2020 has been an unpredictable year. Despite the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Wisconsinites have remained resilient. Although times have been tough, Wisconsinites have gotten outdoors to enjoy the many adventures available in our state.

In this episode of Off the Record, we asked residents on Facebook to share their inspirational stories of how they found their adventure at Wisconsin State Parks this summer. These four stories represent a collective upward trend in outdoor activity throughout Wisconsin. 

Find your adventure in Wisconsin at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/outdoorrecreation/adventure.html
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TRANSCRIPT

ANNOUNCER: [00:00:00] Welcome to Wisconsin DNR's Wild Wisconsin Off the Record podcast. Information straight from the source.

KATIE: [00:00:12] Welcome back to another episode of Wild Wisconsin Off the Record. I'm your host DNRs Acting Communications Director, Katie Grant. While the COVID-19 pandemic has certainly presented its fair share of challenges, Wisconsinites have remained resilient. And if there's one thing Wisconsinites did a lot of this year, it was get outdoors. Between the middle of March and June 20, 26.4 million people visited Wisconsin state parks, and throughout all of summer, our parks saw 14% more visitors than in 2019.

The spring turkey season saw 20% more turkey licenses sold. And sales of first time fishing licenses nearly doubled with more than 20,000 more sold this year, than in 2019. In this year of uncertainty, the DNR is proud of the upward trend of people partaking in the exploration of all of the outdoor activities our state has to offer. Here's DNR Secretary Preston Cole with more.

PRESTON: [00:01:17] Outdoor recreation is essential to our economy. Our quality of life, our personal well being and happiness. Wisconsin is home to 49 state parks, 15 state forests, 44 state trails, 84,000 miles of rivers and streams and roughly 15,000 lakes. Leaving folks with tons of opportunity to get outdoors. Being outdoors impacts us in a myriad of ways. But specifically our individual health and wellbeing. Outdoor recreation accounts for 7.8 billion economic impact in Wisconsin. Businesses that sell and rent bikes, kayaks, camping gear are all busier than ever.

The increases that people are enjoying the great outdoors and everything that Wisconsin has to offer has been incredible for us to witness. It's clear to us that navigating this pandemic, that parks and Wisconsin's natural resources, in general, are essential for us as a people. And certainly for Wisconsinites.

While we'll be exploring ways to enrich our parks in the short term and long term, looking for ways to improve the opportunities for newcomers, increases accessibility for individuals with mobility issues, provide better awareness and opportunities for those different ethnic backgrounds or social economic status.

Even though you may see fewer DNR staff in person at your favorite state park, know that they are still working around the clock to ensure you have a positive and safe experience. 

KATIE: [00:02:42] We wanted to hear how you spent your summer finding adventure in Wisconsin. Our guests today share their stories of how they took advantage of Wisconsin's vast array of parks and recreation areas this summer. Some experienced things for the first time. Others continued old traditions. So sit back and listen in to hear their stories. 

ERIN: [00:03:05] Hi, my name is Erin and I am from New Berlin, Wisconsin, my boyfriend, Brandon, and our two dogs, Mac and Cam are on a journey to camp in fall at as many beautiful Wisconsin state parks as we possibly can. And this unprecedented summer really gave us an opportunity to take our first ever summer camping trip. So we ended up packing up our pop-up camper and headed an hour west of New Berlin to Lake Kegonsa in Stoughton, Wisconsin. And we had a truly unforgettable four day weekend. While at Lake Kegonsa we honestly explored every single dog-friendly hiking trail. And we even did some geocaching in the woods.

And for those of you who have done geocaching before, there are a ton of these in Lake Kegonsa so I highly recommend trying it. But after a trip to the lake, we had hours of campfires. We saw a giant Osprey nest and honestly encountered more ticks and mosquitoes than I'd probably like to admit. We ended up making a memory we will never forget. And got to cross another state park off our list. So thank you so much, Wisconsin state parks and park staff for allowing us to keep our lives super adventurous during such an interesting time in our world history and letting us explore the hidden beauty that is Lake Kegonsa State Park. Next up, we have Mirror Lake State Park scheduled for this October and we can not wait.

JOHN: [00:04:33] My name is John Stellflue. The COVID-19 virus has affected each and every one of us in some way, shape or form. You know, this spring, it caused two of my turkey hunts to be canceled. I had two tags, one for season three in zone one and one for season four in zone four. But with everything going on with Covid we all agreed we probably shouldn't get together as a group and hunt. I was very disappointed. I looked forward to these turkey hunts like many of you guys look forward to gun deer season. But as I drove to work the next morning, I realized that the border of zone one is just west of my home in Sun Prairie. My wheels started to spin.

I knew it was some public land that could work just fine for us. I called my friend. He had the same tag and same season and told him, Hey, let's do this. And he said he was in. I had less than a week to scout, found us a few spots and the plan quickly started to come together for a last minute public land hunt.

Hey, worst case scenario is we spend a few days social distancing in the turkey woods and perhaps find some morels and ramps. Nothing wrong with that. This was going to be my first public land hunt. We... I've always hunted private in the past. My biggest concern was that we were going to be dealing with a lot of hunting pressure.

I couldn't have been more wrong. With all the people not working, Gym still being closed, the only thing many people could do for exercise was to walk the public land. We saw and heard a lot of them. After two and a half days of dodging people, I made the call to head to Governor Dodge State Park. My thought was, this is a very large park and we could escape the people.

We went to the backside of Twin Valley Lake figuring we could get away from the crowds that were enjoying the park on the first day that the parks were open. Cause prior to this, they had been closed because of Covid. We were wrong. It seemed no matter what we did we couldn't escape the people who were enjoying the parks.

As we ate a sandwich on the tailgate of my truck, desperately searching for answers, a friendly DNR park employee stopped and asked if we were seeing any turkeys. I said, all we're seeing is people. He gave us a tip and suggested an area of the park that wasn't frequented by a lot of people. We headed there to check it out.

We really liked what we saw and both of us had spots picked out for the following morning. As the sun came up, I heard gobbling off to my left. I smiled... really big smile. Didn't take long before a group of Jakes showed themselves in front of me. I yelped at them and they started coming to my way. They stopped.

Each year, over one million people use Wisconsin’s Ice Age Trail to recreate, meditate or take in the unique sights sculpted by a glacier thousands of years ago.

Last spring, Coree Woltering, a North Face sponsored ultrarunner, embarked on a challenge that very few have attempted in the IATs 12,000-year history.

For over 21 days, Woltering endured an ankle sprain, remnants of a tropical storm and a barrage of mosquitoes and ticks all in route to setting the record for the fastest known time across the trail. Not only did Woltering successfully overcome every obstacle, but in the process, he also helped raise over $28,000 for Feeding America, a national nonprofit that assists food banks across the country.

In this episode of Off the Record, we sat down with Woltering to discuss his origins as an ultrarunner, his desire to be a champion for diversity in the world of outdoor sports and how cupcakes and Kwik Trip chicken sandwiches fuel his run.

Follow Coree On Social Media
Facebook
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Learn more about the Ice Age Trail at https://www.iceagetrail.org/

Listen to episode 47 -- Hitting Wisconsin’s Trails With The Thousand Miler

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TRANSCRIPT

ANNOUNCER: [00:00:00] Welcome to Wisconsin DNR's Wild Wisconsin "Off the Record" podcast. Information straight from the source.

KATIE: [00:00:10] Welcome back to another episode of Wild Wisconsin Off the Record. I'm your host DNR's Digital Communication Section Chief Katie Grant. The last six months have been full of uncertainty. Although the changes look a bit different for everyone.

