at the UEC, but I focus more specifically on the Butler’s Garter snake population and how it has come back in Wisconsin due to conservation efforts. To identify a But-ler from a common garter snake there are a few differ-ences besides the obvious size difference. Butlers are smaller, more docile in behavior and personality, it is a slender snake, the back color is black to olive brown in

color and has three yellow to orange stripes. One stripe runs mid-dorsally while the other two lie laterally, the placement of these stripes on the scales is what truly identifies a butler. The lateral stripes are on the 3rd scale row, as well as on the adjacent halves of scale rows 2 and 4. Commons may have more green colored scales that are thicker and located on the lateral sides more towards the ventral (belly side) side of the snake. The ventral side of the Butler is a pale green to yellow color and the edges of the scutes may be tinged black. The chin throat and lower labials (lips) are yellow, and the upper labials may also be highlighted with orange. The head of a Butler is small, much smaller than a common garter snake; it is so small it is barely distinguishable from the neck. Their movement is somewhat erratic when they try to move swiftly, with a majority of side-to-side movement but very little forward progress. In contrast to the Butler also the Eastern Garter snake can be found in WI and has lateral stripes that are restricted to scale rows 2 and 3. (CRACM) The location in which you can find a Butler’s Gar-ter Snake in WI is highly fragmented within its range. You can find them from central Ohio, west to central Indiana, north through eastern Michigan and in the adja-cent southern part of Ontario Canada, and of course they are found in southeastern Wisconsin but these popula-tions are more disconnected from the other populations as well as a population in the central peninsula of south-ern Ontario. Within the Midwestern states the Butler can be found in the northeast quarter of Indiana, the east-ern and southern Lower Peninsula of Michigan, across the northern two-thirds of Ohio and from southeastern Wisconsin. The species is absent from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri. (CRACM) The current status of the Butler is on the rise, they are still considered a Threatened species in Wisconsin and Endangered in Indiana. Mainly the decline of the


“WE WOULD CATCH SNAKES THAT HAD ALREADY BEEN CAUGHT AND THIS WAS REALLY THE POINT OF THE PROJECT AND HELPED US SEE THE PROGRESS OF THE SPECIES.”

Above Left: A fellow snaker holds a particularly friendly and pretty female Butler that we just never wanted to see her go.

Above Right: A group out snaking with Julia. She is showing them how to process the snakes and record all the data.

Butler is consequence of habitat loss, they prefer moist open, grassy habitats such as wet meadows and prairies, the borders of marshes, lakes, rivers, fields in parks, as well as other moist open areas. These habitat areas can also be those that support locally dense populations such as vacant lots in urban and suburban areas and even along railway embankments bordered by residenc-es. The Butler is active from spring through late fall and typically range from late March to early April through October or November. During that time they are mostly encountered during the spring and again in mid to late fall, particularly in the morning and early evening when they are most active. During the remainder of the season they avoid daytime activity and spend time taking refuge any place they can, including under our plywood boards at the UEC. Once the Butler is out of hibernation it will almost immediately begin its breeding activities. Butlers are ovoviviparous and can bear between 4 and 20 live young, which range from 125-185mm in length. They usually give birth in Wisconsin in mid to late July and through early September. Typically the larger the female,

the larger the clutch, the young Butlers will then grow rapidly during their first year and will reach sexual ma-turity during their second spring. While they eat mostly earthworms and sometimes leeches it is not hard for them to come across food. (CRACM) As stated before the foremost threat to the Butlers status is habitat loss. Their prime habitat areas are be-ing replaced by agriculture, housing developments and urban development and the habitat that does still remain and is not protected is highly vulnerable for future development. In these urban areas where some Butlers try to thrive, they are vulnerable to extermina-tion from development and exploitation from collectors.

Natural ecological succession may also threaten exist-ing populations of Butlers particularly those existing in highly fragmented areas. In the urban and more locally populated areas, collection has seriously impacted some populations, mortality on roads and from mowing and farming equipment adds to the threats of the species. In order to manage the conservation of the species there is much more research that needs to be done on the ecol-ogy of the Butler. The remaining habitats where Butlers are still able to exist and thrive need to be protected and managed, especially from urban and agricultural devel-opment. Controlling succession needs to be managed as well as with controlled burns or other potentially harmful management measures. The implementation of mowing schedules especially in urban settings could lessen mor-tality. Mowing should be done during times and condi-tions when the species is least active, as in when they are seeking shelter from the heat especially in the middle of the day. (CRACM) There has been an objective conservation strategy proposed for the Butler in Wisconsin to secure long-term protection of the Butler’s garter snake. The steps to this strategy include:

1) Increase our understanding of the life history and habitat needs of the Butler including a better definition of the snake’s range in Wisconsin.



“...THE FOREMOST THREAT TO THE BUTLERS STATUS IS HABITAT LOSS.”

2) Develop a conservation strategy that includes a classification system to assess existing or potential Butler habitat throughout the snake’s range and establishes long-term conservation priorities.

3) Develop conservation measures that can be used to protect snakes and manage for and enhance suitable habitat.

4) Secure the support of the Conservation Strategy by the various stakeholders, including the conservation, development and research communities.

