Inside This Issue

• A Message from the Executive Director
• Introduction of Our New Board Members
• Sign Sponsorship for We All Live on the Water Program
• Announcing Michael Perry and Champions of Conservation Ceremony
• Celebrating Our Geologic Wonders: The Niagara Escarpment
• Door County Launches Greenprint Project
• Winter River Walk on the Branch River
• National Fish and Wildlife Grant

A Message from the Executive Director

Niagara Escarpment Resource Network Joins LNRP

We’re very excited to welcome the Niagara Escarpment Resource Network, or NERN, as a formal partner to LNRP.  The partnership will benefit both organizations and help mobilize support for the Year of the Niagara Escarpment.  NERN has been in existence since 1998, and by joining LNRP will now have the ability to do some fundraising, develop administratively-supported programming, and better manage membership.

We’re pleased to welcome Eric Fowle to our Board of Directors as the designated representative of NERN and look forward to the wide array of events already planned for this year. Eric is the Executive Director of the East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. You can find his bio and more in-depth information about NERN in this newsletter.

LNRP Joins Other Awardees at River Alliance of Wisconsin Spring Confluence

I’m pleased to announce that the Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership (LNRP) is one of only 10 groups statewide being presented an award by DNR Secretary Matt Frank at the River Alliance Spring Confluence on May 1 in Madison.  These awards recognize groups that have most effectively used DNR River Protection Grants.  In ten years of issuing over $3.1 million in grants, more than 100 organizations and 50 counties have benefited.

The ten groups include:

• Bad River Watershed Association
• Friends of Pheasant Branch Conservancy
• Friends of the Black River
• Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership
• Milwaukee Riverkeeper
• Northwoods Land Trust
• Rock River Coalition
• Sheboygan River Basin Partnership
• WI Clear Waters Chapter of Trout Unlimited
• Woodland Dunes Nature Center and Preserve

While LNRP is very proud of our accomplishments, our partners deserve much of the credit.  Without the countless volunteer hours and dedication to making the projects a success, none of these achievements would have been possible. So although LNRP is receiving the award, our thanks go out to all of our members, associates and organizational partners.

We are honored and delighted to receive this recognition and wish all of you a happy and healthy Earth Day on its 40th anniversary! With all the great activities involving the Year of the Niagara Escarpment, we encourage you to celebrate the rich heritage and abundant natural and cultural resources that make the Lakeshore Basin so special (see calendar for details).

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LNRP Welcomes New Board Members

We’re pleased to announce the addition of two new Board members. First, let us introduce Eric Fowle, Executive Director of the East Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission and Co-Chair of the Niagara Escarpment Resource Network.  Eric brings a wealth of relevant experience and insight to our collective table.

Eric is a 1992 graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, with a Bachelor’s Degree in Urban Studies with an emphasis in Regional Analysis, and has worked for Regional Planning Commissions for more than 17 years.   Eric received his American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) certification in 1999 and has been involved in numerous urban and rural planning issues over the years, many with an environmental focus.   In his spare time, he likes to travel with his wife Suzanne – “particularly to southern Ontario to visit the other half of the Great Arc (of the Escarpment)” – as well as “fish, golf, watch/go to Brewer’s games and find an occasional spare moment to work on a special vehicle restoration/rebuild project.”

Secondly, we welcome plein air Water’s Edge Artist Jason Prigge. Born in Sheboygan (WI), this 36-year-old Renaissance man grew up painting outdoors along the shores of Lake Michigan and surrounding areas. His passion for food and art has taken him across the country numerous times on a quest for “the perfect meal and the perfect brushstroke.” He has worked as an executive chef and restaurateur, and currently heads up two departments in an area grocery store. He is married to a “wonderful wife of 6 years Tina,” and they have a beautiful 4-year-old named Teak who shares his father’s “love of art and mischief.”  He currently lives in Manitowoc Rapids where -- when he is not working at the store -- he can be found “squinting at the Manitowoc River searching for that elusive perfect brush with nature.”

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Sign Sponsorship for We All Live on the Water Program

We All Live on the Water

Life Depends on it - Protect it

Sign Sponsorship is available in your area for your family, group or organization.

