The Watershed That Connects Us
By: Zina Harrington | Stewardship Committee
Join us Friday, June 19th at 9am at the Bayfield Apple Company for a free multi-generational morning exploring the watershed, the land, and the relationships that shape life along the south shore of Lake Superior.
Somewhere beneath the orchards, forests, neighborhoods, and winding roads of the Bayfield Peninsula, water is always moving.
It flows through clay ravines and cedar roots. It gathers in creeks and wetlands. It nourishes orchards, wildlife, pollinator gardens, and communities before eventually finding its way into Lake Superior.
And along the way, it connects all of us.
A Watershed Is Not Just a Map Boundary
The morning begins beneath the gazebo outside the Bayfield Apple Company with coffee, cider, donuts, and conversation led by Superior Rivers Watershed Association.
Originally founded in 2002 as the Bad River Watershed Association, the organization grew from a simple but urgent realization: people cared deeply about local rivers and streams, but there was very little long-term data documenting their health. Over the past two decades, that grassroots effort has expanded into a region-wide organization helping communities across Wisconsin’s Lake Superior basin better understand, monitor, and protect the waterways that sustain life throughout the region.
Their work reminds us that a watershed is not just a map boundary.
It is a system of relationships.
Everything within a watershed is connected. Rainfall entering a ravine above Bayfield eventually becomes part of Lake Superior. Forests affect streams. Farms affect groundwater. Wetlands filter water for downstream communities. What happens upstream always shapes what happens downstream.
As Superior Rivers Watershed Association often says:
“A watershed connects its people.”
That connection is ecological, but it is also deeply human. The water ties together neighbors, farmers, scientists, business owners, libraries, conservation groups, families, and future generations through a shared responsibility to care for this place together.
This event is an invitation to experience that connection firsthand.
Becoming Boreal Forest Citizens
Brickyard Creek Environmental Community will briefly share reflections on what it means to become “Boreal Forest Citizens,” a philosophy rooted in stewardship, participation, and responsibility to future generations.
At Brickyard Creek, stewardship is not simply about ownership. It is about understanding our place within a much older living system.
The boreal forest teaches us that nothing exists alone.
The health of the watershed depends on relationships between people, wildlife, forests, farms, wetlands, and communities. Like ripples spreading across water, our choices travel farther than we often realize.
Brickyard Creek Environmental Community continues to partner with Superior Rivers Watershed Association in monitoring the health of Brickyard Creek itself through citizen-led water sampling and watershed stewardship efforts. It is a reminder that protecting Lake Superior begins with paying attention to the small waterways flowing quietly through our own neighborhoods.
Multi-Generational Resources & Games
The Bayfield Carnegie Library, one of Wisconsin’s oldest free public libraries, will bring a collection of resources for all ages focused on watersheds, Lake Superior, pollinators, orchards, sustainable farming, and environmental stewardship.
As a “Compass for Curious Minds,” the library has long served as more than a place to borrow books. It is a connector of neighbors, ideas, creativity, and lifelong learning throughout the Bayfield community.
Recent library hosted events and community conversations inspired by The Serviceberry have explored ideas of reciprocity, shared abundance, and the ways communities care for one another through relationships rather than transactions alone. In many ways, those ideas mirror the watershed itself: interconnected, generous, and sustained through participation.
Families are encouraged to arrive early to enjoy lawn games (provided from their available “Library of Things”) and explore the resource table together.
Regenerating the Orchard
After the presentation, guests can join a guided walk through Bayfield Apple Company’s Northeast Orchard, a fully organic orchard featuring varieties including Snowsweet, Fuji, Sweet Sixteen, and NovaSpy apples.
Since the Kositzke family purchased the orchard in 2009, Bayfield Apple Company has continued investing in sustainable growing practices, pollinator habitat, and thoughtful stewardship of the land. Guests will learn about the orchard’s role within the Bayfield Foods CSA cooperative and how regenerative agriculture can support not only healthy crops, but healthier ecosystems and communities as well.
This orchard is more than farmland. It is part of the living watershed system itself.
Stewardship at Bayfield Winery & Blue Ox Cider
From the orchard, we’ll continue next door to Bayfield Winery and Blue Ox Cider.
The family-owned winery and cidery sit on a historic 100-acre fruit farm protected by a conservation easement to ensure the land remains undeveloped for future generations. Guests will learn about the orchard’s history, the family’s stewardship practices, and the ongoing agricultural partnerships and research helping support the future of farming on the Bayfield Peninsula.
Their story reflects a larger truth about life along Lake Superior: stewardship is not only about preserving land, but about building relationships with the places we call home.
We Are All Connected by Water
This is more than a tour.
It is an opportunity to gather as neighbors and better understand the living watershed that connects our homes, farms, forests, businesses, and communities to one another and to Lake Superior itself.
The boreal forest teaches us that we are all connected.
Water moves through ravines, through orchard soil, through our wells and creeks, and finally into Lake Superior. Along the way, every choice we make creates ripples.
We hope you’ll join us for this special morning of learning, conversation, stewardship, and connection.
This event is presented by the Brickyard Creek Stewardship Committee as part of the community’s annual Legacy Week, a celebration of environmental stewardship, neighborly connection, and caring for the Lake Superior watershed we all share. Guests are also invited to learn more about additional Legacy Week activities including tree planting, beach grass restoration, and other hands-on community stewardship projects happening throughout the week.
