Wisconsin Life

The following program is a PBS Wisconsin original production.

– Coming up on Wisconsin Life: a conservation biologist in the wild.

Meet a runner with an unusual four-legged partner, a long-time artist sharing his creative process, and a group of veterans performing Shakespeare.

- Urge me no more.

- That's all ahead on Wisconsin Life.

- Funding for Wisconsin Life is provided by Lowell and Mary Peterson, Alliant Energy, ACV and Mary Elston Family, Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programs, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.

- Hi, I'm Angela Fitzgerald, and this is Wisconsin Life.

Today, I joined the Ice Age Trail Alliance at Lodi Marsh on the last day of their trail-building project, as volunteers and staff work to construct this boardwalk.

The Lodi Marsh Segment of the Ice Age Trail sits in both Columbia and Dane County, and offers a variety of ways to observe these open wetlands.

The Ice Age Trail itself runs more than 1,000 miles through 30 different counties, showcasing glacial landscapes throughout the state.

Continuing to grow in popularity, the trail sees millions of visitors each year.

Working to build, maintain, and promote this one-of-a-kind resource, the Ice Age Trail Alliance has nineteen chapters throughout the state.

Here at the Lodi Marsh Segment, we're seeing the organization in action.

Volunteers have been working for three days to dig posts, lay frames, and secure boards to make this segment of the trail more enjoyable for hikers.

This is one of many trail-building events that happen year-round throughout Wisconsin.

I'll help out here in a bit but first, let's meet someone foraging their own path.

We head into Dane County to join a conservation biologist sharing his passion for the great outdoors.

[crickets chirping] - Thomas Meyer: When you pull your car up to the roadside, and you look across, this big giant wetland is that "I'm not going there.

I don't want to go into that."

But then, when you throw on the rubber boots and start moving on through the landscapes, say, "You know what?

This is not that hard, and it's just drop-dead gorgeous."

For going on 30 years or so, I've been with the State Natural Areas Program.

And we have a mission that we haven't wavered from in over 71 years, and that is to protect these things called natural communities, these native landscapes that cover the entire suite of plants and animals, and all the functions that go along with them.

Its root system down here is still frozen.

How does a plant deal with the stresses of being super warm up on top and then having frozen feet?

It's pretty interesting stuff.

You come to a state natural area, oftentimes, all you have is a... maybe a gravel parking lot and maybe a trail.

Generally speaking, you find your own way into nature by just taking a hike.

I started at the Department of Natural Resources as a student intern back in 1984, and I've been there ever since.

And this is true for other positions in conservation.

When folks get into them, they don't leave.

They stay for a very, very long time because they just love the work that they do.

- The Thomas field trip.

- Ready?

- Ready.

I love taking people to unique natural communities that they wouldn't otherwise go into on their own.

Alright, this is the native cranberry, Vaccinium.

I can also expand on that.

The pleasure that I've had working with PBS Wisconsin and other-- - Ohh, gosh... - Well, okay, I better cut that out.

[laughing] - Ben Meyer, WXPR-FM: Thomas Meyer is a DNR conservation biologist based in Madison.

He helps select natural areas for a documentary series called Wisconsin's Scenic Treasures.

– Thomas Meyer: I'm not kidding.

Working with creative people to showcase these wonderful places has been really one of the highlights of my career.

To be able to go out with videographers, and field producers, and sound people to explore these wonderful places.

- Whoa-ho-ho!

[laughing] - And to capture them so that they can be shared with people around the state, it's just really been a lot of fun, really just a joy.

Fifty years from now, who knows what kind of media they're going to be looking at, but I like to think that at least it's captured for future generations so that, "Hey, you know, look back, and people cared about this stuff."

So, we're going to go in and find stands of these bigger hemlock trees, and I'll just point them out.

- Cool.

- What's next for me?

I'm looking forward to continuing to be a lifelong learner.

Look, I've been around the block a lot.

I've been at a gazillion state natural areas.

I've held nature in my hand, plants, animals, and what have you, but every time I go out into the field, every single time, I learn something new.

- If you can model that kind of lifelong learning that, look, you don't know it all, that would place young people in good stead to just be humble when you go out into nature and know that there's a heck of a lot more to learn every single day.

[piano music] - Let's head to Vernon County where a racing duo is practicing for their next big competition.

If you ever find yourself strolling through Vernon County, you'll find a landscape packed full of twists and turns, peaks and valleys.

– Roger Pedretti: Well, we don't have any altitude here, but we don't have any flat either.

