Leopold Day Celebration

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (Refuge)! Created in 1924, the Refuge’s beginning came nine years before conservationist Aldo Leopold published his first textbook, Game Management, which transformed how conservation leaders thought about wildlife management and land stewardship. Growing alongside these evolving ideas, the Refuge has seen many seasons of change throughout these decades! Please join us to celebrate this milestone anniversary and honor Leopold’s enduring legacy! Leopold’s work will be celebrated in a series of FREE events in the La Crosse area as part of an annual state-wide celebration. Here’s what’s happening at the Refuge! Registration is not required. The Visitor Center doors will open at 11:45 p.m. 12:00 p.m. presentation: “Fins, feathers and firebrands: 100 years of conservation on the Upper Mississippi River Refuge.” Come learn about the passionate and vocal visionaries who influenced the Refuge’s creation, major events which shaped its physical and social landscape, and how you can help shape the next 100 years to come! 1:00 p.m. presentation: “Prairie gardening 101: how to add beauty to your yard or public space” by Dr. Melinda Knutson. Join retired US Fish and Wildlife Service regional wildlife biologist and conservation planner, Dr. Melinda Knutson, to discover why we care about prairies, how you can get involved in local conservation efforts, and tips and tricks for adding native prairie and savanna plants to your garden at home! 2:00 p.m. Guided winter plant walk: Join a Refuge Ranger for a short walk on the prairie to learn about common native prairie plants in their winter condition! We’ll walk about a 1/2 mile along an unplowed paved trail. Please come dressed in warm layers for the weather! 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Native plant giveaway and native seed planting: One of the best ways we can help wildlife of all kinds is to grow native plants! Stop by anytime between noon and 2:30 p.m. to pick up a wild bergamot or butterfly milkweed starter plant to take home. From 2:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., we’ll have soil, pots, and seeds available for visitors who’d like to drop in to plant their own seed to take home. These recently planted seeds can be transplanted into a backyard garden or larger plant pot later in the spring. Thank you to our partners at Mississippi Valley Conservancy and the Friends of the Refuge – Mississippi River Pools 7 & 8 for providing the seeds and planters! PLANTS WILL BE AVAILABLE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST, please limit 2 plants per person. Check out more free activities in the La Crosse area! The Nature Place in La Crosse, WI will be hosting free family activities between 9:30 -11:00am on Saturday, March 2nd. Activities will include games, crafts, scavenger hunts, and a visit with some of their live animals. The D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics at Viterbo University will be hosting a virtual presentation from environmental activist, Doug Tallamy, on Tuesday evening March 5th at 7pm CST on their Facebook page - https://www.viterbo.edu/db-reinhart.../lecture-series. Doug Tallamy is a professor, author, and renowned speaker who will address challenges within our ecosystems with solutions such as reducing lawn, planting natives, and removing invasive species. These La Crosse community events are planned each year by representatives of local environmental and conservation organizations.