Shoreland Restoration and Zoning Success Story
(Watersheds) 

Saturday, 10:30 - 11:30 am

See how Vilas County Lakes and Rivers Association has aided in the positive effects of shoreland restoration and zoning. Their program affirms and promotes the value of a naturally vegetated or restored shoreline for the quality of a waterbody and for the individual property. It uses a legal deed covenant to educate a new buyer/property inheritor to the shoreland best management practices incorporated into county shoreland zoning. It also encourages shoreland owners to enroll their property using a wide variety of contact resources which brands the initiative and publicly recognize participants.

Saturday, 10:30 - 11:00 am

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ NR40 legislation designates certain plant species as "restricted" or "prohibited". Early detection of these species is crucial to a successful control/eradication program. These plants are easily identifiable by examining a few key characteristics. By learning how to recognize these highly invasive plants, lake residents can keep a watchful eye on waterbodies in their area. 

Saturday, 11:00 - 11:30 am

Numerous discoveries of non-native plants and animals in Wisconsin indicate that unwanted organisms are being released or escaping into our environment causing increasing concern. The adoption of NR-40 in 2009 spurred efforts to move management of OIT pathways forward. This session will provide an overview of these efforts by discussing OIT invasion pathways, the newly revised NR-40 regulations, outreach efforts to reduce OIT introductions, and how monitoring and rapid response efforts have helped Wisconsin avoid major OIT invasion impacts. 

Saturday, 10:30 - 11:30 am

This presentation will explore one of Wisconsin’s most diverse, yet seemingly hidden treasures, our native freshwater mussels. Learn all about our state’s 50 native species, their fascinating life cycle, their dependence on fish and adaptations to fool them, as well as their amazing contributions to the history of Wisconsin, from food to buttons to pearls. You are guaranteed to leave with a greater appreciation of these unique animals and their beauty. 

Saturday, 10:30 - 11:30 am

Land trusts aren’t only about land! In fact, they help protect both land and water to improve the economy, health, and beauty of our communities. They do this by bringing together landowners, donors, and agencies to identify, protect, and manage unique places now and for future generations. Find out more about land trusts, how lake associations and land trusts can work together, and the story of a successful collaboration in Green Lake, Wisconsin. 

Community attitudes toward our lakes, streams, fisheries and water resources can have a large effect on the success of efforts to manage these resources.  Applied social science research can help us better respond to the diversity of these community perspectives and understand what motivates different stakeholders to get involved and behave the way that they do.  This session will review results of unique social research projects involving residents living around Lake Wausau and Wisconsin anglers.  We will summarize the different viewpoints that emerged of Lake Wausau and explore different approaches for getting started in your own efforts to understand the social factors influencing the success of your efforts.  We will also describe how a new diary approach to the DNR’s creel survey was recently used to inform managers as to angler experiences and behavior. The diary allowed anglers to record how much time they spent fishing , where they fished, what they caught and what they kept. We will share the preliminary results, including a statewide picture of angler behavior as well as species most sought by anglers.​

This session will provide an additional opportunity to hear from our morning keynote speaker Marion Stoddart. We will discuss specific obstacles that you may have faced in your lake and watershed protection efforts. Marion will share strategies that she relied on during her efforts to curb pollution and restore river health in Massachusetts.

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