We've all had to adapt in some way. Early on in the pandemic, Coree Woltering an Ultra Marathon Runner from Ottawa, Illinois realized he was going to have to the shift gears as a sponsored athlete, he saw that races were being canceled for summer and his future was uncertain. He decided to turn lemons into lemonade and attempt to break a fastest known time record for running the Ice Age Trail across Wisconsin.

And he decided to take it a step further by raising money for Feeding America, a national nonprofit that helps food banks all over the country. Coree's attempt began on June 1st at the Ice Age Trails, Western Terminus located in Interstate State Park in St. Croix Falls over the next 21 days, 13 hours and 35 minutes.

Coree raced against the clock arriving at the Eastern Terminus in Sturgeon Bay on June 22nd. Beating the record by about four and a half hours. We chatted with Coree via zoom to hear what it was like to run 1200 miles and learn a bit more about the eating, training and music that goes into pulling off the success. So sit back and listen. It. 

COREE: [00:01:38] Hey guys. Yeah. So, um, my name is Coree and I am a professional Trail and Ultra Runner for the North Face. Um, so basically I get to go explore trails and different areas and try to run fast on them. 

KATIE: [00:01:57] That's a pretty simple way of describing it, but what you do sounds in reality, a lot harder than that. Uh, how did you get into long distance running? 

COREE: [00:02:08] Um, that is a great question because sometimes I still wonder that. So I grew up, you know, playing multiple sports and was running usually to stay in shape for the sports and then kind of realized I was decent at it. And, um, So I ran in high school, ran in college, um, but it is more sprints and middle distance that I was doing.

And then I also ran cross country. So I had to kind of get used to a little bit longer of distances. And then, um, just through a few injuries and stuff, I actually took up triathlon because I was like, you know, I know how to run. I can swim. So may as well buy a bike and start riding and next thing, you know, I find myself racing the middle distance and the sprints on the track, but then I'm racing half Ironman races in the summer to stay in shape for everything. And, um, turned out to be pretty decent at that. And so I raced the world championships twice. And then, um, moved to Boulder, Colorado and thought I wanted to become a professional triathlete and started hanging out with trail runners and found out that trail running was my passion.

KATIE: [00:03:20] Very cool. Competing in Ironman triathlons just absolutely blows my mind. I have a couple of friends who do it and it, to me is crazy. Cause I'm not a runner at all, but good for you for doing, is there an official distance where it is no longer? Just long distance running and it is suddenly Ultra Running.

COREE: [00:03:41] Um, so Ultra Running would be considered basically anything over the typical marathon of 26.2 miles. Um, but I believe like the first like official ultra distance is 50 kilometers, so about 31 miles. 

KATIE: [00:03:57] All right. That makes sense. Congratulations. You very recently, uh, set the record for the fastest known time running the Ice Age Trail. Why did you specifically pick the Ice Age Trail and why now? 

COREE: [00:04:13] Yeah. Um, so I picked the Ice Age Trail because I do a lot of training on the southern Kettle Moraine area um, trails down there, and then I've done quite a bit of stuff in the Devils Lake area. So it just kind of became this thing of like, Okay.

I've seen a couple areas of the Ice Age trail, but now I'd like to explore more of them. So in May, uh, I basically decided that I was going to go after the Ice Age Trail FKT in June. Um, so not a lot of time to plan, but I took a couple of trips up to northern Wisconsin and got on some of the more technical areas up there and just kind of learned in the course a little bit.

And then, um, And then yeah, just went for it in June. And I guess now was the time to do it because, um, like with COVID like we, we didn't have any races happening and we really don't know when the next race will be happening. So because of that and like, I have time to kind of do this and then recover after and not have to worry about getting ready for another race or something.

Um, Yeah. So that was the first part of why. Um, and then the second part of why actually kind of... kind of happened, you know, like, um, you know, three or four days before I started, um, the George Floyd incident, um, I had no idea just like how much of a movement that was going to start. Um, but at the time I felt like this was kind of like my time to do this as, um, just a positive story of people of color in the outdoors, doing awesome things because...

Uh, there just weren't a lot of positive stories happening at the moment. 

KATIE: [00:06:03] Yeah, absolutely. The way that you got started in this particular one, I think is a, such a very cool story, especially with everything going on in the world, not only with, um, you know, like you had mentioned the incident with George Floyd, but also with COVID and kind of the world being completely different right now than it ever has been before. Have you ever done a race that's this long before. Or this many like consecutive days? 

COREE: [00:06:32] No. So like the longest race that I'v...

Ninety-four percent of Wisconsinites live in an area that meets all federal air quality standards. Fifty short years ago, that wasn’t necessarily the case.

The first Earth Day in 1970 paved the way for a couple of landmark environmental initiatives, including the signing of the Clean Air Act. The Clean Air Act is widely considered one of the most comprehensive and successful pieces of legislation ever signed into law.

We continue to benefit from it today. The act has achieved tremendous reductions in air pollution, protecting public health and saving lives, while allowing for economic growth and development.

To learn a bit more about what the Clean Air Act is and its impact on the reduction of air pollution throughout Wisconsin, we sat down with leading air quality experts Gail Good and Brad Pierce. Gail Good is the Director of the Air Management program at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and a co-chair for the National Association of Clean Air Agencies (NACAA) Emissions and Modeling Committee. Brad Pierce is the Principal Investigator of RAQMS (Real-time Air Quality Modeling System) and Director of the Space, Science and Engineering Center at the University of Wisconsin – Madison. 

Learn more about air quality in Wisconsin at https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/AirQuality/index.asp

Download the Wisconsin Air Quality Monitoring App for Android devices here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.envitech.Wisconsin

Download the Wisconsin Air Quality Monitoring App for Apple devices here: https://www.apple.com/lae/ios/app-store/
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TRANSCRIPT
Announcer: [00:00:00] Welcome to Wisconsin DNR's Wild Wisconsin - Off The Record podcast. Information straight from the source.

Katie Grant: [00:00:11] Welcome back to another episode of Wild Wisconsin - Off The Record. I'm your host DNR's digital media coordinator, Katie Grant. The first Earth Day was a turning point for environmentalism in our country. The awareness it braised resulted in real changes, including the creation of the environmental protection agency and the signing of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.

Without these acts, there were few things in place to limit pollution. As a state, Wisconsin has made major progress in the last 50 years when it comes to air quality. To help us celebrate Clean Air Month and the 50th anniversary of the Clean Air Act, we wanted to learn a bit more about how the air was in Wisconsin in 1970, how it is today and how you can help us keep the air clean for the future.

On today's episode, we sat down with Gail Good and Brad Pierce. Gail is the director of the air management program here at the DNR. In addition to her work for the DNR, she is a co-chair for the National Association of Clean Air Agencies' emissions and modeling committee. Brad is the director of the Space Science and Engineering Center at UW -Madison.

He has more than 25 years of experience in the design, development, and execution of global atmospheric models. Since 2001, he has been the principal investigator of the real-time air quality monitoring system, which has been used globally since 2012 to make real-time air quality predictions. Sit back and listen in to learn more about air quality in Wisconsin and hear the answers to questions you asked about it on Instagram. 

Gail Good: [00:01:53] My name is Gail good. I'm the director of the Air management program here at DNR. 

Brad Pierce: [00:01:58] And I'm Brad Pierce. I'm the director of the Space Science and Engineering Center at UW-Madison. And I'm an atmospheric scientist. 

