Landowner Conservation Workshop at Nature Nooks Resort

Landowner Conservation Workshop at Nature Nooks Resort

Tom Lukens, Valley Stewardship Network Board Chair Emeritus, recently shared the conservation projects he’s been working on at his Nature Nooks Resort (NNR) property with a group of interested landowners.  The NNR mission is “to protect and enhance biodiversity and...
Mucking Around to Create Wetlands – Construction Details

Mucking Around to Create Wetlands – Construction Details

Enhancing and creating wetlands does a lot of good, providing important habitat, reducing nutrient runoff, and replenishing groundwater. With the many springs and seeps in the Driftless area, there are real habitat-enhancing rewards awaiting property owners. What’s...
Mucking Around to Create Wetlands

Mucking Around to Create Wetlands

With a little low-tech mucking around down-drainage from the springs and seeps many of us have on our Driftless properties, there are real habitat-enhancing rewards awaiting! Helping to enhance and create wetlands does a lot of good … from providing important habitat...
Helping Beavers Help Us

Helping Beavers Help Us

My decision to purchase my property back in 2003 was strongly influenced by its location on the West Fork of the Kickapoo River, the presence of beavers, and the diversity they support. When I first made my way through dense brush to the edge of the beaver pond, now...
Plan Now to Plant Natives this Spring

Plan Now to Plant Natives this Spring

Planning now to plant natives this spring sheds an anticipatory pleasant light on these last fitful days of winter and encourages daydreaming about the explosion of life that is about to happen. I am getting `order now’ reminders and assurances of inventory from many...
Planning Native Plantings for Biodiversity

Planning Native Plantings for Biodiversity

Now is the time to formalize plans which address those “maybe next year” or “wouldn’t it be nice if” ideas so many of us have heard ourselves mumble as we walked around our properties in past years. With the help of planning and goal-setting, maybe this spring we will...