THWN Conf Presentations – obsolete

We are pleased to be able to offer some of the presentations from our Toward Harmony with Nature (THWN) Conferences for your continued education about native plants, natural landscaping and biodiversity.

  • The keynote presentation from the 23rd Annual Toward Harmony with Nature Conference The Value of Ecological Restoration, by David Cordray set the theme for our January 19, 2019 conference.
David Cordray is a landowner himself, who with his wife Debra, has worked for many years restoring their 100 acres in Dane County, Wisconsin.

Was your youth rich in outdoor adventures? Did you use these adventures as your classrooms for your ecological goals today? Keynote speaker David Cordray was fortunate to be able to do so. Through his keynote, David shared his journey to finding ecological awareness and his insight into why we must actively participate in restoring the health of our lands. Wishing to give others the opportunity to participate in their natural heritage, he shared his knowledge of the ecology of restoring oak savanna, prairie, wetland and woodlands.

Owner of Environmental Returns LLC in Belleville, Wisconsin, David Cordray functions as the senior restoration ecologist and engineer of this ecological restoration company. You can sign-up for his blog at Environmental Returns where he covers many different subjects related to ecology in a strikingly poetic way.

  • Would you like to restore your woodland so it can be home to birds, butterflies, bees and wildflowers instead of buckthorn, garlic mustard and mosquitoes? Speaker Frank Hassler  sequenced the steps necessary to restore sites ranging from wooded gardens to multi-acre tracts, into a stable, healthy natural community. Restoring Your Woodland to Health.
Frank took the name “Good Oak” from a chapter in Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac. Through their work they hope to create healthier, more natural environments, to reestablish ecosystem services, and to prevent the loss of native species. They strive to live up to Leopold’s ideals and work for positive change.

Frank has a Bachelor’s degree in Ecology and a Master’s degree in Forestry, and over twenty years of volunteer and professional experience in the fields of ecological land management and botany.  He started Good Oak Ecological Services in 2008 with the goal of not only restoring our Midwestern prairies, wetlands and oak woodlands, but also to reintegrate native plants and ecosystem services into our human environment.

Adding a prairie to your property, large or small, can add beauty to your landscape, reduce maintenance costs and provide a critical haven for wildlife.  But getting started can be complicated, with a lot of decisions to make every step of the way.  This talk will outline the process of prairie establishment and help you chart a course that fits the needs of your site.