Katie Grant: [00:02:07] Fantastic. So we are here today to talk about the 50th anniversary of the Clean Air Act.  So what is the Clean Air Act? 

Gail Good: [00:02:16] The Clean Air Act is one of the most successful pieces of federal legislation that's ever been enacted. You mentioned it was put into place 50 years ago, and that's, that's true actually at the end of this year, right on December 31st, 1970. So when the Clean Air Act was signed into existence, it's gone through several amendments. Clean Air Act, um, was designed really to, uh, cut down on air pollution while growing the economy.

And the benefit of that, the cutdown and air pollution is that it's actually saved lives over the 50 years it's been in existence. 

Katie Grant: [00:02:49] Fantastic. Was it just for Wisconsin or is it a federal thing that covers every state? 

Gail Good: [00:02:55] The Clean Air Act is a federal piece of legislation, so it does indeed cover every state.

Katie Grant: [00:03:00] When it was enacted, what did it initially mean for residents of Wisconsin and I guess the entire country.

Brad Pierce: [00:03:07] From personal experience? 

Katie Grant: [00:03:08] Yeah! 

Brad Pierce: [00:03:09] So I remember driving, I grew up in Minneapolis and we had family out East. I remember driving through Gary, Indiana on the way out East in the, in the early seventies and you could smell Gary, Indiana at that point, and it was very polluted.

And now when you drive through Gary, Indiana, it doesn't smell like pollution anymore and the air much better. So, you know, that's from personal experience. Seeing that change dramatically over the, over my lifetime is pretty amazing. 

Gail Good: [00:03:41] Yeah, when the act was first put in place in the seventies it really gave us the ability to begin to study air pollution and its effects and how much it was kind of impacting people and of the world around them.

And then over time, it's given us the ability to, you know, write permits for sources and just understand air quality issues in even more detail. 

Katie Grant: [00:04:03] What does it mean for us today? Because it's still in place now. Yes. So what, what does it mean for us today? What, what, might we see that we wouldn't see if we didn't have the Clean Air Act today.

Gail Good: [00:04:15] So we're we implement the federal Clean Air Act here, um, in the air program at DNR. Um, we basically, what happens is through that act, EPA sets requirements and boundaries and things that we can do and implement here. So we're doing that here in the program. And then, um, we work within those boundaries to implement the act still today.

So it's very much a part of what we're doing now in the air program. 

Katie Grant: [00:04:41] And you had mentioned seeing the change in Indiana, but what has changed about Wisconsin's air quality in the last 50 years, and how might people who aren't scientists notice a difference here in our state? 

Brad Pierce: [00:04:55] So I think it's a little. I do kind of global air quality. So for me it's a little easier to talk about it on maybe, for the United States as a whole. And if I look back on, uh, when I used to work at NASA, we were doing work with satellite data that was measuring the a...

Wisconsin has thousands of miles of trails that can be used for everything from hiking to snowmobiling – and lots in between. State trails are an easy way to start exploring Wisconsin’s outdoors.

We’re also fortunate enough to have two of 11 National Scenic Trails wind their way through our state -- all of the Ice Age Trail and about 200 miles of the North Country Trail.

The Ice Age National Scenic Trail spends nearly 1,200 miles winding its way through Wisconsin’s many lakes, river valleys, hills, and even state parks. In 2013, author Melanie Radzicki McManus decided to take on the Ice Age National Scenic trail to set a trail running record. And once wasn’t enough for her – she hiked and ran the trail in both directions. She also chronicled her journey in “Thousand Miler: Adventures Hiking the Ice Age Trail.” Beyond her adventures in Wisconsin, she has traveled the world hiking and writing. On this episode of Wild Wisconsin – Off the Record, Melanie shares her experience hiking in Wisconsin and beyond, plus gives her best tips for getting started.

Also weighing in is Brigit Brown, the DNR’s section chief for recreation management, who shares more on Wisconsin state trails. Listen in to learn more about Wisconsin’s thousands of miles of trails and the many ways you can use them.
 
 Learn more about Melanie Radzicki McManus at: https://thethousandmiler.com/

Learn more about Wisconsin’s state trails and find your nearest one at https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/parks/findapark.html

Find your next adventure at https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/outdoorrecreation/adventure.html
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TRANSCRIPT
Announcer: [00:00:00] Welcome to Wisconsin DNR's Wild Wisconsin -- Off The Record podcast, information straight from the source.

Katie Grant: [00:00:13] Welcome back to another episode of Wild Wisconsin -- Off The Record. I'm your host, DNR's digital media coordinator, Katie Grant. These are unprecedented times as we embrace our new normal. We at the DNR hope you find this podcast to be a little escape from all things COVID-19. On this episode of Wild Wisconsin, I talk with award-winning journalist, author and hiking enthusiast, Melanie Radzicki-McManus. 

Available now, the Wisconsin native's first book, the Thousand-Miler, is a memoir about her record-setting trail run of the Ice Age National Scenic Trail. Melanie has traveled the world hiking and trail running. She joins us to talk about her journey.

As you know, several things are postponed with COVID-19 including this podcast. We've recorded this episode before the COVID-19 pandemic when Melanie was about to start her next long-through hike. You'll hear a bit more about that in this episode, but... which... We wanted you to know that she is back home and safe now.

As a friendly reminder under Governor Ever' Safer At Home Order for those looking to explore the outdoors, we encourage you to stay in your local community and social distance to help slow the spread of COVID-19. For now, listen into my conversation with Melanie Radzicki-McManus, the Thousand-Miler.

Melanie Radzicki-McManus: [00:01:32] My name is Melanie Radzicki-McManus, and I am a freelance writer. Um, travel is one of my specialties, and I write a lot about hiking in particular, uh, or active travel. But hiking is my super niche spot. 

Katie Grant: [00:01:47] Yeah. So we brought you on here today to talk about one of the experiences you've had here in Wisconsin.

So back in 2013 and in 2015, you actually ran the Ice Age Trail. Why did you decide that this was something you wanted to do in the first place and why the Ice Age Trail specifically? 

Melanie Radzicki-McManus: [00:02:07] Well, it's kind of a longish answer and it stretches back to, uh, I guess you could say 2009 when I first learned about the Camino.

Um, and in, um, in Spain. It's a ancient pilgrimage trail and a lot of people were hiking it. So I went over to Spain and I was just captivated by this long-distance trail and following these yellow blazes through the Spanish countryside. And so I started going back many times, writing many articles. I had an app guidebook on the Camino.

And then in 2012, a running, friend of mine named Jason Dorgan told me about something called the Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin. And he said, it's a lot like this Camino you love so much, Melanie. So I researched it that night and I was flabbergasted because here I was a travel writer for, I don't even know at that time, 20 some years.

I had never heard of the Ice Age Trail. When I learned that it was a long-distance hiking trail, twice the length of the Camino, almost 1,200 miles in my own backyard. One of just 11 prestigious national scenic trails. I knew I had to, um, explore it. And I didn't have too much time to take off of work to explore it.

So I thought, well, I want to hike the whole thing and run it. Um, or I want to explore the whole trail. I don't have that much time, but I'm good at running, so I could actually run the trail like my friend Jason did, who had set what's called a fast-packing record on the trail in 2007. And I thought, oh, he's the only one that's ever tried to do it.

And he's a guy. So I could say, I could set the record for women and just to have a bunch of fun in the process, write a bunch of stories, learn about the trail, et cetera. So that's what got me started the first time in 2013 and then I just got so hooked. Um, I was obsessed in a healthy way with the trail and being outside for such a long period of time. And so I decided I wanted to write a book about it, and then that meant I needed to hike it again, or that's what I told my husband.

