PBS Wisconsin’s new documentary, Wisconsin’s Scenic Treasures: the Northwoods, is focused on the unique natural beauty of the northern region of the state.
Those are birds calling back and forth in the Germain Hemlocks State Natural Area, recorded as part of PBS Wisconsin’s newest pledge special.
Wisconsin’s Scenic Treasures: the Northwoods is the second in a series of nature documentaries.
You may remember their Southern Vistas film from 2021, which focused on wetlands, prairies, and even deserts in the southern part of the state.
Emily Julka is the program’s field producer.
“The project was born from the pandemic. A lot of our productions had to hold entirely, but we realized we can send shooters outside,” she explained.
Wisconsin’s Scenic Treasures: the Northwoods is an hour long and highlights about 40 locations across the region.
“What felt really good about this process was we were able to tap into so much more of the community in order to work on it. The first one we had to do so much by ourselves because of pandemics restrictions. This was really cool, because we could go to the diners in between locations and talk to people and ask them what they liked about the area,” said Julka.
For a segment on Wisconsin’s elk, the team was struggling to actually locate any herds on public lands, so the DNR put them in touch with neighbors.
“It's kind of similar to like if you have a family of raccoons in your backyard, these people know where the elk are. And so they called people and they were like, yeah, they're in our backyard right now. ” she said.
The documentary identifies ecosystems and environments that are either at risk or beloved by the community.
“I feel like we're capturing our state in a moment in time,” said Julka.
The team worked with locals and DNR officials.
“They'll be like, ‘Okay, there's this one flower that's blooming for like, one week of the year. Do you want to try and do that?’ And so there are a lot of the species that are captured. They might seem like, ‘oh, wow, it's another close up of a flower,’ but it's like, a lot of what we captured was highly strategic in terms of how and when to get it on camera,” explained Julka.
Julka says she hopes audiences recognize and resonate with familiar, beloved locations.
“I hope it feels like, ‘oh, yeah, that is what I feel like when I'm there,’” she said.
Wisconsin’s Scenic Treasures: the Northwoods airs on PBS Wisconsin tonight (11/28) at 7pm.
After the initial broadcast, it will re-air on PBS Wisconsin on December 2nd at 9:00am, December 4th at 3:30am, and December 6th at 2:00am and 7:00pm.
You can stream it on the free PBS app on all streaming devices or Smart TVs.
It’ll also be available online to members.
