IWLA-PCC NEWSLETTER
PCC Founded 1958 * DECEMBER 2019 *60 years of conservation
“From the Dunes in the north, to the Kankakee River in the south”
Izaak Walton League of America - Porter County Chapter
Meetings held every 3rd Saturday, 1-3pm in the
Thomas Library in 2nd floor meeting room
200 W. Indiana Avenue, Chesterton, IN 46304
Next meeting December 21, 2019 from 1-3pm
Email: executivedirectoriwlapcc@gmail.com
Website: NWIconservation.org
Location: 200 West Indiana Avenue, Chesterton, IN, United States
Phone: 219-241-7431
Facebook: facebook.com/PCCIWLA
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
President - Gary Brown grbrown57@hotmail.com, 219-464-8882
Vice President - Jim Sweeney jp55biod@att.net, 219-322- 7239
Treasurer/Membership - Liz McCloskey tmconservation@csinet.net, 219-326-0700
Secretary - Susan Swarner susan.swarner@gmail.com, 219-201-5498
Chapter Directors: Don Frame df.nature@outlook.com, 219-331-6136,
Bill Iltzsche biltzsche@hotmail.com 219-464-9850 and Herb Read 847-302-8069
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IMPORTANT PCC UPCOMING EVENTS
12/21 December PCC Monthly Meeting
1-3p Thomas Library 2nd floor meeting room
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1/18/20 January PCC Monthly Meeting
1-3p Thomas Library 2nd floor meeting room
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1/25 PoCo Master Gardener's Garden Show
8-4p Expo Center ("bat adoption & yard benefit" table)
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2/15 February PCC Monthly Meeting
1-3p Thomas Library 2nd floor meeting room
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3/21 March PCC Monthly Meeting
1-3p Thomas Library 2nd floor meeting room
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4/11 April PCC Monthly Meeting*
1-3p Thomas Library 2nd floor meeting room
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4/15 Family Nature Night
6-7:30p Liberty Elementary School
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4/18 Earth Day Celebration
Valpo Expo Center
To volunteer to help with anything that suits you; contact Annette Hansen executivedirectoriwlapcc@gmail.com 219-241-7431
*NOTE change from usual 3rd Saturday due to our involvement with Earth Day on 4/18.
PCC has so much to be thankful for!
thanks to our fnn partners & volunteers
Porter County Chapter just wanted to take a minute to thank all it's Family Nature Night partners for their tireless volunteerism and good neighbor attitude! Our chapter and the community as a whole appreciate all their time, travel and energy. Each of them is helping to save the world when they inspire a child to conservation.
PARTNERS AND PRESENTERS:
Gabis Arboretum, Shirley Heinze Land Trust, Humane IN Wildlife Rehab Center, Gabe Ballard's 4-H Bee Exhibit with Oculus Rift, Archery with Trackers 4-H Club, National Park Service, Dunes Learning Center, Discovery Trackers 4-H Club, Jim Louderman with Field Museum Insect Collection, Westchester History Museum with Susan Swarner, Marilyn Spencer with pine cone bird feeders, Porter County Parks, Chesterton Feed and Garden, Jim Sweeney with Macroinvertebrates and Water Pollution, Tim Ferguson Taxidermy Display, McCarthy Boas, Valparaiso Chain of Lakes, Mermaid Straw Company and PCC Greeters Don Frame, Bill Iltzsche and Gary Brown.
As a special thank you to PCC member Marilyn Spencer, for all the out-of-pocket expenses she takes care of for her bird feeder table during FNNs, PCC voted to pay her membership renewal this year. Thank you Marilyn!
The next FNN is planned for April 15 at Liberty Elementary School. Other spring dates will be announced as they are planned.
thank you bobby and bill!
Bobby Schroader who spend countless hours helping to keep up with all the property chores. We couldn't live without them. Thank you gentlemen!
thank you for all your years congressman
Representative Peter J. Visclosky, a moderate Democrat from Indiana and PCC member, said on Wednesday, 11/6, that he would retire after nearly four decades in the House.