Katie Grant: [00:04:03] Once wasn't enough. 

Melanie Radzicki-McManus: [00:04:04] Right. So it's like I had to do it again opposite direction for the book. So I did it twice. 

Katie Grant: [00:04:09] So you wrote a book. Tell us a little bit about ... About the experience of writing the book and I guess what it's called so we can find it. 

Melanie Radzicki-McManus: [00:04:15] It's called Thousand-Miler: Adventures Hiking the Ice Age Trail, and it's this story. It's a story of the Ice Age Trail. It gives the history, it talks about my experience on the trail, and that's kind of the thread that holds the book together.

And as I encountered different hikers along the trail, I weave their stories into the book as well. I also have a chapter devoted to Jason and his, um, fast-packing attempt, and another chapter devoted to the first person to through-hike the trail who did it back in I think like 1979 when I was probably in a disco.

Katie Grant: [00:04:47] Wow. What were your favorite segments of the Ice Age Trail? 

Melanie Radzicki-McManus: [00:04:53] I'm glad you said favorite segments with an s. Cause I'm a person who never has one favorite. There are so many wonderful segments in this trail. Um, I like the Chippewa... Chippewa Moraine segment a lot. It's in the northwest portion of the state because it's just kind of a perfect, you know, not too hilly, but not flat.

The trails are all perfectly groomed. You pass these ...

Earth Day was founded by Wisconsin’s very own Gaylord Nelson. Then a senator, and former Wisconsin governor, Nelson had a simple idea for a day of awareness for the planet. 

The year was 1970. Gas was cheap. There were no regulations like the Clean Air Act or the Clean Water Act to keep factories from polluting our air, land, and water. A rising consciousness after several environmental disasters had the country buzzing with a desire to do more.

His idea took off, and millions joined in across the country. Today, Earth Day is celebrated by more than a billion people around the globe.

Nelson’s daughter, Tia, is paving the way for his legacy to live on through her environmental advocacy. She is the managing director on climate at the Outrider Foundation. In this episode, she sheds light on her father’s work, what Earth Day means to her and how you can get involved.

Learn more about Nelson’s legacy in the spring issue of Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine: https://dnr.wi.gov/wnrmag/

Learn more about Outrider Foundation at https://outrider.org/features/earth-day-film/
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TRANSCRIPT
Announcer: [00:00:00] Welcome to Wisconsin DNRs Wild Wisconsin - Off The Record podcast, information straight from the source.

Katie Grant: [00:00:12] Welcome back to another episode of Wild Wisconsin - Off The Record. I'm your host, DNRs digital media coordinator, Katie Grant. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day. That's 50 years of living, changing and advancing. In 1970 a gallon of gas was 36 cents. The Beatles released, "Let it be" and then later broke up and a quarter would get you a dozen eggs. 

It was also the year of the very first Earth Day founded by former Wisconsin governor Gaylord Nelson. It was a time when factories pumped pollutants into the air, lakes and rivers with few repercussions. Gas guzzling cars ruled the roads. Before 1970 there was no EPA, no Clean Air Act, and no Clean Water Act.

Then a senator, Gaylord Nelson, had an idea to raise awareness about air and water pollution. His idea took off and on the first Earth Day in 1970 millions of Americans participated in rallies, marches and teach-ins for environmental education across the country. Earth Day catalyzed a movement in the United States that founded the Environmental Protection Agency and ignited a spirit of stewardship that has driven progress for five decades.

Today, Earth Day is celebrated around the world with billions of people participating in their own way. Although Gaylord Nelson passed away in 2005, his legacy lives on through his daughter, Tia, who was 14 at the time of the first Earth Day. She has since followed in her father's environmental protection footsteps.

Today, Tia Nelson is the managing director on climate for the Outrider Foundation. She is internationally recognized as a champion for environmental stewardship and climate change. Before the Safer at Home order, we spoke with Tia in early March to hear more about her father's life work, what Earth Day means to her and how you can get involved.

Just because most of us are at home doesn't mean you can't celebrate Earth Day this year as we all do what we can to slow the spread of COVID-19, the DNR encourages you to celebrate 50 years of Earth Day close to home. Be sure to practice social distancing if you're out in the community. 

At the Wisconsin DNR, we embrace Earth Day 365. For us, every day is Earth Day. Sit back and listen in to how a Wisconsin senator helped establish Earth Day 50 years ago and how his daughter keeps his memory alive today. 

Tia Nelson: [00:02:37] My name is Tia Nelson. I'm managing director for the climate change program at the Outrider Foundation. We seek to educate, engage, and inspire action on big global challenges like climate change, help people understand the risks, but importantly also help them understand the opportunities to be a part of the solution.

Katie Grant: [00:03:00] Fantastic. So you could be doing anything in the world. Why are you so passionate about the environment? 

Tia Nelson: [00:03:07] I have always had a love of nature. I spent a lot of time in the outdoors as a child. I went on to study wildlife ecology at the University of Wisconsin. I had wanted to be a veterinarian, but I'm pretty severely dyslexic, and so I struggled in school and once I found out that veterinarians had to go to school as long as doctors did, I figured that wasn't the best path for me.

And I had the real privilege to study under, uh Joe Hickey, uh, who had done really important early work on how DDT was thinning, uh, eggshells and impairing, uh, the reproduction of bird species, especially, uh, predators, um, in Wisconsin and across the country. It was a big inspiration to my father who then went on to introduce the first bill to ban the use of DDT.

So I was, uh, influenced, um, by great professors like Joe Hickey, uh, Orin, Ronstead, uh, Bob McCabe. Um, Bob was Dean of the Wildlife Ecology school. 

When I, uh, started attending the university and he actually inscribed, uh, and gave to my father the first day that my father was sworn in as governor, uh, a inscribed first edition copy of the Sand County Almanac with a beautiful inscription in it. I haven't here on my desk, um saying, um, "with and in between the lines of this book, you shall find great wisdom." 

Um, so I guess that's a long way of saying that, uh, nature was imbued in me as a child just as it was for my father, and I just seem to gravitate to the issue naturally and studied it in school and went on to work in the Capitol.

I worked for the DNR as a fisheries technician summertimes while I was in college. It was a great job. Um, it's always been my life's work and my passion. 

Katie Grant: [00:05:07] Yeah. Did you ever feel pressure to work in the environmental space or you just knew it was what you wanted to do? 

Tia Nelson: [00:05:13] I just did it. It just was me. It was just a part of me and, uh, a keen interest of mine from a very young age.

Uh, it must have obviously been influenced by my father and his work. Um, but I don't remember an epiphany moment. Um, it simply was imbued in me from a very early age, and it wasn't something that I honestly gave a lot of thought to. It was just who I was. 

Katie Grant: [00:05:43] Tell us a little bit about your father's legacy. For anyone who doesn't know, why is he so important to Wisconsin and Earth Day in general? 

Tia Nelson: [00:05:50] Well, my father grew up in a small town called Clear Lake in Polk County in northwestern Wisconsin. Not far from the St. Croix River where he camped and fished and canoed and his experiences in nature as a child had a big influence on him.

The places his father took him, uh, the St. Croix, uh, which I just mentioned. Also, they visited the Apostle Islands. It's interesting for me to reflect on the fact that those childhood experiences in nature here in these magnificent, uh, natural landscapes in Wisconsin became inspiration for him once he was elected to office.

