I'm David James, and this is Two Main Street on the road.

We're here at Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve, celebrating 50 years as a nonprofit organization in the Evansville area.

And we have a new director of Wesselman Woods, Zach Garcia.

He's my guest.

This place is incredible.

It's a national, natural landmark and Indiana State Nature Preserve and the largest urban old growth forest in the U.S..

So what does that mean?

Well, it means Wesselman Woods is 200 plus acres of an ancient forest, never been cut.

The trees providing lungs for this community, clearing the air, improving our quality of life.

Wesselman Woods is described as a living artifact.

I believe that.

Here to help us explore all these wonders and this treasure right here in our backyard is the newly named executive director of Wesselman Woods, Zach Garcia.

Zach, well, thanks for having us here at your place.

This is a it's a gorgeous environment.

And you are not a stranger to Wesselman Woods, are you?

No, I'm not.

I'm not a stranger at all.

This is like home, actually.

Well, first off, because I work here and I'm always here.

So that's that's one reason why it feels like home.

But, you know, I've been at Wesselman Woods since 2019.

I started as the director of education.

From there, I was the director of education, natural resources and Research.

From there, I was the associate executive director and now I'm the executive director.

So I've kind of had a hand in, gosh, everything that is Wessleman Woods the past three years.

Well, I can I can sense your passion for this place, definitely.

Now, it's important for our listeners and our viewers to understand the importance of this place an ancient forest and a living artifact, explain that.

Yes So Wesselman Woods, like you said, is largest urban old growth forest in the United States.

And we have this in our back yards here in Evansville.

I mean, this is a national treasure right here in the city.

And when I say a living artifact, is that when you go to the Louvre in Paris and you see the Mona Lisa, you see the Mona Lisa with rails around it, there's glass and at Wesselman Woods.

It's the same thing.

We have Mona Lisa, like a forest.

Um, You're or the forest as a Mona Lisa here.

And it's it's a living piece of art.

It's a living piece of an artifact.

And this is a snapshot of millennia, really.

Exactly.

Yeah.

If you were to go back into the 1700s before, you know, um colonists were here in Indiana and when indigenous people were living here, I mean, this is the type of forest you would see.

So it makes sense when you walk through Wesselman Woods and you see these humongous straight trees I mean, the the want and the necessity to say, hey, I want to build a homestead here because I can build two houses with, you know, one of these trees.

Now before we explore the wonders of Wesselman Woods, a quick history lesson.

We talked about Albert Wesselman.

He's the state senator, the namesake of of Wesselman and the Junior League, very responsible for this facility.

Yes.

So Wesselman Woods has a precarious history in the 1800s.

Um, A number of the families that inherited this land or bought it, they just never really developed the land.

Other things were going on in their lives and it just wasn't developed.

It was only until the early 1900s when the state of Indiana took control of this whole area.

And um, and then it was only until about the 1950's 60's, that the Junior League of Evansville brought down a biologist, and he went through Wesselman Woods and was like, oh, my gosh, this is such an important and significant ecological and environmental location.

And from there, the Junior League in the 1960s did gosh, I mean, they did petitions, they fundraised.

I mean, they we have everything to thank to the Junior League of Evansville for protecting this incredible forest.

Now, the Wesselman Woods and the nature preserve separate from Wesselman Park.

Yes, yes, very correct.

So Wesselman Park is outside of our gates, everything from the front gates on back.

That is Wesselman Woods nature preserve, and that is the state nature preserve and that is the national natural landmark.

And the park is the city.

Yes, the park is the city.

Now, let's learn more about Zach Garcia, the new executive director of Wesselman Woods.

So where did you grow up Zach?

Yeah, so I grew up in northwest Indiana.

So are you Hoosier?

Yeah, I am a Hoosier.

Born and raised Hoosier, grew up in Highland, Indiana, and yeah, I, I gosh, I remember being outside most of my childhood.

We lived in the suburbs, so we're only about 30 minutes south of downtown Chicago.

So my Indiana is very different from the rest of Indiana.

Um, But yeah, I grew up outside, um riding my bike to the parks, um, playing around the ditches, um, trying to collect frogs, bees, um, I mean, you name it.

I had it in a tank.

I was always observing it, trying to plant stuff.

I mean, didn't really work out when I was a little kid, but as an adult, I'm still doing that and it does work out when I plant trees.

And how did your family foster this passion?

They did, yes.

So both of my parents love being outdoors, um, and my grandparents as well.

I mean, I had grandparents that were farmers from Mexico.

And so, I mean, there's that again, that that necessity of land and agriculture with avocado and orange farms, really.

And then my grandparents in northwest Indiana, um, I mean, they they had such an admiration of trees.

