RECENT NEWS

CNRA shows continued support towards Wisconsin

Conservation Hall of Fame

The second of a two part donation ensures the success of the Nominee Digitizing Project on display at the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame Gallery. For more about the project check out the link below.

CNRA makes contribution to Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame project

 

CNRA contributes towards Wisconsin

Conservation Hall of Fame

WCHF Board Members in the Hall of Fame Gallery

Citizens Natural Resources Association (CNRA) and Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame (WCHF) have long shared the goals of Wisconsin’s conservation ethic. CNRA will fund efforts to digitize and organize nomination documents.

Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas II

Wisconsin Society of Ornithology - Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas II

CNRA has committed $500 to sponsor Forsters Tern in memory of Jack Kaspar. Jack was an avid bird watcher and was actively involved with the Cedar Grove Ornithological Research Station in Sheboygan County. The atlas is a comprehensive field survey that documents the distribution and abundance of birds breeding in the area.

The Ridges Sanctuary

A $500 donation was made in memory of Roy Lukes who was a CNRA member for over 50 years,  (1929-2016).

Roy started as a naturalist at The Ridges Sanctuary in 1964 and helped popularize the nature preserve through his guided tours. He other contributions include extending the trail system, leading early morning bird hikes, creating educational programs, and a quarterly newsletter. Lukes wrote more than 3,000 nature columns and illustrated them with his own photography. His columns appeared in Green Bay Press-Gazette, Appleton Post Crescent, and many other Door County publications. Roy received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Lawrence University, the UW-Oshkosh Chancellor’s Medallion, and UW-Oshkosh 50^th alumni anniversary award. Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented from the Gathering Waters Conservancy and the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology. He received many other literary, environmental, and civic awards over his lifetime.

 

Lorrie Otto and CNRA featured in column by Bill Berry

in the June 27, 2018 issue of the Capitol Times

Is our environmental legacy being torn apart by our current administration?!

Will We Survive the Current Batch of 'Environmental Terrorists'?

 

Cable Natural History Museum BioBlitz is a Success!

Due in part to a CNRA grant the Cable Natural History Museum hosted a day-long BioBlitz event where experts from multiple fields of study and the public came together to document as many species as possible. The event took place at the Sugar Bush Lake Fen. 13 people in attendance found 108 species! An iNaturalist Project was created for the event where one can check out all that was found! (https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/cnhm-bioblitz-2017)

Photos from the event and post-event specimen processing:

Reported by: Kaylee Faltys, Cable Natural History Museum, Curator

Most photos by Emily Stone.

 

Adrian looks in live traps                Eric and Kaylee Insect Hunting

Wood frog caught for ID then released.

CNRA sponsors Snowy Egret supporting the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas II in memory of Richard A. (Dick) Hunt

The Sponsor-a-Species campaign through The Wisconsin Society for Ornithology, Inc funds five years of field work on Snowy Egrets in the project to update the Wisconsin Breeding Bird Atlas II.

Snowy Egret in the Myrick Marsh, La Crosse, Wisconsin

 

BANNING DDT - How Citizen Activists in Wisconsin Led the Way

Bill Berry shares the story of the grassroots movement to ban DDT in Wisconsin spearheaded by CNRA activists! CNRA together with professors, scientists, EDF and concerned citizens challenged that DDT was a dangerous and persistant water pollutant at a Wisconsin DNR hearing in October 1968.

published by Wisconsin Historical Society Press

 

CNRA 2013 Annual Meeting at the WILD Center

Discussion centered around the Monarch butterfly decline being closely monitored by Monarch Watch. WildOnes " Wild for Monarchs" program is raising awareness of the importance of providing and protecting native habitat to create oasis for our native birds, insects and butterflies.

Dedication of the stone council ring, focal point of the

WILD Center's prairie restoration!

                             

                             CNRA board trying out the new council ring.

 

Louise, Zaiga and Jan admire the native wildflowers in briiliant August floral display!

 

Bob Clarke with Friends of Central Sands

Speaks at CNRA 2013 Summer meeting on DNR High Capacity Well Permits, Their Cumulative Impact on our Aquifers

The goal of FOCS is simple: to put an end to the current out of control drilling of new high capacity wells and the lack of proper oversight of CAFOs in the Central Sands, forcing a reassessment of how groundwater is used and regulated in the state of Wisconsin, and ensuring that CAFOs are subject to reasonable limits in their operations and manure-spreading. With your help we will continue to lead the way in saving the magnificent waters of Wisconsin.

 

 

Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame 2012 Inductees

CNRA congratulates this year's Inductees Dick and Bob Hunt, Phil Sander, and Nils Folke Becker. Dick Hunt is an active CNRA member who worked with CNRA closely during his time as Goose Manager at Horicon Marsh for the Wisconsin DNR. We remember Phil Sander, a lifetime CNRA member, fondly as the carver of our CNRA gavel out of wood from Leopodl's Good Oak.

Dick and Bob Hunt at the Conservation Hall of Fame Induction.

