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Inside This Issue
A Message from the Executive Director
As an organization, LNPR continues to evolve while still holding true to its roots. However, every once in a while it's good to give yourself a fresh face! Through the support of a Freshwater Future grant, we've been able to strengthen our presence with local media and "re-brand" ourselves with a new logo. The logo attempts to capture some of the energy created by our recently completed strategic planning process. The same process created a new Mission and Vision Statement. Our Mission is now articulated as "Cultivating Environmental Stewardship in the Lakeshore Region" and our Vision is as follows: We envision a Lakeshore region in Eastern Wisconsin where:
And, to follow through on our efforts to create a stronger stewardship ethic, we are launching a new program emphasis, the Local Stewardship Program funded by our Stewardship Investment Fund. Through the fund, LNRP offers investment grants to non-profit organizations working to preserve, promote and protect water quality in the Lakeshore Region. Grants range in size from $500 to $5,000. Project Advisory Teams oversee these projects covering a two-year cycle. Organizations eligible to compete for these grants are grassroots groups with limited revenue located in the Lakeshore Region. Applications are due by November 1, 2011 with selections made in November and December. We plan an awards ceremony in February. Groups or individuals who have applied previously may apply again. Both nominations for champions of conservation and stewardship proposals should focus on water quality issues in one of the following areas of concern:
Organizations interested in applying for a grant or to learn more about the Local Stewardship Program should visit our website at http://www.lnrp.org/local-stewardship-programs.php. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions at jim@lnrp.org. It's an honor to serve you, Jim Kettler, Executive Director LNRP Welcomes New Board Member Barbara Bundy-Jost Born during the Barbie Doll era and named the same by her pediatrician, Barbara Bundy-Jost denies modeling her life after the plastic icon. Although immediately mesmerized by women's accessories, (particularly handbags and shoes) and holding a fascination for 1950's/ 60's fashion and guys with 3-letter names like Ken or Jim, she flatly denies Barbie's Barb is married to a guy named Jim. They share 3 daughters, 33 acres on Point Creek in Cleveland, WI and a passion for sustaining the earth. Twenty years ago they put their land in forest management and planted over 19,000 trees. They also planted 150 apples trees on this land. Every fall, their orchard supplies family and friends with an abundance of apples and juice and Jim's home-made wine. When picking season is done, pleasant walks through their woods highlight where the deer, cranes and turkeys play. Cleveland Barn Dance Grows in StrengthMore than 250 supporters of Wisconsin’s rural heritage gathered on Saturday evening, September 24th, at the 150-year-old Saxon Homestead Farm for the 3rd Annual Barn Dance, a production of Partnering for Progress: Celebrating our Rural Communities. Attendance this year was up by nearly 50 percent. The event ran from 5 to 10 p.m. at the Klessig-Heimerl family farm in Cleveland, WI and included a barn dance in a fully restored1850's-era dairy barn. This year’s event featured music by Buffalo Joe covering a wide range of country and rock music from the past five decades. Our keynote speaker was Ben Brancel, Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. He addressed the importance of preserving our state’s tradition of heritage farms which stay in the family for generations, and recognized the Saxon Farm and the Klessig- Heimerl families in particular as being fine emissaries in this effort. Event organizers welcomed the fine contingency of future farmers and agriculturists from the Wisconsin Future Farmers of America, students from the UW School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers, as well as students from the nearby Lakeshore Technical College. Several members of Growing Power, founded by Will Allen, joined this year’s celebration. Sponsoring organizations include the Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership (LNRP), Gathering Waters Conservancy (GWC), and the Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers. Each organization offers significant programs to help protect and sustain our natural resources and rural communities. Karl Klessig, who operates the fifth-generation Saxon Homestead dairy farm with partners Robert Klessig and Jerry Heimerl and their families, said it's important to celebrate the positives rural Wisconsin has going for it, even in difficult times. Karl points to seeing such an event as a way to celebrate and recognize what’s happening right now in rural Wisconsin, including the power of partnerships. These sponsoring organizations strive to empower rural communities to push through these difficult and challenging economic times to ensure their survival. He points out that agriculture is at the base of every rural community in Wisconsin, and empowering the people on the land will enhance the entire state and our whole country. He concludes that it all starts on the back 40. Organizers of the event point to the importance of the growing local food movement