In anticipation of Earth Day many UW-La Crosse organizations worked together to bring students a week of environmentally centered events, one of the first being a chance to see Kenny Salwey speak. Open to all UW-L students, Salwey’s evening of storytelling covered the importance of education, environmental awareness, the great circle of life, and more.

Co-Sponsored by the Environmental Studies minor program along with the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, UW-L community members collaborated to bring Salwey to campus. Shannon Amberg, Associate Lecturer in the Environmental Studies Program, thought Salwey’s  wealth of knowledge would be perfect for UW-L’s Earth Week. “He said it in one of his stories, education about the environment is important, raising awareness, getting people to think about where it is that everything comes from.” Amberg echoed why she reached out to Salwey, “He tells stories about living life, observing the environment, how it is, and our place in it and that is such an important perspective for people to be able to live through.”

Salwey shared a portion of wisdom acquired through life on the Mississippi River. He began the evening with tales of growing up on a rocky farm in Buffalo County, “The first five, six years of my life were just wonderful,” Salwey disclosed, “Then one day my ma called me to the back porch and said, ‘Kenny tomorrow you gotta go to school.’ It all went downhill from there.” From a young age Salwey found it challenging to waste beautiful days stuck in school, finding it more beneficial to observe wildlife or, “his fellow travelers in the great circle of life.” By the age of seventeen, Salwey felt he learned everything he could from Buffalo county and decided to join the army.

After the military, Salwey returned to Buffalo County and established three different shacks at Whitman Swamp, a 6,000 acre seasonally flooded Mississippi River backwater swamp. There he began his life as a “river rat”, a term Salwey defines as, “Somebody who made a living trapping, hunting, fishing, digging roots, collecting herbs, doing a little guiding—I guess you could say everything but seeking gainful employment.” Salwey strived in his lifestyle for the next 28 years until the last of the old-time river warden’s gave him an offer.

The warden’s offer set Salwey’s life on a new path. He persuaded Salwey to speak about nature at a teacher’s banquet, a chance for Salwey to share the wealth of knowledge he had acquired as a river rat. At first, Salwey was hesitant, but the promise of $25, a free meal, and a little encouragement from the warden convinced him. Salwey’s speech at the banquet ignited his career as a storyteller.

UW-L students were interested to hear Salwey’s story. Laura Berry, member of students for sustainability, attended the event and had this to say about what brought them, “I wanted to hear more about the Mississippi river” Berry elaborated, “I would love to canoe a section of it, so I was interested to hear some stories.”

Kenny Salwey shared many pieces of wisdom throughout the evening. When asked what message he would send to the younger generation he said, “Educate, have patience, do everything you can” Salwey continues, “Think globally, act locally. Most of us aren’t going to get to the rainforest, that is just a reality, but we can do something about a little creek in our own backyard, that we can do, that is locally.”

Check out the UW-L Students for Sustainability Facebook page for more environmentally centered events, or contact [email protected] for more information.