Service Articles

About Us – Articles about being of service to the Friends’ organization.

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...

Planting history: Volunteers tend the Michigan Island gardens

Planting history: Volunteers tend the Michigan Island gardens

Editor's note: Want to help us support the historic gardens of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore? Donate now to the Erica Peterson garden fund. You can also learn about Erica's leadership in Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and her love for the gardens.National Park history is often depicted on interpretive signs and in ranger talks. It is displayed in glass cases and glossy brochures. But in the Apostle Islands, history is alive and blooming in the historic gardens of the Michigan Island Lighthouse.Elizabeth Lane - NPS photoEd Lane served as the Michigan Island...

Friends volunteers prepare Gaylord Nelson Memorial Garden for a vibrant summer display

Friends volunteers prepare Gaylord Nelson Memorial Garden for a vibrant summer display

The Gaylord Nelson Memorial Garden outside of National Park Service headquarters in Bayfield is ready to put on a vibrant show this summer, thanks to volunteers with Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.The volunteers gathered on a sunny day in late May to remove weeds, invasive species and debris from the prior growing season, to give the desired plant species the room to grow and bloom.Volunteers tend the Gaylord Nelson Memorial Garden - Bob Jauch photosDuring last fall's garden clean-up, volunteer Erica Peterson said, “We started a nursery in the garden so that next year we...

Friends volunteers complete Earth Day Community Clean-Up

Friends volunteers complete Earth Day Community Clean-Up

Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore volunteers gathered outside of National Park Service Headquarters in Bayfield on a brisk, cloudy Saturday morning to help keep trash out of Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. They enjoyed hot coffee and fresh scones before heading out to collect trash. They filled more than a dozen bags by the time their work was done.We would like to thank today's volunteers for a job well done. Friends Executive Director Jeff Rennicke said, "I'll spare you the pictures of some of the things we found but when you are out there this...

Earth Day Community Clean-up in Bayfield set for Saturday, April 20th

Earth Day Community Clean-up in Bayfield set for Saturday, April 20th

As part of Earth Day 2024, please join us for a Community Clean-up event in Bayfield on Saturday, April 20th. This year's Earth Day theme is Planet vs. Plastics, so we're doing what we can to keep plastics and other trash out of Lake Superior.Meet at the National Park Service Headquarters courtyard on Washington Avenue at 9:30 Saturday morning. Bring your own gloves. Bags and safety vests will be provided. We'll also have some muffins and coffee for you. Our community clean-up will run until noon. If you have questions, email jill@friendsoftheapostleislands.org.Volunteers gather for an...

Friends volunteers follow in the footsteps of Michigan Island keepers and gardeners

Friends volunteers follow in the footsteps of Michigan Island keepers and gardeners

It’s a tough act to follow the lightkeepers of old. They were known for tending things - be it brass, the tower light or their flowers. Their gardens at the light stations reflected sincere diligence and pride. Each spring, usually the second week in June, Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore volunteers follow in their footsteps, board a park service boat bound for Michigan Island, and tend to the gardens.“We always wonder what shape the gardens will be in, who survived, or what plants have multiplied. And then there are the weeds. No matter the condition, I am always amazed at...

Connecting people and the Apostle Islands to Costa Rican parks

Connecting people and the Apostle Islands to Costa Rican parks

10 Bayfield area volunteers, including Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore board members Neil Howk and Mark Peterson, recently left snowy Wisconsin to complete two weeks of conservation work on Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, under an agreement between Lake Superior’s national parks and Costa Rica’s National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC).The parks are linked by migratory birds that winter in Costa Rica and breed in the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and other parks around Lake Superior. The agreement signed in 2013 encourages both institutions to work for the benefit of...

Friends Volunteers Tend Historical Gardens

Friends Volunteers Tend Historical Gardens

Imagine tending something that is 112 years old. Three volunteers (limited due to COVID safety protocols) recently joined two National Park Service rangers with shovels and watering cans to tend the gardens at Michigan Island.Flowers bloom in front of the old Michigan Island Lighthouse – Erica Peterson photo“We are the keepers of the light” is a tune often sung at Big Top Chautauqua. Michigan Light was first built in 1856. Lighthouse families there kept gardens to supplement both their food and leisure life. Volunteers from Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore helped the park...

Volunteers Gather for Earth Day 2022 Great Lake Clean Up Event

Volunteers Gather for Earth Day 2022 Great Lake Clean Up Event

Volunteers rolled up their sleeves up on Earth Day, 2022 for a beach and street cleanup in Bayfield, gateway to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. This Earth Day project is aimed at keeping trash off our islands by picking it up before it gets in the lake.  “Every piece of litter on our mainland shores will, if we don’t pick it up now, end up eventually in the lake and on our islands,” Executive Director Jeff Rennicke told the volunteers before the clean up. “Let’s stop the problem before it starts.”Jeff Rennicke talks to the groupThe two dozen volunteers included National Park Service...

Erica Peterson’s legacy will live on!

Erica Peterson’s legacy will live on!

Beach walks, bog smells, night skies, and flower gardens Erica Peterson’s legacy will live on in many forms as she steps down after nearly eight years of guiding the Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore Enjoy a ranger talk at the all-accessible amphitheater at Stockton Island. Inhale the sweet scent of the flower beds at the Michigan Island Lighthouse. Stroll through history along the Sand Island boardwalk. These classic Apostle Islands experiences and many more have one thing, or rather one person, in common: Erica Peterson. Recently, Friends of the Apostle Islands announced...