Grabbing a bottle of water might seem like no big deal. But in Northeast Wisconsin, that same bottle is helping protect the waters we all rely on. Through a partnership between Oneida Nation Retail and the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, every purchase of Oneida-branded water helps fund water restoration in the region. The latest donation [...]

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Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

ENOUGH WATER TO LAST Experiencing the reality of water scarcity Dennis Kittel uses a specialized net to search for microplastics. “When you live in Wisconsin, you don’t think about water,” said Dennis Kittel, citizen scientist and retired engineer. “You expect to go anywhere and find a bubbler. But in [...]

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Sharon

A PLACE IN THE WATERSHED Caring for places that are meaningful, even if we don't live there Amanda Kruger poses at Cave Point County Park, enjoying the views of Lake Michigan. “I’m most grateful for the sense of home. That I belong,” said Amanda Kruger, researcher. “I feel loved. [...]

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Sharon

A UNITING EFFORT Improving water quality one relationship at a time Steve demonstrates how to monitor for invasive species at an Adopt-a-Launch site. They describe themselves as “three old guys who love to kayak,” but they’re on a mission to see the East River become a paddling destination that [...]

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Sharon

Jeff Mazanec finds perspective by taking time to enjoy local waterways.

Sometimes it’s hard to know if you are really making a difference with your life. Other times, you remove sewage from the landscape, and there is no doubt.

Jeff Mazanec, engineer, completed his first design project on the south shore of Lake Winnebago in the 1970s. At that time, lots of houses right on the lake had septic systems, and they were failing and leaking. Jeff designed the sewer and wastewater system that replaced what wasn’t working. “I realized I was making a difference,” Jeff said.

A decade later, Jeff started working on his first project with the City of Appleton, designing the North Fox Interceptor. He visited local parks and riverbanks to assess the situation, and he could see evidence of sewer overflows. In the park. Right next to the river!

Recalling what could have been a pretty gross moment, Jeff chuckled. Instead of turning up his nose, he said to himself, “I’m just glad we’re doing the project!”

Jeff has spent a lifetime jumping in to do this critical behind-the-scenes work, never taking much credit. “I can be proud of my role on a project,” Jeff said, “but there’s nothing we do alone. It’s humbling when you see how much other people have dedicated their professional and sometimes personal lives to improve the environment in every way they can.”

For Jeff, it has been a lifetime of watching things get better. “We don’t often see blatant pollution like we used to,” Jeff said. “I’ve been in this field for 50 years. We tend to spend 90% of our time on the 5% of things that are bad. Paddling lets me enjoy the parts that are very good.”

After the hard work of designing and maintaining hidden infrastructure, Jeff enjoys the beauty of our waters by getting into a canoe or kayak.

He’s been the president of the Northeast Wisconsin Paddlers for 13 of the last 15 years. In the early 2000s, they started a program with Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance called the Special Places Program.

“The primary purpose,” Jeff explained, “was to get people to see the community from the water. They would understand why water quality practices matter, and they’d want to keep those in place.”

Jeff is passing the love of water and paddling to his family. “My son has done six Boundary Waters trips with me. I’m hoping I can stay fit and healthy enough to take my grandkids out paddling, especially to the Boundary Waters.”

Does he think the water will be up to the task? “I think it’s a bright future, but it’s going to take continued diligence and investment,” Jeff said.

It’s important to keep perspective,” he continued. “Every now and then you have to pull your head up and have a beautiful day in the park here on the Fox River, nice breeze, and sit back and take a little bit of a deep breath and enjoy it. There’s always more work to do, but in my experience, it’s come a long way.”

There’s More to the Story!

In October, Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance held an event to celebrate all the things that are going right for our local waters and to honor individuals and organizations that are making a difference. This issue of Watershed Moments highlights three of the individuals honored with a 2024 Impact Award. You can see the short videos for these and other honorees at our YouTube channel.

Watershed Moments is a publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

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https://fwwa.org/2025/01/07/watershed-moments-keep-perspective/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watershed-moments-keep-perspective

Sharon

Ryan Kudish, meterorologist, reports on local sustainability efforts.

“I never touched a camera in my life before this segment,” admitted Ryan Kudish, meteorologist reporter for Local 5 news in Green Bay. But a year later, he’s getting pretty good at it.

The segment in question, Sustainably Speaking, started in November 2023 when WFRV partnered with some local organizations to provide more information about environmental issues in their viewing area. It was a good fit for Ryan.

In college he realized that weather is about more than the forecast. His teachers wanted students to experience weather out and about, not just in the classroom, so they used to go hiking.

“I learned to appreciate the weather we have,” Ryan said. “Look at the beautiful fall colors; listen to the birds.”

