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Mornin’ to everyone bummed to hear that a Wisconsin man died after getting attacked by a whitetail deer (though apparently it is unrelated?). This is the Wiscampsin Weekly, the email that gets you in the know on the Wisconsin outdoors in 5 minutes or less. New reader? Subscribe here.

This week’s weekly:

🦢 Thousands of trumpeter and tundra swans are flocking to Madison lakes

🫡 Former WI DNR Secretary has died

🌲 Sneak preview of what’s coming for WI State Parks

⛸️ STORY OF THE WEEK: The Glide returns to Boulder Junction for its 2nd year

🦢 Thousands of trumpeter and tundra swans are flocking to Madison lakes LINK

• Thousands of tundra and trumpeter swans are staging on Madison’s lakes, drawn by open water, abundant aquatic plants and safety in numbers as migration pushes south.

• Early freezes and snow up north accelerated the show, sending Arctic birds south sooner and concentrating them on big, still-open lakes like Monona and Mendota.

• They’ll stick around until ice shuts down the buffet, at which point the swans — and most other waterfowl — will quietly lift off and continue south in search of open water.

🫡 Former WI DNR Secretary has died LINK

• George Meyer spent 50 years at the DNR — from staff attorney to secretary — guiding the agency through the formative era of the Clean Water Act, Clean Air Act, endangered species protections and the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund.

• Meyer helped navigate the Ojibwe treaty rights era and the “Walleye Wars,” advanced nationally recognized wetland protections, signed off on Wisconsin’s first wolf management plan, and weighed in on everything from CWD to mining, water use and prairie chicken habitat.

• After leaving the DNR, Meyer became the first executive director of the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, mentored generations of conservationists, and earned a Conservation Hall of Fame spot

🌲Sneak preview of what’s coming for WI State Parks LINK

• More than 1,500 events, major upgrades statewide and nearly 21 million visitors marked a milestone year celebrating 125 years of Wisconsin’s State Park System.

• New 12-month vehicle passes, expanded universal recreation features (including kayak launches and mobility mats), plus fresh park merchandise and a new Adventure Journal made parks more flexible and accessible.

• Beloved events like First Day Hikes and Free Fun Weekend return in 2026, with volunteers and community partners continuing to support outdoor skills, education and stewardship across more than 120 properties.

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WISCAMPSIN WEEKLY POLL

21% of poll voters got last week's trivia right:

The correct answer was B) The Horse-Drawn Ice Plow was the specific tool—patented in the 1800s—that allowed Wisconsin harvesters to cut perfectly square blocks for efficient shipping.

Before the ice plow, blocks were cut by hand, which was slow and irregular. The horse-drawn plow used weighted teeth to score deep, straight lines into the ice in a grid pattern. This allowed crews to "pop" uniform blocks out with bars, making it possible to stack them tightly in ice houses and ship them across the world without them melting as quickly.

MEME OF THE WEEK 😆