Ecosystem Solutions

08/25/2025

Happy to see so many Monarchs out lately. I counted seven on one Rough Blazing Star (Liatris aspera)! Here are a few pics of them. Now is an important time for them to fuel up for their next journey.

07/11/2025

Took a stroll through my gardens and here are a few of my favorite shots! It feels good to enjoy them instead of always tending to them :)

06/27/2025

📍 Save the date for the 9th annual , 25 July–3 August! 🦋🗓

Mark your calendars and join us in , or the to support monarch butterfly conservation!

The Monarch Blitz invites people across North America to go outdoors and share their sightings of monarch butterflies, eggs, caterpillars, chrysalids and milkweed plants. These observations help researchers identify and prioritize actions to better conserve our emblematic monarch butterfly!

Get involved! Learn how you can be a part of this vital trinational community science initiative:

👉 https://www.cec.org/newsletter/2025-international-monarch-monitoring-blitz/

Shoutout to the partner organizations and community science programs that make the a success every year:

@‌EnvironmentandClimateChange @‌CanadianWildlifeFederation @‌correorealmx @‌monarchjointventure @‌journeynorthorg @‌CONANPmx

06/24/2025

Even a humble puddle can make a big impact for your backyard wildlife. Learn how to make one that fits your space.

04/29/2025

Well, that took quite some time regaining access to Facebook, but we're back!

We hope you've been having a good and productive start to the growing season. We are very excited to see how some of our projects from last season take shape this year, and hope yours are going well.

Do your part, garden smart, and start from the heart.

11/20/2024

Continuing our observance of National Native American Heritage Month, we observe the Ho-Chunk Nation, or "Ho-Chungra", meaning "People of the Sacred Voice." Originally spanning from northern Michigan down to the Chicago area, and westward to the Mississippi, the Ho-Chunk "maintained the land as it should be, considering the creatures, trees, grass, and water as sacred (Andy Thundercloud)."

Gathering medicine or harvesting local resources, the Ho-Chunk give offerings of to***co and prayers for taking and using these natural resources to make their people stronger and well.

Ecosystem Solutions recognizes and appreciates the contributions of the Ho-Chunk Nation and their commitment to preserving their traditional lands, language, and cultural history.

(Information pulled from https://ho-chunknation.com/, PBS Wisconsin interview with Andy Thundercloud, and https://wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS4377)

11/13/2024

Thank you to the Eau Claire Garden Club for hosting me last night to talk about ecological gardening and how we can utilize transition zones! It was great to see some familiar faces and so many interested in what I had to share. It makes me feel good about Eau Claire's future with landscape management.

Special thanks to Lyn Krochmalski for setting up the presentation.

11/01/2024

Today begins the National Native American Heritage Month, a time to celebrate the rich history, traditions, languages, and stories of Native Americans.

We recognize and appreciate the many contributions to land management and reverence for nature that has deeply impacted our approach to modern land management. We will be sharing the three nearest nations to the Chippewa Valley, starting with the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, seated in Webster, WI.

"The great fact of Ojibwe life is the unity and oneness of all things. In our views, history is expressed in the way that life is lived each day and, in this way a harmony with all created things is achieved. The people cannot be separated from the land with its cycle of seasons or from the other mysterious cycles of living things- of birth and growth and death and new birth."

You can read more about the St. Croix People on their website found here: https://stcroixojibwe-nsn.gov/culture/who-we-are/ #:~:text=In%201934%2C%20with%20the%20passage,denied%20us%20for%2080%20years.

10/30/2024

Happy to give back to University of Wisconsin-Stout and the Master of Science in Sustainable Management program!

Read about nature enthusiast and Sustainable Management Master's Degree graduate Adam Poch, who recently started his own business.

08/23/2024

The Forest's Lament

The crackle and snaps of a felled tree
Can be heard from heavy machinery
We Oaks stand, but bear heavy scars
"Where are my brothers, the Maple and Aspen?"

My mast will be light, I have lost my kin.
A Cardinal shrieks out, "I have lost my home!"
The Jaw snaps shut, another Maple flails to the ground
Stripped of my branches, is this all I offer to humans?

"I do not feel the shade of my sister" moans the Beech tree
"Why have I been spared?" he asks, forlorn
Struck with guilt, he does not know human boundaries.
Dust kicks up, as another is felled.

"Where do we go?" asks the Red Squirrel
Whose entire life was spent jumping among this patch
"Why do so few remain?" asks the Rabbit,
Who sought refuge under the tall canopy.

Silence now, as the sun drops low across the sky
Streaks of golden hue, stretching through
What was dense and lush, but only a moment ago.

Who will hear these trees? Who will call them to bear witness
To the might of human industry?
The dust settles, creaks and squeaks stop
Silence now, the few trees that remain

Struck with guilt of the survivor,
Drooping and withered, we must persevere.

08/10/2024

Liatris is such an awesome looking plant. We love incorporating it to gardens where and when we can! They support so many species, and native pollinators cannot get enough of them.

06/20/2024

Happy Pollinator Week! Found this absolute unit munching on a leaf while walking my garden this morning. This is one of about thirteen Monarch (Danaus plexippus) caterpillars I observed eating Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) leaves. I cannot wait to see all this milkweed flower and attract many other pollinators to the area!

If you would like help assessing pollinator health and understanding their critical role in ecosystems, get in touch with me. I would be happy to visit and help enhance pollinator habitat for all of our native bees, moths, other insects, birds, and bats.