So I was surrounded by nature loving people.

And of course, then you went on to, um college and you're involved with a, uh several universities here.

Sophia University in Tokyo.

Yes.

Tell me about that.

Yes.

So when I was an undergrad at the university of Wisconsin-Madison, I studied abroad at Jōchi Daigaku, so Sophia University in the heart of Tokyo.

It is, yes.

It's right in the heart of Tokyo.

And I loved it.

Not, a forrest, there, though, you know, not forest, but cherry blossoms.

That's what really got my interest in this socio cultural, ecological realm of trying to understand our perceptions and our admiration for certain species.

So when I was in Tokyo, I was doing some research, um, on Cherry blossom viewing and um, impermanence and permanent features, um, when it comes to culture.

And you also went to Nepal.

Yes.

So I was a Peace Corps volunteer.

So after undergrad, I, I worked at a children's museum, Madison Children's Museum.

It's it's amazing.

And from there, I joined the Peace Corps, and I was in Nepal for three years doing environmental and agricultural work.

So I absolutely love Nepal.

um, and again, that that was fostering that same, um connections of the human dimension and the environment and how those connect.

Were you in Kathmandu?

No, I was actually two days journey from Kathmandu.

I was in a small village in Palpa.

Yeah.

So it was it was one of the hardest things I've done in my life, but it was so rewarding as well.

And I Nepal is like a second home to me.

I, I, I love all my friends and family there.

What was the, the hard part of it?

Oh, you know, very good question.

So I think for so in Peace Corps, you intuitively think culture would be something difficult to acclimate with language?

Of course.

Exactly.

For me, that wasn't the issue.

For me, it was health issues.

Um, so I, I just I just wasn't I was I was drinking water that I should have been sterilized.

So I was I my issue was getting sick the entire time.

But other than that, I had a I had a wonderful time and I, I, again, I say it was so hard, but I loved every minute of it.

Even the hardships.

U.S. Forest Service, you're working in the greater New York City area.

Yes.

Oh, my gosh.

And this this connects actually back to Nepal and the human dynam- dimension and the environment.

So I had the opportunity while I was at the Yale School of the Environment to work with the U [unintelligible] excuse me, United States Forest Service.

And what we were doing is that in New York City, there's there's a huge population of Indo Caribbean communities.

And there I was working with Hindu priests and Hindu community members because there's a a nature preserve in New York City as well, Jamaica Bay and Indo Caribbean.

Hindu folks, they worship on these, um, in this nature preserve.

So I was working with them again, looking at the human dimensions and their relationship to the environment.

Well, that's fascinating.

It really is.

It was a lot of fun.

Okay.

Of course, now we talked about Wesselman Woods is home to an ancient forest, meaning it's never been cut and a variety of trees.

I'm sure you have dozens.

Oh, I don't know.

Yeah.

So the so again, being an ancient forest, the biodiversity here is just magnificent, truly.

You know, if you go to another, you know, a new growth forest, you're going to see maybe ten, twelve tree species at Wesselman Woods, we have upwards of 40, 40 tree species in a deciduous forrest in the Midwest.

That is that's a huge number for like an ecologist or a forester to to think, oh, my gosh, like 40 to 50 tree species.

That is it's incredible.

What's the dominant tree species?

Yeah, dominant tree species, I would say oak ash and maples.

Really?

Okay.

Yes.

And you do have a pawpaw?

Oh, yes, we have the Indiana banana here.

That's right.

Yes.

So we have a number of pawpaw trees here now in the preserve.

We can't harvest any of that because it's off limits.

But there are few places outside of the preserve where we, pawpaws, have fallen and we've tried them and I think they taste great.

Yeah.

Now the wildlife, of course, bird count.

Migratory birds.

Yes.

Yeah.

We have a number of bird species coming through Wesselman Woods all the time now migratory bird species.

Oh my gosh.

We have birders from all over the area coming to see any birds migrating through here, which is, you know, it's wonderful when I can't think of any off the top of my head, but when there's a bird species that comes through here and someone on Facebook might say, hey, it's here, and then folks just kind of do the hummingbirds come in here?

Oh, absolutely.

So the red the ruby throated hummingbird, um red root Yeah, I think that's right.

Yes.

So, yes, we have a number of hummingbirds through here, actually around our office area, the jewelry plants that we have there, the hummingbirds love that.

And the spring in the summer, I mean, in one day, there has to be at least like 75 plus hummingbirds.

Wow.

That's great.

Okay, now you have the Dragonfly Pond and red eared slider turtles I believe.

Yes.

Yeah.

Odonata.

Odonata Pond.

