Chippewa Moraine Chapter
Ice Age Trail Alliance
Ice Age Trail Dispatch
January 2010
In this edition:
March Chapter Meeting
Regional Chapter Meeting: Your Ideas Wanted
Ice Age Trail Fair Planned for May 22
CPR Class Graduates
Future Trail Corridor Planning Resumes
March Chapter Meeting
Join us at the Chippewa Falls Library on Monday, March 15 at 6 PM for our bi-monthly chapter meeting. This month we look at the various events, hikes, and work projects planned for spring and into the summer, and plan for a special public presentation in May.
Regional Chapter Meeting
A couple times a year the chapters from northwest Wisconsin get together to look at issues affecting all and compare notes between the chapters. It's a great time to learn about whats happening at the Alliance. Our next such meeting is on Saturday, March 27 from 10 AM to 2 PM in Rice Lake. The exact location will be announced later.
This meeting's special focus will be brainstorming for input to help write the Alliance's new strategic plan. If you've got ideas about what you'd like to see the Alliance doing, or about what you think is most worth keeping on with, be sure to come to this meeting.
If you'd like to attend, we'd like to know so we can coordinate transportation and let you in on any special details you might need to know about (like where the meeting is!). Just fire an email to chapter@iatchippewa.org.
Ice Age Trail Fair Planned for May 22
Mark your calendars for an exciting regional trail event to be held all day Saturday, May 22, at the Chippewa Moraine Ice Age Reserve. Think of it as an Ice Age Trail Fair, with displays, presentations, hikes, demonstrations, and fun for kids. We're calling it "Trilliums and Tweets", and our goal is to illustrate an demonstrate the many ways people enjoy the trail.
Plan to join us and choose from a schedule of demonstrations or hikes and learn just a little about a new way to enjoy the trail. Whether that is birding, wildflower viewing, journaling, photographing, drawing, critter-diving, taking kids on a hike, or you-name-it, we hope to have someone there to give you a taste of how its done or what its about.
CPR Review Class Graduates
Five Chippewa Moraine Chapter members along with four from our neighboring chapters attended a CPR refresher class sponsored by the Alliance on March 6. This training is part of a three part training requirement in order for our volunteers to operate chain saws. It's also a good investment for members who attend work days, lead group hikes, and help with our public events. Our thanks to our volunteers who take the time to keep up their certification and skills: JoAnn Parks, Cal Kraemer, Donna Kraemer, Pat McKearn, and Richard Smith.
Future Trail Corridor Planning Resumes
Several years ago our chapter worked on a preliminary corridor planning project to identify the future route the trail would follow in Chippewa County. We accomplished much of what we could at that time and set the pot on the back burner to simmer for awhile.
2010 is the year to bring it back to the front, and our corridor committee has already met once in preparation for a two day session on March 24-25 with National Park Service staff. We'll be discussing our maps and ideas so far on the 24th, and on the 25th go out on field reviews. It's just the beginning of the restart of a complex process of developing an official corridor plan. Once adopted, it provides guidance to public officials when land opportunities come up. As usual, any acquisitions of land for the trail are always from sellers who want to sell their land for this purpose.
Where To Find Information
Here's where to look for IAT and IATA information:
IATA Information in General: www.iceagetrail.org
Chippewa Moraine Chapter Information: www.iatchippewa.org AND www.iceagetrail.org/ChippewaMoraine/index.htm AND www.twitter.com/iatachippewa (subscribe!)
Calendar of Chapter and Alliance Events: www.iceagetrail.org/ChippewaMoraine/calendar.htm
Hiking the trail: www.iceagetrail.org (check the options under the "Hike the IAT" tab)
National Park Service Information about the Ice Age Trail: www.nps.gov/iatr/index.htm
See you on the trail,
Richard Smith
Chippewa Moraine Chapter Chair
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The Ice Age Trail
A Walk Through Time