MEQUON, Wis. — The Wisconsin Urban Forestry Council recognized the Mequon Nature Preserve as one of its annual Wisconsin Tree Champions.
The recognition for the preserve’s work on Marty’s Playspace, which is a nature-made playground that aims to connect kids with nature.
Cory Gritzmacher is the director of operations and restoration at the Mequon Nature Preserve.
As he dusted off some of the snow on the wooden dragonfly at Marty’s Playspace, he explained some of the dragonfly’s features.
“It’s about 20 feet long. It’s made from a couple of ash logs and some lumber and some big granite boulders for the eyes, and kids love running up and down this and jumping off the wings,” said Gritzmacher.
This is the third year that Marty’s Playspace is available to the public.
Gritzmacher said their goal has been to remove invasive species and give a new purpose to older trees.
“There’s a wooden turtle down below made of rocks and tree stumps, plenty of balance beams out in the distance as well, made up of upcycled ash trees that have died over the years due to emerald ash borer,” said Gritzmacher.
This restoration work is what earned the space the innovation award.
“It’s a great honor to be able to utilize some of these invasive species and dead ash trees that died from emerald ash borer to repurpose them for a better use for firewood or burn them or let them lay in a landfill, so we were actually able to put some of them resources to good use to create this amazing play space,” said Gritzmacher.
Gritzmacher said Marty’s Playspace is not only about letting kids enjoy the outdoors but also helping them learn about nature close to home.
“We also serve about 5,000 kids that step off a bus every year for environmental, educational field trips that are free of charge,” said Gritzmacher. “So it’s a great resource to get kids out in nature, just to experience nature, have fun and know it’s not scary. There’s nothing to be afraid of and they can have fun getting their hands dirty.”
He said he hopes as many people as possible get a chance to enjoy the serenity of Marty’s Playspace and the nature preserve.