Bill Berry: Jens Jensen earns overdue recognition for conservation work – Madison.com

STEVENS POINT Heres some good news: The Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame announced last week that it will induct three new members in 2020, raising to 100 the number of conservation heroes the organization has recognized since 1985.

If you study the list of inductees and read their bios on the Hall of Fame web site, youll see they are to a person remarkable in their work. They have helped imbue Wisconsin with a conservation ethic that has stood up to countless assaults. So, on this holiday week, we can truly be thankful for their efforts.

Their work is reflected in everything good about our states natural beauty. They worked to clean up state waters, succeeded in protecting and enhancing scores of fragile habitats and made sure to provide public access to our abundant natural wonders. Many of the early leaders were hunters who saw firsthand the need to preserve and enhance wildlife habitats. They were responsible for the current system of game laws and wardens that prevents unlawful takings, too.

Early in the last century, some of those conservationists, including Aldo Leopold, pushed for establishment of a citizens natural resources board to put decision-making on natural resources in the hands of the people. That power has been eroded over time by politicians in the state Capitol, but they havent succeeded in completely dismantling a system that was mimicked in other states across the nation.

A new generation of conservation leaders is at work today, on matters no less pressing or important. As the world faces perhaps the toughest environmental challenge in history human-caused climate change the successes of the past offer hope. Those early conservationists faced challenges that defied easy solutions. They were able to show how humans can impact, positively or negatively, the environment on a much larger scale than seemed evident.

The 2020 inductees include two widely respected Madison-based conservationists, Stan Temple and Steve Born. A third is a man whose work has endured for, well, three centuries. Jens Jensen, born in 1860, was a landscape architect and a tireless advocate for conservation of our natural heritage. When he died in 1951, the New York Times called him dean of American landscape architecture. So why did it take so long for him to be inducted? He died well before the Conservation Hall of Fame was created, and no one nominated him for consideration. That changed in recent years, and its a good thing.

He was a proponent for public spaces and nature sanctuaries at the local, state and national levels. He worked in several states, especially Illinois, where his name is attached to some of Chicagos most impressive parks and natural areas. He was also a visionary early proponent of using native plants in public spaces.

Jensen moved to Door County in 1935, where he continued his work. Among his enduring legacies is The Clearing, established on his Door County property in 1935 with the aim of immersing people in nature for spiritual renewal. Thousands have attended courses at The Clearing, now a nonprofit school, where Jensens philosophy of working with nature is the pervasive theme.

He was also a progressive and a friend of Capital Times founder William T. Evjue. He was a regular contributor to the Cap Times, and his columns focused on social justice and the environment. Some of these are captured in William Tishlers compilation, Jens Jensen: Writings Inspired by Nature.

Bill Berry of Stevens Point writes a semimonthly column for The Capital Times. billnick@charter.net.Note: Berry is a member of the Conservation Hall of Fames Board of Governors.

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Bill Berry: Jens Jensen earns overdue recognition for conservation work - Madison.com