1880 – 1955
Inducted 1990
“Leave the woods and parks as beautiful as you find them.” — Wilhelmine La Budde
Wisconsin’s early conservation battles were never easy. When Wilhelmine La Budde made her first appearance before the state Legislature, she was met with patronizing laughter. But this woman was not to be put off. Her tireless work on a variety of conservation causes soon earned her respect in Wisconsin and the nation. Working from the 1930s until her death in 1955, she was an inspiration to other women in the conservation movement.
Born in Elkhart Lake, where she would establish a lifelong summer residence, she acquired a love of wildflowers and birds at an early age. She raised two daughters and a son, and as they went off to college, she turned her attention to the growing conservation movement in Wisconsin. She took leadership positions with the Milwaukee County Federation of Women’s Clubs and other organizations, including the Izaak Walton League. Working with Curley Radke (WCHF Inductee) she successfully fought to preserve and restore the Horicon Marsh. So influential and successful were her efforts that the first and only all-women Izaak Walton League La Budde Memorial Chapter was created to honor her.
She pushed for replanting of the George Washington Memorial Forest in the Argonne unit of Oneida County. Today this area is within the Nicolet National Forest. She also led efforts to preserve tract of virgin hemlock forest in the Porcupine Mountains, near Ontanogan, Michigan. La Budde was also a proponent of selective thinning of America’s forests. Her tireless work on forestry causes led to her being named vice president of the American Forestry Association. Soon she was involved in the fight to keep the US Forest Service in the Department of Agriculture and out of the Department of Interior.
La Budde was also among those who successfully pushed for mandatory conservation education in all public schools in Wisconsin. In 1937, she achieved yet another first, becoming the first woman to serve on the Wisconsin Conservation Congress. The list of other groups she served is long, and their successes are many. Wilhelmine La Budde was truly a pioneer in Wisconsin’s conservation movement.
Resources
Wilhelmine La Budde Legislative Citation
Wilhelmine La Budde Induction Speech, by Christine Thomas (WCHF Inductee), 1990
Collection of letters written by Wilhelmine La Budde
The Steel Trap, article by Mrs. Edward La Budde for Wisconsin Conservation Bulletin, 1937
Wilhelmine La Budde: Conservation Advocate, Lady of Letters, article by Christine L. Thomas (WCHF Inductee) for Wisconsin Natural Resources, 1994
A Conservation Activist of the 1930s – Mrs. Wilhelmine LaBudde, paper by Christine L. Thomas (WCHF Inductee) for Forest History Association of Wisconsin Annual Meeting, 1990
Women in Conservation, article by Pearl Pohl
Collection of newspaper articles about Wilhelmine La Budde
Article about Wilhelmine La Budde
Tree Planting Letter written by Wilhelmine La Budde and Aroline Schmitt (WCHF Inductee), 1942