Home is a simple word, but the experience of finding home is personal, complex, and always evolving.
The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters invites people across Wisconsin to join our Finding Home series and explore what it means to find home through the lenses of science, arts, history, literature, and civil discourse.
In every region of the state, people shape their sense of home through cultural expression, ecological knowledge, and community care. Many are also noticing changes in the places they know best, from shifting seasons to new pressures on land, housing, and water. Finding Home programs explore how people respond with creativity, stewardship, and resilience.
At its core, Finding Home brings people with different perspectives together with the goal of deepening understanding and identifying shared values and common ground.
In this interview, we speak with Representative Vincent Miresse of Assembly District 71. For Miresse, home in Wisconsin is defined by community and the people who come together to make their neighborhoods stronger. Whether it’s revitalizing downtowns, improving the Green Circle Trail, or caring for the infrastructure at Schmeekle Reserve, he says, “People show up ready to work.”
Before serving in the Legislature, Miresse worked as head naturalist and site manager at the Central Wisconsin Environmental Station, where he inspired young people to become more curious about the natural world and motivated them to help protect it. He also highlights the importance of programs like the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program, noting that “90% of people are within five miles of a Knowles-Nelson project.” He believes that these investments are crucial to ensure that both urban and rural communities have access to protected natural areas.
Miresse encourages everyone to get off their devices and spend time outdoors, whether that’s hunting, fishing, biking, hiking, kayaking, or simply sitting in nature. He says that being outside allows us to disconnect from our phones and fully appreciate the world around us. “That’s what makes Wisconsin unique,” he says. “We have a tradition of conservation that runs deep throughout our culture and is rooted in the history of our state.”
Miresse believes that finding common ground is more important than ever. “Politics is increasingly divisive. What we need now in Wisconsin, more than ever, is to stay united and make sure we’re focusing on the things that bring us together. When we’re united and have a common goal, we can accomplish so much more.”
