Audubon Center of the North Woods
News from the North Woods
Summer 2012 Volume 38, Issue 2
A proud leader in environmental education and renewable energy
In This Issue Unusual Spring
1
Clarified Connections
1
New ‘Wild’ Staff
2
Dinners at the Lake
3
Sunset Pontoon Lake Tours
3
Good Eats
3
Energy News
3
Wish Lists
4
Road Scholar programs
4
New Artwork at the Center
5
Gene Steele Remembered
5
Hiring Fall Interns
6
Spotlight on Schools
7
Summer Family Escape
7
Women’s Wellness Weekend
8
Open House & Trail Run/Walk 9 Volunteer Spotlight
9
Volunteers Wanted
10
Alumni News
10
Thank You
11
Upcoming Events Adult Ways of Wildlife June 10-14 Road Scholar - Loons June 10-15 Road Scholar - intergenerational June 17-22 Summer Family Escape July 5-8 Road Scholar -Migration Mysteries August 26-31 Road Scholar -Migration Mysteries September 2-7 Women’s Wellness & Adventure Weekend October 5-7 ‘Autumn at the Audubon’ Open House October 13 Renewable Trail Run/Walk October 13 Winter Family Escape December 26-30
Unusual Spring
Clarified Connections
by Bryan Wood, Co-Director
by Melonie Shipman, Co-Director
This spring has been one for the record books. In the U.S. alone, 150,000 temperature records were set in the month of March, with the month as a whole being an astounding 8.5°F above average. Numbers like that are hard to comprehend. At the Audubon Center, we have noticed many things that have been out of the ordinary this spring. For our maple syrup operations, we set up taps in February and begin collecting sap mid-to-late March, with the sap flow stopping in early April usually. A good maple syrup season is dependent upon the right climatic conditions. When the temperature gets above freezing for several days, it triggers the sap in the roots of the maple tree to travel up through the sapwood to the branches, bringing nutrients to help produce the flowers and eventually the leaves. If the temperature goes below freezing at night, the sap travels back down through the sapwood and into the roots, avoiding freezing in the trunk. The next day if it is above freezing, the sap will again flow up the tree to the branches. A good season has several days like this, where temperatures are in the high 30s or 40s during the day, and in the 10s or 20s at night. This year however, March was full of days that were in the 60s and even 70s, with overnight
At the Center, we hear many repeated questions, “How do we get there?”, “Are there any slots left for the Dinner at the Lake?”, “How do we register for…?”. Intermixed between these easy questions are tougher ones that indicate that some clarification is needed about why we are involved in different efforts. One area that seems to need this clarification is our relationship with charter schools.
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The Audubon Center of the North Woods has evolved into being an authorizer of 35 charter schools throughout the state of Minnesota. As an authorizer we oversee and hold the charter schools accountable for their efforts in governance, finances, academic achievement and, in our case, environmental education. Each school is autonomous in how they achieve these elements. The charter school division works under my supervision (as the K12 Co-Director) and is housed in downtown Minneapolis to be closer to the largest collection of schools. The division is operated by an exceptional group of experienced professionals in the very specialized world of charter schools. It is funded directly and only through the fees that the schools pay.