Caitlin Williamson
Wayfarers brush up on birding basics at Picnic Point. The millennial group helps members nurture a connection with the state’s parks and natural areas.
The most well-trod paths into Wisconsin’s natural beauty are through the state parks, where signs on nature trails point out aspects of the native environment. But many State Natural Areas also dot our state, protecting some of the last glimmers of what Wisconsin was like before European settlement. Most of them have no trails or facilities, or in some cases even parking areas.
Both parks and natural areas depend on financial contributions and volunteer work that includes cutting brush, pulling and spraying invasive plants, collecting seeds, monitoring rare species and preparing fire breaks. Most of that invaluable cash and sweat equity come from seniors who have the savings and free time to contribute.
But what will happen to our parks and natural areas in decades to come when the boomers have signed their last check and pulled their last garlic mustard plant?
Enter the Wayfarers, a brainchild of the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, a nonprofit conservation organization that serves as a “friends” group to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. For more than 25 years the foundation has supported the DNR with contributions and volunteer labor. For the past three years, Wayfarers has helped share the load while also providing millennials a ready path into the Madison area’s great outdoors.
Reaching out through social media, Wayfarers hopes millennials will paddle, hike, climb, bike and explore their way into a deep love and commitment to Wisconsin’s natural beauty, and eventually help fill the gap in support that conservation groups see looming ahead. Tooling trips with millennials in mind, they frequently partner with the DNR for volunteer work days or guided hikes.
Thomas Meyer, a conservation biologist with the State Natural Areas Program, led an early Wayfarer trip at the Dells of the Wisconsin River. “Most people know about the amusement parks along the strip, but we showed them the other side of the Dells,” says Meyer. “There are fantastic sandstone outcroppings and scenic vistas on the lower Wisconsin River and old-growth forest where the WDNR owns a four-mile swath on both sides of the river.”
To share just how special this natural area is, established to protect the rare plants and trees typical of a northern forest that cloak the sandstone features, Meyer led them off-trail on a high-energy hike — going down into gorges and up through glens — from one end to the other.
Meyer also provided the group with a short course in orienteering using compasses and maps. “Some of them had never seen a paper copy of a highly detailed topographic map,” he says. “It was fun to pass that on to a new generation.”
Recently, Wayfarers piggybacked onto a regular state park winter activity — a candlelight ski and snowshoe at Blue Mound State Park. “I go to Blue Mound in the summer to run in daylight,” says Anne Pearce, a millennial grad student and Wayfarer committee member. “Being in the woods at night in the snow is a magical thing.”
Pearce was walking with three others on their first Wayfarer outing. “It was great to hear their excitement about finding a group of people their age who are interested in exploring the state parks and other natural areas around Madison.”
Upcoming events include monarch butterfly tagging, a Lake Wingra twilight paddle and barbeque, volunteer work days in Parfrey’s Glen State Natural Area, happy hours themed to learn about outdoor gear and Wisconsin’s wild game, and a kayak trip along the scenic Milwaukee River.
“We have about 500 people getting our news updates now. It’s fun to watch our mailing list grow,” says Caitlin Williamson, director of conservation programs for the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin and a millennial who helped create the Wayfarer program. “If people want to find out the latest news, it’s all listed at wisconservation.org/wayfarers. Wayfarers is there to help millennials connect with Wisconsin’s natural beauty and with each other.”
The Wisconsin office of the Nature Conservancy is also trying to connect with younger audiences, says Hannah Larson, that group’s outreach specialist. The Nature Conservancy is finalizing details for a bike trip this summer with Wayfarers along the Military Ridge Bike Trail starting in Mount Horeb to explore some of their prairie properties in the Driftless Area.
“It’s not that we don’t have wonderful younger volunteers, but I would say that like most conservation groups, our members do seem to lean a bit more towards the older side. We would love to broaden our audience for the future of conservation,” says Larson. “Millennials are juggling a lot — establishing households, building careers, having kids — and so a one-time opportunity on a Saturday to come out and plant some trees is a lot more doable than the recurring volunteer experience.”
A millennial herself, Larson sees great potential energy in her peers. “I hear people express concerns, but I am still optimistic,” she says. “The younger generation really wants to make a difference. They have a lot invested in environmental issues, especially climate change and the diversity crises. I think that concern will take different forms, and organizations will have to be ready to adapt to that.”
Larson loves how the Wayfarer program has developed and been marketed. “They are building a great online presence.”
Each of the groups is targeting Madison’s growing pool of millennials: UW-Madison enrolled almost 12,000 in its graduate and professional programs last fall, and newly minted professionals from all over the country come here for jobs on campus and in government and industry.
Bert Chee, 34, moved to Madison from Baltimore last August, and was eager to learn about what the area had to offer. “As a transplant, my outdoor interests are based in a different locale and geography and so everything is interesting and new to me here,” says Chee. “Cross-country skiing seems big, and being able to step onto a frozen lake — that was new.”
Looking for like-minded people who could also recommend outdoor places worth checking out, Chee found Wayfarers on Facebook and attended one of their rare indoor events, an evening of nature-themed board games.
“I really appreciate how warm and inviting everybody was at the Wayfarers group. It was an excellent point of entry, especially for people who are newcomers or transplants who want to get an idea of the lay of the land,” says Chee, who is eager to try another Wayfarer activity.
“What piqued my interest beyond just getting out to see a park, or do an activity, was that they participate in some volunteer activities, and that definitely interests me. Being outside and working towards conservation efforts, hands-on work, seems fun and the right thing to do.”
Wayfarers’ newest committee member, millennial Logan Wille, sees one of their key strengths in the connections the group has with experts in the field of conservation and research. “You may be on a trip where you learn how to ski, but you will also learn about the woods and these outdoor ecosystems around us.”
“It’s also a really great place to meet other people who like the outdoors,” he adds. “I have befriended people through Wayfarers who I would not have met otherwise, and they are great people. That social aspect of Wayfarers is very much needed in Madison.”
