Pines Inn Cottages, Waupaca, Wisconsin

09/22/2026

09/22/2026

Happy last day of summer! ☀️🌊

It’s hard to believe another boating season is already coming to an end. We hope you made plenty of memories out on the water this summer! 🛥️

As the temperatures start to cool down, don’t forget to get your boat ready for winter. ❄️ Bring your boat to Amherst Marine for winterization and let us help you get it ready for the off-season.

Winterization is drop-off only, no appointment necessary. Just bring your boat in and we’ll take it from there!

Thanks for another great summer on the water! 💙

09/21/2026

A major piece of Monacan homeland is on track to return to Monacan stewardship.

Sweet Briar College has announced plans to sell the remaining 400 acres of Bear Mountain in Amherst County, Virginia, to the federally recognized Monacan Indian Nation. The Nation considers Bear Mountain sacred and central to its ancestral homeland. The transaction is being facilitated with The Conservation Fund and is expected to close in spring 2027.

Bear Mountain’s significance reaches back generations. In 1833, Monacan ancestor William Johns purchased 400 acres on the mountain, where a Monacan community later developed. At the base of the mountain stands the historic Bear Mountain Indian Mission School, an important surviving center of Monacan community history.

The Monacan Indian Nation already owns a portion of Bear Mountain, land recovered in the 1990s after decades of work to protect places tied to Monacan history and identity. Chief Diane Shields described the effort to acquire the last portion as “securing our history,” noting that the property was once held by Monacan people.

Sweet Briar College President Mary Pope Hutson said she believes the Monacan Nation should have ownership of the Bear Mountain tract, recognizing the Nation as the first peoples of the land where the college now stands. The college has also adopted a land acknowledgement and established a scholarship fund for Monacan women.

The Monacan people are among the oldest Indigenous communities still living in their ancestral homeland in Virginia, with historic ties across the Piedmont and Blue Ridge region.

How can institutions and communities better preserve Indigenous history connected to specific lands?



Sources: Monacan Indian Nation, Cardinal News, Virginia DCR, U.S. Congress

09/21/2026

Fall is in the air. So much to do in Waupaca. Time to book your escape to the Pines Inn Cottages on the beautiful Chain O Lakes. Open until the end of October
715-412-1910

09/21/2026

09/21/2026

09/20/2026

09/20/2026

A remarkable migration is passing over North America right now, often unnoticed above gardens, roadsides, parks, and backyards.

Every fall, millions of monarch butterflies travel south from the northern United States and southern Canada toward their wintering grounds. Some eastern monarchs may fly up to 3,000 miles to the mountain forests of central Mexico, even though the butterflies making the journey have never been there before.

West of the Rocky Mountains, monarchs follow a different route, moving toward the California coast and northern Baja California.

The timing depends on local conditions, especially temperature and day length. Migration can begin as early as August in southern Canada and the northern U.S., then move south through September and October. During the day, monarchs usually travel alone. At night, they may gather in trees, sometimes forming roosts with hundreds of butterflies.

This year’s migration comes after encouraging news from the eastern population. An annual World Wildlife Fund survey found monarchs overwintering in Mexico occupied 7.24 acres of forest during the 2025-2026 winter, up from 4.42 acres the year before, a 64% increase.

Scientists measure the forest area covered by colonies rather than counting individual butterflies, because it gives a more reliable picture of the population’s health.

Even with that increase, monarch numbers remain far below historic levels. In the late 1990s, colonies covered nearly 45 acres. Habitat loss, declining milkweed, pesticide exposure, and climate-related pressures continue to affect the species.

The migratory monarch was listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in 2022, and in 2024 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing it as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

For communities across Turtle Island, monarch migration is also a reminder of how connected landscapes are across borders. Native milkweed and nectar flowers can support monarchs along their route, especially when they bloom from spring through the first fall frost.

Have you seen monarchs moving through your area this season?