A former director of the UW Arboretum, Greg has been working for several years to help the Benedictine nuns at Holy Wisdom to return some of their land to a natural state. This is an important part of their commitment to nurturing God’s natural creation. Their land in the Town of Westport north of Lake Mendota was originally a rich mix of open grassland, savannah, and a small amount of virgin prairie. They started a school in Madison and moved the school out to the current location in the mid-1950s. It became a residential high school for girls. The ecumenical movement of the sixties touched the nuns living there and over time they became the first ecumenical ministry in the New World, withdrawing from the Catholic Church. From the mid-1990s, they worked to restore the land. Over the years, with a great deal of volunteer help and work on their own, they’ve restored some 126 acres of prairie, sowing more than a hundred types of plant seed. In the last two years, they’ve been working on restoring the oak savannah. All this effort is labor-intensive. And it relies on regular burning to clear non-natives and prevent local trees moving in. They promote outings to the landscape, with an extensive network of hiking trails, and outings to natural areas on their land. There’s a Friends of Wisdom Prairie support organization helping with the outreach to the community. |  GGreg Armstrong at the Rotary Club of Madison West Towne-Middleton meeting. |
