This Used To Be My Playground

In a few days, I begin the Wisconsin series of writes and I like to prep people for what my focus will be during that course of posts.  On this trip, we had a lot of great fun but we also discovered that Wetland talk would be of major importance throughout our journey.  I'll be showing you cranes and talking about 2 different wetland areas in the Two Rivers/Manitowoc area which make for great birding/wildlife observations.  But I am going to go smaller and talk about something that I remember clearly from my childhood.....running and playing around Riverside park in my old neighborhood.   Today the park still remains, but you may be surprised by the transformations it has gone through over the years.  Inspired by Ragged Robin's Nature Notes work from her historical walks following in the footsteps of author Edith Holden from the last century , I take you on a tour of the wetlands and park area.  But my story is less epic:)  And today I try my hand at vintage photography....

As a child, I remember running through the wetlands behind the park.  I caught Monarch butterflies, dragonflies, frogs, and even a Killdeer!  I was fascinated by nature and had to see everything up close.  The wetlands behind Riverside park were prairie like away from the river.  It was full of critters, milkweed, and fun!  For many years, I played in our treehouse away from everyone else at a friend's house.  And all of this was just a half block away from our old home!!! And then one year, it began to happen.....

Factories and shops wanted to start developing the area for their own use.  The prairie grasses and milkweed would be replaced by a baseball field.  The 70's and 80's were full of the Monarch butterfly because of the milkweed that grew in our area. And then it was wiped away and with it....the Monarch population.  They took our park and destroyed it!  The frogs were harder to find, the birds didn't frequent the area like they used to.....and there weren't anymore caterpillars to find hanging around milkweed!! 

Gravel and hard ground destroyed the natural plants within the area.   And within a year or two, the area had been altered.  And no more Monarchs.

The pic above is especially important.  These buildings lie dormant now....perhaps used for storage.  But back in the earlier days, these buildings were busy busy busy.  The front spaces, that are now empty, were full of milkweed and butterflies.  But "development" created the destruction of habitat around the area.  Where is that development today?  Gone and like these pictures suggest......it's haunting.  Someone somewhere must have also remembered what our playground used to be like....because today the city is trying to restore the area to what it used to be like.......while the empty buildings are still there, the open land is still open.  You see all that factory planning fell through!!  It only took the destruction of the prairie land and a forest to create a failing "Industrial Park" which now sits as an eyesore.    Sorry if I have a little bitter aftertaste in my mouth.....but if you could have seen the creek we played in......and all the animals that lived in that area....it was a tragedy.  My parents didn't think so.  They thought it was progress.  Thankfully one wetland area stood their ground and won and today they stand as an island of what used to be.  This, of course, is the Woodland Dunes off of Hwy 310.  I'll take you back there again in several weeks.

I did see people in the park(now known as a Skate Park for skateboarders, etc), but there was something else going on.......restoration!!!  The city is restoring the wetlands area around the park again and this time there were birds to be seen.  Now it's not like it used to be, but it's an attempt to restore habitat lost. 

Former prairie area then baseball field....and now a water holding area.

Habitat loss is one of the greatest threats to many wildlife species on this planet.  And while I believe that bird populations will return as will frogs(if we continue to monitor habitat, water pollution, etc).....I do worry about the Monarch butterfly.  The populations are still in my hometown....just not in the numbers they once were.   And this is just an observation, but milkweed is the key here.  It grows wild all over but if it's removed, it rarely grows back again as seen in this park and surrounding area. 

Milkweed

 While at the park I searched high and low for the milkweed plant that used to number in the thousands around this riparian sector.  I remember blowing the seeds from the pods as a kid.  Areas that once had this plant everywhere now have some to no milkweed growing in them.  Certain extinction is possible if we cannot preserve habitat from development.   The good news is that there are people who recognize this and are doing something about it.  I can report that I have found high areas of milkweed around the state.  I just wish my hometown would do a little more to protect this very important plant.  Maybe they are.....I just don't see it.  If "A" is the original form of pristine land and "B" is the altered human area converted back to "A" again, then they've only done  half the work because it looked nothing like this as a kid.  Maybe this is phase 1 and if so, it a good start.  But they need to restore the grasses and "weeds" that used to grow in this area for the wildlife.

It would be great to see the Monarchs come back and visit this place again as they once did several decades ago.  More tomorrow....

Pic taken last year at Point Beach State Forest Park along Lake Michigan