To all:
Thank you so much for all of your hard work this past Saturday at the "Krier Conservancy Work Day". We were able to build over 250 tussock mounds and plant 2000 native wetland sedges and wildflowers in about three hours! This was a great accomplishment!!!
Unfortunately I don't have e-mail addresses for each person who attended the event, but we wanted to make examples of a few key people...
Special Thanks To:
John Rassel for trucking in (and presumably trucking out) the drinks, coolers, and grill.
Tom Ellis for purchasing all of the food and being the grill master –despite the rain coming down while he was cooking!
Marc Daniloff for bringing the two young ladies who provided great inspiration with their work ethic and fearlessness in the mud!
The Southeast and Ozaukee County Chapters of Pheasants Forever for purchasing the food (and supplying 7 volunteers).
Brett Gorzalski for bringing the youngest volunteer (his son Brayson)
Bob Hubing for bringing his ATV and trailer - (and various other tools)
Andy Holschbach and Kevin Peiffer for coming out to help despite having injuries on the mend
Mequon Nature Preserve for lending us some youth size waders
Peter Ziegler for stopping in to help with some plants (and dropping off wood duck boxes) while on his way to a WWA event
Bruce Krier for his consistent dedication to the conservation of wild places and ecological restoration
I'm sure I'm forgetting some folks who deserve mention - to whom I apologize. But thank you again all for taking time out of your weekend to help us help the land heal!
To download the photos from the event, click the link below. You may have to install Dropbox, but it's free!
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/k1izpnxlqxj603l/y_htpUWN5u
Clayton M. Frazer
Senior Ecologist
409 Concord Drive
Oregon, WI 53575
608.316.5071
www.eco-resource.net
Congratulations go to two of our Wizards for Oz for being recognized with the Conservationist of the Year Award by Gathering Waters Conservancy. The award will be given in Madison on September 26th.
Their award is all about their efforts in creating the Milwaukee River Watershed Fish Passage Program. Here is the story behind the award thanks to the Ozaukee- Washington Land Trust and the Ulao Creek Partnership, who jointly nominated Dale and Andrew:
“Visionaries spawn great ideas, which may, with favorable current, move downstream into reality. Sometimes they are landed by engineers, who pull them in and develop them into working models. On rare occasion, the visionary is also the engineer. In a perfect scenario, there is an ideal partner, who is the engine.
The engineer: Dale Buser is a hydrogeologist and the founder and Principal Hydrogeologist for Northern Environmental Technologies.
Dale loves fish and he loves Ozaukee County. He spent much of his childhood outdoors, always observing the natural things that made up his playground. Over time, he became disturbed that the waterways were changing and the fish were no longer able to get upstream to spawn. He began to envision reconnecting the streams and rivers from Lake Michigan to the streams and wetlands in the Milwaukee River Watershed. He shared his vision with Ozaukee County Director of Planning and Parks, Andrew Struck, and Ozaukee County Director of Land and Water Management, Andy Holschbach, over and over and over, until everyone was seeing not only the same thing, but feeling the passion to make things right.
The engine: Andrew Struck is the Director of Parks and Planning for Ozaukee County. Andrew makes things happen for the environment in Ozaukee County. He is the force behind the expanding park system, the force behind the Interurban Trail, the force behind Farmland Preservation in Ozaukee. As stated in Treasures of Oz’s tribute to Andrew, “he is everywhere that is connected to environment in Ozaukee.” (February 2012 – Wizard of Oz – Andrew Struck)
The program in brief: The project enhances watershed habitat along the Milwaukee River by removing dams, installing nature-like fishways and removing low-head barriers. It is reconnecting 158 stream miles to Lake Michigan. Data is collected 24/7 in many ways, including an underwater fish camera, and yes, the fish are returning in greater numbers and greater variety.
The process – a mini-version: The fish passage program began with inventories in 2006 through a Wisconsin Coastal Management grant. This was followed by intensive work with all the Ozaukee communities connected to the project. (Because of the shape of the county, every single community was involved.)
The county received a NOAA grant in 2009 for the program. For the first six months, Dale and Andrew were the entire program. By 2010, they had hired a director, Matt Aho, and two interns.
More and more grants followed, leveraging well over eight million dollars to fund the creation and implementation of the Milwaukee River Watershed Fish Passage Program. What simply cannot be described in dollars has been the passion, energy, time and dedication that Dale and Andrew have put into this program. It is priceless.
Today Ozaukee County has a world recognized fish passage system that is still in the making, and already the fish are coming home.”
The Acorn Fund planted last year by the Friends of the Cedarburg Bog has grown into a full-fledged endowment under the management of the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, providing a perpetual source of funding to preserve and nurture the Bog.
Recent gifts and earnings have allowed the Cedarburg Bog Stewardship Fund to grow to $10,658 as of June 30, crossing the endowed fund threshold and becoming one of 58 funds that currently comprise the Wisconsin Conservation Endowment with total assets under management of $3 million.
Not only is the Bog fund professionally managed, donors will have the security of knowing their gift will be protected in a true endowment with the principal preserved in perpetuity to generate support for the work of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Field Station and the Department of Natural Resources, both of which are supported by the Friends of the Cedarburg Bog.
As part of the Wisconsin Conservation Endowment, the Bog's fund also gains regional and statewide visibility through the NRF's publications, website, newsletter articles and media releases. Groups such as the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust, Cedar Grove Ornithological Research Station, Friends of Kohler-Andréa, Friends of Wyalusing and Friends of Pike Lake have created similar endowed funds with the NRF.
Contributions are tax-deductible and can be made by sending a check to the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, Attn: Cedarburg Bog Stewardship Fund, P.O. Box 2317, Madison, WI 53701 or by donating online at https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/Wisconservation
Read more: Friends' Endowment Seeks Gifts to Preserve Cedarburg Bog