But Ryan has had a special concern for water since he was young. “I grew up in The Ocean State, where water is big,” he said. “I wanted to preserve the water for the next generation of Rhode Islanders.”

Now that he lives here, he’s focused on water quality issues that matter in Wisconsin. “Around here, people use water every day for recreation, drinking water, and washing our dishes,” Ryan said. “It’s so important to have access to clean, refreshing water. Not just for yourself, but for the whole community. It’s helpful for mind, body, and soul.”

In addition to telling stories from Fox-Wolf, Ryan worked with UW-Oshkosh and Door County to tell stories about PFAS, E. coli, phosphorus, and blue-green algae.

“I’m not an expert in any of these topics that I’m going out and filming,” Ryan said. “I’m actively learning about each topic that I get to film.”

While Ryan was putting in the hard work of learning how to tell a story, get the right angle, and set audio levels, he was inspired by what he heard. “It’s awesome to hear that people really care about these stories and topics. That’s why I enjoy this – weather has an impact, but these stories tell a different perspective.”

Ryan hopes that by telling these stories, other people in this area will learn about these challenges, and will take away the fact that they can be involved.

“So many organizations are doing cool things,” Ryan said. “If you want to make an impact, you don’t need to be an expert. Have a passion to clean up the water. They will teach you how to be involved, and you can be a supporter for life.”

There’s More to the Story!

In October, Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance held an event to celebrate all the things that are going right for our local waters and to honor individuals and organizations that are making a difference. This issue of Watershed Moments highlights three of the individuals honored with a 2024 Impact Award. You can see the short videos for these and other honorees at our YouTube channel.

Watershed Moments is a publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

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Sharon

Retired professor Bud Harris devoted his career to improving water quality.

Once upon a time, not so long ago, the Fox River had so much bacteria in the sediment that anaerobic activity produced hydrogen gas. Large bubbles rose to the surface as a reminder that something was really wrong.

“The conditions of the river were actually frightening,” said Bud Harris, retired professor. “At one point, the Fox and East Rivers were just plain open sewers. People demanded change as far back as the 1930s and 40s. But only after the Clean Water Act were serious efforts at cleanup made.”

Bud’s first connection with water quality came because of his passion for teaching. He came to UW-Green Bay as a professor when the school was informally known as Eco-U.

“We all had the same ideas about nature, and ecology, and sustainability,” Bud remembered. “That was the theme at that time. There was a mission to focus on the environment,” even across disciplines.

So it wasn’t much of a leap when several researchers from UW Green Bay and commissioners from the Green Bay Sewer District started working together to improve the water in the bay of Green Bay. The water was visibly polluted, and this team was concerned that people were thinking too small as they planned interventions. They wanted to ensure that the time and money invested would have a significant impact.

That’s how Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance was born. From the beginning, folks like Bud and other early supporters established two priorities for Fox-Wolf. First, focus on the entire watershed, and the way that all our waters and communities are connected. “It is more effective to manage problems at the source than to make changes further downstream,” Bud explained.

And second, prioritize working with all stakeholders, including farmers, businesses and manufacturers, municipalities, and concerned residents. After all, as Bud said, “What’s the common goal? Sustainability. The advantage of working together is we don’t all have the same ideas, so you have this mixture of potential solutions!”

Bud’s contributions to our water went beyond his work with Fox-Wolf, including direct connection to the massive project of removing PCBs from the Fox River. Bud provided testimony that helped hold insurance companies accountable for paying out for the environmental damage.

People often questioned his tactics to partner with sectors that were not conservation focused, but it was important for Bud to work even with the paper mills that people pointed to for causing the pollution.

“No one is cast as a villain,” he said. “The paper companies had a role to play,” Bud explained. “And they proved themselves to be responsible. We needed a common goal of cleaning up the past.

Reflecting on all his life experiences – farming, military service, teaching – he sees a common thread of collaboration. “Life’s tough,” Bud said, “but if you work together, you get the work done.”

Looking to the future, Bud feels guardedly positive. “Leaders like [Fox-Wolf Executive Director] Jessica are changing things. I’m glad to see the return of team efforts and involving the community.”

All of us who live in northeast Wisconsin have cleaner water than what Bud saw at the beginning of his career. And though he didn’t do it alone, we can all be grateful for Bud and the work he has accomplished on our behalf. His extraordinary impact on making our waters safer and cleaner is why he was honored with the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance Lifetime Achievement award.

There’s More to the Story!

In October, Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance held an event to celebrate all the things that are going right for our local waters and to honor individuals and organizations that are making a difference. This issue of Watershed Moments highlights three of the individuals honored with a 2024 Impact Award. You can see the short videos for these and other honorees at our YouTube channel.

Watershed Moments is a publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

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Sharon

Kevin Boyle getting ready to run all the way around Lake Winnebago.

