FWSP Announces 2009 Awards

Love Wisconsin's State parks, forests, and trails? Know the perfect place to spend a sunny winter day? Enjoy capturing the beautiful and interesting landscapes and wildlife that you see on camera? Share your experiences with Friends of Wisconsin State Parks!

FWSP would like to announce three upcoming award opportunities:

Nominate your favorite Wisconsin State park, trail, or forest in a number of categories for the 2009 Gold Seal Awards. Winners will be invited to the Annual Awards Banquet in October and will receive a plaque to thank them for their hard work and dedication to the places you love. Review the categories and fill out the nomination survey here. Nominations close on Friday, September 18, 2009.
Submit your vote for the annual Hero Awards in the following categories: Outstanding DNR Land Manager, Successful Friends Group, and Friends Hero Award. To vote, please send a short paragraph (about 100 words) about the nominee to Luthien Niland at luthien.niland@wisconsin.gov. Nominations close on Friday, September 18, 2009.
FWSP invites all interested individuals to submit their favorite State Park, Forest, or Trail photos to our second annual photography competition. Winners will be featured in the 2010 Friends of Wisconsin State Parks calendar, released in December, 2009. The more competitive entries will pertain to a season and the 12 winners will be invited to the FWSP Annual Awards Banquet on Friday, October 23, 2009. The deadline for all submissions is Friday, September 18, 2009. For more details about how to submit your photos and other information, click on the link below.

More Information about the 2009 FWSP Photo Contest

Inaugural Work * Play * Earth Day Event a Success!
The first year of the Work · Play · Earth Day volunteer events was a wonderful success! In an effort to promote volunteering and get people of all ages outside, volunteers were recruited from around Wisconsin to help their local parks, forests, and trails get ready for the busy summer season. Lunch and snacks were provided by local businesses and volunteers received an aluminum waterbottle as thanks.

Approximately 100 people enjoyed the weather on Saturday, May 2, while volunteering at Hartman Creek State Park, Kettle Moraine State Forest- Northern Unit, and Lake Wissota State Park. These volunteers contributed over 500 hours to the State Park System through work such as digging up barberry, raking campsites and picnic areas, and building trails.

Another 100 people braved the rainy weather (and even snow in Mellen!) on Saturday, May 9, to volunteer at Copper Falls, Buckhorn, and Perrot State Parks. These volunteers brought the number of volunteer hours to a grand total of 1000 donated hours by painting picnic tables, planting trees, pulling Garlic Mustard, and much more! This work and commitment saved the Wisconsin State Park System approximately $9000 in seasonal labor costs.

Unfortunately, severe weather necessitated the cancellation of the volunteer work day on Saturday, April 25. But, despite the cold, wet weather, a handful of dedicated volunteers still showed up and work continued at Governor Dodge and Mirror Lake!

Thank you again to everyone who helped out. We hope to see you at volunteer events in the future!

Macy's Turn Over a New Leaf Program

Thank you to everyone who shopped at Macy's on April 25 and helped raise over $9000 for Friends of Wisconsin State Parks!

Friends of Wisconsin State Parks will dedicate the funds raised to the Work * Play * Earth Day volunteer events and funding other volunteer events throughout 2009. Additionally, this money will be used to fund nature education program at state parks and forests around the state.

Due to the overwhelming success and enthusiasm for this program, Macy's will promote this campaign on an annual basis. Keep FWSP in mind as you begin shopping next year around Earth Day!

Looking for Ways to Get Involved?
Looking for ways to help out and get involved at your favorite state park, trail, or forest? If you have a specific area where you would like to volunteer, contact the park staff (http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/LAND/parks/) or Friends group (http://www.fwsp.org/groups/) directly, as they will know what needs to be done at the park.

For other ideas, click on the link above to see if there are any volunteer opportunities coming up!