Raspberry Island Articles

Discover the Park – Islands

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...

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...

Planting history: Friends helps NPS staff plant the Raspberry Island Lighthouse gardens

Planting history: Friends helps NPS staff plant the Raspberry Island Lighthouse gardens

76 steps. Count them, from the dock to the Raspberry Island Lighthouse grounds, even more to get to the top of the light. It is a long climb, so rest a moment and recall the words of Lee Benton, the long-time keeper of Raspberry Island Light. “I hope you noticed the beautiful flower gardens around the outside of the house. My wife Anna has a green thumb and loves to plant all sorts of flowers each year."As you catch your breath, let the collection of flower and vegetable gardens on the lighthouse grounds carry you back in time. The gardens, planted this year by volunteers from Friends of the...

Friends volunteer wins 2024 Jerry and Mary Phillips Volunteerism Award

Friends volunteer wins 2024 Jerry and Mary Phillips Volunteerism Award

Bob Durfey, Friends volunteer“If you don’t do, you can’t b#@*h!” was Bob Durfey’s tongue-in-cheek advice recently as he received the 2024 Jerry and Mary Phillips Award for Volunteerism during a ceremony held at the Bayfield Heritage Association on November 20th. And, Bob is a doer, a true fixture in the nonprofit volunteer world in Bayfield and the Apostle Islands.“Whether it is helping to raise the tent every year at the Big Top Chautauqua, redesigning the Brownstone Trail on the Bayfield shoreline or tending the gardens at the historic Michigan Island lighthouse, Bob is the go-to volunteer...

Friends of the Apostle Islands attends “Wisconsin Lighthouses” premiere

Friends of the Apostle Islands attends “Wisconsin Lighthouses” premiere

The spectacular lighthouses of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore are featured in a new PBS Wisconsin program entitled "Wisconsin Lighthouses," to be televised statewide for the first time on December 2nd at 7 p.m. Invited guests, including two Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore board members and family members attended a premiere screening and related events in Manitowoc on November 14th.PBS Wisconsin says, “Since the mid-19th century, our state’s lighthouses have guided generations of mariners to safe harbors. Wisconsin Lighthouses” illuminates the power and appeal of...

Raspberry Island birds of yesterday and today

Raspberry Island birds of yesterday and today

When you visit the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and Friends board member Neil Howk is your guide, you're in for a treat. As a retired park ranger specializing in telling the stories of the islands, Neil has a special way of immersing park visitors in the rich history and natural beauty in the park. This summer, Neil volunteered at the Raspberry Island light, where he paid special attention to the bird populations - many of which have been on the island for more than a century. I spent nine days in early August on Raspberry Island as a volunteer-in-park leading tours of the historic...

The many berries of Raspberry Island

The many berries of Raspberry Island

When you visit the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and Friends board member Neil Howk is your guide, you're in for a treat. As a retired park ranger specializing in telling the stories of the islands, Neil has a special way of immersing park visitors in the rich history and natural beauty in the park. This summer, Neil volunteered at the Raspberry Island light and took time to take stock of the many berry populations on the island, as well as what's changed since the days of lighthouse keeper Francis Jacker in the late 1800s. The Ojibwe name Miskominikaani-minis refers to the “island of...

The fungus art of Raspberry Island keeper Francis Jacker

The fungus art of Raspberry Island keeper Francis Jacker

When you visit the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and Friends board member Neil Howk is your guide, you're in for a treat. As a retired park ranger specializing in telling the stories of the islands, Neil has a special way of immersing park visitors in the rich history and natural beauty in the park. This summer, Neil volunteered at the Raspberry Island light, where in the late 1800s, keeper Francis Jacker exercised his artistic talents in a most unusual way. And where park visitors got the chance to do the same.Francis Jacker (pronounced Yacker), the lighthouse keeper at Raspberry...

Life at Raspberry Island Light: 2024 vs. 1924

Life at Raspberry Island Light: 2024 vs. 1924

When you visit the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and Friends board member Neil Howk is your guide, you're in for a treat. As a retired park ranger specializing in telling the stories of the islands, Neil has a special way of immersing park visitors in the rich history and natural beauty in the park. This summer, Neil volunteered at the Raspberry Island light. During the coming weeks, we'll share some of Neil's experiences, observations and interactions with park visitors. We'll start with a tour of both sides of the lighthouse and a look at what National Park Service volunteers do while...