So, whenever we're running, we're up and down hills wherever we go.

[hooves clomping] - Making the phrase, "Slow and steady wins the race..." - Get up there.

- ...Kind of a necessity in these parts.

- Yah, yah!

- Unless, of course, you're Roger Pedretti and his long-time running mate, Samaritan.

- Yah, yah!

[clicks tongue] Get up there!

- They employ a more... colorful technique.

- Yah!

When it comes to race time, he knows what it's all about, and he wants to haul ass, basically.

That's what he wants to do.

[playful country music] - Roger and Samaritan have been navigating these dusty countryside roads together for close to 17 years.

– Roger Pedretti: People stop and say, "What are you doing?

I say, "We're going to do a race."

"A race?

You're going to ride 'em?"

And see, a lot of people think you ride these animals.

We don't ride em.

- Pack burro, or small donkey racing, originated in Colorado, and is associated with the state's strong history of mining.

- So, the burro race is a runner and the burro.

The burro has to have a pack saddle equipped with the mining tools because it's a tradition of the miners out in the mountains of Colorado.

You have a 15-foot rope.

It can't be longer than that.

It can be shorter, but it can't be longer than a 15-foot lead rope, and you run together as a team.

[crowd cheering] - Go, Roger.

Go.

- Together, Roger and Samaritan have competed in races all across the Western United States.

- He's won races.

He's finished top 10 in almost every race he's ever been in.

When he gets to the start line, he's 750 pounds of muscle that wants to haul me away, and it's all I can do to hold on to him.

See, if he gets leverage on me, I can't hold him.

- According to Roger... - Come on.

- The key to success isn't necessarily running the fastest.

- Now, I need my gloves.

Come on.

It's making sure you and your partner share the same strategy.

- Here we go, come on!

You know, these guys are smart.

If they think they can get by with something like taking a wrong turn or maybe slowing down and have a bite of grass or something like that, they'll do it.

Uh-oh!

This is not good!

I've gotten dragged on the mountain a little bit, cracked the ribs, still finished the race as well.

Our motto is kind of "Start 'em, finish 'em!"

you know.

You never know what can happen in between.

[hooves clomping] - Burros seem to prefer running together.

[Western music] And apparently, so do Pedrettis.

Roger's brother Rick began running in 2011.

– Rick Pedretti: They'll train better if you have a few animals.

- Two of them or three of them, or four of them together is a lot better than one to run with.

- And from there, Pedrettis started showing up in droves to race.

- We've had my daughter race.

We've had Rick's wife and Randy's wife both race, so it's really become a family affair.

- And our nephews.

- Yeah, and our two nephews, as well.

Can't forget them.

[twangy rock music] We are the Wisconsin Pack Burro Association right here.

- For both Roger and Rick, it's a chance to hand over the reins to the next generation of racer.

– Roger: I turned 60 today, so my game is as good as it's going to get.

– Rick: Yeah, I'm with Roger.

It's hard to up our games.

We're just happy to maintain it.

- Keep moving.

Happy to be able to keep moving.

- Although the wear and tear of racing can take its toll... - It's a rock right there.

- ...Roger has no plans to stop anytime soon.

- When I can't run anymore, I'll still train the animals because those nephews are only eighteen.

They have many years left to run, so I'll be doing it until-- at least till I hit the wheelchair.

[clicking tongue] - Relying on an extra 700 pounds worth of motivation to help keep him going.

- Well, I always say, "After you run with a burro, everything else is just running."

Let's go!

[clicking tongue] It's a lot more exciting and a lot, you know, a lot more going on than just going out for a run by yourself.

Come on!

[clicking tongue] - I'm here on the Lodi Marsh Segment of the Ice Age Trail, ready to help volunteers improve the trail.

[chainsaw purrs] Wisconsin is full of breathtaking glaciated landscapes.

The Ice Age Trail Alliance works to maintain and create better ways to enjoy these resources.

[background conversation] I caught up with Luke Kloberdanz, Director of Philanthropy, who has been working with volunteers on a project to improve part of the trail running through the Lodi Marsh.

So, can you tell us about the goal of the Ice Age Trail Alliance?

– Luke Kloberdanz: Sure.

So, the Ice Age Trail Alliance, our focus in working with our partners at the National Park Service, Wisconsin DNR is to create a continuous 1,200-mile footpath across Wisconsin, tracing the glacial landform.

So, that requires us to purchase land, protect land, work with our partners to do the same.

And then, we do the layout and design to create the trail that you're going to help us build today.

- Oh, wow!

