Category: Our Work
harbor district COMMUNITY science boxes
What are they?
Harbor District Community Science Boxes are similar to Free Little Libraries that offer educational information for the community.
Where can I find them?
There are currently three Harbor District Community Science Boxes. Explore each one at the locations below!
- Location 1: Harbor View Plaza 600 East Greenfield Avenue
- Location 2: Kinnickinnic River Trail just south of the 1st Street and Lincoln Avenue entrance.
- Location 3: Riverfront Boat Launch 600 South Water Street
What is inside?
Fun stuff! Although contents may vary you will most likely find:
- Nature journals
- Tree Finder booklets
- Community Science workbooks
- Milwaukee Butterfly Guides from the Milwaukee Public Museum
- Milwaukee Urban River Trail Maps from Milwaukee Riverkeeper
- Milwaukee County Trail Maps
- Mini magnify glasses
- Books on urban ecology and all things nature
- Geocache treasures (coming soon)
MAKE A DONATION TO THE COMMUNITY SCIENCE BOXES
We are always looking for educational items to fill our Community Science Boxes! If you have items to contribute, please reach out to the Harbor District at info@harbordistrict.org.
Thank you to our sponsor: Green Tree Garden Club
Our appreciation and thanks goes to the Green Tree Garden Club of Milwaukee. Their contribution to this project helps educate the greater Harbor District community. The purpose of the Green Tree Garden Club is to promote the knowledge and love of gardening by providing education and activities in the areas of conservation, horticulture and civic improvement.
Learn more about the Green Tree Garden Club and how you can become involved by visiting greentreegardenclub.com.
join us for harbor fest
Location: 600 E. Greenfield Avenue, Milwaukee, WI 53204
Date: Sunday, September 29, 2024
Time: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
A variety of volunteer opportunities and time slots available!
Harbor Fest is a day where memories for 4,500+ Milwaukeeans are made against the backdrop of Milwaukee’s flourishing inner harbor and in front of UW-Milwaukee’s School of Freshwater Sciences.
This free, family-friendly street and water festival shows off all our harbor offers. The collaboration of Riveredge Nature Center and Harbor District to host Sturgeon Fest and Harbor Fest together solidifies this event as one not to miss!
For inquires, please email info@harbordistrict.org
Stormwater Information and Resources
What is Green Infrastructure?
Green infrastructure captures rain water where it falls and absorbs water into the ground, keeping it out of the sewer system. This is especially important in places with a lot of paved surface.
Green Infrastructure, as opposed to gray infrastructure like sewers, can take numerous forms like rain gardens, barrels, and porous pavers for parking lots, driveways, and sidewalks. All of these strategies store or absorb rain where it falls, keeping it out of our sewer system, which helps:
- Protect rivers and lakes from water pollution.
- Keep it from becoming someone else’s headache downstream.
- Reduce the risk of basement backups, flooding, and sewer overflow.
Greenfield Bridge Mural
Pileated Woodpeckers are found in the Northern half of North America and they like to live in heavily wooded areas. They dig rectangular holes in trees with their bill to find ants. This is the largest woodpecker in North America.
The Common Yellowthroat is found in thick marsh vegetation across North America. They feed on mostly insects and they typically migrate at night.
Red-winged Blackbirds live in grassy areas and wetlands. They inhabit both saltwater and freshwater marshes, especially if cattail is present. The oldest wild Red-winged Blackbird was known to be 15 years old.
The House Sparrow is native to most of Asia, the Mediterranean Basin, and Europe. It is now the most widely distributed wild bird due to its accidental and intentional introductions to many other regions, including the Americas. These birds are very social and nest in colonies.
Rainbow Trout are native to the North Pacific Ocean and Eastern Asia. Today, rainbow trout have been introduced to every continent except Antarctica. Rainbow Trout are predators that will eat almost anything they will catch.