and opportunities to increase awareness of our ongoing challenges to groundwater protection from our land use practices in Wisconsin. Groundwater Protection in Karst AreasMore than four years after numerous residents could not drink their well water in the Town of Morrison (Brown County), a team of county, state and federal agency staff partnered with LNRP to develop an action plan to strengthen groundwater protection and increase awareness of our region's widespread karst topography. Collectively they desired to put forth the best available knowledge and techniques for preventing and mitigating pervasive pollution problems found in our region's honeycombed soils and bedrock. With grants from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Freshwater Future, LNRP and the collective team planned a series of three events which ran July 15, 16 and 19, 201. The working group consisted of Glacierland RC&D, land conservation staffs from Brown, Calumet and Kewaunee Counties, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, and the Calumet and Kewaunee Groundwater Guardians. (See related articles, 'Dining on the Ledge' and 'Pasture Walk Shows Benefits for Groundwater' and LNRP Co-Hosts Groundwarer Protection Conference in this issue). Bill Hafs of the Brown County Land Conservation Department noted, "We learned a lot after the Town of Morrison well contamination peaked in 2006-2007. More than 40% of the 150 wells tested came back high in nitrates and harmful bacteria." The county embarked on a major effort to educate manure haulers where to spread and areas to avoid, "improving the situation considerably. No one wants to purposely pollute groundwater," Hafs added. This ambitious project supported data collection through well testing in Kewaunee and Calumet Counties and mapping in Brown County. Many of our urban and agricultural practices, interfacing with our underlying karst geology in much of northeast, southeast and northwest Wisconsin, make this pollution widespread and difficult to address. The group realized they needed to reach lenders, landowners and farmers, legislators and concerned citizens, with specific tools to protect ground and surface waters to begin addressing this monumental challenge.
Andy Wallander, County Conservationist for Kewaunee Co., underscored some of the same concerns. He said that 28% of drinking water wells in the county are unfit for human consumption due to bacterial or nitrate contamination. "When the snow melts or it rains enough in the spring to recharge the local aquifer in these areas, we’ve got well contamination events," he said. "Sometimes, we’ve even got 'brown' water coming out of kitchen faucets." Preventing pollution is much easier and less expensive than cleaning up a problem once it occurs. Tree farmer and conservationist Chuck Wagner, living in the northwest corner of Kewaunee County, cannot drink his well water more than 10 years since it first tested unsafe for bacteria and nitrate originating from neighboring pollution. He has tried remedying this situation through digging several new wells and countless other techniques to no avail. (See related article in Fall 2010 issue of The Source). Twenty people participated in the Karst Tour at Mike Wiericks' dairy farm on July 15. Thirty-eight dined at Trout Springs Winery on July 16. An additional 35 engaged in the day-long conference at the Glenmore Community Center in Brown County. The consensus calls for more outreach and events throughout the area, speaking to a wide range of groups and further spreading awareness to take care of our precious water resources. Watch for announcements of further activities in 2012. Pasture Walk Shows Benefits for Groundwater
The dissolving of bedrock shapes karst topography, usually carbonate rock such as limestone or dolostone. Rainwater percolates into the ground slowly dissolving the rock, which creates surface and underground voids and openings like sinkholes and caves. Mike has moved his operation from a conventional dairy operation to one that uses a pasture-based system of grazing. He has seen a dramatic improvement in the health of his cows and even a better bottom line. Mike suggests that even conventional systems can benefit from a pasture-based approach by grazing their heifers in more sensitive areas. We believe in helping conventional farmers and landowners find economically viable and practical solutions to minimize the risk of groundwater contamination. With that in mind, we brought together state and local agency staff, farmers, bank lenders, crop consultants, local legislators and others to explore tools for proper management of these sensitive karst areas. LNRP plans to continue our work to improve the techniques and tools needed for stronger groundwater protection. Bringing diverse groups of people who deal with these issues is our goal and ongoing focus. "Dining on the Ledge" to be an Annual EventOn July 16, friends and colleagues gathered for a wonderful evening of food, wine, art and conversation at the Trout Springs Winery (TSW) near Greenleaf. TSW and the Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership, who partnered last winter with the Niagara Escarpment Resource Network, hosted the event. Trout Springs Winery embraces many of the principles our two groups uphold - the sustainability of our precious resources by implementing wise land use practices and sustainable farming methods.
