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OFS participants testing out the hoses used to control prairie burns. Earth Day at Operation Fresh Start isn’t symbolic. It’s hands-on, technical, and grounded in real work. At CamRock County Park in Cambridge, all OFS Legacy and Conservation Academy crews spent the day, Thursday, April 30, rotating through field stations led by Dane County Parks, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Dane County Land & Water Resources Department (LWRD), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Mary works at Stewart Lake County Park on February 18, 2026. The hum of saws and the crack of brush breaking echo across Stewart Lake County Park. In the middle of it all stands Mary McDonough-Sutter — steady, focused, and working shoulder to shoulder with Operation Fresh Start crews. “I’m here today doing what I often do,” she said on one February morning. “Cut and treat the brush and stack it to burn later.” Then she smiled. “The happiest part of what I’m doing today is wor