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Upcoming Events
Northwest Lakes Conference. June
23-24, 2005 at the Telemark Resort and Convention Center in
Cable, WI. Download
the full conference agenda, map, and registration form and
register online.
Clean
Boats, Clean Waters Training. June 11, 16, 18, 21, and
23 at locations around the state. Check online
for more information.
Wetland Restoration Workshop. June
11 at the Woodland Dunes Nature Center in Manitowoc from 8 AM
- 4 PM. For more information, email or call
608-250-9971. To register,
mail the registration form and check made payable to Wisconsin
Wetlands Association (222 S. Hamilton St. #1, Madison, WI
53703).
Association of State Floodplain
Managers annual conference. June 11-17. Madison, WI.
Conference and registration information is available online.
Save the Date!
Loon Population Survey. July 16.
To volunteer on one of over 250 Wisconsin lakes, visit the Sigurd
Olson Institute.
West Wisconsin Conference August
12. Rice Lake Technical College.
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Your
monthly lake news update from the Wisconsin Association of
Lakes for June is here. The Northwest Lakes Conference is
quickly approaching (see below) and we hope to see you there.
If you are interested in helping WAL to plan and carry out a
workshop in your area, please contact us. All the
best,
Peter,
Susan, Barb, Ezra, Alison, and Tami
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Legislative Budget panel wants Stewardship
fund money to be used to buy land the state already
owns |
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What
is the Stewardship Program?
The innovative
Knowles-Nelson stewardship fund was created in 1989
to ensure that the things people love about Wisconsin
- its natural beauty and promise of outdoor fun
- will be here for future generations. To date,
the Stewardship fund has helped nonprofit partners,
local governments, and the Department of Natural
Resources acquire over 225,000 acres of recreational
lands, wildlife habitat, and valuable natural areas
for the people of Wisconsin. Because of the success
of the Stewardship program, Wisconsin residents
and visitors can use and enjoy our public land for
all kinds of outdoor activities (including fishing,
hunting, and sightseeing).
What
has the Stewardship program done for lakes?
In
addition to expanding parkland, increasing opportunities
for hunters and anglers and protecting habitat for
scores of endangered and threatened plants and animals,
the Stewardship program has protected water quality
and fisheries and expanded outdoor recreation opportunities
by preserving lands around lakes. The list below
highlights some of the land acquisitions that have
preserved some of Wisconsin's special lakes.
- 7,930
acres for the Turtle-Flambeau Scenic Waters
Area (1999)
- 7,585
acres for the Willow Flowage Scenic Waters Area
(1999)
- 2,511
acres to create the Woodboro Lakes Wildlife
Area (1999)
- 1,757
acres to create the Menard Island Resource Area
(1999)
- 500
acres for Statewide Wildlife Habitat (Roe Lake)
(1999)
- 440
acres for the Moose Lake State Natural Area
(1999)
- 317
acres for Statewide Public Access (Little Rice
Flowage) (1999)
- 2,187
acres for the Tommy G Thompson Centennial State
Park, which includes one mile of frontage on
Wood and Huber lakes (1999)
- 3,221
Buckhorn State Park and Buckhorn Wildlife Area,
which includes 8.5 miles of frontage on the
Castle Rock Flowage and Yellow River (1999)
- 8,720
acres for the Willow Flowage (1997)
- 22,345
acres for the Turtle-Flambeau Flowage (1990)
The
Stewardship fund is threatened
The
Legislative Joint Finance Committee has passed a
proposal that would direct the Department of Natural
Resources to use stewardship funds to purchase 77,755
acres of land already owned by the state. This acreage,
much of which is managed for timber production,
is already well managed by the Board of Commissioners
of Public Lands (PCBL). This proposal undermines
the intent of the Stewardship program-protecting
Wisconsin's most special places for generations
to come-and creates the bureaucracy of agencies
buying already publicly owned land from each other
with public tax dollars. For more information about
the implications this proposal would have should
it be passed by the full legislature, please visit
the Gathering
Waters Conservancy website.