And he served in the state senate for 10 years. He became governor when I was two. In 1958, he was elected and he became known pr...

Every 10 years, the U.S. population is counted via a census – and the 2020 census is right around the corner. In March, about 95% of the nation’s households will be receiving an invitation in the mail to participate. And 2020 will mark the first year that the census can be completed online.

How and why should you respond to that invitation? In this week's bonus episode, we talked with Joanna Beilman-Dulin from the Department of Administration to learn why it's important to participate and how it all works.
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TRANSCRIPT
Announcer: [00:00:00] Welcome to Wisconsin DNRs Wild Wisconsin - Off The Record podcast, information straight from the source.

Katie Grant: [00:00:12] Welcome back to another bonus episode of Wild Wisconsin - Off The Record. I'm your host DNRs digital media coordinator, Katie Grant. At the DNR, one of the tools we use to better understand animal populations such as eagles, deer, rattlesnakes and more is to simply count them. That's also the goal of the census that happens every 10 years to better understand our human population and where we all live. 

2020 is a big year for a lot of things. We're celebrating the 50th anniversary of Earth Day and the Clean Air Act, the 30th anniversary of Wisconsin recycling laws, and if you couldn't guess where this was going, the 2020 census.

For this week's bonus episode, I sat down with Joanna Beilman-Dulin to learn why it's so important for you to participate and how it all works. So to sit back and listen in. 

Joanna Beilman-Dulin: [00:01:04] I am Joanna Beilman-Dulin and I am an employee at the Department of Administration. And what I do there is I am doing census coordination.

The 2020 census is right around the corner and it's so important for Wisconsin, and I do whatever I can to help promote the census and answer questions about it. 

Katie Grant: [00:01:22] Fantastic. So, let's just kind of start at the beginning. What is the census? 

Joanna Beilman-Dulin: [00:01:27] Sure. The census is a count of our nation's population. Every 10 years. Article 1 Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution mandates that our nation's population be counted.

So we know where people live, what communities look like and it helps inform a lot of really important decisions made at the federal level, state level and even the local level. 

Katie Grant: [00:01:47] So how does it all work? 

Joanna Beilman-Dulin: [00:01:48] In mid-March, about 95% of the nation's households are going to get a, an invitation in the mail to participate in the census.

And when they get those invitations, you can go online, uh, to fill out your census online. It's actually really exciting. This is the first time ever that you can do the census online. 

Katie Grant: [00:02:06] Yay, technology. 

Joanna Beilman-Dulin: [00:02:07] Absolutely, yay technology. Um, it's also mobile-friendly, fun fact. Um, but so people will get an invitation in the mail to participate and hopefully everybody responds right away, of course.

But, um, folks as if they don't respond right away, they'll continue to get a couple of reminders in the mail. Um, and then eventually a paper copy would come to them. 

Katie Grant: [00:02:26] OK. And then what if you don't fill out the paper copy? 

Joanna Beilman-Dulin: [00:02:30] Well, if you don't fill out the paper copy and you don't fill it out online or by phone, which are the three ways you can fill it out, um, beginning in about May, uh, census takers will, uh, be going door to door to, uh, check in with folks and make sure that they are remembering that they need to fill out the census. It is required under our constitution for every resident of the United States to participate. Uh, so they'll be going door to door to, um, connect with folks and follow up with people who haven't filled it out yet.

We want to make sure that we get a full, accurate count of everyone because as I said before, it just makes such a difference in our nation's policies. 

Katie Grant: [00:03:06] Yeah. What kind of questions can you expect to be asked on the census? 

Joanna Beilman-Dulin: [00:03:10] So there are a number of different demographic type questions. 

Uh. How many people live in your household? What are their names? Uh, what race, what, uh, sex are people, questions of that nature. There's a lot of information that can be turned into statistics that can be useful later on. Um, any responses that people give are not going to be personally identifiable down the road. And, um, one question that's not on there actually is a citizenship question.

There was a lot of discussion about this several months ago about whether there would or would not be a citizenship question. There is not. 

Katie Grant: [00:03:45] OK. Good to know. So how is all of this information used and why is it so important that we participate? 

Joanna Beilman-Dulin: [00:03:51] It is used in so many different ways. I'm so glad you asked that question.

It will help guide the distribution of about $675 billion in federal funds. It will be used to determine how many different congressional seats, uh, each state gets in the next, uh, decade. Um, and it will also be used to help inform decisions that are made at the local level. It will be turned into demographic information that can be used by businesses trying to decide should we expand, should we relocate? Who are our customers? It will be used by, uh, you know, climate scientists and people making environmental policy decisions to look at where a different population centers and how are different governmental policies impacting people? 

Katie Grant: [00:04:33] What are some of the reasons that people sometimes choose not to participate?

Joanna Beilman-Dulin: [00:04:39] I'm really glad you asked that question because there are a lot of historically under-counted populations. Um, our goal, of course, every 10 years is to count and account for every single person living in the nation, but some folks might be hard to locate, hard to contact, maybe nervous about sharing their information with the government.

Um, there are a wide range of historical reasons. There are a lot of, um, more contemporary reasons as well. Um, and so we want to take opportunities like this to reach out to people and, you know, encourage them, ask them to respond. Um, even if they're a little bit nervous. Um, census responses are protected and kept confidential by federal law.

Um, your, in your responses that you provide to the census are not going to be shared with any outside agency, including other agencies of the government. They reside purely within the U.S. Census Bureau. Um, the Census Bureau will then turn that into statistical information that can be used, but they will never be releasing any personal, uh, personally identifiable information.

Katie Grant: [00:05:42] And they're not asking for things like your social security number or your phone number or anything like that, right? 

Joanna Beilman-Dulin: [00:05:48] They are wanting to get just demographic data. T...

More and more women are getting involved in science-based careers historically dominated by men. Although women are still underrepresented in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) fields, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has a number of women scientists.

In honor of International  Women’s Day on March 8, we talked with three women research scientists at the DNR. Listen in as Stephanie Shaw, Jennifer Stenglein and Christine Anhalt-Depies discuss their work, experiences as researchers and their advice for other women interested in science-based careers.
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TRANSCRIPT
Announcer: [00:00:00] Welcome to Wisconsin DNRs Wild Wisconsin - Off The Record podcast, information straight from the source. 

Katie Grant: [00:00:12] Welcome back to another episode of Wild Wisconsin - Off The Record, I'm your host, DNRs digital media coordinator, Katie Grant. 

International Women's Day is March 8th. It's a global day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. International Women's Day has occurred for well over a century with the first gathering in 1911 which was supported by over a million people. The 2020 theme encourages us to work together to create a gender equal world. According to the UNESCO's Institute of Statistics, only about 30% of the world's scientific researchers are women.

Let's meet a few of them. 

Jennifer Stenglein: [00:00:51] Hi, I'm Jennifer Stenglein. 

Christine Anhalt-Depies: [00:00:53] Hi, I'm Christine Anhalt-Depies.

Stephanie Shaw: [00:00:55] Hi, I'm Stephanie Shaw. 

Katie Grant: [00:00:57] These three women all work for our Office of Applied Science. Sit back and listen in to our conversation about the obstacles faced by women in STEM fields, what inspired them to pursue a career in science and the advice that they have for girls who are interested in following a similar path.

Jennifer Stenglein: [00:01:14] All right, so I'm a research scientist, a quantitative wildlife research scientist, and my job is a couple of different things. Part of it is working on a statewide trail camera project called Snapshot Wisconsin, where we work with a bunch of volunteers to collect data for wildlife decision support. And the other part of my job is about deer and deer populations.