The classification system is the primary component of the strategy. It’s categorized into three tiers sites that support or have the potential to support the snake. Each tier represents the potential long-term conservation value of a particular site for the Butler. Each suitable habitat is evaluated by two primary factors, suitable habitat size and habitat quality. These two factors provide a scientifically sound foundation for setting protection and management priorities for the long-term survival of the species. (WDNR) Conservation measures have been developed for each of the tiers, sites classified as Tier 1 are covered in-der a broad incidental take authorization that was com-pleted in 2004. Under this revised conservation strategy, the Department proposes the same broad authorization for Tier 2 sites assuming that the conservation of Tier 3 sites can be achieved. Projects that result only in habi-tat disturbance requires that the disturbed habitat be re-stored to its pre-activity condition or a condition that im-proved habitat for the snakes following completion of the activity. Sites of minimal long-term conservation value, the loss of individuals at Tier 1 sites is not expected to have a negative effect on the overall status and recovery of the species becaue they do not offer long-term con-servation value for the snake. No conservation measures are required for projects covered under this authoriza-tion but voluntary actions are recommended. Tier 2 are sites of moderate long-term conservation value, for these sites if conservation of a sufficient number of Tier 3 sites can be secured then the current measures will not be required upon authorization of the Tier 2 broad inci-dental take which is identical to that for Tier 1 sites. For Tier 3, sites of significant conservation value potentially support large Butler populations and are critical to the long-term conservation of the species. The loss of a Tier 3 site would jeopardize the status of the species based on the current data. The conservation strategy calls for take to be avoided at these sites, except in the case of habitat management. If take is proposed outside of that necessary for habitat management, project-specific incidental take authorization is required. For Tier 3 sites, all suitable habitats must either be maintained or the


Top Left: Cute little Northern Brown snake that was caught. They are native to wisconsin and are quite common, we recorded every one we caught, but did not mark them for identification.

Top Right: Julia checking over a snake for any injuries, scars or half-vent scales.

Middle: Throughout the snaking season we saw the grass grow taller than we were all around our research area.

Bottom: A friendly adult male Butler’s Garter snake. The males are generally smaller than females, but all Butler’s are very docile.

Butler’s Garter snake Conservation Strategy, V. 2.3, Wisconsin Department of

Natural Resources, March 31, 2005 <PDF>. (WDNR)

BUTLER’S GARTER SNAKE’, Center for Reptile and Amphibian Conservation

and Management. <PDF>. (CRACM)

equivalent of any lost suitable habitat must be restored to suitable habitat elsewhere within the habitat patch so that there is no net loss. I learned a lot about our area from volunteering at the UEC. I learned a lot about the animals and species in the area and how we are trying to understand and protect them. I learned what the Urban Ecology Center is all about and changed my point of view on the orga-nization and the community it is in. I was unsure at the beginning and now I love it there and I can see why so many people donate and give time to keep it up and run-ning and a great place to be. With my research projects that I contributed to, I had the opportunity to meet a lot of new people who were interested in the work being done and giving up their time to be there just like me. I was surprised to see all the kinds of people that were in-terested in the outings and was glad at how friendly and helpful and knowledgeable they all were. From work-ing on all the research projects, I was able to learn a lot about the species we were monitoring and I learned about how to survey the species and monitor their sta-tus. With the turtle surveys I learned ideal locations for them to hide and bask, I learned what they might take for bate and I learned how to set the trap net for them. With the turtle surveys we also went down river a ways and I was shocked to see the condition of the riverbed and the banks, there was garbage and broken glass and pieces of metal protruding from the muck. The bottom of the river was completely mucky, all sludge and silt nowhere for small aquatic animals and invertebrates to hide and live. I think that in some areas of the river, it needs to get cleaned up and measures need to be taken to restore the river to a less polluted state.

In the bat surveys I was able to learn about the dif-ferent kinds of bat we have in Wisconsin and there are seven different species. I learned how to use the equip-ment to track the back calls and record them onto the PDA using the Anabat. I was also able to try and identify the bat calls on the screen by the different lengths and frequencies that are specific to each species. We were able to upload our collected data from our walks to the Wisconsin bat conservation website and I entered the data from our walks into the computer for the UEC re-cords. It was a lot of information but it was very interest-ing and I felt like I was actually helping the state get more information on the bats we have. The snake surveys were what I spent the most time doing, they are quite time consuming and we would be outside for 4-5 hours at a time. I definitely feel as if I have learned the most from this research project and met the most people too. I think that if I were to go out on my own I would be able to conduct a survey as the leader and teach others how to survey the snakes. I learned how to identify a Butler’s garter snake, the species which we are researching, measure them, weigh them, sex them and even mark them with their number. I have learned about their personalities, their habits, and their habitat. We even caught some other native species of snakes include Northern Brown Snakes which are quite small and of course common garter snakes which are larger than the Butlers and I have learned about their behaviors and appearances as well. I have learned much about the Urban Ecology Center and its efforts in doing these research projects, they have only been going on for the past few years. I feel that with my minor in Natural Science to be completed at MIAD that this was a great fit for me as a student and someone who is interested in the environ-ment and our native species and I fully plan on continu-ing what ever volunteer outings that I can.



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