So as you're going to the nature playscape, we have the pond, the Odonata Pond right there, and then we have the hill and that was constructed in the 1970s.

So they took out that to make a pond.

And then we have that hill and that's where all that dirt went to make the hill.

And we have red siders in there.

We have snapping turtles.

We have a few minnows and we have some carp in there as well.

So the flora and fauna are rampant here.

Oh, yes, absolutely.

Yeah.

We've been talking about this place being an environmental gym right here in our own backyard.

It's a place to be enjoyed by the public, both young and old.

The Playscape perfect place for youngsters and oldsters to get out and enjoy nature.

And tell us about the playscape.

Zach Yes, so the nature playscape is three acres where it's outside of the nature preserve.

So we encourage people to go off trail in the nature playscape, climb a tree, jump over a log, lift a log over, see what arthropods are underneath, collect some wildflowers.

So it's a space to use your imagination, exercise and just commune with nature.

And it's going to be expanded, right?

Yes.

So this spring we're going to be adding two acres to our nature playscape.

So I think now we can say it is the largest in the United States.

So very fortunate to have this addition of two acres.

And now this two acres will be having a meadow that's going to have bird loving species.

There.

And then we're going to have a few more trails and other play areas for kids.

Now, when you go into the playscape, what are you going to see?

Zach Yes.

So what's really awesome up in nature Playscape is that we've used the natural features of the land, so the trees and the grapevines as play features for kids to explore.

Here.

We've also brought in some really large boulders for kids to climb and jump off of one of the one of my favorite things in the nature playscape, where we have logs that kids can just roll over and look under.

When I was doing programs out there, we would have like an army of two year olds and I would ask them, All right, everyone, come over here, try to move this log over.

And it was the funniest thing to watch, like six or seven two year olds all push this log.

And it was it was so funny because when they were done pushing it, they all were just like, oh, and they were looking at each other.

And it was like this sense of like collective excitement and exhaustion that they were able to move this log.

And it's a neat place too, because you could have a picnic lunch out there.

Oh, absolutely, yes.

Yeah, you can.

We have two lawn areas out at the Nature Playscape, so you could definitely bring a picnic and just set out there and just have your kids play around or if you want to as an adult now you're a terrestrial arthropod specialist.

Oh my gosh.

I wouldn't say specialist, but when I was at Yale, I, I was a teaching assistant for terrestrial arthropods, class and in evolutionary biology class.

Well, tell us about these terrestrial arthropods.

Oh, I love I love arthropods.

I think that I think larger fauna are just like always talked about the macro.

The macro fauna.

Arthropods are small.

Yes, yeah.

It's the insects.

It's the the spiders.

It's all of those little guys that, you know, basically run the world.

I love them.

I think that they are so vital and precious.

And I also think they're so cute, too.

I know a lot of people don't think they're cute, but I just think they're the cutest little things.

Well, now, Dragonfly.

Yeah, arthropod, right?

Yes.

Dragonflies are arthropods and dragonflies, do they eat Mosquitoes?

You know, that's a really good question.

I believe I believe dragonflies.

Do eat, I love them If they do, yeah.

Oh, Yeah, me too.

Now, you have of course, you're at the Dragonfly Pond.

Odonata.

Yeah, that's what is also called Dragonfly Pond.

Yes.

There are Dragonflies there.

Yes, definitely.

And there's an observation deck right there on at the pond, too, which I think is really cool.

Yes.

Oh, it's so much fun.

And I know last year, any time we would get on that observation deck, there were two or three snapping turtles, I mean, this size.

And they would always come up to the observation deck any time anyone would go out there.

So summer camp kids would always make an effort to go over to the observation deck as we're heading back to the nature center to say hello to the snapping turtles.

Now let's talk about the significance of being a natural a national natural landmark.

What does that mean?

Yes.

So from the federal government, there's a number of designations that um, a place can receive.

And we are fortunate enough to be one of the.

I think so 70 or 80 in the United States to be a national natural landmark.

So again, from the Department of the Interior, they designate this area as an important ecological area that needs to be protected.

And it's also an Indiana state nature preserve.

Yes.

Now, but I mean, yeah, so the nature preserve status, I would say that is probably our most important and significant designation because what that does is that protects us at a level that people can't go off trails, no animal or no dog walking, no cat walking in the nature preserve and no harvesting or foraging as well.

Because like I said, biodiversity is so high here.

We have rare and endangered not just fauna but flora as well.

And with people we go off trail or take something.

I mean, it could really disrupt the the ecological space that we have.

Do you have to deal with invasive species?

Oh, yes.

Invasive species are the bane of my existence.

Really.

They are.

They are all over Wesselman Woods.

And what so we eradicate many of the invasive species that we have here.

