News Articles

Newly received or noteworthy information, especially about recent or important events and happenings.

Friends volunteers tend Gaylord Nelson Memorial Garden, first of many gardening opportunities

Friends volunteers tend Gaylord Nelson Memorial Garden, first of many gardening opportunities

Prairie Alumroot - Jon Okerstrom photoThe first green shoots emerge from the warming earth as spring arrives in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. Outside of park headquarters in Bayfield and on the grounds of iconic island lighthouses, the gardens will grow, with help from green-thumbed Friends of the Apostle Islands volunteers.A team of five volunteers recently worked in the Gaylord Nelson Memorial Garden, clearing away last year's plant debris, pulling weeds, placing signs identifying the plants and refreshing the wood chips covering the paths. The project organizer says the garden...

Here’s your chance to live on Sand Island this summer as a National Park Service volunteer

Here’s your chance to live on Sand Island this summer as a National Park Service volunteer

Volunteering in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore can be an extremely satisfying, gratifying experience, whether you're working with Friends or the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. The National Park Service currently has volunteer positions on Sand Island for August 18 - September 8th. Read their volunteer opportunity posting below and apply at the link below on volunteer.gov."✨Volunteer Alert! ✨ Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is looking for volunteers for the Sand Island Lighthouse Keeper & Campground host position.How would you like to live on an island on Gichigami (Lake...

Roots, rocks, and ravines… the rigors of hiking the Lakeshore Trail

Roots, rocks, and ravines… the rigors of hiking the Lakeshore Trail

The most popular trail at Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is the Lakeshore Trail. Starting at the Meyers Beach parking area off of Hwy 13, the Lakeshore Trail extends 6 miles through forests and along red sandstone cliffs high above Lake Superior and terminates at a reservable backcountry campsite.Lakeshore Trail map - NPSMost visitors walk the trail to enjoy views of the mainland sea caves. A crevasse with a spectacular natural bridge and the first glimpses of the sea caves is 1.8 miles from the trailhead. Traversing this section of the trail can be a challenging walk. Hikers must...

National Park Service to deconstruct Chequamegon Point Light due to structural failure

National Park Service to deconstruct Chequamegon Point Light due to structural failure

(Apostle Islands National Lakeshore News Release) BAYFIELD, Wis. — Apostle Islands National Lakeshore plans to dismantle and remove the historic Chequamegon Point Light Tower on Long Island in summer 2026. The National Park Service (NPS) announced the deteriorating 42-foot tower can no longer be preserved in place. Shoreline erosion and storm damage have caused significant structural failures, including failing footings, severed anchors, and damaged structural braces. The tower poses an imminent safety risk. If not addressed, it threatens to collapse into Lake Superior. “Protecting public...

Wave Watch buoys are LIVE for the 2026 season

Wave Watch buoys are LIVE for the 2026 season

Ice may still be clinging to some of the cliffs of the northernmost islands, but boating season 2026 has officially begun. On Wednesday, May 20th, Friends of the Apostle Islands joined the National Park Service and representatives of the University of Wisconsin-Madison to splash the Wave Watch buoys for the new boating season.Ice on Devils Island cliffs - Jeff Rennicke photosFive solar-powered spotting buoys were deployed at strategic boating locations throughout the Lakeshore and are already transmitting data to the Wave Watch real-time data page. From now until fall, these buoys will...

Plovers Welcome: Volunteers prepare nesting locations

Plovers Welcome: Volunteers prepare nesting locations

The seemingly endless sand beaches of Long Island may look, to us, like the perfect place for a summer picnic or barefoot stroll. But to piping plovers, those same beaches are something much more important.Long Island is the most important habitat in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and, until 2019, the only successful nesting spots in the park for this federal, tribal, and state endangered species. Along with the Michigan Island sandspit, its beaches were designated as “critical habitat” for the species in 2001 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and until 2019, Long Island was the...

Upcoming tree removal and summer construction progress at Meyers Beach

Upcoming tree removal and summer construction progress at Meyers Beach

Visitors to Meyers Beach will begin to see important early stage work this spring as the National Park Service continues progress on the new accessible path and staircase. On May 12, contractors will complete scheduled tree removal activities in the project area. While no public closures are expected, visitors may notice active crews and equipment on site throughout the day.Why tree removal is occurring nowTree felling must happen within a specific seasonal window to protect migratory bird species during their nesting period and to avoid disturbing roosting bats. Completing this work in...

Busy season: Summer gears up in the Apostle Islands

Busy season: Summer gears up in the Apostle Islands

Summer is gearing up in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. It is going to be a busy season. Here is a rundown of important things to know to make the most of your island adventures.BAYFIELD HEADQUARTERS AND VISITOR CENTERThe main Visitor Center located in Bayfield will be open for the season beginning May 15th. Park staff will be available daily to provide information, issue camping permits, and sell interagency passes. The bookstore will also be open.ELECTRONIC PAYMENTSDue to a recent executive order, park fees will be moving to electronic forms of payment. Due to connectivity...

Stronger Together: Friends of the Apostle Islands staff travels to Washington D.C.

Stronger Together: Friends of the Apostle Islands staff travels to Washington D.C.

We are stronger together. The powerful truth in that statement was evident April 29th as Jeff and Jill Rennicke, Friends Executive Director and Associate Director, joined the leaders of 89 other national park partner organizations in Washington D.C. as part of the National Park Foundation Hill Day, an annual opportunity for park advocates to meet with legislators and discuss the policies that impact our national parks and the people who care for them. “We came together from every corner of the nation to speak with one voice,” Jeff Rennicke said, “take care of our national parks.” Group...

Friends Earth Day event draws dozens of volunteers, lakeshore lovers to Bayfield

Friends Earth Day event draws dozens of volunteers, lakeshore lovers to Bayfield

What's your memory of your first Earth Day, whether you were a college student or you were merely a figment of your future parents' imagination on April 22, 1970? Friends Executive Director Jeff Rennicke asked the audience step back in time as he recounted the history of Earth Day and it's everlasting connection to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.That connection is Wisconsin Governor and Senator Gaylord Nelson, a man inspired by the environmentally disastrous Santa Barbara oil spill of 1969 to change the world through environmental education and action. The next year, Earth Day was...