Easy Walks, Rolls and Paddles June 2025

 Hello Milwaukee Easy Walkers, Paddlers and Rollers!

It's finally warming up, and here are a few events on our radar:

June 3 Milwaukee RiverKeeper $5 boat tour, birding by kayak, photography and more: https://milwaukeeriverkeeper.org/event/mrk30-boat-tour/
June 5 Sturgeon Protectors informational walks at Estabrook Park Dam (see below)
June 6 Events in MKE Parks, like sound bathing and monthly walk in South Shore Park https://mkeparksfoundation.org/news-and-events/
June 6 Jane's Walks Kick Off party at Turner Hall (Karen will be selling books/promoting walks)

https://www.milwaukeeturners.org/janes-walk Jane's walks MKE run June 6-22
June 22 League of Women Voters Black Nite Uprising Monument Walk/Roll https://lwvmilwaukee.org/content.aspx?page_id=4091&club_id=152606&item_id=2634273

If you're as excited about sturgeon returning to the Milwaukee River estuary after 170 years of too polluted water as we are, you might want to take a guided walk with Sturgeon protectors/Waterway Restoration Partners during "office hours" at Estabrook Park Beer Garden.  RiverKeeper Cheryl Nenn writes: "... [C]onstruction is set to begin soon on the Estabrook Falls Fish Passage Project—an important effort to help native fish, like lake sturgeon  (and other fish like northern pike), move upstream to reach vital spawning and nursery habitat. As you know, Estabrook Falls is currently the largest remaining barrier to fish passage in the lower Milwaukee River. This project will modify the falls to improve year-round fish movement and support a healthier, more connected river system. The Waterway Restoration Partners (which is the umbrella group working on cleaning up our [US Environmental Protection Agency] Area of Concern), is hosting Office Hours + Guided Walks at Estabrook Park Beer Garden on Thursday, June 5 from 5–7 PM and Sunday, June 8 from 11 AM–1 PM. The project team will be on-site to answer questions, and short guided walks will leave every 30 minutes. Construction is expected to run from late Spring through Fall 2025, with temporary weekday closures of the west side trail and weekday river closures. This could also impact paddlers, so spread the word!! For details and project updates, visit mkewaterwaypartners.org/estabrook-falls.

Walks, Paddles and Birding Beyond Milwaukee: check out the 2025 Field Trip Guidebook for the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconservation.org/field-trips/

If you'd like to receive emails about Easy Walks and Paddles in Milwaukee events, send us an email at EZWalksPaddlesMKE@gmail.com.  Have an Easy Day! Karen and Jennifer Lemke

This receipt from Milwaukee Public Library got me in my eco-nerd dopamine receptors, telling me I "saved $18.59 using the library today." Yes. yes. Tell me again.