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Author Shares Stories of How Wisconsin's Natural Scenery Came to Be

Scott Spoolman

Two events next week will highlight how exactly Wisconsin’s beautiful natural sceneries came to be.

Author and former DNR journalist Scott Spoolman will be speaking about Wisconsin’s geology in Manitowish Waters and Minocqua early next week.

His latest book, Wisconsin State Parks: Extraordinary Stories of Geology and Natural History, takes you to twenty-eight parks, forests, and natural areas where evidence of the state’s striking geologic and natural history are on display. Evidence of volcanoes, mountains, ancient seas, and glacial activity are all included.

"If you want to travel back in time and see what happened in the ancient past," says Spoolman. "The parks are great places to go."

Spoolman says in order to really understand how everything in Wisconsin has formed, we have to adjust the way we think about time. Rather than minutes and hours, we have to think in terms of decades, centuries, and millennia.

"If you can sort of get yourself in that time frame, you realize how long everything took to form and what a long and interesting story the formation of Wisconsin's landscapes is," says Spoolman. "You also then have more respect for our natural settings and our natural resources."

Spoolman’s hope is that increasing understanding and respect for our natural settings will also increase our desire to preserve and take care of Wisconsin’s park system.

Spoolman will be at the Koller Memorial Library in Manitowish Waters on Monday, June 4th at 6:00 p.m. and at the Minocqua Public Library on Tuesday, June 5th at 6:30 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.

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