Pumpkinseed sunfish live in warm, calm freshwater bodies that have vegetation throughout North America. They travel in schools with other sunfish and bluegills. These fish contain spines that are sharp and aid in protection.
Sturgeons are native to lakes and coastlines of North America and Eurasia. Most are bottom-feeders that migrate upstream to spawn. Sturgeons have barbels that help them locate prey hiding on the bottom, such as snails, clams, and insect larvae. Lake sturgeon can reach 6 ft. long, weigh 200 lbs., and females can live up to 150 years.
Brook Trout are freshwater fish that is native to Eastern North America and Canada, but they have been introduced throughout North America and even Alaska. They can grow to be 3 ft. long and live up to 9 years. Brook Trout are a good indicator species of pollutants because they require clean water to live.
Yellow perch, also known as lake perch, are native to the Atlantic, Arctic, Great Lakes, and Mississippi River basins, as well as some other areas of Canada. They live close to the shore of slow-moving rivers, streams, and lakes, feeding on small fish and insects.
A girl is a young female human, usually a child or adolescent. Humans are characterized by erect posture, bipedal movement, high manual dexterity, and heavy tools use. They also have open-ended and complex language, and a general trend toward complex brains and societies. Humans are known for greatly altering their environment to suit their needs and wants.
Education Programs
HDI has worked with a number of schools that fall within a two-mile radius of the Harbor District to create fun educational experiences. Students are given a number of in-person class visits by HDI staff that range from community building to ecologies and are then brought to the Harbor District for a field trip.
Field trips range from wildlife field data collection to boat tours of the Harbor District. Our educational programming is free and flexible. More information can be found in our brochure linked below.
Ecological Breakwater project
The Ecological Breakwater project, originating from the Waterfront Innovations Design Charette convened by Milwaukee Harbor District and the City of Milwaukee in 2015, provides a significant opportunity to enhance the structure that protects Port Milwaukee and other infrastructure in Milwaukee Harbor, while also advancing ecological breakwater innovation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Chicago District is responsible for maintaining breakwater systems around the Great Lakes region. The Ecological Breakwater project will help USACE Chicago District explore the possibilities for integrating protection of coastal assets with ecological improvements.
Neighborhood Advisory Commitee (NAC)
The Neighborhood Advisory Committee is made up of nearby residents who serve as our neighborhood experts. The NAC advises us on outreach methods, event ideas, and decision-making that will benefit neighborhoods surrounding the Harbor District.
If you live in or near the Harbor District and would like to be a part of the NAC please contact Nora Godoy-González at nora@harbordistrict.org.
Ecology
Even though the Harbor District is in the very heart of Milwaukee and has been the center of economic activity for centuries, there is still a healthy community of organisms that live here. From mammals like deer, coyotes, gray and red fox, muskrats, beavers, groundhogs, squirrels, and bats all the way down to dragonflies, insects, and barely visible invertebrates in the water, a rich ecology is thriving just out of sight. The Harbor District has identified ways to improve habitat so that more things besides humans can find a home here, through rebuilding ecological functioning of the landscape. We do this by considering the needs of organisms for food, reproduction, shelter, and movement. Finding opportunities to re-introduce native plants and reserving space for animals is at the heart of this implementation, while also encouraging everyone to remember that nature is right here if you just stop to look and listen.
MILWAUKEE AREA OF CONCERN (AOC)
Kinnickinnic River Trail
The KK River Trail (KKRT) is 2½ miles of off-street paved trails and on-street bike lanes following the river through a densely populated and industrial corridor. The trail links the Harbor District with Bay View and offers natural greenery and gritty industry.
The segment between Lincoln Avenue and Maple Street utilizes bike lanes on South 1st Street. The KKRT is a segment of the Bay View to Downtown route, which includes the raised bike lane on Bay Steet and bike lanes on South Kinnickinnic Ave.
The KKRT is part of the larger Kinnickinnic River corridor revitalization efforts underway that are improving the health and quality of life for city residents in general, and South Side residents in particular.