1000 Friends of Wisconsin founding board member Emily Earley was inducted into the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame on Saturday, April 24th. Emily has set an example for citizen conservationists with her spirited attitude and infectious enthusiasm. She has generously supported conservation causes for several decades and is unafraid to ask others to do the same.
Among her many other activities, Earley was a founding board member of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, a public outreach program at Northland College in Ashland. She served on the council of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters from 1979-83, successfully encouraging the organization to set up a small grants program to fund field research on plants, animals and natural communities.
She joined the board of trustees of the new Wisconsin chapter of TNC in 1964 and has remained active since then She served on the board and as vice president of the Natural Heritage Land Trust in Dane County and has been a longtime supporter of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum.
As a charter member of the Wisconsin Conservation Corps board, she served as the group’s environmental expert, helping assure that crews of young workers provided muscle for conservation projects across the state.
Emily has been an amazing asset to 1000 Friends of Wisconsin and to the many other organizations she has served and supported over the years. She has provided leadership, an example for others, financial support all with a wonderful sense of humor.