What's the main problem?

Oh, so the main problem let me use Howell Wetlands, for example.

So Howell Wetlands that we manage as well.

There's a number of Bradford pears.

Okay.

At Howell Wetlands.

So right now, if you were to go over there in the springtime, you're going to see all the Bradford pears.

They're beautiful in bloom.

But I mean, you can see that they're so aggressive.

I mean, they just pop up everywhere.

Last year, I know that we removed around 120 Bradford pears and we still have probably 50 plus to get rid of.

So it's always an on going effort to get rid of these invasive species.

Here at Wesselman Woods, we have multiflora rose.

I would say that's probably our most significant and that one hurts.

I don't know if you've ever gotten into a multiflora rose bush but I mean when you get in there that I mean I've gotten deep scratches and whatnot from it but multiflora rose that's one that we're always up against.

Any critters that are invasive species.

Oh, invasive critters.

You have any deer that you have to deal with here?

Deer.

So deers aren’t invasive here in the area.

They are aggressive, but not invasive when it comes to invasive species.

Starlings and I would say starlings are probably are our biggest I don't know if the deer ate a lot of the plants or anything causing problems.

Yes.

So when I say they're aggressive, the deer population at Wesselman Woods can only be at a certain threshold.

Okay.

And that was DNR and local biologist helping us with that.

But the issue with overpopulation of deer in such a small space is that when we have hickories and ashes and oaks and maples that we want to see dominating the mid canopy, we don't see that because the deer are eating all of that.

And the things that we don't really want for the future of this old growth forest are really growing now.

Coming up, we're going to talk about your personal wish list for Wesselman Woods and the neighboring Roberts Park as well.

And the importance, of course, of volunteers to make it all happen.

My guest is Zach Garcia.

We're going to meet some more important players here at Wesselman Woods in just a moment.

I'm David James, and this is Two Main Street, presented by Jeffrey Burger, Kim Wren and the Burger Wealth team at Baird Private Wealth Management.

We continue to meet some staff members here at Wesselman Woods, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary as a nonprofit organization.

Of course, a lot of big events go on at Wesselman Woods, year-round.

It's a great place to enjoy the seasons.

Kristina Arwood is here.

She's director of marketing and there's always something new to see here at the woods.

There really is.

It's been such a pleasure to be here and get to work on these events.

So part of that marketing position allows me to really spread the word about what we've got going on.

And there's always a lot, even when it seems like it should be slow in the winter.

We've got a lot going on right?

One of our big draws, of course, everyone knows about the Maple Sugar Bush Festival and Pancake Breakfast.

We were finally able to do that again this year and it was our biggest turnout yet and a great fundraiser for us as well and a great way for and volunteers to get involved with this.

What about the volunteers are very important, aren't they.

Oh, my gosh.

If we couldn't do this without the volunteers.

So Wesselman Woods, as a nonprofit, we have a pretty small team.

And those volunteers really make up the difference when it comes to trail maintenance, keeping the facilities looking beautiful, helping with our animal encounters and education projects, and even just staffing the front desk.

Well, tell me about your background.

Yeah, I'm another Evansville native, born and raised.

I graduated from USI in 2013 as an art student, but found my way into the marketing world and was returned to USI, to be a marketing coordinator there for the College of Liberal Arts and then found out about the wonderful opportunity here at Wesselman Woods.

And I could not pass it up.

I was a former biology student turned art student.

Really was like the perfect blend of my passions.

So what are some of your favorite critters out here?

My gosh.

So animal ambassador wise, I have to say, Izzy the peregrine falcons probably my favorite.

She's the most beautiful.

I think we're gonna meet Izzy in a little bit.

I think so, yes.

But Pearl, the turkey vulture, she's got a lot of personal.

Pearl.

Pearl?

Yeah.

Who named Pearl?

Pearl?

You know, there's histories behind all of their names named for different biological scientists or what have you.

So we'll have Elaine.

Get more into that for you.

Yeah.

And now the hiking trails vary um what we see on a hiking trail.

Oh, here, at, Wesselman Woods.

We have about a little over four miles of hiking trails.

And you really get lost out there.

You forget that you're in the middle of the city because you're just surrounded by sounds of birds, wildlife skittering around.

You might see snakes crawling up the trees or turtles crawling around on the ground.

So it's always something new out there to enjoy when you're on the trails for young and old.

Oh, absolutely.

And for both.

We have regulars that come out.

They might take photos of the different bugs they might see or birders love it.

Out here we have a lot of great birds to see as well.

And so what's your pitch for people to come out here?

Oh, my pitch is come enjoy the largest urban old growth forest in the United States.