Makes a great gift! Sponsorship includes annual membership to LNRP and helps spread a critical message!

Aldo Leopold wrote: "A true Conservation ethic will evolve only when citizens, not just government alone, take responsibility for managing and protecting our land and waters."

Signs bearing the We All Live on the Water slogan and displaying the DNR tip line have been placed throughout the basin, reinforcing the sense of community and a shared responsibility for water quality. This Wisconsin Coastal Management collaboration involves basin groups in the Lake Michigan watershed including the Sheboygan River Basin Partnership, the Milwaukee River Basin Partnership, and the Root Pike Watershed Improvement Network.

This project has installed over 100 signs across coastal counties, at strategic river crossings, lake landings, beaches and public access spots.

The signs provide the 1-800-TIP-WDNR hotline number to report environmental violations and to increase visibility of each participating organization as well as their involvement in protecting our natural resources.

This spring, LNRP engaged an intern from the Lakeshore Technical College to seek sponsorships for our signs.  Greg Heinen, pictured here, may be stopping at your place of business or contacting you to encourage your support.  All donations go to helping LNRP protect and conserve our water resources.

For more information or to sponsor a sign in the Lakeshore Basin, please contact LNRP.

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Announcing Michael Perry and Champions of Conservation Ceremony

The Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership (LNRP) and Dominion (NYSE: D), owner of the Kewaunee Power Station, are delighted to be hosting our 2010 Lakeshore Champions of Conservation Awards Ceremony on Thursday, May 20 at UW-Green Bay in the Phoenix Room, Student Union, from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.  Our co-hosts for the evening are the Center for Food in Community and Culture, the Environmental Management and Business Institute, and the SLO Food Alliance.

This environmental award program, sponsored by Dominion®, recognizes and honors the outstanding achievements of groups, programs, organizations, businesses or individuals in a wide range of environmental initiatives throughout Northeastern Wisconsin. We pay tribute to those who have demonstrated a commitment to environmental excellence, leadership, and accomplishment in their respective fields.

This year’s nominees once again represent some of the best in the Lakeshore Basin.  In Environmental Education and Outreach, we have Coggin Heeringa and Bob Bultman.  For Land Use Protection and Habitat Restoration, we have Jim Knickelbine and Kay & Wayne Craig from Grassway Farm.  And for Water Resources Protection, we have DuWayne Klessig, Dale Voskuil, and Carl Scholz.  From these nominees, a champion from each area will be selected, and from these three our final Champion of Champions.

Michael Perry

Our program will feature Michael Perry, a humorist and bestselling author of the memoirs Population 485, Truck: A Love Story, and Coop.  His essays have appeared in Esquire, the New York Times Magazine, Backpacker, Outside and Orion, and he tours regularly with his band the Long Beds.  Recently, the Long Beds released their first album. Perry lives in rural Wisconsin with his wife and daughters and sometimes a few pigs.  He can be found online at www.sneezingcow.com.

Known for the heartfelt and humorous manner in which he brings his books and writing to life in “live” settings, Perry’s presentation will reflect how landscape and sense of place have shaped his work.  As that landscape included cheese, manure spreaders, and pitchforks, he is likely to squeeze in at least one cow joke.

The award ceremony from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. is by invitation only.  We will have substantial hors d’oeuvres and refreshments.  All LNRP Members, Associates and Friends are welcome to join us by RSVP to Sherrill Anderson at sherrill@lnrp.org.  Please RSVP by May 10 to assure your reservation and priority seating for Michael Perry.

For Michael’s presentation, the doors will open for the general public at 6:30 p.m. with a suggested donation of $5.00.

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Celebrating Our Geologic Wonders: The Niagara Escarpment

For those of you who may not realize, we live in a region that connects us in an arc expanding from southeastern Wisconsin north through Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Ontario, and past Niagara Falls in New York State.  You can see the steep rock cliffs of the ancient Niagara Escarpment, locally known at “the Ledge” or “the Bluff,” which essentially defines the Lakeshore Basin in Wisconsin. This huge geologic landform, “truly splendid in all of its glory,” consists of rock originally deposited as lime mud on an ancient sea floor more than 400 million years ago, resulting in our present-day cliffs carved by weathering, erosion and multiple glacial advances and retreats between 10 and 50 thousand years ago.