So, it sounds like a combination of preservation but also enjoyment of the land?

- Absolutely, yeah.

- So, can you tell us about the project?

- Sure.

So, we are in the Lodi Marsh State Wildlife area, and when you have a trail that goes near wetlands, sometimes you can develop wet areas.

So, we've had a space that for a long time has been really wet, especially in spring like we're experiencing today.

And so, as people were walking on that path, it got wider and wider.

We want to not have an impact on the landscape like that.

So, our volunteers and our staff work together to identify an alternative route where we could install a 300-and-some-odd-foot boardwalk to keep boots dry and to go light on the land.

- Given my slippery experience earlier today, I appreciate what you all are creating to help keep us off of the muddy trails that exist currently.

- Yes, yeah, right, yes.

- So, what should I be getting into, or what should I be looking forward to for the rest of my time here at the Lodi Marsh Ice Age Trail?

- Oh, wow, yes.

So, we say, "There's a job for everyone."

- Okay.

- And we do provide training, but we always want people to do what they feel comfortable doing.

So, we have all kinds of things going on right now, from digging in muck to setting footings for our boardwalk to screwing down deck boards to a little bit of everything.

- So, I'm off to join dedicated volunteers working in snow and mud to make this section of the Ice Age Trail safe and less intrusive to wildlife.

- Here, let me loosen this up a little bit.

- It definitely takes a determined group of volunteers and staff to keep this resource in Wisconsin thriving.

We connect with a Sun Prairie artist who has spent his career uplifting his community.

[jazz-funk music] - Jerry Butler: My responsibility as an artist is to tell the truth.

When I was growing up, you know, I was a nobody, just out in some field back in the woods.

But then, there were a lot of people who were somebody.

You know, my teachers in school, principals.

People who were somebody told me I was somebody.

And so now, I feel that I have to illustrate and to talk about the bravery of everyday people.

The kind of paintings I do will fall into the category of multimedia, collage, and also tend to move into the area of representation.

Representation, for me, is doing something realistic.

The parallels that I see between being an artist in the Civil Rights Era and doing work now.

For me, time has somewhat collapsed.

In the beginning of my works, I was doing realistic works like portraits of Martin Luther King, Malcolm X during the time of the civil rights.

So, the process to paint people who were in the Civil Rights Movement came from my desire to join it.

Of course, my parents didn't want me to get involved in that.

So, I started drawing the figures.

And now, it's pretty much the same thing, but I'm not doing figures of that era.

I'm doing figures of regular everyday people.

In my studio practice, I use various works, archival works, references, and I'm bringing ideas in as I do work.

And I want to try to shine a light on a lot of the people; even though they're, they were oppressed, or they are descendants of the disenfranchised.

My whole thing is to say that "No matter what we have, we have one life, and that life needs to be explored to the fullest."

To do that, you have to understand yourself and try to see if you can make the best of what you got.

But I also have a responsibility to art as a work of art, and it should also embody the truth in terms of expressing where I am in my community and the people around me.

So, I have to be brave enough to state the truth.

And so, that's my responsibility as an artist.

- For our last story, we go to Milwaukee, where veterans use Shakespeare as a way to connect and heal.

[machine gun firing] [military drum corps music] [somber horn music] - He that shall live this day, - And see old age, - While yearly, on the vigil - Feast his neighbors, - And say - "To-morrow is Saint Crispian."

- Then he will strip his sleeve - Show his scars - And say, "These wounds I've had on Crispin's Day."

[faint gunfire] - Go to.

- Go to.

- You are not Cassius.

- You are not Cassius.

- I am.

- I am.

- I say you are not.

- I say you are not.

- Urge me no more.

- Urge me no more.

– Nancy Smith-Watson: Shakespeare tells the best stories.

He tells them in the most beautiful, poetic language.

And that really offers a place to put big anger, big grief, big joy, big anything that you've got, and gives it a place to go.

My name is Nancy Smith-Watson.

I am the project director of Feast of Crispian Shakespeare with Veterans.

Feast of Crispian is, in short version, an intervention program for veterans struggling with re-integration issues, PTSD, substance abuse.

- My name is Melvin Ridgenal, Jr. and I am an Air Force Veteran.

I went into the Air Force in 1961.

[propeller and engine noise] I was not aware of the racial tension.

I mean, I was not used to being called the "n#*#*#*#*#*."

I mean just to say it just like that.

I wasn't used to that.

I wasn't used to somebody getting in my face, talking about me and my mother!

I mean, come on!

- My name is Omar Kabir.

