We woke up to another beautiful day on the south shores of Lake Superior with travel on our minds.  We all had a great breakfast, which we were able to share with the admissions counselors at Northland college.  They fielded questions and really exemplified the warm nature of the student body.  It was a wonderful way to depart the school.  After loading up the bus, we took a scenic drive down highway 51 to Tomahawk, WI, where we stopped at Treehaven, an auxiliary branch of University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.

  Everyone had a great lunch overlooking some of the rolling hills of central Wisconsin.  Treehaven is a natural resource and forestry center, with a focus on experimental, hands-on learning.  We were given a presentation regarding the health and development of the 1,400 acre plot of land.  This lead into a discussion on how biodiversity is all intertwined.  We talked about the importance of deer management through natural predation, particularly by the Timber Wolf.  It was a really in-depth look at how human have impacted the entire chain within an ecosystem.  After the talk, we met with a current student at UWSP who introduced us to radio telemetry.  Everyone split up into groups and actually used the instrumentation to find a radio collar hidden on the property.  It was a great activity to release some energy before getting back on the bus and heading further south to the main campus of UWSP.

We got to the school around dinner time, and after packing everything into rooms, we explored campus a little before dinner.  After dinner, the group traveled to the Schmeeckle preserve, a piece of land owned by the school, where we were able to use an outdoor amphitheater.  There, we discussed our stewardship projects and some of the intricasies involved.  We were joined by a former CCL student, who gave his personal experience about his project and what he learned from the entire process.  We then did some group processing, where we brainstormed some ideas for help and coordination pertaining to the projects.  It was a great use of time, as it gave some good insight into how the projects should be run.  Overall, it was a great day for the group and we’re looking forward to learned about forestry tomorrow at the university. 

Learning about radio telemerty first hand.

Releasing Painted turtles at Treehaven.

The blue crew presenting their ideas about stewardship.