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June is Invasive Species Awareness Month
in Wisconsin |
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Invasive
plants and animals threaten Wisconsin's waters and wildlands
by out-competing and destroying native plants and animals and
by disrupting complex habitat systems. Millions of dollars,
both public and private, are spent each year for the control
of invasive plant and animal species in Wisconsin's waters,
wild lands, forests and agricultural lands. "Wisconsin's many
high-quality forests, waterways, wetlands, and agricultural
areas are essential to our economy and to the quality of life
we've come to expect here in our great state," said Gov. Jim
Doyle. "It's important we acknowledge the growing threat from
invasive species to our natural resources and work to find
solutions."
More than
66 workshops, field trips, lectures and work parties are
planned statewide in June as part of Invasive Species
Awareness Month in Wisconsin. The awareness month aims to
highlight the impact invasive non-native plants and animals
are having on Wisconsin's ecosystems, economy and outdoor
recreation. It also encourages citizens to take steps to
address the problems in their area. A calendar of invasive
species awareness month events is available online at the ISAM
website. |
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| 2005 Northwest Wisconsin Lakes Conference
June 23-24 at Telemark Resort in Cable, WI |
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Join us
for one or two full days of educational presentations,
breakout sessions, and exhibits! This year's featured
speakers include: Download
the full conference agenda, map, and registration
form or register
online.
June
23 Events
International Watershed Management Presentation: Lake
Baikal Watershed in southern Russia. Twenty
natural resource professionals from 14 different
countries will join us at the Northwest Lakes Conference
during their 17-day tour of Wisconsin as part of
an international watershed management seminar. Join
us for this unique opportunity to learn about global
watershed challenges and solutions from this diverse
group of natural resource professionals. There will
also be time for group discussion on special challenges,
problems, and successes that the seminar participants
have experienced in their home countries.
Pontoon Classroom Join Buzz Sorge (DNR) for this
special workshop on beautiful Lake Namekagon. Enjoy
a day on the lake and learn from lake experts how
lakes' food webs and nutrient cycles work, the role
of different habitat areas in lakes, and how lakes
are threatened. Lunch will be provided by Lakewoods
Resort. Registration fee is $35.00
Clean
Boats, Clean Waters Join Laura Felda-Marquart
(DNR) and learn how to take a front line defense
against the spread of aquatic invasive species.
Through the Clean Boats, Clean Waters volunteer
watercraft inspection program, volunteers are trained
to organize and conduct a boater education program
in their community. With a $35.00 fee, participants
receive a volunteer handbook and resource tool kit.
Conflict
Management Join Kristen Hill for an interactive
session that will help participants Understand the
nature of human conflict and develop skills to work
more effectively with differing points of view,
varied backgrounds and experiences to help us reach
water quality goals. The registration fee for this
special training workshop is $20.00
June
24
Events
Join
us to hear from our special guest speakers Attorney
General Peg Lautenschlager and Michael Dombeck,
UW Professor of Global Environmental Management.
The following exciting and informative sessions
are also offered:
- Bog
Wetlands - Vanessa Johnson, Student Conservation
Speech Contest Winner
- The
Science of a Changing Lake - Steve Carpenter,
UW Center for Limnology
- Changing
Lake Rules - NR 115 & Act 118
- Celebrating
Native Plants
- Property
Values & Water Quality
- Wild
Rice History & Management
- Legislature
Playing in Wis. Waters - 2005 Session Report
- Motivation
to Manage & Protect Lakes
- Eurasian
Water Milfoil in NW Wisconsin
- Aquatic
Invertebrates as Water Quality Indicators
- Water
in the Courts - Decisions & Pending Cases
- Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager
- Protecting
Lakes with Conservation Easements
- Runoff
& Rain Gardens
- Wisconsin's
Loons
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Receiving the e-lake letter, but not a member of
WAL? |
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We hope you have found our e-lake letter interesting and
helpful. If you are not currently a member of WAL, please
consider joining
us in working for clean, safe, healthy lakes for everyone?
Your membership support helps WAL co-sponsors the multiple
lake education workshops and conferences across the state that
reach thousands of Wisconsin lake users each year, work with
the legislature to ensure that our lakes are protected for
generations to come, and keep lake enthusiasts informed
through publications such as out monthly e-lake letter and
quarterly newsletter, The Lake Connection.
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