It's a treasure that we are protecting, and we want you to get just as involved as we are and love this place and share it with your friends and family.

Kristina Arwood, thank you so much.

No problem.

Thank you.

And joining me now is Elaine Kung, the wildlife curator, and she has a special guest.

Izzy, tell us about Izzy.

So Izzy is our peregrine falcon and we got her back in 2015.

So she's she's a good age for Peregrine right now.

What are you feeding Izzy?

She's getting a little bit of a snack, so peregrines in the wild eat mostly birds.

But Izzy here has grown to enjoy all the varieties of meats.

Oh.

What's her favorite, do you think?

Oh, boy.

I'm going to have to go quail.

Quail, well, well fancy taste Well, she just has a very expensive taste.

Definitely, now Izzy, she is part of the permanent resident?

Yes.

Okay.

And the people come and see Izzy frequently.

Mm hmm.

She's actually one of people's favorites because she's very sociable.

Sometimes she does like to look at kids, and kids just love seeing her up close.

So.

Most.

Most people in the Evansville area haven't seen Raptors face to face before.

And you don't get a sense of how how awesome they are until you can actually see them up close.

So when they can look at her details, they're like, oh, my gosh, wow, she's amazing.

She's beautiful.

Like, I know.

That's why we're here.

That's why she's here because she can teach everyone better than I can with just pictures.

Now, this is a fascinating species, too.

I mean, a fast bird, of course.

A predator in the wild.

Just a beautiful.

No talons are incredible.

Definitely.

You can tell they're intimidating.

Once they grasp Something that's not getting away.

So what other critters do you have here?

So in addition to Izzy, some of her, let's say housemates, so some of her housemates include a bald eagle, a turkey vulture who's also a huge hit with the kids.

Pearl.

That is Pearl.

That is Pearl.

She actually Pearl was out on a walk on the trails yesterday and she went hiking.

She wanted to follow a group of Girl Scouts.

And I think they thought it was amazing.

So there's Pearl.

There's also a Harris Hawk.

And we also recently acquired a new Screech Owl.

And he's yet to make his debut.

But that's coming.

Now, do you have turtles?

We have a lot of turtles.

So we have a lot of Easton box turtles, which are actually state protected.

We also have a common snapper and we also have an alligator snapper.

And those are extremely hard to find in Indiana.

Really?

Mm hmm.

They are considered state endangered.

When we get visitors from DNR, they are always happy to see her because she is such a rarity in this area.

So as wildlife curator, what is your daily life like?

What do you do first thing when you come to work?

Well, as with any animal related job there, there's always a lot of cleaning, there's a lot of food preparation.

And the more, I guess, glamorous part of it is training them, taking care of them, their enrichment part, and getting them comfortable, being in educational programs.

What's the lifespan of a falcon?

So it's really going to depend.

So with a lot of wild birds, their first year is usually their most dangerous and their most fatal.

So most baby birds don't make it past their first year.

But after that, we'll have continued improvement as each year passes by.

So with Izzy, she's only well, she was about one when we got her, so she's only about eight, seven, seven getting close to eight.

Mm hmm.

Now, do you have a relationship with Talon Trust?

Talon Trust is a great rehab, and they're the only Raptor rehab in this area.

So they will take care of the injured birds and make sure they are able to get back into the wild with us.

We are going to take care of the birds that can't be rehabbed, so we will get them out of rehab.

So Izzy won't be going back in the wild?

No.

She has some permanent wing damage.

The injury has healed, but that damage is everlasting.

So you can probably tell her right wing is a little bit droopy.

And since Raptors rely so much on their ability to fly and maneuver in the in the air, that wing injury really would put a huge dent on her lifespan in the wild.

Of course, this is Izzy and we talk about Pearl.

How do you come up with these names?

That's a really great question and also really random.

So with Izzy, she's actually named after the sister of one of our former staff members.

And her sister suffered for a long time with the disease.

And she finally passed.

So we named is after her and we have other animals named say like Larry and Larry's named after a long time work crew member with Sybil, the bald eagles.

Sybil is named after this teenage girl named Sybil Ludington, who lived around the time of the American Revolution.

And during that time, you would not get a lot of respect or honor as a teenage girl.

But this girl we've all heard of Paul Revere, right?

Paul Revere rode around and warned the colonists of the oncoming British Invasion Sybil Ludington did that, too.

She rode around, but she did not get the same kind of honor and glory as Paul did.

I think she really went to more villages than Paul Revere did.

I think twice or three times as many.

Yeah.

It was amazing.

Yeah.

And I just read about her, too.

That's great.

That's awesome.

What?

Great timing.

But we try to have some relevance to our animal names.

But some of our box turtles are named after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

You have to.

