Friday Concurrent Session 5
50 minutes
April 3, 2020 ~ 8:00-8:50 am
Agenda subject to change.
Safe Dam? Yes You Can!
As we experience increases in large rainfall events, maintaining a dam in a safe and reasonable condition becomes even more important. We'll review the basics of dams, such as history, anatomy, present day uses, ecological advantages and impacts, regulation, and ongoing maintenance.
Presenter: Tanya Lourigan, State Dam Safety Engineer, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Effective Communications in a Distracted Age: Why Lake Organizations Need to Optimize Electronic Communications
From hard news to the latest viral animal video, information travels FAST in 2020. For lake organizations to effectively grab the attention of their members and external audiences, use of electronic communications like a robust and active website, email newsletters, and even social media is crucial. In this session, the leaders of Lakekit.net, Wisconsin Lakes’ lake organization website community, will explain how a simple, integrated approach to electronic communications, built off a strong website, is the best way for your message to reach its intended audience. You’ll also learn how through the Lakekit.net platform and community you can get the help you need and help others reach their communication goals as well. You’ll be introduced to Lakekit.net, a sample of email clients, and get a crash course in social media like Facebook, Instagram, and maybe even the dreaded Twitter! Come learn how electronic communications can benefit your lake organization!
Presenters:
Karen Reynolds, Lakekit Steering Committee Member
Mike Engleson, Executive Director, Wisconsin Lakes
LoonWatch, Loons and You: Working Together to Protect an Icon of Lakes
LoonWatch, a program of the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, protects common loons and their aquatic habitats through education, monitoring, and research. The primary focus is Wisconsin, but their education and research activities extend to the Upper Great Lakes region. This presentation will give an overview of Loons and their unique life histories. We will discuss major threats facing loons in Wisconsin and neighboring states. Finally, we’ll share ways that you can be more involved in protecting loons, including the upcoming Loon Population Survey.
Presenter: Erica Lemoine, LoonWatch Program Director, Northland College
Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms: An Emerging Public Health Issue in Wisconsin’s Waters
Harmful cyanobacterial blooms (blue-green algae) are an emerging public health concern in Wisconsin and worldwide. Their occurrence is driven by nutrient pollution and the higher temperatures, longer growing seasons, and intensifying rainfall events that we are experiencing as a result of climate change. Learn what practices can help you and your family to be more resilient and adapt to cyanobacterial blooms including learning how to recognize cyanobacteria and identify potentially harmful levels, how to minimize exposure and health effects of their toxins, and approaches to reduction of bloom occurrence.
Presenters:
Gina LaLiberte, Statewide Blue-green Algae Coordinator, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
Amanda Koch, Epidemiologist & Research Analyst, Wisconsin Department of Health Services
There was no video recording of this session.
*Two 25 minute presentations
Enhancing Natural Resource Professionals' Capacity with Place-Based Evidence: Lessons Learned From a Climate Change Workshop
Within the Lake Superior basin, global climate change is expected to cause increased annual temperature, decreased snow, and more frequent and extreme weather events. The Lake Superior Ojibwe have traditional ecological knowledge of the environment that has evolved over thousands of years, providing long term place-based supporting evidence of a changing climate. These changes are likely to affect local economies dependent upon the region's cultural and natural resources such as subsistence and recreational fishing, forest product manufacturing, wildlife, tourism, recreation and agriculture. Lake Superior tribal and coastal communities are already experiencing climate challenges and are implementing culturally relevant strategies to become more climate resilient. This presentation will recap an intensive workshop on these climate issues in 2019, highlighting lessons learned and plans to offer the program in 2020.
Presenter: Cathy Techtmann, Environmental Outreach Specialist, UW Madison Division of Extension & President of the Friends of the Gile Flowage Lake Association
Tackling Barriers to Green Infrastructure One Code at a Time
Green infrastructure is a proven and effective means to improve water quality, habitat and flooding by reducing stormwater pollution and volume, but there remain critical barriers to its implementation. Outdated local regulations can have a broad impact on green infrastructure and will often directly and indirectly discourage or prohibit its use. Based on the work of 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Sea Grant, developed Tackling Barriers to Green Infrastructure: An Audit of Local Codes and Ordinances, a workbook to help communities audit, revise and prioritize codes that deter the implementation of green infrastructure. During this presentation you will learn about why codes and ordinances are a major barrier to green infrastructure, common code challenges and the impact code changes can have on stormwater runoff volume and pollution loads. You will be introduced to the workbook which includes a community-oriented engagement approach and provides a detailed codes and ordinances auditing tool.
Presenter: Julia Noordyk, Water Quality & Coastal Communities Specialist, Wisconsin Sea Grant
The Wisconsin Purple Loosestrife Biocontrol program celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2019 and the release of over thirty million loosestrife chomping beetles under the leadership of Brock Woods. With Brock’s retirement, Jeanne Scherer will now coordinate the program. During 2019, volunteers and WDNR staff noticed an increase in purple loosestrife populations, especially in far Northwestern and Eastern counties in wetlands, along roadsides and in riparian areas. High water levels and multiple late season, cold weather events have potentially reduced beetle populations in areas that had been well-managed, making 2020 a year to reassess sites and restock beetles at locations where resurgences have occurred. Wetlands managers and volunteers can be instrumental in helping us locate these areas, so monitoring and reporting guidelines will be presented. We will review the program progress to date, review biocontrol techniques, catch up on program updates and discuss Integrated Pest Management options for those with small populations to manage. You’re encouraged to attend whether you’ve just started noticing purple loosestrife in your area and are wondering what you can do about it or have been doing the biocontrol program for years. This is also an opportunity to provide feedback to the new coordinator.
Presenter: Jeanne Scherer, Aquatic Invasive Species Outreach Specialist and Wisconsin Purple Loosestrife Biocontrol, UW Madison Division of Extension
Red Swamp Scare: A Rapid Response Learning Experience
In most Aquatic Invasive Species introductions, response monitoring and control efforts take place after the fact, once a species has taken hold in a waterbody. But, what happens when a species is discovered within hours of a release? Wisconsin DNR staff found themselves in just this type of situation when on June 26th, 2019, 75 pounds of the Red Swamp Crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) were released at a canoe launch parking lot near the Wisconsin River. Tremendous efforts were made within the first twenty-four hours by DNR Conservation Wardens and Fisheries Staff to halt the progress of the invasive crayfish toward the Wisconsin River and nearby waterbodies. Within days a response team was created, monitoring efforts planned, and additional control structures implemented at the release site. Being in this unprecedented situation, staff were required to organize quickly and cope with a large learning curve to protect the nearby Wisconsin River and nearby waterbodies from an invasion of Red Swamp Crayfish.
Presenter: Shelby Adler, Water Resource Management Specialist, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
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