RESCHEDULED!

Conservation on Tap January 31, 2023

7:00 pm, The Historicy Fortney, Viroqua, WI

Stay tuned for reschedule information!

RESCHEDULED!!  Our January 2023 Conservation on Tap presentation has been rescheduled to Tuesday, January 31, at 7:00 pm, at The Historic Fortney, 100 N. Main St., Viroqua.  Conservation on Tap is a FREE presentation series by experts on various aspects of Driftless area ecology and conservation. The goal of the series is to increase knowledge, connection to, and awareness of current conservation efforts and research.

Nancy Wedwick, President of the Coon Creek Community Watershed Council, and Bob Micheel, Director of the Monroe County Land Conservation Department, will present background information on watershed councils, their work in particular as well as in collaboration with their sister watershed councils, within the context of the historical legacy of conservation leadership in the Coon Creek Watershed.

Nancy Wedwick is an educator, lawyer, organizer, grandparent, fifth generation resident of Coon Valley, and president of the Coon Creek Community Watershed Council, a nonprofit she
and her neighbors formed in response to increasingly severe flooding in their region. While generating flood resilience may be one of the Council’s immediate goals, Nancy ultimately sees her work as part of a movement to build collaborations within and across watersheds, and to imagine a safer and more sustainable future for her community. The Watershed Council expands on a tradition that began with the national soil conservation initiatives centered in Coon Valley in the 1930s. Nancy’s approach to environmental stewardship is deeply guided by the lessons in cooperation and innovation her ancestors learned during that time, as well as by her own experiences living along Coon Creek and witnessing its changes. Additional experience Nancy brings to the council includes time spent as an educator and education department leader at the Wisconsin Challenge Academy, a career in family and employment law, and a PhD in leadership studies she is in the process of completing. She is passionate about enhancing awareness of the connections linking people to each other and to water across space and through generations, or what she calls, watershed literacy. She believes nurturing those relationships is critical to understanding how neighbors can better care for one another and for the land and waters they share. Nancy envisions the watershed council as a space where those relationships can flourish, and one that welcomes everyone who cares about or calls the Coon Creek Watershed home.

Bob Micheel is the Monroe County Land Conservation Department (LCD)–Director  where he previously served as a Soil & Water Conservationist in Sparta, Wisconsin, since 1989. He has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Resource Management and Soil Science from UW-Stevens Point. Over the course of 30 plus years he has served on many federal, state, and
local committees influencing conservation policy. Program highlights include: the stream
restoration/fishing easement program, phosphorous trading with municipalities, and
development of the Climate Change Task Force along with creating the first land use
planner position in Monroe County. Bob currently serves as the Wisconsin Land & Water
Association President. Bob grew up in a small community called the Arches, in Winona
County, MN.

The Noble Rind next door will be open and serving food until 7:00 pm.  Please feel free to stop in for a bite to eat beforehand.

If you would have any questions, then please email us at info@valleystewardshipnetwork.org or call 608-637-3615.

Conservation on Tap February 7, 2023

7:00 pm, The Historicy Fortney, Viroqua, WI

Our February 2023 Conservation on Tap presentation will take place on Tuesday, February 7, at 7:00 pm, at The Historic Fortney, 100 N. Main St., Viroqua.  Conservation on Tap is a FREE presentation series by experts on various aspects of Driftless area ecology and conservation. The goal of the series is to increase knowledge, connection to, and awareness of current conservation efforts and research.

Title: Community Conservation: From Wisconsin to the World

Description:  Come see how conservation in Wisconsin has influenced conservation around the world.  Dr. Teri Allendorf will describe Community Conservation‘s projects around the world with local communities to protect biodiversity, including endangered species such as yellow-tailed woolly monkeys in Peru, orangutans in Malaysia, chimpanzees in Cameroon, and tigers in Nepal, among many others.  Community Conservation was founded and directed for over 30 years by Dr. Rob Horwich, a long-time resident of the Viroqua/Gays Mills area.  Dr. Horwich worked on 25 international projects in 15 countries and was a supporter and initiator of many local projects in the Kickapoo region, including Valley Stewardship Network.

Dr. Teri Allendorf  is the Executive Director of Community Conservation, an organization founded by Gays Mills resident Dr. Rob Horwich in 1984. She has a PhD in Conservation Biology from the University of Minnesota and more than 30 years experience with conservation policy and community-level programs. She was a member of USAID’s Biodiversity Team, a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nepal, and has partnered with NGOs and communities on conservation issues around the world, including Peru, Cameroon, Malaysia, Nepal, India, Thailand, and Myanmar. She has published numerous peer-reviewed articles in journals and taught courses at the University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Future Generations University, as well as short courses in India and Namibia. She has also consulted on biodiversity projects for USAID in India, Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda, Nepal, Guatemala, and Guyana.

 The Noble Rind next door will be open and serving food until 7:00 pm.  Please feel free to stop in for a bite to eat beforehand.

If you would have any questions, then please email us at info@valleystewardshipnetwork.org or call 608-637-3615.

Watershed Wanders

This photo was taken by a volunteer who took a wander through the Tainter Creek watershed in late October.  

Click here to see the rest of the photos!

If you would like to take a wander through a watershed and share your photos with us, then please email us at info@valleystewardshipnetwork.org or call 608-637-3615.

Connect to Protect Your Watershed!

These shirts make ideal gifts!  They were designed by local artists and depict local watersheds.  They are 100% organic cotton!

Now available in Women’s styles as well!

Visit our online shop to take a look at all five of our Valley Stewardship Network Watershed T-shirts!

We’re encouraging everyone to get to know their own watershed and all the people, plants and animals that are a part of it.

We have T-shirts for the Kickapoo, Bad Axe, Tainter Creek, Coon Creek, and West Fork of the Kickapoo watersheds.

Don’t know which watershed you’re in?  Try finding yourself on this map, or contact us at info@valleystewardshipnetwork.org.