John Bates to discuss Northwoods trees, shrubs and wildflowers in Iron River

John Bates will bring decades of Northwoods field experience to Iron River when he speaks at 11:30 a.m. Monday, June 8, in the J. Patrick White Conference Room at the West Iron District Library. The Friends of the West Iron District Library are hosting the free program, titled Trailside Botany - Favorite trees, shrubs and wildflowers, and the library is asking attendees to RSVP by calling (906) 265-2831 because space is limited. Light refreshments will be served.

The talk is likely to resonate well beyond readers interested in botany. Bates has spent more than 30 years working in Wisconsin’s Northwoods, where he has built a career helping people understand the plants, landscapes and ecosystems that shape the region. He is the author of 11 books and has contributed to eight others, all centered on the natural history of the Northwoods and the Upper Midwest. His most recent book is Our Living Ancestors, and his work has also taken him onto Wisconsin Public Television, onto PBS News’ Brief But Spectacular segment, and regularly onto Wisconsin Public Radio.

Bates’s background adds weight to a program that could be useful for people in Iron County who hike, camp, hunt, fish or simply spend time in the woods around Iron River. He has been identified as a state forest naturalist for the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and as the owner of Trails North, a naturalist guide service. For 34 years, he has also written a bi-weekly column, A Northwoods Almanac, for the Lakeland Times in Minocqua, giving him a long-running public platform to explain the changing life of the forest in practical terms.

The Friends group behind the event was established in 2002 and has become a steady backer of library programming. Its calendar includes an annual used book sale, quarterly Lunch with an Author events, chili feeds and bake sales, all aimed at keeping the West Iron District Library active as both a reading space and a community learning center. In that setting, Bates’s presentation fits Iron County well: it offers residents a chance to hear directly from a seasoned Northwoods observer about the trees, shrubs and wildflowers that define the landscape outside their doors.