So we gather data statewide to become inputs into our population models and derive population estimates for each deer management unit of Wisconsin. And we work with wildlife management staff across the state, and they work with their County Deer Advisory Councils to help get that information out there.

Katie Grant: [00:02:00] Very cool. How about you, Christine? 

Christine Anhalt-Depies: [00:02:03] I am also a research scientist with the DNR and like Jen, I work on the Snapshot Wisconsin project. I'm the project coordinator. So that involves working with a whole team of people, including Jen, um, where we partner with the people of the state to monitor wildlife using this statewide network of trail cameras.

Stephanie Shaw: [00:02:23] So I'm a fisheries research scientist for the DNR. So very similar stuff to what the other ladies work on, except I am obviously fish oriented, kind of how, uh, um, Jen mentioned it or it's, um, quantitative population dynamics, I guess. So it's a lot of modeling. Um, and kind of looking at taking info from a lot of management assessments and really looking at how kind of aquatic ecology, um, harvest and different types of things kind of play out.

And trying to help kind of get our managers information on kind of the best things to do for their sport fish populations. 

Katie Grant: [00:02:59] Very cool. I feel like I, I'm not the smartest person in the room right now, surrounded by a lot of really smart women, which is super cool. What got each of you interested in a career in science and I guess, how old were you when you knew that this or something like it was what you wanted to do? Stephanie, let's start with you. 

Stephanie Shaw: [00:03:17] Um, you know, I always remember liking science as a little kid. I don't know that I recognize it as science, but I liked being outside and I liked, you know, typical tomboy, girly things like bugs and dirt and fish and animals. And, um, I guess I didn't really get into science until kind of school and later, you know, when you start to get formal classes and stuff. And I, though, they were always my favorite classes, you know, and um, that kind of continued through college. And, um, I guess eventually I ended up where I am, where I could do science and be outdoors and all that good stuff. So, yeah. 

Katie Grant: [00:03:53] And why fish? 

Stephanie Shaw: [00:03:55] Ah, interesting question. Um, I really like being on the water. I do fish, not so much anymore. Uh, cause I think about fish all the time and I think I kinda got into fisheries really. I don't know. Aquatic ecology was really interesting to me. I find it kind of fascinating because, you know, unlike maybe some other national resources, you can't really see what's going on.

It's kind of a mystery. So it's kinda cool to be able to kind of like dive in there and do sampling and kind of see what's going on underneath the water. And I don't know, I just think it's fascinating. 

Katie Grant: [00:04:27] That works. 

Stephanie Shaw: [00:04:28] Okay. 

Katie Grant: [00:04:28] Christine? How about you?

Christine Anhalt-Depies: [00:04:30] Like Stephanie, I've always been interested in wildlife and the outdoors from an early age.

Um, and I have a pretty specific memory where I was able to put a career to wildlife in the outdoors for the first time. Um, growing up I did a lot of camping and hiking and went on a vacation with my family to, uh, Badlands National Park. Uh, and there were a couple of women who were, uh, camping near us.

And doing a mark-recapture study on prairie dogs. And I had the opportunity to go out with them and help them with some of their fieldwork. Uh, one of the mornings when we camping and for the first time learned that there was this whole career path that you could do where you work with wildlife and you get to be outside.

And so I guess I'm one of those sort of unusual people who from the age of eight or nine, knew exactly what I wanted to do. And, um, ended up. Sticking with that career path for most of the most, most of my education. 

Katie Grant: [00:05:29] Very cool. 

Jennifer Stenglein: [00:05:30] Yeah. Similarly, I really enjoyed being outdoors as a kid, and we did camping and fishing and things outside, so that definitely helped me develop my interests.

I didn't know I wanted to be this, uh, a Ph.D. wildlife researcher when I grew up. I had a fantastic science teacher in high school who I'm still very good friends with, Kevin Hennis, and he, uh, allowed me to do an independent study on conservation. And gave me a whole bunch of books of.. Aldo Leopold.. was one.

I grew up in Ohio and so Aldo Leopold wasn't a regular part of the high school curriculum in Ohio, but I learned about ...

During the 2019 hunting season, we asked you to pass it on and take someone hunting with you. Justin Morrissey was already a step ahead of us and was working with his best friend, Joey Wakeen, who has Down syndrome, to get ready for the season.

The friends, who are really more like brothers, decided it was time for Joey to give hunting a try. They started, without success, with turkeys in the spring. After practicing shooting for safety and accuracy all summer and fall, they were ready for deer season. Days before Joey’s birthday they headed out into the stand and had success – Joey’s first buck!

On this episode of the Wild Wisconsin - Off The Record Podcast, we sat down with them to learn more about their friendship, what it was like for Joey to get his first buck (from both of their perspectives), and why mentoring is so important to the Wisconsin tradition of hunting and fishing.

Learn more about National Shooting Sports Foundation and the +One Movement at https://www.letsgoshooting.org/plusonemovement/

Learn more about mentored hunting in Wisconsin at https://dnr.wi.gov/education/outdoorskills/mentor.html
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TRANSCRIPT
Announcer: [00:00:00] Welcome to Wisconsin DNR's Wild Wisconsin - Off The Record podcast -- information straight from the source. 

Katie Grant: [00:00:09] Welcome back to another episode of Wild Wisconsin - Off The Record. I'm your host DNR's digital media coordinator, Katie Grant. At Wisconsin DNR, we love sharing your stories, whether they're about how you fell in love at a state park, how you learned to fish, that one time you saw a rare bird on your backyard feeder or really anything else in between. 

We're delighted when you tell these stories to your friends on social media and tag us in them, and we get even more excited when you allow us to share your stories with the world.

Leading up to the 2019 deer season, we started to get tagged in a series of posts from Justin Morrissey about his experience mentoring his friend Joey Wakeen -- who's really more like a brother -- to get ready for Joey's first time deer hunting. We silently followed along hopeful that Joey would have success.

Justin Morrissey: [00:01:01] All right, Joey and I are ready to go. What do you think Joey? 

Joey Wakeen: [00:01:05] Ready to go. 

Justin Morrissey: [00:01:08] That's right. We're ready to go. So yeah, we just got our stuff ready here at the truck. I got, I got the camera, I got the big gun here. Joey's got the .308 on him and uh, we're going to stay right by each other the whole way and get off to the blind.

[gun shot] Joey, you got him. You got it buddy. You got him. What do you think, buddy? Dude, look at that. Joey, it's your first buck buddy. 

Joey Wakeen: [00:01:46] I got it. I got shot a buck. I just shot a buck. I got it, mom. It's just, this is good. This boy. 

Justin Morrissey: [00:01:58] Tonight. What's the day today? 

Joey Wakeen: [00:02:00] I shot a buck. 

Justin Morrissey: [00:02:02] Joey shot a buck. The date doesn't even matter. Yeah, it is the day that Joey Wakeen got his first deer.

Joey Wakeen: [00:02:09] Yeah. 

Justin Morrissey: [00:02:10] And it's a nice six pointer, isn't it?

Joey Wakeen: [00:02:12] Yeah! 

Justin Morrissey: [00:02:13] Right on. Good job, buddy. So anyways, uh, and guess what? What, what, what day is Friday this week? 

Joey Wakeen: [00:02:20] This is fun night. This is my birthday. 

Justin Morrissey: [00:02:23] It is Joey's birthday. This is like your birthday buck. Huh? That's a good present, huh? 

Joey Wakeen: [00:02:30] Yeah! 

