October 2019
Sauk County Conservation
Sauk County Conservation Day, September 24, 2019

We hosted River Valley Middle School at Sauk County Conservation Day. Almost 90 sixth graders participated in the Conservation Challenge. They completed an understory thinning project to increase light reaching the forest floor and establish a new trail corridor on our Blue Triangle Trail. Students also participated in recreational and educational stations run by DNR volunteers, The Nature Conservancy staff, and Sauk County staff. It was a great day for conservation!
Conservation Challenge

Through the dedicated service of St. Patrick's Middle School of Mauston , Cardinal Heights Upper Middle School of Sun Prairie , and the volunteers and students who participated in Sauk County Conservation Day, we are now at 1,428 hours towards our goal of 10,000 hours of conservation by 2020. We were able to clear more understory, establish a trail corridor, and build a new hiking trail.
We look forward to having students from Webb Middle School in Reedsburg participating on October 1, 2019 with approximately 290 future land stewards!
The Change of Seasons
We have started our transition from our summer camps to our fall school groups at Upham Woods. All of the students are beginning their school year and are excited to learn. We feel a change in the weather as the air becomes more crisp. The days start to get shorter with less sunlight and the temperature starts to drop. As we look around the Wisconsin River, some of the trees are beginning to change color.
We notice two main groups of trees on Blackhawk Island: deciduous and coniferous. Conifers, also known as evergreen, keep their needles all year round while deciduous trees lose their leaves. Before deciduous trees lose their leaves, they change color between September to November. When the days get shorter, with less sunlight, trees stop making chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the green photosynthetic pigment found in leaves. The chlorophyll shortly decays over time; this allows the other pigments to show through. The colors we normally see are brilliant oranges, reds and yellows.
Then, the trees’ metabolism, growth, and energy slow so they can conserve energy. Trees will transfer their sugars and nutrients to their roots for storage. This process is helping them transition into the next season. 
Welcome, Taylor, Community Events Coordinator at
Upham Woods!
If you have ever driven past Upham Woods on Highway N and wondered what this place is, then we want to meet you! As the new Community and Events Coordinator at Upham Woods, I am looking forward to planning and hosting monthly public days at Upham Woods. 

On October 28, 2019 , we will host a " Trick or Treat with the Bats of Wisconsin " public day featuring our fascinating Bats presentation and a night hike, where we will use our Anabat bat detector. These devices help the WI DNR monitor bat populations by finding bats in houses like the ones in the picture. This event will showcase for the community the type of environmental education programming we have available at Upham Woods, give us a chance to explore the Upham Woods campus, and use the Anabat echolocation detector to find some bat friends just in time for Halloween!

Another upcoming event is the ceremonial removal of our 20 person voyager canoe from the Wisconsin River. Stay tuned for more information on this exciting opportunity to ride in a really big canoe! 

If you are interested in attending either the Bat Event or the Voyager Canoe Event, please email Taylor at tdrogemuller@wisc.edu . I would love to hear from you and your family if you have questions on these events or Upham Woods in general. 
Fall Fever 2019
On Sunday September 8 th , Upham Woods was proud to host Fall Fever; a public, free event for families to get excited about the beauty of early autumn. Almost 40 community members from the surrounding Wisconsin Dells area attended Fall Fever. After the participants arrived, they loaded up the uniquely designed barge (2 row boats put together) and paddled themselves over to our 200-acre State Natural Area, Blackhawk Island. The participants were guided around the outer loop of trails by a naturalist team who interpreted the cultural and natural history of the island. The youngest hikers were thrilled to find many kinds of mushrooms! They also stopped at Upham Cave to explore with scientific tools and wrote stories about their discoveries. They saw many slugs, rocks, moss, and maple leaves just starting to turn red. Thank you, to all who attended, and we hope to see you again! Keep an eye on our website or social media pages for more interactive, public events coming soon! 
Thank You to Our September 2019 Visitors!
Thank you to these groups that spent time at Upham Woods this month:

4H Arts Planning
St Patrick's
Viterbo University
WASC
Cardinal Heights
Savannah Oaks
NRF
MIddleton High School Choir
Sauk County Conservation Day Participants
Badger Ridge
WI ASLA
Fall Fever Participants

A very special thank you to the Amigas de Las Americas group who came to us all the way from Columbia and Ecuador!


Upham Woods Outdoor Learning Center
N194 County Rd N
Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin
(608) 254-6461
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