Back in 1998, a group of citizen volunteers came together “to promote an appreciation of Wisconsin’s portion of the Niagara Escarpment and to encourage sound land use, conservation and water resource decisions along its corridor.” Now the Niagara Escarpment Resource Network (NERN or the Network), represents several hundred volunteers passionate about this special resource, with the vision and dedication of its founder, Eric Fowle, and others. NERN focuses on developing projects, programs, events and activities associated with the Escarpment and Cuesta (the land sloping eastward to Lake Michigan) features within Door, Kewaunee, Brown, Manitowoc, Calumet, Fond du Lac and Dodge Counties.

So, what is the threat to this resource, you may ask? Because beneath its surface lies shallow Karst soils overlaying fractured bedrock– often referred to as “Swiss cheese,” whatever gets put on the surface very rapidly seeps into the groundwater, making land uses by crop land, farms and homes critical, and stewardship of paramount importance. Also, the harsh micro-climate along the dramatic cliff faces results in spindly and tiny cedar trees which are thousands of years old, as well as being home to many unique and endangered plant and animal species.

A declaration was made in March of 2009, lead by State Representative Al Ott, to recognize 2010 as Year of the Niagara Escarpment. This proclamation presents us with an exciting opportunity to learn, explore, share and appreciate this amazing resource. The kick-off event in January attracted over 200 participants to learn more about the Escarpment! Dozens of events are currently underway and the official proclamation will take place on Saturday, May 15 at Ledge View Nature Center with Al Ott and other dignitaries (see calendar for more details).

NERN, in its new partnership with the LNRP, is foreseeing the following developments and projects:

• The Niagara Escarpment Greenway Plan, a collaboration between NERN, the National Park Service, and many partners to ultimately create an “end to end” (Mayville in Dodge County to Rock Island in Door County) publicly accessible hiking trail. A new planned segment would connect High Cliff State Park and Calumet County Park along the Lake Winnebago shoreline as well.
  
  
• Collaborating with colleagues in the Great Lakes region, including Upper Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, New York and Ontario, to further develop “The Great Arc” project, providing opportunities for cross-border exchange and international collaboration.
  
  
• Creating a new federally designated American Viticulture Area (AVA) recognizing the Niagara Cuesta’s unique characteristics to grow quality grapes for winemaking. Currently, the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tax, and Tobacco is reviewing this application and we should have this designation by year’s end for “Ledge” wines.
  
  
• Formalizing the Red Banks Savannah Historic District in northeastern Brown County to recognize the rare relationship between natural and cultural history of this unique landscape. NERN is leading and facilitating the development of a formal State Historic District with other partners to underscore this area’s importance and to develop an interpretive program focused on the Escarpment and its influence on Native American cultures.
  
  
• Facilitate developing a more formalized, coordinated, voluntary land trust program among the Escarpment corridor’s five premier land trust organizations, a new initiative envisioning the Network as an even more effective resource working with local land trusts to locate the best opportunities to fund land conservation and protection projects in our region.
  
  
• Facilitate research and development of new scientific and technical information on the Escarpment related to the geology, biology, ecology, forestry, land conservation, wildlife habitat, flora, fauna, ground and surface water, archeology, history and more!

And, how can you help? By participating in these Year of the Escarpment events to educate and enlighten, and volunteer to help if you can. Spread the word and help us celebrate!  For more information, go to www.escarpmentnetwork.org or e-mail NERN at Niagara@escarpmentnetwork.org.

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Door County Launches Greenprint Project

A new conservation tool is being developed in Door County called “greenprinting.” The system uses Geographic Information System (GIS) data to create a number of scenarios to help communities make informed development and conservation decisions.  These scenarios are portrayed in layers which can be used one at a time or stacked in combination representing spatial and demographic data.  These “pictures” can then be used to scientifically and intelligently guide land resource management decisions.

