Hear the 'Insights and Adventures of a Humble Bee Chaser' March 12

Join Friends of the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge for their spring gathering. Speaking will be Brandie Dunn of Johnsburg on her "Insights and Adventures of a Humble Bee Chaser."

The gathering will take place from 6:30 to 8:15 p.m. Tuesday, March 12, at Lost Valley Visitor Center in Glacial Park, 6316 Harts Road, Ringwood. Take Harts Road west off Route 31 between the villages of Richmond and Ringwood.

Citizen scientist Dunn began her interest in bees while pausing to see the world through her four children's eyes. She found herself completely won over by the charismatic, humble charm of each flower's visitor.

A personal challenge to improve upon her macrophotography skills while chasing fuzzy bee bottoms evolved into a full-blown love affair with bumblebees and their native bee counterparts.

Hear about Dunn's journey to be a voice for awareness of their plight and appreciation for the invaluable service they provide to humanity.

There will be time for networking and refreshments before Dunn's talk begins at 7 p.m.

This event is sponsored by Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge, a nonprofit group whose purpose is to connect people to the refuge and conserve and enhance the natural and cultural resources, rural character and scenic beauty of the refuge.

With questions, call Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge at (262) 448-3558. Leave a message and you will receive a call back.

For information, visit hackmatacknwr.org/

The Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge boundary employs a "Cores and Corridors" concept for wildlife preservation with a focus on migratory and grassland birds. Four core areas will be protected alongside existing conservation lands held by other partners including the McHenry County Conservation District and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Tributaries of Nippersink Creek will serve as wildlife corridors to connect most of the core areas. "Hack-Ma-Tack" is an Algonquin Indian word for the American Tamarack tree. It has been known by many local names over the centuries among native peoples and outdoorsmen. Some of these names include Eastern Larch, American Larch, Red Larch, Black Larch, Takmahak, and Hackmatack. It is from one of those historic names that the Friends of Hackmatack drew the inspiration for the proposed project's name.

The Friends of Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge is a group of local citizens from northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin who achieved their dream to bring a National Wildlife Refuge to the Chicago Metro area to add to the handful of urban refuges nationwide, building on the commitment of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to develop an informed and involved citizenry that will support fish and wildlife conservation through recreation, scientific research, and environmental education in and near cities.