Business person for the Environment

Gordon Bubolz grew up on a dairy farm, and he loved the land.

He loved the grouse and the owl, the hawks and the songbirds. He walked through the tall hardwood forests, sometimes just to be alone.

Mr. Bubolz was a man of simple beliefs. He believed in honesty and helping others, and he became a fairly wealthy man. His business was selling insurance for a company that eventually became the Secura company. Mr. Bubolz was a hard worker, and because he was good at what he did, he became very successful. People liked to do business with him.

When he became successful, he didn't forget about nature. He did not forget the things that you can't buy at the mall&emdash; things like fresh air, the green forests in summer, and the wild owl flying overhead at dusk.

Mr. Bubolz decided to do some good things with his talent and money. He decided to organize people to protect the land and to invest his own money in it.

The group that Mr. Bubolz helped form was called the Natural Areas Preservation, Inc. This group worked to save parts of northeast Wisconsin that were good homes for wildlife.

Some of the lands that this group saved for people like you and me are in the Fox-Wolf river basin. Mosquito Hill Nature Center is one of these places. It's located near New London on the Wolf River. Another place is Hayman Falls, on the Embarrass River near Shawano. Mr. Bubolz also helped establish the Fallen Timbers Nature Center, near Seymour, and he worked to preserve a marsh and woodland area just north of Appleton. This Appleton-area property is now named after Mr. Bubolz. It's called the Bubolz Nature Preserve.

Setting land aside is an important job. These lands were set aside for people in the 1950s and 1960s. Today there are other groups that work to preserve natural lands for people in the future. These groups are called "land trusts" or "conservancy" groups.

Source: Once Upon a Time: Gordon A. Bubolz, Amherst, WI: Palmer Publishing, 1992.