- Angela Fitzgerald: Within Riverside Park,
the Milwaukee Rotary Centennial Arboretum
has witnessed a transformation.
To discover how this industrial land
turned into a lush green bio-diverse space,
I'm meeting up with Kim Forbeck,
Manager of Land Stewardship.
- The sort of six acres of land
that was the new Rotary Centennial Arboretum land,
we sort of formed
and then planted over the years of 2010 to 2013.
So, I've been with the Urban Ecology Center over 20 years.
And when I first came into Riverside Park,
the ravine area that's just beyond us,
was covered in garlic mustard.
We've gone through and hand-pulled garlic mustard
and planted in additional species.
So, now we have bloodroot and Jack-in-the-pulpit
and Jacob's ladder and spring beauty
and all sorts of wonderful wildflowers
that come up in the spring and throughout the season,
instead of that one monoculture of invasive species.
So we have less than 0.01% of Oak Savannas left in Wisconsin
from what had previously existed.
So, when it was a blank slate,
and we could put whatever we wanted into it,
we ended up planting an Oak Savanna.
But of course, it's always a work in progress continuously.
I think one of the things
that sometimes people are surprised
is that the Milwaukee River is right there.
So, when I first came to Milwaukee in the late '80s,
you know, the Milwaukee River was considered
kind of a dirty place to go.
There were only about two species of fish in the river
at that time.
Now we have 30-some species. - Wow.
- And there are people standing in waders
fishing all throughout the seasons
from early spring to late fall.
It's really impressive.
- So, people can use the river?
- They can use the river for boating, fishing,
all sorts of things.
- Wow, so years and labor of love and sweat equity
has literally transformed that space--
- Yes. - From what it was before.