The Nature Conservancy in Wisconsin

05/29/2026

🚨HELP US CROWN THE CUTEST BEE IN THE MIDWEST🚨

Our team is locked in a heated debate: Which of these 9 tiny native bees is the cutest in the Midwest?

We can't agree AT ALL and it's been DAYS. 🫠 So we need YOU to weigh in:
👉 Swipe through the line-up
👉 Choose your favorite
👉 Comment your pick below

Who deserves the title of Most Adorable Native Bee? 👑 🐝

Bonus: Tell us why you picked your bee! Its fuzzy face? Its color? Behavior?

🏆 Winner gets bragging rights—and we may finally get peace and quiet on our team. For a minute, anyway. 🤭 😇

05/26/2026

Perhaps money does grow on trees — and in wetlands. 💧🐸

Wetlands are natural sponges that soak up extra water and filter pollutants, improving water quality and reducing flooding for nearby communities. These benefits translate into measurable boons for residents, economy and environment — especially when applied on a large scale like the H2Ohio program, a collaborative, comprehensive clean water program in Ohio that TNC helped launch back in 2019.

Wetland restoration projects from H2Ohio have proven to be wise, cost-effective investments where benefits outweigh the costs for people, businesses, governments and, of course, the environment. The data says it all:

💧 For every $1 invested in wetland restoration through H2Ohio, residents saw a return of $8 in economic benefits.
💧 H2Ohio generated more than $330 million in statewide economic benefits in 2024.
💧 Nearly 8.9 million Ohioans benefit from improved water quality because of H2Ohio projects.

Now, imagine the impact that a program like H2Ohio could have in Wisconsin, or even scaled up to a regional or even national level. Programs like these remind us that nature underpins our economic prosperity.

Learn about more successful programs in the Midwest like H2Ohio that help uplift both our economies and our well-being. https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/priority-landscapes/midwest/stories-in-the-midwest/midwest-nature-economy/?en_txn1=s_fbo.reg_mw.x.x

05/23/2026

Looking to enjoy nature in a new way? Try birding! 🐦 Spring is the best time to pick up your binoculars and get outside to start a new hobby and spot migrating birds. No special equipment is really needed to start birding – just get outside and start listening for birds!

🌲 If you live near lush forests, look for a variety of warblers. To spot these little feathered friends, you'll need to look far up into the tree canopy! Our top tip: check out field guides and bird ID apps like Merlin to help you identify these birds by their calls and songs.

🌳 If you live near shrubby woods or in/near an urban area... look for indigo buntings, peregrine falcons and northern house wrens. Our top tip: Join a local birding club or go on birding hikes at your local nature center or park. These are great ways to connect with other, more experienced bird watchers in your area and learn directly from them!

🌾 If you live near open fields or prairies... look for bobolinks, dickcissels and western meadowlarks. Our top tip: bring a pair of binoculars to help you better see these birds from across a grassy meadow (and help you learn how to identify bird species).

💧 If you live near wetlands/marshes... look for bigger birds like white pelicans, great egrets, snow geese and tundra swans. Our top tip: write down the birds you're seeing and hearing and record any other nature observations to learn how these areas (and its avian visitors) change season to season.

Check out our list of bird hotspots and plan a visit to enjoy this natural phenomenon. https://www.nature.org/en-us/about-us/where-we-work/priority-landscapes/great-lakes/stories-in-the-great-lakes/midwest-migratory-birds/?en_txn1=s_fbo.reg_mw.x.x

05/22/2026

Nature is connected—and so are we.

Migratory birds remind us that ecosystems across countries and continents depend on each other. What happens in one place impacts life everywhere. This Biodiversity Day, let’s commit to protecting the networks that sustain our planet. 🌍✨

Did you know? Wisconsin shares dozens species of migratory birds with Latin and South America! Imagine flying thousands of miles, over ocean and land, to make it from your summer to winter homes. Phew!

Every year, hundreds of birds embark on an epic journey from the north to the south of the American continent, seeking shelter and food.

05/21/2026

Great news for your week! TNC recently added 500 acres to permanent protection and public access at the Tenderfoot Forest Reserve in Wisconsin's Northwoods, including a stand of rare, old-growth forest.

“This is the closest we’ll get to an old-growth forest landscape in Wisconsin,” said John Bates, local naturalist, author, and trustee emeritus for The Nature Conservancy. “Some of these trees started growing before European settlement. They’re not fossils; they’re our living ancestors. When you walk beneath them, you’re walking through history.”

Learn more about this big win for nature and people, along with how to visit Tenderfoot and enjoy this special place yourself:

An additional 500 acres of Northwoods forest are permanently protected and open to the public as part of an expansion of The Nature Conservancy’s Tenderfoot Forest Reserve.

05/19/2026

"Clean water really unites us all. From fish and birds to our human communities, we all rely on clean water." - Brian Miner, TNC's Southeast Wisconsin Stewardship Coordinator

Couldn't have said it better ourselves! Check out this great report from WISN 12 NEWS about the work TNC is doing with Ducks Unlimited to restore a stream to its natural course in Eagle, Wisconsin. It's part of the Mukwonago River Watershed and the stream feeds directly into Eagle Spring and Lulu Lakes.

Crews in the Town of Eagle are restoring a spring-fed stream system and removing decades-old man-made ponds.

05/15/2026

🌟 🌳 Quiet achievers. Long-term legends. Ecosystem MVPs.

Swipe through to meet the Midwest oaks at the head of the class—and learn why planting and protecting them makes a lasting difference for generations of wildlife, people and our wild spaces. 🐛 🐦‍⬛ 🐿️

05/11/2026

Meet me in da club (moss) ✌️

Nope, these aren't pine seedlings, they're an ancient and fascinating variety of vascular plants called club moss (aka lycopodiopsida, aka firmoss, spikemoss, or quillworts). Despite their name, clubmosses are not true mosses. They are, however, the oldest group of vascular plants, having evolved some 410 million years ago and surviving multiple mass extinctions along the way!

At one time, the ancestors of these lil' guys absolutely dominated the forests of the Carboniferous Period (roughly 350 to 300 million years ago), when they could grow up to 100 feet tall. Probably too big to fit into da club....

These days, you can spot clubmoss all over the ground in woodlands, on forest edges, in bogs and swamps, and in brushy fields. This patch was growing at TNC's Mink River preserve in Door County, but you can find it in many places in Wisconsin.

05/07/2026

The key ingredient for adoption of nature-friendly regenerative agriculture on a wide scale? Collaboration. 🤝🌱

A new TNC-coordinated roadmap — developed with partners across agriculture, conservation, and industry — spotlights the critical role that trusted advisors can play in helping farmers implement beneficial ag practices across the Midwest and North America.

Learn more about the report and register for our upcoming overview webinar at 11AM CT on May 13th. https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/provide-food-and-water-sustainably/food-and-water-stories/north-america-regenerative-crop-systems/farm-advisor-roadmap/?en_txn1=s_fbo.reg_mw.x.x

📸 Alex Snyder/TNC