As Newport Naturalist Beth Bartoli mentions in this video, 2020 has been an atypical year at Newport State Park. We have had a record number of visitors to the park, but we have been unable to offer our always-popular public events and programs. However, the work of the Newport Wilderness […]
Yearly Archives: 2020
The votes are in and Newport State Park has won a 2020 Gold Seal Award in the category Best State Park System to Snowshoe! Annual Gold Seal Awards are conferred by the Friends of Wisconsin State Parks (FWSP). Members of the public vote for their favorite state park in a […]
Text adapted from report prepared for IDA by Beth Bartoli, NSP Naturalist What strange and trying times we live in. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, this annual report from Newport State Park for the International Dark Sky Association contains vastly different information than our reports from previous years. In […]
On Saturday, October 10, which happened to be one of those iconically beautiful Door County fall mornings, several Newport Wilderness Society volunteers met at the park to give the outside of the Visitors Center a much needed sprucing-up. Walls and windows were scrubbed, weeds were pulled, storm gutters cleaned out, […]
Gene Kenny (NWS Office of the President) recently spoke with Grant Dossetto of the Door County Daily News to discuss the Fern Trail restoration project. The Newport Wilderness Society has received a $20,000 Knowles-Nelson stewardship grant from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources to install a boardwalk on the fern […]
When a visitor arrives at Newport State Park during the summer, they may (or may not) notice the pollinator habitat gardens located around the park office. What might look like a patch of unruly shrubs to the untrained eye is actually a Monarch Butterfly ‘way station’. Once a week, from […]
Newport Naturalist Beth Bartoli shows us around the Monarch Butterfly monitoring station just outside Newport State Park’s Visitor Center. We’ll learn about the Monarch’s 30-day journey from egg, to caterpillar, to chrysalis, to butterfly. She’ll also release a newly emerged adult Monarch. Beth began filming these short videos during the […]
Each year, the Friends of Wisconsin State Parks present Gold Seal Awards to those parks, forests, trails, and recreation areas who garner top votes in several different categories. If you are a camper, biker, hunter, hiker, angler, or park visitor, cast your vote for your favorite state park, forest, trail, or […]
Newport Wilderness Society’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30. Our Annual Report was recently completed and is available to read on our website. In this informational report, you will learn much more about the ongoing work of NWS in support of Newport State Park. Reports from the […]
In mid-July, Write On Door County installed a new exhibit along the Poetry Trail honoring six writers who have served as Poet Laureates of Door County: Frances May, Barbara Larsen, Estella Lauter, Ralph Murre, Sharon Auberle, and Nancy Rafal. The Poet Laureate serves as a literary ambassador to the community […]
With the Visitors Center at Newport State Park closed since mid-March due to the Covid-19 emergency, Newport Wilderness Society lost an important revenue stream: the sale of merchandise to the many people who would like to take home a memento of their visit to the park. NWS board member Carol […]
Naturalist Beth Bartoli takes us out checking Eastern Bluebird nest boxes. Last week, this box had just a few sticks in it. This week, there is compelling evidence that a bluebird family is renesting. Beth began filming these short videos during the COVID-19 public health emergency. Although Wisconsin State Parks […]
Newport Naturalist Beth Bartoli last visited this Black-capped Chickadee nest on June 16th and found it contained 5 or 6 new hatchlings. We’ll see how things are progressing today. Beth also discusses issues of nest box predation, both by mammals, snakes, and other bird species. Beth began filming these short […]
The Newport Wilderness Society and the people of Wisconsin lost a good friend and benefactor last week with the passing of Dr. G. Leonard Apfelbach.
Newport Naturalist Beth Bartoli takes us out to check on a known Black-capped Chickadee nest box. This is their second attempt at nesting after their first nest was apparently destroyed by a predator. Let’s see how they are doing… Part 1 Part 2 Beth began filming these short videos during […]
Beth Bartoli, Newport State Park Naturalist, takes us out to find Dwarf Lake Iris that are in bloom in and around the park. It requires very specific habitat to grow and is confined to the northern Great Lakes shoreline in Wisconsin and Michigan. It is listed as a threatened species, […]
Park Naturalist Beth Bartoli has been taking us along on her weekly check of bluebird nest boxes as part of the monitoring data that she collects for BRAW (Bluebird Restoration in Wisconsin). Let’s see what’s happening in box 3.14 this week. Cover photo: Male Eastern Bluebird bringing food to nestlings […]
Due to the many lingering concerns with the COVID 19 outbreak, we regretfully must cancel our 2020 Annual Meeting scheduled for July 25th. This remains a time where our primary concerns rest with the safety of our Friends Group members, park staff, and our board of directors. We will post […]
Beth Bartoli, Naturalist at Newport State Park, is checking bluebird nest boxes today and she has some interesting discoveries which she shares with us through video and photos.
We’ve been out with Beth Bartoli, Newport State Park’s Naturalist, a few times since the end of April looking at spring ephemeral plants and flowers. Let’s see what’s happening with them as we get closer to the end May. You can find her previous videos at these links: Spring Ephemerals; […]
In a previous post, Beth Bartoli, Naturalist at Newport State Park, checked on a couple of bluebird boxes as part of her Eastern Bluebird monitoring program. Today, we take another look inside box 3.14 to find out how things are coming along! Beth began filming these short videos during the […]
From Gene Kenny, Office of the President: It’s been a challenging spring season for many reasons, but as we look to the future, we have some good news to share with our NWS Friends Group members. The Department of Natural Resources approved the request for a Stewardship Friends Grant on April […]
Beth Bartoli, Newport State Park’s Naturalist, takes us out for a closer look at Bloodroot, one of the Newport’s many spring ephemeral plants. There is a bit of wind noise at the beginning of this video; we apologize. Beth began filming these short videos during the COVID-19 public health emergency. […]
In this segment of “Out with the Naturalist”, Beth Bartoli discusses ramps, which can be found in many parts of Newport State Park. Many people refer to them as “wild leeks”. They are an edible member of the Allium family and have a strong onion-garlic flavor. They are perfect in […]
Newport Naturalist Beth Bartoli is out checking bluebird boxes on a gorgeous early May day at Newport State Park. Join her to learn about how the nest is constructed, about clutch size and incubation, and how to properly monitor a nest box. She also discusses the data she collects for […]
In the first of her “Out with the Naturalist” series, Beth Bartoli takes us along Rowleys Bay Trail to see what spring flowers may be emerging in Newport State Park in late April. When you look closely, the forest floor isn’t as barren as it seems. Beth discusses several common […]