You just can't not do that.

Do you have a favorite among the critters who are.

Can you say that?

It depends.

It goes on a daily basis.

It's different.

You don't want to.

You don't to commit yourself then.

No.

Okay.

She'll get jealous.

Elaine Kung, wildlife curator.

Thanks for introducing us to Izzy.

We've really enjoyed it.

Thank you so much David.

Welcome back to Two Main Street.

I'm David James.

And we are here at Wesselman Woods celebrating 50 years as a nonprofit organization in the community.

Been talking to Zach Garcia.

He's the new executive director.

And we have another new staff members here on board.

Deonte Merriwether joins me now.

He's the director of operations.

And as director of operations, what are you doing?

So primarily I partner with different directors across the organization and we're identifying areas, operational areas where we can improve our processes in the spirit of the 50th anniversary.

And we look back on our rich history at Wesselman Woods, we're also focused on improving our present state operationally and looking to be a trailblazer in the way that we lead in sustainability, our business sustainability, and also optimizing our fundraising efforts and just being a facilitator of collaboration.

That's primarily what I do in this role.

I come from an information technology background working with Columbia Sportswear Company, so I've implemented very large scale projects.

So it's really a privilege to be on a smaller team you get to touch base with and do and develop relationships a lot closer this way.

And that's kind of one of the main things that we've been doing is really just cultivating relationships and being radically open and accessible to the community.

Now, Deonte, you're a native of this area.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm born and raised in Evansville, so I'm no stranger to Wesselman Woods.

Also, this is a place that I've always come to kind of detach from, you know, being in the computer screen or, you know, it's a great place to chill and yeah, I'm here, so no pressure at all.

I love it.

Yeah.

So what are some of the challenges of your job?

Yeah.

So some of the challenges, like I said, is facilitating collaboration every day.

There's a new struggle or a new challenge that comes up.

So just, you know, keeping everybody on the same page and looking for the win for today and setting goals and keeping track of projects.

We got so much going on, so many big events.

So that's that's probably the biggest challenge.

But I know the term integrity is very important with this facility.

Right.

And so that's another reason why improving our processes is how we maintain that integrity, because we have such a rich history.

We want to make sure that going forward in the future, we're working as efficiently as possible to keep the integrity, keep the um, the the environmental.

We want to be environmental stewards.

We want to inspire more environmental stewards in the community because we're really privileged to be in a community with such a great natural national natural landmark.

So, um, yeah.

What's the favorite best of your day here?

To be honest, the best part of my day is when I walk in to the office and, you know, in a corporate world working in corporate, you're walking into, you know, warehouses, because I travel and coming in here, just walking in and seeing the trees and taking a breath of fresh air in the morning when the dew is wet.

That's my that's my favorite part of the day because I'm just like, I'm so lucky I get to walk into here right now.

Everybody is very jealous, right?

Well, Deonte Merriwether, let's get you back to work now.

Yes.

All right.

Thanks for joining us.

Thank you Cindy Cifuentes is the director of what natural resources and research There you go.

You got that right.

And what does that mean?

So basically, I am in charge of making sure the forest is managed so that it is protected for future generations.

So, I mean, you can't just like leave a forest and let to do what it wants because you get things like invasive species that come in and you have to manage them.

But the other part of my job is also making sure that there are research opportunities.

So we have this old growth forest that you can't find anywhere else.

Right.

And we want to learn from it.

We want to know what we have out there, what species are out here, why are we such a unique ecosystem?

What type of relationships are wildlife and plants having out there?

I mean, there's just so much to learn from this forest.

So I work with community partners like University of Evansville, University of Southern Indiana, and we get students, professors out here learning and teaching us about the forrest.

Tell me about some of the research going on.

Sure.

So we are a bottomland forest and that is very unique and important because it's we have these vernal pools that are everywhere, all over the forest and even in the park, and that is a huge biodiversity hotspot.

Specifically.

What is that, a vernal pool?

Vernal pools.

What is that?

So a vernal pool is basically a body of water that is only seasonal.

So it'll dry up during the summer but in the spring we have like this kind of pod, basically.

So that's a vernal pool and they're super important for salamanders and frogs.

And so amphibians, reptiles, and they use them as breeding pools.

So in the summer, when we start getting or not summer in the spring when we start getting those warm rains rolling in, we see salamanders emerge in mass and they all come up at once at the same time and you'll see hundreds of them because we have vernal pools here in the woods.

And then in Wesselman Park.

So you will see them traveling back and forth.

And so if you come out here on a rainy, warm night in the spring, you'll see hundreds of salamanders crossing the roads and the sign isn't there a salad crossing?

