Thursday
Concurrent Session 1
50 minutes
April 6, 2017 ~ 8:00-8:50 am
Agenda subject to change.
Control of Non-native Phragmites within the Great Lakes Basins: A Case Study in Invasive Species Strategic Planning and Implementation
Non-native Phragmites is an invasive species that can be found throughout the eastern half of Wisconsin. This presentation will discuss topics such as statewide reconnaissance, mapping, strategic planning, developing partnerships at various governmental levels, permit coordination, and landowner interaction and outreach. We will also discuss contracting, aspects that lead to successful control, restoration paths, and the next steps in maintaining controlled populations. This presentation will be of interest to those considering large scale invasive plant control projects.
Presenters:
Brock Woods, Purple Loosestrife and Wetland Invasive Plant Program Coordinator, UW-Extension and WI Department of Natural Resources
Jason Granberg, Water Resource Management Specialist, WI Department of Natural Resources
State Budget and Legislative Update
Wisconsin just seated a brand new legislature, and it is time for a new state budget! If the recent past is any indication, changes to water policy will continue to be proposed and enacted. Wisconsin Lakes presents this annual update of what’s already passed, what’s already introduced, and maybe a bit of what is yet to come. Join us for lively reporting and analysis on state-level water policy in the budget and in stand-alone legislation as well.
Presenter:
Mike Engleson, Director, Wisconsin Lakes
Making Healthy Lakes Together: The Church-Pine, Round & Big Story
Interested in getting property owners on your lake to "just do something"? Come learn about Healthy Lakes – a statewide initiative providing technical assistance and funding for simple habitat and water quality improvement projects on lakeshore properties. We will share an overview of the Healthy Lakes initiative followed by a local lake champion's experience, including the hurdles and hints they discovered and conquered to complete 8 projects in 2016 with more on the way.
Presenters:
Pamela Toshner, Lake Biologist, WI Department of Natural Resources
Mike Reiter, Committee Chair & Commissioner of The Church Pine, Round, & Big Lake Protection and Rehabilitation District
Presentations:
Where Did That Water Come From?
Most of the water in Wisconsin lakes starts as precipitation on land. The story of how that water gets to our lakes is important to the character and long-term health of our lakes. In this session, we’ll introduce ideas about watersheds and water movement and consider how that can help us understand our lake.
Presenter:
Paul McGinley, Research Scientist, Center for Watershed Science and Education, UW-Stevens Point and UW-Extension
Who Are the Stakeholders? Engaging Communities
This presentation will highlight the strategies used in doing social science watershed assessment in an interdisciplinary and community-engaged manner. Research from the LAKES REU (Linking Applied Knowledge in Environmental Sustainability Research Experience for Undergraduates), a National Science Foundation funded project, was conducted over the last three years to study phosphorus pollution in the Red Cedar Watershed. Studies ranging from economic impacts to farmer social networks to ethnographic work on government agency efforts (and more) informed our results, and these all coalesced around the theme of evaluating Community Capacity. This presentation will highlight some results, propose some best practices for social science research on watersheds, and discuss the idea of working as an interdisciplinary team and engaging the community being studied as the research is conducted.
Presenter:
Alyssa Quilling, LAKES Research Coordinator, UW-Stout
In a New Light: Water Photography is Medicine for Teens in Mental Health Treatment
Northwest Passage is a residential mental health provider for youth located in northwest Wisconsin. Since 2014, teachers and staff at Northwest Passage have been taking young men and women around, on, and under the water to take amazing nature photographs. The process of learning photography and spending time in or near water has had many unexpected, positive impacts on the participants. They have used photography to share their perspectives on life and the world. They have experienced deep therapeutic impacts in part due to waters’ calming effects, from rivers and lakes to recent experiences in the Florida Keys. This award-winning program now has a photography gallery in Webster, Wisconsin and has touched the lives of thousands through news stories and exhibits as the young photographers reveal a rarely seen side of our waters. Join us in this session to learn more about this real world example of how lakes and waterways provide immense emotional services to people and society.
Presenters:
Ian Karl, Experiential Programming Coordinator, Northwest Passage
Anglea Frederickson, Clinical Director and Therapist, Northwest Passage
Revealing a Lake's History in its Sediments
Much about a lake's water quality history is preserved in its sediments. This talk will summarize the types of information found in the sediments. Sediment cores have been collected from over 200 lakes throughout Wisconsin. Information including changes in the lake’s sedimentation rate, watershed erosion, deep water oxygen levels, and phosphorus concentrations can be determined from the sediments. Examples of common watershed practices that have impacted a lake's ecology will be described. These include early and recent agricultural practices, logging, and lakeshore development. Other influences on lake ecology such as changes in a lake’s water level because of drought will be discussed.
Presenter:
Paul Garrison, Paleoecologist, Onterra LLC.
Eutrophication Drives Water Clarity Responses to Decadal Variation in Lake Level
Water clarity is an important attribute of lakes, but understanding how clarity will respond to changes in climate remains obscure because physical and chemical conditions generate complex responses at local scales. Results of 28 years of monitoring lake phosphorus concentrations across 24 lakes in northwest Wisconsin and what this means in relationship with hydrology will be discussed.
Presenter:
Pete Lisi, Post-doctoral Scientist, UW-Madison Center for Limnology
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