Friday Concurrent Session 7
60 minutes
April 12, 2019 ~ 1:30-2:30 pm
Agenda subject to change.
Water and Land Health 101
It’s often said that a waterbody’s health reflects the condition of its watershed. This session will cover the fundamental concepts underlying this important relationship between the land and the water. We’ll discuss the basics of what watersheds are, how we measure their condition, and how watershed activities influence the health of lakes and surrounding streams. You’ll learn why it is so important for lake advocates to take an interest in promoting healthy watersheds. We will also share some of the most prominent tools you can use to engage partners in your watershed to both protect and restore the landscapes that shape lakes and rivers.
Presenter: Dan Zerr, Natural Resources Educator, Division of Extension
SEE THE VIDEO HERE (YouTube Link)
Programmatic Capacity at a County and Watershed Scale
Moving beyond the scale of managing a single lake typically involves developing strong partnerships. We'll explore a couple of examples of regional groups that provide support and resources to multiple lakes. The discussion will highlight what strengths a regional group brings to the table, and explore recipes for success when multiple goups get together in order to get things done.
Presenter: Kendra Kelling, Director of Projects, Lakeshore Natural Resources Partnership
Mindful Climate Action: Changing Behaviors to Enhance Health and Protect the Environment
Mindfulness is the nonjudgmental awareness of bodily sensations, thoughts, and emotions as they are happening in the present moment. Mindfulness-based practices have been shown to reduce stress, anxiety, pain, depression, addiction and asthma, and to improve quality of life among people with chronic illness. Mindfulness-based practices appear to be effective in modifying health-related behaviors, but have not been tested for behaviors related to environmental preservation or sustainability.
Presenters:
Bruce Barrett, Professor, Family Department of Medicine, Univeristy of Wisconsin - Madison PRESENTATION: Mindful Climate Action (PDF)
Cathy Middlecamp, Professor, Nelson Institute, University of Wisconsin - Madison PRESENTATION: Being Mindful: Your Carbon Footprint (PDF)
*Two 30-minute presentations
But Really, How Do We Protect Wisconsin's Water Resources into the Future?
A whopping 82% of Wisconsin's assessed lakes and rivers are healthy, but we seem to mostly hear about those lakes and rivers that are impaired. Can we challenge ourselves to protect Wisconsin's waters prior to the perceived crisis of being impaired? If so, how? This presentation will summarize key lake, river, wetland, and watershed assessments at multiple scales and stimulate us to envision a statewide protection strategy.
Shoreland Zoning and Beyond: Options for the 2020s
Legislation passed in recent years has constrained the ability of counties to use shoreland zoning regulations beyond NR115 minimums to protect more sensitive lakes from harmful effects of development. We’ll give a quick update on where Wisconsin’s shoreland zoning rules stand in 2019, then shift our focus to the tools remaining for lake advocates to implement long-term protection of smaller and undeveloped lakes. Land purchases, conservation easements, and conservation subdivision designs all offer varying levels of lake protection. We’ll review a series of cases highlighting how these tools have recently been used across Wisconsin and discuss what you need as lake organizations and advocates to make them more common on the landscape.
AIS Research Updates
You have probably heard about (or have applied for) the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ Surface Water Grant program, but did you know that part of this grant program includes a category for funding aquatic invasive species (AIS) research and demonstration projects? These research and demonstration projects are intended as cooperative activities between sponsors and the DNR, and are designed to increase our scientific understanding of the ecological and economic implications of AIS, as well as assess experimental and innovative techniques for their prevention, containment and control. This session will give an overview of the AIS research grant program, as well as briefly highlight several recently completed and ongoing studies, including innovative aquatic plant management research, AIS decontamination techniques and much more. coming soon.
Presenter: Michelle Nault, Statewide Lakes and Reservoir Ecologist, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Snakes of Wisconsin
There is a common misconception that, “the only good snake is a dead snake.” In reality, snakes play an important role in maintaining healthy ecosystems by providing benefits to the environment and sustaining a high level of biodiversity. There are 21 species of snakes occurring in Wisconsin with 14 species being rare and listed as endangered, threatened, or of special concern. This session will focus on snake species that enrich lake, stream, and wetland ecosystems, and it will provide information on how citizen science can help contribute to snake conservation throughout the state.
Presenter: Alyssa Hoekstra, Conservation Biologist, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
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