So that's why we close the gates around the park loop, because if there are cars driving around here at night and we have hundreds of salamanders everywhere, I mean, that's not great.

So salamanders, they do have some predators.

I don't think the birds eat them.

Oh, yeah.

Anything.

Birds, raccoons, bigger mammals, even other salamanders will eat each other.

They are cannibals.

Okay.

So as salamanders have always been around here, this area.

Yeah.

I mean, they are some of the oldest species that we know of.

And we have four different species here.

Wesselman Woods, we have a marbled, small mouth spotted and northern slimy salamanders.

Yeah.

And those are just some of the few that you can find around the region.

There's so many other salamanders you can find in the state as well.

So what are some of the other critters that you might here at the woods?

So like amphibians and reptiles specifically, we have northern plains frogs.

We have an endangered frog that has actually been found recently around the area.

That is the crayfish frog.

And we have the green tree frog at Howell Wetlands, actually, which is a species that I never knew was around here.

So that's cool.

Other reptile species, we have a common snapping turtle.

We have Eastern box turtles.

Slider turtles.

We have snakes.

Oh, yeah, oh, yeah.

We have garter snakes.

Brown snakes, a black king snake, all sorts of species.

Those are just a few that I've actually seen.

So if you're on the hiking trail, you might see these critters.

You might?

Yep, definitely might.

Okay.

And I guess the idea is, is you don't mess with them when you see them.

No.

Yeah.

So because we are a nature preserve, we are very strict about what people can and can't do out here of the things is you don't touch wildlife.

You don't take wildlife home with you.

You let them be.

Mm hmm.

Is there a certain species that you're really excited about or you study?

Do you have a favorite a favorite species like overall?

I don't know if you are a frog person or I have done a lot of work with mammals, so I am okay.

You're a mammal person.

Yeah.

Okay.

We have all sorts of megafauna out here like coyotes, opossums, raccoons.

There have been like bobcat sightings, but we haven't officially gotten any, like, on record.

We do have this really awesome camera trap program that I started, and it's called the Wesselman Woods Wildlife Watch.

And so if you ever want to see these mammals in action, then you can go on to the citizen web citizen science website that we have, and it's through Zooniverse.

So anyone at home can log in to this website and they can help us ID pictures of different mammals and then it all gets uploaded into like a big database.

So I mean, any citizen science citizen scientist out there can contribute to our research as well.

I talked to Zach Garcia earlier and he said that there was a have been a BioBlitz where people come in and actually count all of the plants and animals.

Yeah.

That hasn't happened here for some time.

I know there's one happening at Hovey Lake, like in the next month.

Mm hmm.

Yeah.

So, BioBlitz is any.

I mean, even, like when you have a plant app, your phone and you take a picture it, like tag your location and submit it into like an even bigger, like, national database as well.

So there's just research happening everywhere.

Cindy, Cinfuentes, thank you so much.

Yeah.

Wesselman Woods, celebrating 50 years as a nonprofit organization in the Evansville community, of course, Wesselman Woods is right next door to Wesselman Park filled with amenities.

The golf course we got the tennis courts there, the picnic areas.

And of course, there's the undeveloped Roberts Park.

Zach Garcia, the executive director.

What are your what are your what's your wish list for home for Roberts Park?

It's right now.

It used to be, of course, Roberts Stadium.

Now it's kind of a vacant lot.

A few trees on there.

Yes.

So before you get to Roberts Stadium, so the Roberts Park the the golf course on the former par three, we now manage that area.

So that's going to we we've been talking and trying to figure out what that area is going to become.

And I would say the majority of it, we're going to want to re-forrest that and why do we want to do that?

Well, we want to protect this living artifact.

And by protecting it, what we can do is create a buffer zone.

And that buffer zone on the golf course would be perfect again to conserve and protect this old growth forest.

So a majority of that, we're looking to re-forrest that area and perhaps we'll have, you know, outdoor classrooms, spaces there, more trails.

Now with Roberts Stadium, my wish list, I would love to see a large part of that reforested as as as well the Roberts Stadium lot.

Exactly.

Yes.

I think I think just thinking of quality of life, not only for human species, but for all species, I think that's that's kind of the crux of everything right now, is that we're we're so egocentric and human centric right now that we forget that there's a whole ecological system that functions along with us.

So Roberts Stadium, I would love to see more trees.

I would love to see prairies, you know, areas that people can hang out in.

And be right along the Lloyd Expressway.

That'd be so cool to see that was exactly it would be and also I think we just send a message to other areas in the region and the United States of like look at what we did to this area.

I think it would just be so powerful, especially when we're up against, gosh, global warming and climate change, that we're already seeing those impacts in Evansville.

