Protecting Water Resources in Iron County Through Environmental Education and Civic Leadership

Thursday 9:00-9:40 am

With 495 lakes and 222 streams in the county, promoting land and water conservation outreach is the number one priority of the Iron County Land and Water Conservation Department. Gaining knowledge about lake habitats and ways to protect water quality can be achieved through various activities. Learn about how the Land Conservation Department promotes water conservation and lake protection for students, landowners, lake groups, elected officials, and the general public. Programs that will be addressed include: Woods and Waters Loon Research Project with Hurley and Mercer Schools, Aquatic Invasive Species Program, Native Plant Sale, Rain Barrel Program, Rain Gardens, Iron County Shoreland Ordinance Revision, and the County's Shoreland Stabilization and Shoreland Habitat Restoration Cost-Share Program.

 

 

 

Sustainable Recruitment of Coarse Woody Structure Along Lakes: An Assessment

Thursday 9:00-9:40 am

Land use practices that get rid of coarse woody structure into lakes also results in reduced habitat for fish and wildlife. This study forecasts effects of several land uses, including unaltered natural riparian areas, total forest removal, and several types of intermediately modified riparian conditions. Learn how forest succession models and GIS mapping can provide guidance on establishing best management practices (BMPs) in riparian areas.

 

 

 

What Weevils Want: Managing Your Shoreland for Biological Control of Eurasian Watermilfoil

Thursday 9:00-9:40 am

Eurasian watermilfoil (EWM), Myriophyllum spicatum, is a non-native, aggressively invasive aquatic plant that can easily be spread across lakes by anthropogenic activities. Management of EWM has traditionally relied heavily on chemicals, which offer quick, but often temporary relief. Research shows that the native milfoil weevil, Euhrychiopsis lecontei, can be an effective biological control agent for EWM, but more research concerning factors that limit milfoil weevil populations is needed to develop protocols and understand the potential for success in a specific lake. To better define habitat requirements for overwintering success of the milfoil weevil, this study assessed weevil hibernation habitat on the shorelines of two lakes in Portage County, Wisconsin. The combined results suggest that higher sites nearer to shore, with more duff material, correlate positively with weevil presence.  This presentation will focus on how these findings might guide shoreland management to support stocked or naturally-occurring weevil populations.

 

 

 

A New Vision for Watershed Management

Thursday 9:00-9:40 am

This presentation will ask you to think about an alternative approach. One based on acknowledging that most watershed problems originate in a very small portion of the landscape. Moreover, in most cases there is a very good reason behind why a few inappropriate behaviors are causing the majority of the degradation. Managing in this alternative approach means gaining an understanding on why the behavior is occurring, and then include the farmer as a professional problem solver to find optimal solutions. Natural science plays a critical role in this alternative approach, but it is a form of civic science where citizens play equal roles with scientists and managers. The overall purpose of the presentation is to get you to think, and to acknowledge that the emperor has no clothes.

 

 

 

Great Lakes Compact – Undoubtedly a Success Story

Thursday 9:00-9:40 am

Implementation of the Great Lakes Compact is underway in Wisconsin and the Great Lakes region. Positive projects such as water quality improvements and water conservation education, habitat restorations, and invasive species prevention efforts have been funded. The speakers will highlight these two regional efforts and current policies that are helping to improve and protect our precious Great Lakes resources.

 

 

Play Again (Part One)

Thursday 9:00-9:40 am

One generation from now most people in the U.S. will have spent more time in the virtual world than in nature. This documentary follows six teenagers "unplugged" and on their first wilderness experience - no cell phones, no electricity, no virtual reality. 

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