Wisconsin Outdoor WCHoF 2012 Inductees

 

CNRA 2012 Spring Council Meeting Vorpahl Riverhouse

John Gremmer with Central Wisconsin Trout Unlimited instructs while sampling to determine stream health of the Mecan River

 

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CNRA Celebrates 60 years of Conservation Activism

Council members gather at Ziaga Freivald's home to admire her prairie and woodland restorations. Our 2011 annual report highlights CNRA initiatives over the last 60 years.  Six Decades of Action

 

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CNRA 2011Spring Council Meeting

Tour of Abraham's Woods

Naturalist Richard Barloga lead an educational tour of CNRA plant enthusiasts on a tour of Abraham's Woods State Natural Area, a rare example of a Southern Wisconsin Mesic Forest. The woods offer a diverse array of spring ephemerals and wildflowers. Basswood, Sugar Maples and Red Oak comprise the dominat tree canopy. Abraham's Woods was designated as a State Natural Area in 1961 and is owned by UW Madison.

      

Companion Plants Nodding Trillium and        Remnant of a snag

Mayapple in bloom

Lynn Vorpahl examines the remains of the original Sugar Bush

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Elward Engle, WI DNR Real Estate Specialist (retired) speaks at 2010 CNRA Annual Meeting

 

  Elward Engle exhibits the Federal and State Endangered Fassettts Locoweed during his presentation "Water, Water, .....Where is It? at the Vorpahl Riverhouse. His talk focused on water quality issues, his work at the DNR to restore the Mecan River and his experience fighting the high capacity well proposed by Perrier at the headwater spring of the Mecan River.

 

 

 

 

Members from Central Wisconsin Trout Unlimited conduct a water monitoring session at the Mecan River. CNRA's Rumi and Jim O'Brein, Zaiga Freivalds and Jan Scalpone watch as Elward Engle empties a sample of water and its microorganisms to be identified and recorded.

 

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2020 CNRA Annual Meeting Unfortunately our in person gathering is cancelled for 2020 due to Covid-19 precautions. Meetings should resume in 2021. We look forward to seeing our CNRA friends, stay safe!

 

CNRA: Who We Are

Citizens Natural Resources Association was one of Wisconsin’s first conservation organizations. Founded in 1951 as a watchdog of public agencies, it is a volunteer organization devoted to the preservation of the natural environment. It fosters a sense of personal responsibility for the environment and encourages individual actions to guide public policy and private practices. Its leaders have been some of the state’s most recognizable conservationists – 10 have been inducted into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame. Its accomplishments in almost 60 years have been significant. Some of these include:

• Initiating action that led to the ban of DDT in Wisconsin.
• Taking a leadership role in protecting Wisconsin's rivers and wetlands.
• Promoting natural roadsides.
• Protecting the wildlife refuge status of Horicon Marsh.

In today’s climate of conflicting land uses, loss of natural habitat and global warming, CNRA continues to promote citizen action to protect Wisconsin’s natural resources. Membership is open to anyone who shares our mission. Download and print our Membership Form.

CNRA’s Mission

For the preservation, management and restoration of Wisconsin’s natural resources.

 

Lorrie Otto

Environmental Activist, Naturalist and Teacher 1920 - 2010

Wiscons State Journal:

'Nature Lady' Otto helped lead DDT fight

Seattle Times:

Environmentalist Lorrie Otto

In Lorrie's Own Words:

CNRA, DDT & Me

WildOnes Inspiration:

WildOnes Prairie Queen

 

Lorrie at home, paintings by friend Ruth Grotenroth. Portrait by Mark Turner/Turner Photographics

 

Kruse Publication

Dear Editor: Opinions and Comments From a Farmer- Naturalist's Viewpoint Plus Other Sketches From Past and Present.

written by CNRA member Harold Kruse edited by Gretchen Kruse

                                                                                

 

 

 

 

"One of my greatests passions in life is saving natural beauty. Nothing else is more important than saving the earth - that's where we live. And I don't limit it to people...I like to look at the whole picture. Everything fits togeather."

"In developing a well-rounded conservation program - soil, water, woodlands, and wildlife - we must not forget the fifth factor - beauty.....

such a scene also includes healthy and happy people, our most important resource."

Harold Kruse

contributions from sales will go to the

Baraboo Range Preservation Association

P.O. Box 205, Baraboo, WI 53913

 

CNRA 2009 Annual Meeting

CNRA held its 2009 Annual Meeting at the Horicon International Education Center.

CNRA members enjoy a spectacular view of the Marsh.

 

CNRA donates funds for two display cases to showcase the fish collection and other educational exhibits at UW Stevens Point

Dr. Erik Wild, Department of Biology and Curator of the Museum of Natural History  and Justin Sipiorski accept CNRA's donation and 50 yr book from CNRA presedint Lisa Geer and Jan scalpone. One of the display cases will be located The Natural History Museum and the second will be near the fish collection in the Daniel O. Trainer Natural Resources Building at UW Stevens Point.