So like all the more reason to be planting, to be protecting and to be, you know, engaging all of our communities.

What would you like to see here at Wesselman Woods in the next five years?

Oh, in the next five years.

I would love to see I would love to see par three that developed, of course, reforested.

I would love to see Howell Wetlands getting that shelter enclosed.

And then here at Wesselman Woods, this is our big push right now with our eco access initiative.

We're doing our best to ensure that everyone can get out on these trails.

So in five years, I want to see every single trail at Wesselman Woods elevated so that when you're walking through, there's no mud, there's nothing of that sort.

You won't get stuck.

But everyone in a wheelchair, walker, anyone can get on these trails.

Wesselman Woods, the funding.

Yes, you have to have some funding to keep this place operational.

Oh, yes.

Yeah.

Funding is I mean, for any nonprofit, it's always an uphill battle.

With Wesselman Woods.

We get a very, very, very small stipend from the city.

The other 80% I mean, some of that other 20% comes from the city, from programing and from events.

The other 80% is coming from fundraising, is working with individual organizational, and corporate donors and other institutions to get in money to run this whole place.

So all the more reason to support this old growth forest and to to protect it.

You have a small army of volunteers.

Oh, yes, yeah, a very small but mighty Okay.

army of Volunteers.

They are incredible.

I love our volunteers.

They are the funnest group of people, but also they have your back, too.

I've never met groups of people that we all love.

Wesselman woods we all love Howell Wetlands and we love this community, but how much love we have for each other.

Seriously, like, it's just so heartwarming to know that if there's a professional issue or an organizational issue or personal issue, these volunteers come together to help each other out.

Tell me more about Howell Wetlands you're so separated here distance wise.

Yes.

Yeah.

So how wetlands we manage our wetlands and so forth.

West side.

Yes, we're on the east side.

Yes, it's on the west side.

And how wetlands right now is the largest urban wetland in the United States.

Really?

Yes.

So we were very happy to have both of those distinctions, those titles.

Exactly.

So Howell Wetlands is such a fun place.

I mean, you have the prairie area, you have the Oxbow.

Just a number of trails that people can go on and you can see, gosh, in the summer, you look into the water and there's like hundreds of turtles sitting on a log.

It's just incredible.

Blue herons.

It's just such an underutilized area.

And we just we're always trying to get community members out there.

Tell me about the importance of education.

Oh, education.

So in this area, I've seen an eco literacy gap that ecological environmental knowledge is lacking and our our mission, our stance at Wesselman Woods is to educate as many people as possible.

So I think education is key.

Education is key to understand the same systems that are ancient at Wesselman Woods are in my backyard or in my frontyard or down the street from me.

And to protect and to to fully understand the importance of these ecological systems is key to combating any environmental degradation or any ecological problem in the future.

Education is key, and you have the interpretive center we do helping do that.

Yes, we have this interpretive center to help us do that.

We have incredible environmental educators who, gosh, put blood, sweat and tears into educating everyone.

Social media has become the newest you know, the newest platforms for us to really get out our message and our director of natural resources and research.

I mean, education is so key to her mission and trying to get out environmental stewardship to as many people as possible.

And we were talking earlier about Wesselman Woods being kind of the lungs of the community.

Yes.

I mean, helping, breathing new life into this area.

And tell us about the importance of this facility as we wrap up this conversation.

Yeah, I can I can't say it enough that Wesselman Woods is one of the most ecologically rare and amazing places that we have in the United States.

And I guess my mission is not to just say it's a gem in Evansville, but it's a gem in the state and it's a gem in the United States and globally as well.

I think I think there's a lot that many communities in the United States and around the world can learn from conserving such an ancient relic.

And the fact that it's a natural landmark and a state preserve, means it’s going to be around.

Oh, yes, it'll be around for a long time.

So it's secure.

Yes.

Yeah.

And it's your job to make sure it's it flourishes.

Oh, absolutely.

I guess the only thing that we would might have an issue with is climate change in the next 50, 60 years, or maybe even sooner than that, you know, what will this terrain look like?

So all the more reason to educate, get people out here and understand the beauty and the importance of this ecological treasure that we have.

And celebrating 50 years, 50 years of this nonprofit, all thanks to the Junior League of Evansville and gosh, all the volunteers and community members that have come out those 50 years and put the time, space, energy and admiration to this forest.

Zach Garcia is the new executive director of Wesselman Woods, again celebrating 50 years of the nonprofit.

Thanks for inviting us in.

We've had a great time here.

Thank you.

It was it was our pleasure.

I'm David James.

This is Two Main Street, presented by Jeffrey Berger, Kim Wren and the Berger Wealth Team at Baird Private Wealth Management.