The unique process has been developed by the national non-profit conservation organization The Trust for Public Land (TPL), and is being used by the state-wide land trust Gathering Waters for many of their projects and initiatives. It is the first of its kind in Wisconsin.

An overview of the benefits of the Greenprint Project:

One – it assists in the identification of conservation priorities for comprehensive planning efforts, providing a dynamic tool to support and guide decision-making by staff and elected officials.

Two – it fosters greater collaboration between public and private agencies and organizations involved in land management efforts.

And three – it makes an objective, scientifically-justified and public values-supported case for conservation efforts and for steering development to appropriate areas.

Door County Greenprint goals were developed through an interactive process with local and regional advisors, government officials, and interested community groups.  The framework was then organized by a set of  land use and planning goals.  The goals for Door County include:

1. Protect Habitat for Native Plants and Animals
   
   
2. Restore Landscape Connectivity
   
   
3. Protect Surface Water Quality
   
   
4. Protect Ground Water Quality

One example of what can be generated from the interactive maps on the Door County website targets critical habitats.  The map shown here highlights areas that rank high for habitat protection.Another example pertains to wetland areas critical for groundwater recharge. A third would examine areas where the topsoil is too thin to support conventional septic systems. These represent just a few of the types of information available in the Door County Greenprint Project.

To further explore the Door County Greenprint Project, go to http://tplgis.org/DoorCounty_Greenprint/ and you can find a link to a training guide.

The success of the Door County Greenprint Project could spur similar developments in other counties within the LNRP basin:  Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Sheboygan, Calumet, and Brown.  Stay tuned as LNRP hopes to cultivate further interest in this land management tool.

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Winter River Walk on the Branch River

On Sunday February 21, the Friends of the Branch River and the Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership sponsored a second "Walk on the Branch River" which began with a program to identify the 10 most threatening invasive species in Manitowoc County. Following a presentation by Jim Knickelbine, director of the Woodland Dunes Nature Center, the group split into two to walk stretches of the Branch River and map the invasive species identifiable during the winter.

Unlike last October when volunteers walked the frigid waters of the river in waders, this time they could walk easily on the frozen ice. Snowmobiles traveling down the Branch River channel created a sidewalk of compacted snow for the hikers. One group started at the river crossing on Hillcrest Road heading south, and a second group started at the Hwy T Bridge and walked north, meeting in the middle at the Dodge Preserve.

The hike was scheduled for February when weather is generally more comfortable and river ice strongest prior to the March thaws. However this year’s early spring caused the upper reaches of the Branch River to open early from Brown County to Hwy J. Fortunately, the lower reaches remained ice covered with small stretches of open water.

The winter walk provided a view of the river few people can experience unless canoeing during high water periods. The snow provided a map of wildlife tracks including mink, deer, turkey, raccoon and rabbits. The river corridor, protected by a canopy of cedar and hardwoods, provided a break from the wind swept fields as well as a cozy climate wildlife enjoy during the long winter months.

Our plan was to map invasive species threatening these riparian habitats. Once we’ve located and mapped sites of invasive species, landowners can be contacted or notified with methods to control and prevent further spread of these invasive species.

The volunteers did identify major infestations of Japanese Honeysuckle colonizing the flood plain of the Branch River. Honeysuckle, an invasive species that escaped from lawns and urban landscapes, was planted for its intense flowering and resulting berry production. Birds feasting on the berries have now spread the invasive shrub throughout our woodlots, shading out native trees and shrubs and preventing reforestation.

The good news: we found neither the tall Phragmites or Giant Reed grass found along our road right-of-ways nor the dreaded Glossy Buckthorn infiltrating many woodlots in the county.

By Tom Ward, Aquatic Invasive Species Coordinator, Manitowoc County Lakes Association

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LNRP receives grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

We’re happy to announce that LNRP has received a grant for just under $150,000 to forge ahead on the restoration of Centerville Creek in the Village of Cleveland.  The project will reconstruct the stream channel currently part of an abandoned millpond.  LNRP has hosted one stakeholder meeting with plans for two more this May.  

LNRP hosted stakeholders at Rupps on Washington February 22, 2010