The longest-serving member of Indiana’s congressional delegation, Mr. Visclosky made the announcement exactly 35 years after he was elected to the seat in 1984. He thanked his constituents in a statement announcing his retirement for “their trust and for providing me the incredible life privilege” of serving in Congress.
On Capitol Hill, Mr. Visclosky, 70, developed a low-key reputation as a moderate Democrat of the old school, focusing on issues important to his blue-collar district, and forging relationships with Republicans as a member of the appropriations panel, where partisanship often takes a back seat to practical questions of dollars and cents.
See more of this NY Times article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/06/us/politics/pete-visclosky-retirement.html
PCC would like to take this opportunity to specifically thank Mr. Visclosky for his life-long support of conservation in Indiana.
osprey tower up at Carol Cook
The Discovery Trackers 4-H Club donated the platform and
Jim Phares made some special 'natural' modifications.
bats in your stocking
The Adoption program is available online now too! Let your family and friends know about it, the program makes a great holiday gift. Recipients receive a plush bat with adoption paper, tips for supporting bats in their own yards and a monthly newsletter The Chiroptera Monthly about bats in NWI, PCC's work with them and bats around the world. Subscribers will also be invited to an exclusive Bat Night Hike with PCC in Summer 2020. Online subscribers add $4.00 to their $10 donation to cover processing and shipping costs. http://nwiconservation.org/donate/
Bat Adoption Program just got some local publicity too!
http://www.chestertontribune.com/Environment/izaak_walton_league_offers_bat_a.htm
Annette Hansen and the Bat Committee are also in the process of writing the Lake Michigan Coastal Program Full Proposal for grant funds to purchase bat monitoring and habitat equipment for PCC and it's chiropteric partners.
Mccloskey ravines' new neighbor
This exhibit map (rotated with North at top) shows the approximate route of the proposed new Lincoln Trail project. The Trail will run along the border line of PCC's McCloskey Ravines property.
The Christopher B. Burke Engineering, LLC environmental staff has been onsite to complete the environmental survey of the proposed corridor, but they don't plan to break ground until Spring, 2020.
Winter Salt Watch
Road salt is everywhere during winter months. It keeps us safe on roads and sidewalks, but it can also pose a threat to fish and wildlife as well as human health. Request a FREE Salt Watch test kit to find out whether excess road salt is a problem in your community. Supplies are limited! Annette Hansen has a kit and will take a 'before' sample from Frame's Calumet student testing site in December and then another sample during the 'salt' season.
sandhill cranes of november
Sandhill Crane counts for 2019-20; Nov. 26: 11,931, Nov. 19: 19,980, Nov. 12: 11,231, Nov. 4: 4,240, Oct. 29: 4,334, Oct. 22: 3,392, Oct. 15: 5,420, Oct. 8: 4,588
Sandhill cranes can be seen at Jasper-Pulaski from late September through December. Crane numbers peak in mid-November. Magnificent, noisy flocks are usually seen at the northern Indiana property from mid-October through mid-December.
Sunrise: Gigantic flocks rise and fly out of roosting marshes to Goose Pasture. The cranes socialize in the pasture for awhile before flying out to feed in surrounding private land (agricultural fields).
Sunset: Beginning about one hour before sunset, flocks of cranes kite into Goose Pasture from all directions. They gab and socialize again before returning to roosting marshes at dusk.
During the day, cranes can be spotted feeding and dancing in nearby harvested farm fields.
Last year thousands of Sandhills congregated and were doing the mating dance at PCC member, Bryan McFadden's farm.
Earth Day at Expo is back
Join them on April 18th at the newly renovated Porter County Expo Center for a celebration of our planet featuring exhibitors, vendors, and environmentally-themed entertainment from across Northwest Indiana. They can't wait to make this year's Earth Day Celebration our most spectacular afternoon of family fun yet!
Stay tuned for more information and be sure to follow the Porter County Recycling and Waste Reduction District on Facebook and on our website for more updates about everything they're doing to work toward a cleaner, greener Porter County!