Justin Morrissey: [00:02:30] So what do you think? 

Joey Wakeen: [00:02:32] This is good. 

Justin Morrissey: [00:02:33] This is just plain old good, isn't it?

Joey Wakeen: [00:02:36] Yeah, it is pretty good. 

Justin Morrissey: [00:02:37] Right on, buddy. All right. 

Katie Grant: [00:02:40] I was able to chat with Justin and Joey to learn a bit more about what the experience was like for them. Why mentoring is important in the world of hunting and fishing and what their next big adventure will be. So sit back and listen in. 

Justin Morrissey: [00:02:54] My name is Justin Morrissey. I am the manager of social media for the National Shooting Sports Foundation.

I grew up in Baldwin, Wisconsin, which is in the west-central part of Wisconsin, uh, kind of close to the Minnesota border. And I grew up hunting. Uh, I'm very passionate about it. My dad got me introduced to it and my brother and I definitely, um, kind of built, built up each other over the years and helped each other gain new experience and we kind of motivated each other to, and challenged each other to get more involved in hunting and try new things.

And then over the years we got other friends involved and had a lot of great experiences. And that kind of led to me having a career in the outdoor industry. And then when, let's see, it was bud 10 years ago. I was a sophomore in high school when my drama or speech teacher forensics coach, uh, Roxy Wakeen, and, uh, she approached me and asked me if I would be available to mentor her son Joey.

And so I became Joey's respite care provider for, uh, at that point. And I've been that for about 10 years, but there were some periods in between that, um, like when I moved to Connecticut for three and a half years that I wasn't really around as much to hang out with Joey. Um, but now I moved back to Wisconsin, still have my same job of work remotely, and it's kind of put me in a position where I can mentor Joey again and hang out with him. 

Katie Grant: [00:04:36] Cool, Joey, why don't you tell us a little bit about who you are? 

Joey Wakeen: [00:04:41] Oh, I'm Joey, I'm out. I go to work. My second cousin goes to middle school. Yeah. I working at clean and clean, clean, all busy. So it's like they got to go to them. This is his land. I shot in a deer about, I'm going to check his shoulder. This is, yes. Good, down.

Justin Morrissey: [00:05:13] So, so what do you, what do you like to do for fun, Joey? Like, what do you like to do for fun besides go hunting now? You like to play basketball, right? 

Joey Wakeen: [00:05:24] Yeah. 

Justin Morrissey: [00:05:25] You like to go bowling.

Joey Wakeen: [00:05:26] Yeah, basketball and bowling.

Justin Morrissey: [00:05:29] Is there a big one? Swimming in the summertime? 

Joey Wakeen: [00:05:32] Yeah, swimming and this is last summer. 

Justin Morrissey: [00:05:39] And you're probably about rea...

There’s a lot of love for Wisconsin’s state parks. In honor of Valentine’s Day, visitors share their Wisconsin State Park love stories about first dates, surprise engagements and scenic wedding days. Listen in to hear how their special day is something they’ll remember forever. 
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TRANSCRIPT
Announcer: [00:00:00] Welcome to Wisconsin DNRs Wild Wisconsin - Off the Record podcast, information straight from the source. 

Katie Grant: [00:00:12] Welcome back to another episode of Wild Wisconsin - Off the Record, I'm your host, DNRs digital media coordinator, Katie Grant. When I started my job here at Wisconsin DNR, one of the first fun facts I learned was that you could get married in a state park.

I had no idea that was even a possibility, let alone something that people actually did. I let the fact leave my brain until this last summer when I interviewed Jane Simkins and Missy Vanlanduyt for Episode 42 - How Do You OutWiGo? On that episode, Jane said, "people use parks as a platform to sort of bring people together." A short conversation about the opportunities to use state parks for your wedding ensued, and that got us thinking, what sort of a role have state parks played in your love stories? We put that question on a shelf until now. In honor of Valentine's Day next week, we asked for your state park love stories, whether you went on a first date at a state park, got engaged or married at one or anything else in between, and we got you guys to tell us them in your own words.

Now I'm a bit of a nerd about Valentine's Day. It's been my favorite holiday for as long as I can remember, and I've definitely driven my friends crazy with how much I like to celebrate it. So, to say I've had fun reading and listening to your stories is a bit of an understatement. Sit back and listen in as we hear from our listeners about how state parks have played a role in their lives.

Zach: [00:01:43] Hi, this is Zach. 

Erika: [00:01:44] And this is Erica. 

Zach: [00:01:46] And, uh, our story begins like many others on the dating app, Bumble. I, uh, didn't have very good dates before, so I wanted to find a, uh, a line that would, um, align people with more my interests of the outdoors and, uh, geology. So I added, 'you don't know High Cliff State Park unless you've seen the stromatolites.' 

And once I put this line on, I was going through people's profiles and I come across Erika. And Erika, we went to high school together and we went to middle school together and I had a big crush on her. So I, you know, swipe on her and we matched. 'OK! Yes. Great.' And we, I wait about a day, and on Bumble you have 24 hours to, uh, Erika needs to talk to me.

So I'm like, 'well, come on, is she gonna do this?' And at the last minute she messages, so where are these stromatolites? And, of course I'm gonna hold off on this or that. Uh, nah, I'm not going to tell her these locations so I can show her on a date. I invite her two days later to go get drinks. And, uh, she says, no.

Well, OK. She doesn't really say no, but she doesn't...  she ignores me for two more days and I'm like, 'OK, if she answered the line on the first place, and like, stromatolites, uh, this has got to work.' So I invite her to go on a hike to High Cliff State Park, and she says, yes. So, it's a Friday night. It looks like there's rain in the forecast, but I think it's going to be clear and we start on our hike.

Erika: [00:03:25] All right, so we're hiking along, and I'm promised that I'm going to see these stromatolites and it starts to rain a little harder. And I'm wondering where these things are. Wondering if maybe he's made these up just to get me on a date. 

Zach: [00:03:39] Oh yeah, I definitely did. 

Erika: [00:03:41] But eventually, he brings me to the site of the elusive stromatolites, and he gets down on the ground and he points to a mound of rock, and I look at his face and his eyes are so lit up, and I just am like 'what? That's it? This mound of rock on the ground, all this hype for this pile of rock.' 

Zach: [00:04:04] She definitely had that look in her eyes. I'm like, no, these are really cool. 

Erika: [00:04:08] But he was super excited about it, so I got super excited about it too. And then we finished our hike and we went to the top of the tower and at this point we were both soaking wet and it was getting cold. And then it got dark and we talked for a long time.

Zach: [00:04:25] And we've been going to state parks ever since. Woo! State parks.

Ellen: [00:04:35] Hi, I'm Ellen. 

Cole: [00:04:36] And I'm Cole. 

Ellen: [00:04:37] And we're from Madison, Wisconsin. And our state park love story started when I was a really little girl. I would go camping at Governor Dodge State Park every summer with my family. We would go there multiple times each summer and just swim and camp, and it became really part of who I was as a person.

So growing up when I started dating Cole, um, it was definitely one of our most common date spots is that I would take him there and we would eat lunch and swim, and go for hikes at Governor Dodge State Park. 

Cole: [00:05:13] Yeah, and there was this, on one of the trails, there's one of these, um, cliffs off to the side of it that we would go to.

And when we went to the cliff, then I was like, yup, this is, this is going to be the spot one day. Years later, you know, on the day that that I ended up proposing, we, we drove to ... to Governor Dodge. It was a Sunday and the weather was terrible. It was pouring rain. 