Our creative chef was Kyle Cross who has returned to Wisconsin after stints in California and Florida. Kyle prepared a four-course meal matched with TSW wines that knocked our socks off! The main course featured fresh pan sautéed trout grown on the property. All other foods were locally sourced and selected with freshness and taste in mind. Kyle is now the chef at Carmella's Italian Bistro in Grand Chute. Look for his monthly "Fox Foodie" column in The Scene. TSW is one of a handful of Wisconsin wineries that competes in National and International Wine competitions. With over 30 years of winemaking experience, they take great pride in producing perennial, award-winning wines. Trout Springs Winery was the first winery in Brown County and continues to be the oldest commercial vineyard in Northeastern Wisconsin. Each year they introduce new vintages and strive to make each one special by implementing the latest techniques. Their detailed process requires dedication and passion - qualities not taught yet inherent in the TSW team. LNRP and NERN want to thank them for a wonderful evening and their continued support of our conservation efforts on the Niagara Escarpment. LNRP Co-Hosts Groundwater Protection WorkshopOn July 19, LNRP co-hosted a workshop entitled: Groundwater Protection, Education, and Awareness on Karst Topography: Building the Management Tool Box. The collective vision fo our organizing team is to prevent pollution to our east central and northeastern region's ground and surface waters coming from non-point sources on land with sensitive karst features. These porous areas - the soil's equivalent of Swiss cheese -- often have sinkholes, thin or bare soils over fractured bedrock, where whatever is put on the surface very rapidly disperses into the groundwater and neighboring wells in unpredictable ways. Tests conducted in Kewaunee, Brown and Calumet Counties in recent years indicated an alarming percentage of drinking water wells with elevated nitrate and/or bacteria, which presents health threats to the residents. We have farmers and other landowners in our region unable to drink water from their own wells despite more than a decade's worth of remediation due to neighboring manure spreading. With mapping of karst sensitive areas and reaching out to farmers and manure haulers to avoid these areas, we'll all be able to more effectively manage these issues and mitigate problems in the future.
We would like to thank the staffs of the Calumet, Brown and Kewaunee Land Conservation Departments, Wisconsin DNR and Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and their area personnel, East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, Glacierland Resource Conservation and Development, Kewaunee and Calumet Groundwater Guardians and all the attendees who gave their time and attention to fully participate in these events. We couldn't have done this without you. Funding for the event came from the federal Natural Resource Conservation Service and a grant from Freshwater Future. |
Fall 2011
News from LNRPWEA - Rahr Exhibit and 2012 Calendar Centerville Creek Water Quality Thank you to Diane ChapetaLNRP Wishes Board Member Best of Luck Diane Chapeta left the LNRP Board this summer for a new gig in the southwestern part of the state. She is the Operations Manager for the Fifth Season Cooperative. She's loving her new job and is very excited to be working more fully in the local food movement. LNRP will miss her! If you're ever in this area of southwestern Wisconsin and would like to see Diane in action, feel free to contact her: Diane Chapeta
Program UpdatesThe Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' website was recently updated to include the Lakeshore Technical College Old Growth Forest located in Cleveland, WI. You can find it by searching by county (Manitowoc) or by name (LTC). Dawn Hinebaugh, with the WDNR Bureau of Endangered Species, State Natural Areas, also posted it as a "Featured SNA" on the State Natural Areas homepage: http://dnr.wi.gov/org/land/er/sna/. WEA - Rahr Exhibit and 2012 CalendarComing Soon! 2012 Waterways Calendar The Water's Edge Artists will again exhibit theirs works including the paintings chosen by a jury for the 2012 Lakeshore Waterways Calendar. The 'Visions of Water' Exhibit at the Rahr-West Art Museum, 610 N.8th Street, Manitowoc runs from October 3 through October 30. Please join us for the opening reception on Sunday, October 16 from 1-4 p.m. You can meet the artists and even get your calendar autographed! Remember by becoming a member of LNRP, you receive a complimentary calendar. The Water’s Edge Artists will also present a two-day oil painting demonstration, Saturday and Sunday, October 22 and 23, 1:00-4:00 p.m., at the Rahr in conjunction with this exhibit. WEA Artistic Director Bonnita Budysz will create a large oil painting from a blank canvas. For more information contact Sherrill Anderson at sherrill@lnrp.org or 920-412-1920. Also check our Facebook page and the Water's Edge Artists website for updates and locations of future paintouts.
