Groundswell Conservancy

"If you’ve wandered aimlessly, or even purposefully, through a prairie this month, you may have noticed quite a few banded garden spiders out and about. Their webs are incredibly strong, and I often find surprisingly large grasshoppers tangled up in them. The evening I found this particular spider, the sunlight was hitting its web just right, creating such a striking scene that I had to stop and take a photo.

I did a little research on banded garden spiders and discovered that they often orient their webs from east to west. They also tend to hang head-down with the dark underside of their abdomen facing the sun, allowing them to absorb as much solar heat as possible late in the year. In other words, this spider's positioning wasn't random at all!"

From sunbathing banded garden spiders to the adventures of fungi fanatics, there's a lot happening outdoors!

🌱 Read this month's Nature Now by Groundswell's Land Management Director BJ Byers: groundswellconservancy.org/september-fungi-spiders-bottle-gentian/

📷: BJ Byers

Celebrate the grand opening of the Marsh Lake Public Access Project with us! 🚣

When: Thursday, October 1, 4 p.m.
Where: Marsh Lake Public Access Area

Join us as Jefferson County WI Parks officially opens the new accessible canoe and kayak launch, and parking area at Marsh Lake. These improvements create a welcoming access point for paddling, wildlife viewing, and exploring this special landscape. You’re encouraged to bring your canoe or kayak and give the new launch a try following the ribbon cutting!

This event also celebrates the many people and partners who made this project possible. Originally owned by the Trieloff family and protected by Groundswell, the property will be managed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources as part of the Lake Mills Wildlife Area.

Event details and registration: groundswellconservancy.org/event/marsh-lake-public-access-project

If inclement weather forces us to cancel this event, we will notify all who are registered via email.

📷: Jefferson County Parks

Land Trust Alliance Rally may be over, but we're still smiling! 💚

Four of us traveled to Denver, CO for Land Trust Alliance's Rally 2026 Conference. Our staff attended learning sessions on land conservation and farming, fundraising, stewardship, and more. We connected with dozens of land trusts from across the nation to collaborate on our conservation efforts, build lasting partnerships, and bring back fun and inspiring stories!

Thanks to LTA for creating a space where our community of land trusts can continue to grow and strengthen. A special thank you goes to the Oberweiler Foundation for making opportunities like this possible for our staff.

📷: A selfie with our friends at Gathering Waters by Danni Niles and photos from Heidi Habeger

Today is National Public Lands Day 🌲

Take this opportunity to get outside, explore and appreciate our natural areas, and help protect the special places you love. Everyone should enjoy access to nature, and caring for our public lands depends on all of us.

Visit one of our public preserves, volunteer for an upcoming seed collection workday, and get involved in conservation where you live!

Visit groundswellconservancy.org/get-involved to learn more.

📷: Roberta Herschleb, Mario Quintana, Amanda Dambrink

"If you’ve walked the drumlin at Westport Prairie this summer, you may have noticed flags and cages scattered across the hillside. These mark Jillian Neece’s graduate research at UW-Madison where she’s studying milkweed pollination.

She’s excluded certain pollinators from milkweed flowers with mesh of varying sizes, and is now testing the seeds for successful pollination as they mature. In essence, Jillian is working to understand which insects actually pollinate milkweeds and whether milkweeds depend exclusively on larger insects to set seed."

It's migration season for monarchs butterflies at Westport Prairie, and there's a lot happening in the field for these pollinators. Check out this month's Field Notes from Groundswell's Farm & Land Manager Sam Douglass to learn about our work with monarchs and milkweed, from seed production research to butterfly tagging 🦋

Read the full blog post: groundswellconservancy.org/september-field-notes-from-sam

Want to contribute to this meaningful work? Sign up for our fall seed collection days: groundswellconservancy.org/events

📷: Timon Keller, Sterling Ruemmler, Roberta Herschleb

Thank you to the City of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, USA for honoring Groundswell Conservancy with a 2026 Charles D. Ashley award! This annual award is presented to Sun Prairie citizens who have done the most good for their community this year.

Members of our Groundswell staff, supporters, board, and volunteers accepted the award at the City Council Meeting this past Tuesday.

Last year, Groundswell worked with the City of Sun Prairie and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to create more opportunities for people to enjoy nature at Patrick Marsh. After protecting this wetland gem with a conservation easement, Groundswell gave Patrick Marsh to City of Sun Prairie to create their first conservation park! The preserve will continue to be managed by Groundswell and remain a beautiful place that connects people to nature. 🛶

Check out this achievement: hngnews.com/the_star/local_news/sun-prairie-announces-2026-ashley-and-reininger-award-winners/article_14e1ab3b-23d4-4afa-8488-0c309c79a20b.html

📷: Ethan Ferrell, The Star

A lot is happening at the Groundswell office, and we're making time to celebrate the work we do for our special places, together 🌱

Recently, Groundswell hosted staff and board outings in the Town of Westport. Our staff ventured out to Westport Prairie to collect seed for this winter's 18-acre prairie planting! It's a ripe time of year on the drumlin, and we had a lot to collect: flowering spurge, sideoats grama, lead plant, purple prairie clover, and cylindrical blazing star. 🪻

Then, we gathered at Westport Town Hall for our Board of Directors meeting before heading out to Westport Farms for an evening of good food and conversations about our equitable farmland access work. Thank you to the Town of Westport for hosting our board meeting and to everyone on our team who made these events possible!

Want to support conservation where you live with Groundswell? Check out our seed collection days this fall: groundswellconservancy.org/events

📷: Heidi Habeger, Forrest Woolworth