Ellen: [00:05:40] And he really wanted to go hiking up to the cliff and I was getting a little grumpy. I was like, 'why are we going to this cliff?'

Cole: [00:05:47] Yep, it didn't make any sense probably, but I was on a mission and the rain held off long enough. And, um, we ended up going up to the cliff with, uh, her sister and brother in law. And, um, you know, I asked her to marry me there and then when we did it, you know ... she is, she was going crazy.

And, uh, and then we...

Ellen: [00:06:12] It was perfect. It was right at our spot at Governor Dodge. And then, yeah. And then we walked down and he had surprised me with the rest of our family waiting in the shelter, also in the rain. 

Cole: [00:06:22] Yep, they're all waiting, and she was super surprised. 

Ellen: [00:06:25] It was a great day and a perfect location.

Emily: [00:06:32] So I'm Emily Stetzer. 

Nick: [00:06:38] And I am Nick Stetzer. 

Emily: [00:06:40] And uh, we have a state park love story for sure. Um, where our relationship started where we really weren't supposed to be together. When you look back at, uh, at our own personal plans. So it was only a few months really that we were together and we both kinda knew we needed to be together. 

Nick: [00:06:58] We would go up skiing at Granite Peak all the time. We would go up to the top or a mountain, state park, and just look out over the city of Wausau an...

Wisconsin is the birthplace of snowmobiling and continues to offer some of the best snowmobiling opportunities you are likely to find, especially in the northern part of the state. Eagle River is the Snowmobile Capital of the World and host of the Amsoil World Championship Snowmobile Derby. On this episode, Kim Emerson, Executive Director of the Eagle River Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitors Center, sheds light on the mecca of snowmobiling. With more than 200,000 registered snowmobiles hitting Wisconsin's 25,000 miles of groomed trails each winter across the state, safety is an important part of the ride. DNR Warden April Dombrowski has tips on how to ride smart from the start. Listen in and discover why Wisconsin is where it’s at when it comes to snowmobiling. 
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TRANSCRIPT
Announcer: [00:00:00] Welcome to Wisconsin DNR's Wild Wisconsin - Off The Record podcast. Information straight from the source.

Katie Grant: [00:00:13] Welcome back to another episode of Wild Wisconsin - Off The Record. I'm your host DNR's digital media coordinator, Katie Grant. When it gets cold outside and the snow starts to fall, you might start to hear a familiar noise.

Snowmobiles .

At Wisconsin DNR we just finished  celebrating International Snowmobile Safety and Awareness Week. With over 18,000 miles of funded snowmobile trails in Wisconsin, we think it's an important topic to talk about. 

Northern Wisconsin is a haven for snowmobiles. I mean, what we think of as a snowmobile today was actually invented by Carl Elliason in Sayner, Wisconsin back in the 1920s. So it was kind of meant to be. 

But beyond that legacy, Northern Wisconsin gets a lot of snow. According to the Minocqua Area Chamber of Commerce, thye average 65 inches of snow per year. 

Less than 30 miles away is the "Snowmobile Capital of the World" -- Eagle River. I called Kim Emerson from the Eagle River Chamber of Commerce to learn more about snowmobiling in the area. 

Kim Emerson: [00:01:26] I am the Executive Director of the Eagle River Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Center.

Katie Grant: [00:01:31] Fantastic. So Eagle River is known as kind of being the "Snowmobile Capital of the World." Why is that? 

Kim Emerson: [00:01:39] Well, we are the "Snowmobile Capital of the World." We've got spectacular snowmobile trails here. And with all of that and how well they're groomed, and the many people who are aware of our trail systems, that's how we can be the "Snowmobile Capital of the World."

Katie Grant: [00:01:55] Fantastic. 

And what about the Eagle River area? What makes it such an attractive place for snowmobiling and even other vacations throughout the entire year? 

Kim Emerson: [00:02:06] Sure. Eagle River area as an as a family destination, it's a four season family destination. There are activities for everyone... for any type of activity that they like to do.

Uh, for instance, during the winter, we have our snowmobile trails. We've got over 600 miles of groomed trails right here in the Vilas County area. And then of course, so we're, we're seated right here next to the Nicolet National Forest. We have lots of county acreage of, um, County Forest. And we also have the Wisconsin American Legion Forest as well.

The other thing we're known for is our chain of 28 lakes. And so that offers all kinds of activities during the summer. So if you hike, bike, snowmobile, fish, uh, we have it here in Eagle River area. 

Katie Grant: [00:02:58] Absolutely. So by your estimates, how many people visit the area every year in the winter for snowmobiling or other outdoor winter activities?

Kim Emerson: [00:03:09] Well, I would say, um, winter activities is our second busiest season of the year. I would say there are, oh, I, I would gather close to...During the whole winter months, probably over a hundred thousand people. 

Katie Grant: [00:03:26] Wow. 

Kim Emerson: [00:03:27] It's a great activity area. Snowmobiling alone brings in over $40 million, uh, to the Vilas County area from December through March.

Katie Grant: [00:03:39] Wow. That's a lot. How....How are trail conditions so far this year? 

Kim Emerson: [00:03:44] Trail conditions are in good shape. This year we've had some really good snow. Other parts of our state, unfortunately have not had snow. So if you are interested in snowmobiling, Eagle River is the place to be. Uh, we do... If you go to EagleRiver.org, we update our trail conditions continually. Uh, by 8:30 every morning. So for the most up to date reports, EagleRiver.org. 

Katie Grant: [00:04:10] Fantastic. So what are some snowmobiling must do's in the area? Is there like a specific trail or a place to go eat while you're out or if you come up there, what do you have to make sure you do. 

Kim Emerson: [00:04:24] Well, right here in Eagle River, again, we've got over 600 miles of snowmobile trail that you can enjoy. Uh, they do connect many different businesses. And, uh, for instance, you can go to, uh, you can snowmobile for breakfast, you can snowmobile for lunch, dinner. It's a great opportunity. There are so many different wonderful restaurants. It's hard to name them all.

Katie Grant: [00:04:49] Now, before we go any further, we need to give a huge shout out to all of the volunteers and snowmobile clubs throughout the state who work to make sure these trails are maintained. 

The DNR also offers grants to these clubs to help make their work possible. The grants are funded by things like snowmobile registrations, the state trail pass program, and a small portion of the state's gas tax.

These grants are used to fix things like old trails and bridges, to build new bridges and even to add new miles to already existing trails. There's plenty of snowmobile fun to be had, but our goal is to make sure that you do it safely and responsibly. That's why I sat down with Warden April Dombrowski. So sit back and listen in.

April Dombrowski: [00:05:34] So I'm the section chief, uh, with the Recreation, Safety and Outdoors Skill Section within the Bureau of Law Enforcement here at DNR. 

Katie Grant: [00:05:42] So what all does that cover? 

April Dombrowski: [00:05:43] That in encom...encompasses a lot. So I oversee, um, our safety programs as it relates to boats, snowmobile, ATV, um, hunter education, off-highway motorcycles...

Um, but then it also incorporates other, R3 programs, so the "Learn to Hunt," um, "Fish for Food," the shooting ranges, those type of things. So, um, a lot that covers, um, wwithin the recreational side of, of our program.

Katie Grant: [00:06:10] All the fun stuff.

April Dombrowski: [00:06:11] All the fun stuff. But then there's, so there's the educational component of, of, uh, um, those disciplines, but then there's also the enforcement side of those disciplines.

Katie Grant: [00:06:20] Absolutely. What? Well, first of all, how long have you been here with the DNR? 

April Dombro...