Lake Michigan StakeholdersThe Lake Michigan Stakeholders are continuing to forge ahead with their branding exercise and have created a new logo. A new website is being constructed as well. The steering committee hopes to launch the website at the next Stakeholder Meeting, November 9th from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary in Green Bay. If interested in attending, contact Kate Barrett at the DNR Great Lakes Office at (608) 266-9238 or kate.barrett@wi.gov.
Centerville Creek Water QualityThroughout the summer, LNRP has engaged an UW Manitowoc Intern to sample water quality on Centerville Creek. Ethan Poling has done a great job and has sampled seven points from June to September. You can see the data as well as Ethan in the field on the Hika-Bay.org website. Construction to restore the stream channel should begin this fall. Bids will be let out as soon as the design passes through the DNR permitting process. The Friends of Hika Bay have also been clearing invasive species from the north end of Hika Park. The Hika Bay Working Fund has raised almost $4,000 this year for water quality sampling and invasive species removal work. If you'd like to help out or join the Friends of Hika Bay, contact Jim Kettler at 920-304-1919 or jim@lnrp.org.
Field Day on Pine CreekThe Lake Winnebago Land & Water Conservation Association Summer Meeting/Tour was held Friday July 29, 2011 and hosted by Calumet County Land & Water Conservation Committee and Department.
The tour highlighted ongoing efforts to clean up PCB contamination in and along Jordan and Pine Creeks and to restore and improve habitat and water quality along the creeks and their watershed. The PCB contamination occurred in the 1960's and levels are as high as those in the Fox River. There are also significant nonpoint and groundwater pollution problems within the watershed. Tour stops included restored, active, and future cleanup sites. Directed discussion focused on the activities, practices, and partnerships to address the nonpoint and groundwater problems. LNRP has been involved in the Pine Creek restoration efforts for several years holding workshops in October 2009 and January 2010 along with an initial field site visit in July 2010 in collaboration with TRC Environmental Corporation.
TRC is implementing a restoration plan that limits the amount of damage to existing wetlands caused by the clean-up activities. The restoration activities include backfilling and grading, stream bank reconstruction, and revegetation with native plants, grasses, shrubs, and trees. In 2010, over 18,000 tons of PCB-impacted material was removed from the site along with an additional 15,000 tons removed from Jordan Creek. Work has been completed from Danes Road to Honeymoon Hill Road with plans to reach beyond Hayton Road later this year. However, due to weather and the fact that more material needs to be removed than expected, work will likely continue through 2014. We're now on Facebook!Come check us out on our brand new Facebook page where you'll be able to see news updates, join in discussions, and share the good news about LNRP to a larger audience. Find us under Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership.
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Fresh Face for the Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership
influence on her life. Barb has spent the better part of her life working for the Manitowoc Public School District as an art teacher, and a 21st Century Communications team teacher. Because of her love of art and her belief in the power of art to make you smart, she works diligently promoting the work of the Water's Edge Artists and their Art with a Purpose program. 
Once again, guests were delighted by the fine array of local foods and beverages, enjoying wine produced at the Trout Springs Winery in Greenleaf, and beer provided by Capital Brewery in Madison and Stone Cellar Brewpub in Appleton. The Water's Edge Artists displayed a sampling of their professional oil paintings and note cards, and a raffle was held for a variety of door prizes containing Wisconsin products - including fine artisanal cheeses, wines and grass-fed beef. 
Calumet Co. Land Conservationist Eugene McLeod and his staff began collecting data through testing 2,500 residential wells these last several years. He said, "We see a problem in a good one-third of the county, in a line from High Cliff (State Park) to New Holstein. Considering the presence of nitrates and/or indicator bacteria, the data point to problems in 50% in karst areas deemed highly susceptible, with 70% of samples testing unsafe for drinking water due to our geology and largely agricultural land use. We need to work with farmers and other landowners to use best management practices and protect the groundwater. What I’d guess is that for every visible karst feature we see, there are many more invisible beneath the surface."
On July 15, LNRP and the Niagara Escarpment Resource Network showcased a grazing operation in Kewaunee County that has transformed the economic viability and livestock health of a formerly conventional dairy farmer. Mike Wiericks' farm is located in an area with significant karst features. 
Our talented Water's Edge Artists showcased several dozen oil paintings, pastels and water colors, creatively hung on the outside of TSW's main building and inside the open, attached garage. More than a dozen of these plein air painters and photographers were featured.
