Volunteer Opportunities in the Conservancy
Check out our brochure for ways to get involved!
Upcoming restoration workdays in May
Saturday May 12 (Get Dirty for Dane, sponsored by the Dane County Environmental Council (DCEC) and REI)
Saturday May 5 and 19
For more details visit
our Restoration Volunteers page.
Kids for the Earth
Interested in
presenting environmental topics for K-12 students visiting the
conservancy? You can volunteer or join our paid naturalist
staff - see our brochure
or visit our Kids for the Earth page for
details and contact information.
Spring Prescribed Burning in the Conservancy
It's been a busy prescribed burn season in the conservancy this spring! The city took advantage of the early spring to burn prairies and oak savanna on the east and west sides of the conservancy in the second week of March.
On March 16th the Wisconsin Partners for Fish and Wildlife teamed up with The Nature Conservancy to repeat their free 2010 burn of the 101 acres of prairie and savanna at the north end of the conservancy north of the main trail. Thanks to them for a great burn!
Finally, the Friends hired restoration company Quercus to burn the two prairies to the east and west of the springs at the north end of the conservancy on April 7th. Another great burn!
Prescribed fire is one of our most effective restoration management tools: it keep prairies and oak savannas open by keeping encroaching invasive brush and trees at bay; it burns off soil-covering thatch, allowing a new generation of seedlings to get established; and it exposes the dark earth to the spring sun, which warms the soil and allows plants to get an early start. Expect taller plants with more blooms this year!
Pictures from the March 16th burn
Pictures from the April 7th burn
Third Annual Photo Competition Underway
Grab your camera and visit the Conservancy today!
Now is your chance to show the community what piques your interest in the Conservancy! Show us what you love most, capture your emotion, and use your creativity through photography.
Grand prize winners in youth, high school, and adult categories will each receive $100, and all winning images will be featured in a gallery exhibition held at the end of the year. The competition closes August 1, 2012.
View the 2011 1st Place Winners
View the 2010 1st Place Winners
Order Your 2012 Phenology Calendar Today
Learn about nature with our Pheasant Branch Conservancy calendar
Record your personal phenology observations in the 2012 Friends of Pheasant Branch Conservancy Phenology Calendar. The calendar again features photographs from our photo contest. It will also include a checklist for seasonal animal and plant events, sunrise, sunset and weather data, and monthly nature notes.
The calendars make great gifts!
$15 for one calendar
$12.50 each additional calendar delivered to the same address
Download the Phenology Calendar Order Form
Surf the Web and Help the Friends
Who do you GoodSearch and GoodShop for? Use this online search engine to help protect and restore the Pheasant Branch Conservancy! How does using the internet help protect the environment, you ask…
GoodSearch is a search engine (powered by yahoo, so it’s a good one) that donates money to a user specified non-profit each and every time a search is performed. The money comes from advertisers. If 100 FOPB members search twice/day for an entire year, we would earn $730 a year.
GoodShop is connected to many online retailers, such as Amazon and Best Buy. The user selects a non-profit and the retailer donates a percentage of the sale. If you make online purchases, please check to see if the retailer is a part of this socially responsible website.
We need your support to keep our restoration and education efforts going strong. Start using GoodSearch and GoodShop today – remember to check the Friends of Pheasant Branch as the non-profit.