[[{"fid":"43250","view_mode":"fs_width_0424px","fields":{"format":"fs_width_0424px","field_fs_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_fs_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_fs_image_caption[und][0][value]":"Group around the fireplace during one of the workshops. Forest Service photo by Teri Heyer.","field_fs_image_copyright_notice[und][0][value]":"","field_fs_image_credit[und][0][value]":"Forest Service photo by Teri Heyer","field_fs_internal_notes[und][0][value]":""},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"fs_width_0424px","field_fs_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_fs_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_fs_image_caption[und][0][value]":"Group around the fireplace during one of the workshops. Forest Service photo by Teri Heyer.","field_fs_image_copyright_notice[und][0][value]":"","field_fs_image_credit[und][0][value]":"Forest Service photo by Teri Heyer","field_fs_internal_notes[und][0][value]":""}},"attributes":{"height":"283","width":"424","style":"width: 424px; height: 283px; float: right;","class":"media-element file-fs-width-0424px","data-delta":"1"}}]]MILWAUKEE – Representatives from the Forest Service participated in the Greater & Greener 2017 international urban parks conference held in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota July 29 through August 2. Participants included people from across the United States and abroad.

Workshops were a part of the conference and one of the areas selected to be highlighted was the 18-acre Como Woods Outdoor Classroom. For a number of years, Region 9’s Urban Connections program has worked with partners and volunteers to restore this urban park. Improvements include: trail construction, installation of signage, historic structure renovation and invasive species removal. For the Como Woods workshop, 25 participants performed a tree inventory, looked for invasive earthworms and took a birding tour.

[[{"fid":"43251","view_mode":"fs_width_0424px","fields":{"format":"fs_width_0424px","field_fs_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_fs_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_fs_image_caption[und][0][value]":"Teri Heyer explaining tree identification techniques. Forest Service photo by Teri Heyer. ","field_fs_image_copyright_notice[und][0][value]":"","field_fs_image_credit[und][0][value]":"Forest Service photo by Teri Heyer","field_fs_internal_notes[und][0][value]":""},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"fs_width_0424px","field_fs_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_fs_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_fs_image_caption[und][0][value]":"Teri Heyer explaining tree identification techniques. Forest Service photo by Teri Heyer. ","field_fs_image_copyright_notice[und][0][value]":"","field_fs_image_credit[und][0][value]":"Forest Service photo by Teri Heyer","field_fs_internal_notes[und][0][value]":""}},"attributes":{"style":"width: 424px; height: 283px; float: right;","class":"media-element file-fs-width-0424px","data-delta":"1"}}]]After the activities was reflection time where participants were asked to write a poem. The following is a poem written by one of the participants summing up their experience:

“Prairie”

Native species

Undulating slowly

Like lithe graceful ballerinas

Earth Dance.