Lake Mendota tried, but it didn’t turn Kevin Boyle from a runner into a rower.

“Tall runners make good rowers,” Kevin explained. “I was a runner in high school, and I was recruited to row at UW.” He loved rowing, but he only stuck with it for one year. Kevin really wanted to get back to running, and ultimately became the president of the track club.

Lake Winnebago didn’t even try. It just tempted Kevin to show up and do what he does best – run.

Kevin is a writer for Wiscampsin, an online blog and newsletter seeking to further engagement with Wisconsin’s great outdoors. He was researching lake sturgeon for an article he was writing, but he got sidetracked when he learned there was a published record for the Fastest Known Time (FKT) for running all the way around Lake Winnebago.

Kevin has friends who enjoy trying to set new FKTs, and they decided this was a great opportunity. But they wanted to leverage their attempt into a way to protect and restore the waters of Lake Winnebago.

“I started looking into who is helping restore it to the best it can be,” said Kevin. That’s how he found Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance. Reading through the website, he thought to himself, “I would love to do something with them!”

Kevin wrote an article for his readers, telling them all about what makes Lake Winnebago amazing. And he invited them to follow his attempt to run the 72-mile course around the lake at record pace.

Race day came with beautiful spring weather, and Kevin and his friends enjoyed abundant sunshine. It was a nail-biter to the end, but after 14 hours and 8 minutes, “we ended up breaking the record by 10 minutes,” Kevin said.

Kevin wasn’t the only winner that day. Thanks to his efforts to promote Fox-Wolf, he and his friends raised $600 to support Fox-Wolf’s mission. “Fox-Wolf was easy to work with,” Kevin said. “The mission is clear, and people were very receptive.”

People so often take Wisconsin’s water resources for granted. “You don’t realize until you move away or visit around the world,” Kevin said, “but we have the largest body of fresh water right in our backyard. I really enjoy being right next to the Great Lakes.”

Watershed Moments is a publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

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Sharon

Jude Holland, local resident, volunteers for Fox-Wolf and other area groups.

Jude Holland doesn’t drink from the well in her backyard – there’s way too much arsenic in the water. But she figured she could still use the water to irrigate her flower beds.

“When I bought my home, I figured out where I could build a garden,” she said. “I put in a raised bed because I wanted fresh, non-contaminated dirt. But I couldn’t use my terrible well water, she realized. That’s when she decided to put up two rain barrels.

The first year, there wasn’t quite enough water in her barrels for the whole garden, so she added a third.

“I added a new garden later,” Jude said, “and then it was the same year we had a drought.” Which may explain why Jude is now up to five rain barrels.

Trying to grow a safe, healthy garden has certainly taught Jude the importance of knowing your water quality. She is also now a volunteer with Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance. She and a friend both heard about the opportunity to sample water and decided to join together.

“Steph puts on waders and gets in the water,” Jude explained. “I label the bottles and write things down.”

When they started doing their water samples years ago, they stood on the dock of a nearby restaurant. The bartender came out to shoo them away, saying, “Are you the DNR? This is a private dock.”

Once Jude and Steph explained who they were, the man was intrigued by their work. Not only are they now welcome on the property, the owner jokes with them that if they fall in, “I’ll pull you out and give you a drink!”

Building relationships like these is one of the things that sets Fox-Wolf apart in the community. When working at the level of an entire watershed, it’s important to have partnerships that include residents, businesses, organizations, and government agencies. Volunteers like Jude are making a big difference for water quality, both at home with her rain barrels and in the field with her water sampling.

Rain Barrels: benefiting you and our waters

Rain runs off your rooftop, onto your driveway, down the street and into the storm drain collecting dirt, debris, fertilizer and other harmful substances along the way. All of the polluted water ends up in our local waters unless we stop the water where it falls!

A rain barrel is a system that collects rainwater from your roof that would otherwise be lost to runoff. Rain barrels come in a wide variety of materials, designs and colors.

Rain water is best for plants. Catching rain water in a rain barrel allows you to water your garden and plants indoors and out during dry periods. Instead of paying for water from the tap, you can use the water you collect to keep your landscape healthy – saving you money!

Using a rain barrel benefits you and our local waters. Water stored in a rain barrel won’t rush off your property and carry pollutants to our streams and rivers. Not only that, water that is used for watering filters into the ground and replenishes the ground water supply. Two great benefits from one barrel!

Watershed Moments is a publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

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Sharon

For their spring Packers Give Back day, staff from the Green Bay Packers participated in the annual Fox-Wolf Watershed Cleanup.

What is the best gift a Packers fan can give to the next generation?

Some might argue it’s to add their infant relatives to the infamously long waiting list for season tickets. Or to include the next generation in their will, handing off their own season tickets.

