2024 - Looking Ahead

2024 will grow current efforts and be the springboard for new projects.

Several current projects will see dramatic increases in native plants.

Olson Schools Nature Area

Winter 2024 - Join us for a Third Saturdays event, occurring monthly. Events

Spring of 2024 will see the planting of native flowers, grasses, sedges and shrubs. Soon it will be more visible to neighbors, host more wildlife, and be a place students can learn. Watch for upcoming announcements.

Kennedy High School Tree Planting

Join us in water the new trees planted by the Kennedy High School Green Club.

https://m.signupgenius.com/#!/showSignUp/10C0B45AAAF2DA0FBCF8-49861894-kennedy

Bloomingt0n Public Schools Tree Inventory and Tree Plan

Winter of 2024/2025 will see the completion of a tree inventory of all trees on District properties. This will provide a foundation for the effort to create a Districtwide Tree Plan. Very excited about a future of more trees at Bloomington Public Schools

Marsh Lake Park

2024 will see even more great views and restored areas as we expand the restoration area, come and check it out! Remember restoration/construction is messy and takes time to transform, but it will, and it will be spectacular. (Join us at an upcoming Second Saturday event, occurring monthly throughout the year.) Events

Winchester Pond

Summer 2024 - Focus on 102nd Street side. Removing stumps and invasive plants followed by native plantings. (Events-Click Here)

On the horizon in 2024:

HUGE news…….

Our partnership, voice and work with the city helped create, within the city, a program that allows local non-profits to secure grants and manage projects to help in city parks, opening many opportunities for new restoration efforts. We are currently identifying opportunities and seeking grant’s in order to take advantage of helping within Bloomington on more projects.

A number of projects are in the planning and development stage - stay tuned. Have a project idea for restoration of a natural area in your neighborhood? Drop us a line and let's talk.

Quick Look at a Successful 2023

Restoration efforts at Marsh Lake Park and Olson Schools Nature Area continued to transform these sites. The hard work of removing significant amounts of invasive plants as well as overly prolific trees offered glimpses of the potential of these sites.

Marsh Lake Park Photos

Volunteer and city efforts combined to create a dramatic and visual change. The city burned large amounts of buckthorn that had been cut and stacked by volunteers. In addition, they brought in equipment to remove the overgrown prolific trees.

Once there were open areas, the city completed a winter sowing of seeds.

Over the summer, the city mowed the area to support the growth of the native vegetation and help prevent weeds from crowding out the recently seeded areas (as well as last year’s areas planted by volunteers).

Olson Schools Nature Area (BNNN grant) Photos

Volunteer and District efforts combined to dramatically remove large amounts of buckthorn and invasive honeysuckle. We are at nearly 90% removal.

Winter will move to remove prolific trees, cattails, and purple loosestrife.

Watch for an announcement of a spring planting planning meeting coming in March/April. Our goal will be to plant more than 1,000 native grasses, sedges, and flowers this spring.

Tree planting efforts gained major momentum

Kennedy High School (KHS) (BNNN grant)

Photos

The KHS Green Club along with BNNN members, and school staff planned, created and coordinated a very successful school-community Tree Fest Event focused on gaining input on the types and locations of the 70 trees to be planted at KHS, as well as tree education. Tree Trivia was a major hit at the event and the city paid for Pizza Luce!.

Utilizing the input gained from the event, they are currently developing a spring planting plan for 70 new trees at KHS.

Watch for an upcoming announcement for a spring school/community planting event. (Looking to plant in May.)

If you live near KHS and would be interested in assisting in summer tree watering, please let us know. Contact Us

TreeCovery Program ( Grant BNNN)

Photos

Neighborhood volunteers came together to plant more than 30 trees in 3 different city parks (Valley View, Maplewood, and Barthel’s Pond).

If you live near any of these parks and are interested in assisting in summer tree watering, please let us know. Contact Us

If you live near Wrights Lake Park and want to participate in a spring tree planting effort, please let us know. Contact Us

Winchester Pond

Updates

Fall of 2023 saw the addition of 3 trees and winter the sowing of grass and flower seeds.

BNNN Volunteer Opportunities

Restoration Projects -

• Help remove invasive plants, planting new plants, hauling brush, cutting brush etc. Tools provided.

• Marsh Lake Park - Winter - Monthly Second Saturdays events - mornings

• Olson Schools Nature Area - Winter - Monthly Third Saturdays events - mornings

Outreach -

• Assistance is needed in spreading the word and involving others. Volunteering opportunities include:

• Dropping flyers in areas adjacent to projects prior to events

• Staffing a tables at events to talk to volunteers and answer questions

Social Media -

• Additional help is needed in growing our social media presence - know someone who’s good at social media? Posting, updating, engaging, making TikTocs or Facebook/Instagram reels? Would not require many hours, and could be a great way to support us if not interested or able to do physical outdoor restoration work.

Photo Organizer -

• Collect photos taken at events or projects, date, label, sort, and store for use in media, website etc.

Tree Watering -

• Summer watering of trees at any of the following: Valley View Park, Maplewood Park, Barthel’s Pond Park and Kennedy High School.

Tree Planting -

• Next opportunity - Wright’s Lake Park

Let’s Talk

Remembering Carl Estey…

On May 18th, a dear supporter Carl Estey died. He was always a firm and enthusiastic supporter of our mission and efforts.  We started working on restoring Winchester Pond by his house about 7 years ago. Carl loved that it pulled the neighbors together, and made the pond look better (a work in progress).  Although he was not able to participate in the physical activities, he supported us in many other ways, like letting us frequently fill up his green bins, always joined us at celebrations of the pond, and was quick with a kind word!  He loved nature, and had many places he visited that he loved, but his family thinks he would be honored to support our Winchester Pond restoration efforts close to his home of several decades.  We are honored to accept any gifts in his name, and will put them to good use with new trees, or flowering plants at Winchester Pond.  We will miss him dearly, his laugh and precise smart questions, and his willingness to embrace new information about changing times to be more in line with natural processes.  Thank you Carl for all your support!  We will listen for your laugh when the wind plays in the branches!

We are a 501(c)3, any donations are tax deductible! Carl would want you to take the tax break :)