Meet Director of Development Kady Davis!
Photo by USFWS
The Truth
Gathering Waters, SoWBA, numerous statewide and local conservation organizations, and thousands (yes, thousands) of citizens have lobbied legislators for four years to save this program. It's politically popular with the public across partisan lines and is wildly successful. We celebrate STEW’s big successes like SoWBA's purchase of the 300+ acre Hillside Prairie Sanctuary, but it helped fund all sorts of impactful projects around the state, which benefit communities and folks.
Photo by Brenna Marsicek/SoWBA
Perfect
The mission was to collect heaps of New England aster and rattlesnake master. The former is a key source of nectar for the latest batch of monarchs departing for Mexico and the latter is a mainstay of southern Wisconsin prairies. Much of this seed is needed for a 50 acre restoration at Hillside Prairie Sanctuary, our newest sanctuary near Cambridge. Fifty acres is a really big restoration requiring barrels of seeds.
Photo by Tom Koerner/USFWS
Autumn 2025
Help gather Milkweed seeds: Fall 2025!
Milkweeds are the host plant for monarch caterpillars, making them essential for healthy monarch populations. This fall, Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance and in particular our staff at Goose Pond Sanctuary have established a goal for volunteers to collect 100 pounds of pure, live milkweed seed for the butterflies, and we need your help!
The primary focus is on common, butterfly, whorled, and swamp (red) milkweed seeds.
SoWBA photo
