Arboretum News and Events

Speakers at the event include: Mayor Mike Huether, director of Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation, Don Kearney, as well as the Arboretum Society Board President, Charles Gullickson.

During a recent Sioux Falls City Council meeting, the Council unanimously approved beginning construction on our Mabel and Judy Jasper Education Center next spring, along with the phase two construction project already scheduled.

Directions: A quarter mile East of Arrowhead Park on Hwy 42/Arrowhead Parkway. Street Address: 1900 S. Perry Place, Sioux Falls, SD.

**Journey Elementary -- 6801 So. Grange Avenue, 4/29 @ 2:30 p.m.

**Fred Assam Elementary -- 7700 So. Willowwood Street, 4/29 @ 2:40 p.m.

**Eugene Field Elementary -- 501 South Highland Avenue, 5/4 @ 2:20 p.m.

Look for more exciting news about the progress at the arboretum soon!

Join Mayor Huether and us on Tuesday, September 14th at 11:30 a.m. as the Sioux Falls Development Foundation will be hosting our ground breaking ceremony. Use the Perry Nature Area entrance, we'll be near the upper picnic shelter.

After many years of planning and anticipation, we're about to embark on Phase One of our construction. Please join us as we kick off this exciting project.

The Mary Jo Wegner Arboretum and East Sioux Falls Historic Site will again host Arbor Day festivities for the city of Sioux Falls, beginning at 1:00 p.m. Friday, April 30th. This site is located one half mile east of Arrowhead Park on east Highway 42. Use the Perry Nature Area entrance, upper picnic shelter.

This event recognizes the importance of trees and green space in communities. Third graders from Terry Redlin Elementary will plant trees in honor of Arbor Day and the planned construction of the arboretum, which is set to begin August 2010.

Mayor Dave Munson will open the brief program at 1:00 p.m. The public is invited to this event. Please plan on attending.

The total species count was 280: mammals, birds, fishes, amphibians, reptiles, insects and other invertebrates and plants. This number is from an effort of eleven scientists from regional educational facilities including SDSU, USD, USDA, USF, Augustana, Dakota Wesleyan University and Lincoln High School. 5 aquatic invertebrates, 110 insects, 7 land snails, 5 spiders and other invertebrates, 2 amphibians, 3 reptiles, 48 birds, 16 fishes, 7 mammals and 77 plant species were all located during our brief 4 hour time span. That number represents over one species found every 1 minute.

A full BioBlitz takes place over a 24-hour period because different organisms are likely to be found at different times of the day. Similar to our event, other organizations have elected to host this event over a short time period, with less accurate results. However, still providing valuable information we were very pleased with our results. Future events will involve similar themes and diversity of age groups.

What is a BioBlitz? A BioBlitz is an educational program and a scientific survey all combined into one days event. The objective for the scientists to count all the species of plants and animals they can find in a given area in a fixed amount of time.

You are welcome to walk around the Arboretum property (East of Willow Run Golf Course on Highway 42) and interact with the scientists collecting data.

Other activities include:

10:00am and noon - Guided bird hikes (approx. 1 hour) meet at the maintenance shed

10:00am - Kevin Gansz, Siouxland Heritage Museum will present "History of East Sioux Falls and Quarry"

10:00am - 2:00pm - Great Plains ZooMobile

1:00pm - Jared McGovern, Outdoor Campus "Plants and Animals of the Big Sioux River Valley" guided tour. (approx. 35-45 minute hike)

2:00pm - Final species count (West picnic shelter)

Buffaloberries Select Ingredient Bar will have lunch items available for purchase.

Sioux Falls Green Project will be promoting GREEN ideas.

Bring the whole family for FREE FUN & EDUCATION.