Our Work Articles

Learn more about the work of Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore including projects focused on accessibility, conservation, education and preservation.

Friends volunteers work to control invasive species on Long Island

Friends volunteers work to control invasive species on Long Island

Purple loosestrife flower headHundreds of vibrant magenta or purple flowers standing three to seven feet tall over Apostle Islands wetlands may look pretty, but dig a little deeper into the story of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) and you'll understand why this invasive plant poses an ongoing threat. A single plant can produce a million seeds or more. And left to multiply, these highly aggressive plants from Asia and Europe can choke out native vegetation, leaving wildlife without proper food, nesting grounds, or shelter. The plants flower from July into the fall. Removing the flower...

Friends of the Apostle Islands among the winners of prestigious grant

Friends of the Apostle Islands among the winners of prestigious grant

What do the Apostle Islands, Great Basin National Park, Glacier National Park, Friends of Acadia, the Virgin Islands, and Yellowstone Forever have in common? All of these recently joined over 70 other national park units and the organizations that support them as recipients of 2026 Capacity Building Grants from the National Park Foundation. The program is a part of over $5 million in grants awarded to strengthen the organizational and philanthropic capacity of park partners like Friends of the Apostle Islands.Bob Geraty, NPF, Jeff Rennicke and Jill Rennicke outside the US Capitol - file...

Meyers Beach accessibility project under way

Meyers Beach accessibility project under way

With a turn of the shovel, the long-awaited Meyers Beach accessible path project has begun. A partnership between the National Park Service, the National Park Foundation, and Friends of the Apostle Islands, the $690,000 project will replace the 47-step stairway down a 23-foot sand bank with an accessible 3% grade pathway leading to one of the most popular beaches and kayak launching sites in the Islands and the starting point for viewing the famous Ice Caves in the winter.“The units of our national park system belong to all of us,” says Jeff Rennicke, Executive Director of Friends of the...

Friends volunteers tend historic gardens on Raspberry, Michigan islands

Friends volunteers tend historic gardens on Raspberry, Michigan islands

More than a century ago, Apostle Islands lighthouse keepers and their families planted gardens as sources of food, beauty and pride. The traditions continue today, with help from Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.This month, two volunteer crews joined the National Park Service to plant and maintain gardens on Raspberry and Michigan Islands. The process involves loading locally-purchased plants, tools and supplies onto a Park Service boat, unloading and hauling everything up the stairs and getting to work. The gardens are designed to be historically accurate. The vegetable...

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...

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...

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...

It’s happening at Meyers Beach!

It’s happening at Meyers Beach!

Thanks to the support of people like you, the National Park Service and Friends of the Apostle Islands are proud to announce the awarding of a construction contract for the accessible pathway at Meyers Beach. “As the access point for kayakers heading for the caves and to Meyers Beach, the new accessible walkway will be a kind of bridge to the beauties of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore,” says Jeff Rennicke, Executive Director of Friends. “It is another big and important step in our commitment to the idea that our Lakeshore belongs to all of us.”NPS graphic with diagram of Meyers Beach...