And I was in the United States Army.

I honestly joined the Army to serve.

I thought being an Arab, speaking Arabic, having an understanding of the culture, knowing the religion, what was going on.

And at the same time, it was a wonderful opportunity to support my family.

- The military trains you to kill.

[gunfire] [chopper blades whapping] - Omar Kabir: Nobody's Rambo.

Nobody's Chuck Norris in those movies.

- We were not created to just go out there and kill people.

- Had this gunshot wound.

I ended up having some hernias that went through my stomach and metal rods put in my back.

I had fusions.

- And get back here and then have to find a job.

How are you able to work when all you've done is be in war?

- You do a lot more damage when you're back here than you can over there, yeah.

- I was first introduced into alcohol.

And then, marijuana.

- I'm an opiate addict.

And, unfortunately, part of it is learning how to lie real well.

- The cocaine use, the drug use, the chasing of the women.

The misuse of women.

That wasn't me.

The PTSD-- It is a real, real disease.

– Nancy Smith-Watson: Veterans kill themselves at a much higher rate than the general population.

Twenty-two veterans kill themselves every day.

We would really like to bring that number down.

And programs like this are really important to that in giving them a place to feel like they can be connected to their communities again.

- When Caesar lived; He dearst-- - Bill Watson: How are you going to kill him?

- There are three of us that are the founders of Feast of Crispian.

All of us are professional actors.

The main part of our program is that we put them through Shakespeare scenes.

And we have special techniques.

One of us stands at their shoulder and reads half a line or a full line to them.

And then, they can repeat it back in any way they want.

- I shall be glad to learn of noblemen.

- I shall be glad to learn of noblemen.

- It's almost like a guide; You know what I mean?

A 'Jiminy Cricket' in your ear.

- But I do love thee.

- But I do love thee.

- We're thinking about it in terms of giving them some kind of emotional... pop!

- MUST I ENDURE ALL THIS!

– Jim Tasse: All this.

- All this.

- Aye, more.

- She knows how to connect with the part of your brain, the part of your mind, that you've stashed all this stuff in.

- There's a lot that they don't feel they can necessarily express about their own stories.

And what we do is give them this mask of character and somebody else's words.

And they can put their own experience on it.

- Honest, my lord?

- Honest.

- HONEST!

- Aye, honest.

- AYE, HONEST!

- You feed off of each other, too.

You let go a little bit.

The next man gets a little bit more courage and lets go.

It's almost contagious.

- I would rather be a dog; - And bay the moon .

- And bay the moon!

- And bay the moon!

– Omar Kabir: It came up out of me so fast that it was just almost an overwhelming sensation of relief.

Oh, these men, THESE MEN!

- They can tell us something about the experience of their own personal stories without it being their personal story.

And, therefore, a lot of things get expressed that they haven't gotten to express before.

- It gave me an opportunity to see how far I've come in terms of my emotions.

You are full of love and honesty!

- We're pretty devoted to this work.

- And weigh thy words; - Because of the high of watching some of the-- Oh, Wow...

Watching some of the transition that happens, some of the transformation that happens in some of these people.

And in ourselves by getting to be a piece of that.

- Having this here it's just wonderful, man.

It is.

She's guiding me how to be a better man.

She's actually guiding me into my manhood; what manhood really should be.

- Melvin Ridgenal, Jr.: And I'm just so glad about the fact that now, I can sit here and say that I love my life.

I love period.

I'm loving everything about life and about the journey [solemn horn music] that God has given me an opportunity to go through, and to be in.

And that's pretty much where I'm at.

[solemn horn music] - We few.

- We happy few.

- We band of brothers; - For he to-day - That sheds his blood with me - Shall be my brother; - Be he ne'er so vile, - This day shall gentle his condition; - And gentlemen in England now a-bed - Shall think themselves accurs'd - They were not here, - And hold their manhoods cheap - While any speaks - That fought with us - Upon Saint Crispin's Day.

[chopper blades, faint gunfire] - My time trailblazing has come to an end.

I've been able to share stories of incredible people, all while spending time with this hardworking group.

To discover more, including info on the Ice Age Trail Alliance, visit WisconsinLife.org.

Connect with us by email at [email protected].

Till our paths cross again I'm Angela Fitzgerald, and this is our Wisconsin Life.

Bye!

- Funding for Wisconsin Life is provided by Lowell and Mary Peterson, Alliant Energy, ACV and Mary Elston Family, Focus Fund for Wisconsin Programs, and Friends of PBS Wisconsin.