Around this time last year, I was meandering through the quiet woods of the Chequamegon National forest, not yet knowing this hike would be unlike any other. As I ambled through the trees, my phone rang– it was a call from LNRP board members asking me if I would accept the role of leading this remarkable organization! Now, almost a year later, I want to take a few paragraphs to reflect on all we have to be thankful for at LNRP.
Read MoreOne of my summer reads is the amazing book Braiding Sweetgrass, in which author Robin Wall Kimmerer weaves together Indigenous wisdom, scientific knowledge, and the teachings of plants. Her deep discussions concerning the importance of the relationships we have with people and the land reflects the core values we hold dear at LNRP. She writes, “Restoring land without restoring relationships is an empty exercise. It is a relationship that will endure and a relationship that will sustain the restored land.” For LNRP, the work of caring for our lands and waters has only been possible because of the relationships that we’ve fostered over 21 years with passionate grassroots organizations, engaged community members, and effective government leaders.
Read MoreWith the spring blooming of Forsythia, the LNRP team has been embarking on a campaign of restoration site visits, partner engagements, tabling events, speeches, town meetings, and so much more! Consider this letter as your Season Pass to come out and join us or our dedicated partner groups for a myriad of community events and volunteer opportunities. We invite you to get your boots dirty, meet some amazing people, and engage in work that truly improves the lives of everyone in your community.
Read MoreNavigating the successful work of 2023 has left LNRP in an amazing position for 2024 and the critical work that lies ahead! Working side by side with our partner groups, we strive to protect fragile natural resources, forge working relationships with agricultural communities, support practices that positively impact climate change, and control invasive species to promote habitat biodiversity. This critical work involves people, funding, resources and a whole lot of passion.
Read MoreJoining the LNRP team as it celebrates 20 years of cultivating conservation, collaboration, and community is both an honor and a privilege. I am honored to continue the mission of supporting dozens of community-based partners and privileged to lead this organization and its amazing staff into the next decade. Supporting our mission for the next decade has never been more important as we focus on the vital natural resources that exist from the “Ledge to the Lakeshore.”
Read MoreSpring has sprung – and with it, all the requisite synonyms we all use to describe this time of year.
Rebirth. Reawakening. Renewal. Rejuvenation. Regeneration. Revival. And yes, Restoration.
All of the above words certainly connect intimately to our LNRP mission. Really, they capture the essence of the transformative community-focused, conservation-based work we do with our partners, friends, and supporters like you…
Read MoreThe “You” is the most critical piece of that milestone anniversary celebration. I know that feels like an old adage, but it is so very true – you are talented, inspired, impassioned, enthusiastic, generous people who make LNRP the success it has been these past two decades. Our LNRP Team is genuinely grateful for each and every one of you. We are privileged to collaborate with you on our community-based land and water conservation work – and we thank you.
Read MoreAre you ready for 2022?!? Well, ready or not…it’s here. On many levels, I believe all of us are ready for the “new beginning” the new year brings, and especially since it brings with it hope for another step forward – and out of – the pandemic in which we have been living.
Read MoreTransformative restoration requires time, passion, patience, vision, and yes, resources. LNRP’s Executive Director, Tom Mlada, shares a very personal example.
Read MoreAre you ready for 2022?!? Well, ready or not…it’s here. On many levels, I believe all of us are ready for the “new beginning” the new year brings, and especially since it brings with it hope for another step forward – and out of – the pandemic in which we have been living.
Read MoreThe year that was 2020 was challenging for all of us. To be sure, the source and the scope of challenge may have varied. But on many levels and in many different ways, this past calendar year was a difficult one. Our experience of it, in that descriptive sense, was shared…
Read MoreOur LNRP Team has been hard at work these past few months, as this quarterly newsletter illustrates. Since our Spring newsletter in April, we’ve advanced several project and programming efforts; celebrated several grant awards and a successful “Giving Tuesday Now” appeal; provided support for partner-led online events; and actively connected and communicated with our stakeholders and supporters via weekly “Virtual Happy Hour” engagements…
Read MoreOur LNRP Team has been hard at work these past few months, as this quarterly newsletter illustrates. Since our Spring newsletter in April, we’ve advanced several project and programming efforts; celebrated several grant awards and a successful “Giving Tuesday Now” appeal; provided support for partner-led online events; and actively connected and communicated with our stakeholders and supporters via weekly “Virtual Happy Hour” engagements…
Read MoreThis week, our nation celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Earth Day. A bit more than 50 years before that first celebration of Earth Day in 1970 – back in 1908 – President Theodore Roosevelt, the father of our National Park System, made the above declaration about conservation. In short, while this week’s Earth Day celebration represented a very important milestone, our collective conservation work is rooted even deeper in its intimate connection to some of our nation’s greatest leaders.
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