But there are more people on the waiting list than there are residents of Green Bay, and it can take over 50 years for your number to be called.

So what else can football fans leave for the next generation? The over 550 people who work for the Packers organization have lots of ideas.

The winning entry for ‘smallest piece of garbage picked up.’

Twice a year, those ideas become reality through Packers Give Back volunteer days. This spring, they selected the annual Fox-Wolf Watershed Cleanup as one of their staff volunteer day options.

“Fox-Wolf popped up on my radar for the last three years through the Volunteer Center of Brown County,” said Amanda Wery, Community Outreach Manager. When she realized that the Packers have also been sponsoring the cleanup since its beginning, it seemed like a natural fit.

“For us, being community owned, it’s a major way to give back,” Amanda said. “It’s part of our backbone and who we are as a team.”

A group of staff from across departments joined at a trail in Brown County to pick up trash and debris from the edge of the Fox River. “It was a great event, and the staff really enjoyed it,” said Amanda. “Whoever comes out for Give Back Days tends to be competitive. We split into two groups to see who could fill the most bags of trash, find the tiniest trash, the largest piece, and so on.”

Their efforts paid off, and their team of picked up 228 pounds of trash in just three hours.

The Packers organization is mindful of how much they are impacted by water. “It’s part of a little bit of everything,” Amanda said, “even watering the field the players play on. It’s the water we drink. It washes the hands of our fans. It’s the snow that falls and we have to shovel the bleachers.”

Water matters to the team, and it matters to our community. “Fans are community-based too,” Amanda said, “and they notice things on our website. Hopefully someone sees the Packers did something, and they decide to do it too. Because it’s not just for us. It’s for the generations to come. It’s about leaving it for the next fan.

When you support Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, you’re investing in a better future. Clean water for you, for your business and your family, and for the next generation of fans (who may still be waiting for their season tickets).

Watershed Moments is a publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

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https://fwwa.org/2024/08/16/watershed-moments-next-fan/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watershed-moments-next-fan

Sharon Cook

A family with two young sons poses in a field of tall grasses.

Jon Lamers hopes his sons one day want to be the 5th generation of farmers on his land.

The closer a farm is to a river, the greater an impact it has on that surface water. The larger a farm is, the greater an impact it has. Local farmer Jon Lamers has a large farm close to a river, and he is keenly aware that the large impact of his farm means he has a great responsibility to manage things well. But for Jon, the extra work is all worth it.

“I have the ability to learn all these things,” Jon said. “The challenge provides bleeding-edge learning. It makes it fun!” He got that attitude from his parents, who taught him how to care for the farm.

Jon is a 4th generation farmer in Wisconsin, so he has been part of conservation practices for a long time. So long, in fact, that he doesn’t remember exactly how he got started. He can readily point out how those practices have changed over time.

“Growing up, conservation looked more like being frugal. Not being wasteful with food or resources,” said Jon.

For his generation, he’s seen more of a focus on implementing practices in the field. He proudly participates in no-till and cover crop practices. “We’re using the best ways that we know today to do the best job we can,” Jon said. “In the future, it may be proven that we weren’t doing enough, but we’re doing the best we can with the knowledge we have now.”

Jon’s motivated to do the best he can now for the future, because his sons could be the 5th generation of farmers on this land. He wants to prepare them with skills they will need beyond agricultural knowledge. “I hope we provide them with knowledge and opportunity, and expose them to as many different people and things as we can,” he said. “I want to give them the emotional intelligence to foster relationships so they can do what they want in life.”

Jon’s best guess is that whatever comes next, it’s going to require communication and cooperation. He already works with neighboring farms to co-own equipment, and stresses that decisions need to be for the benefit of everyone, not just for him or his dairy.

This spring when there was a barn fire in the community, Jon and his team showed up with equipment to help out. And that’s not unusual.

“The biggest risk,” Jon said, “is not working together as a team. It’s not us versus the world.”

That’s part of why Jon likes working with Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance. “Fox-Wolf brings a collaborative effort that brings together rural and urban concerns. They bring all people to the table with a goal of having a clean water supply, and they create a non-threatening environment for everyone,“ said Jon.

Jon readily invites everyone to be part of the collaboration of improving water quality. “It all helps the greater good to have good water,” he said. “The best part of Fox-Wolf is understanding that all of us have to exist. They’re not trying to get rid of problems by getting rid of people. All sides have a part to play, and we can all make a huge difference.”

Watershed Moments is a publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

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https://fwwa.org/2024/07/16/watershed-moments-collaborative-effort/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watershed-moments-collaborative-effort

Sharon Cook

A woman in a winter coat stands outside on a sunny day.

You can often find Linda enjoying the outdoors.

Living on the west side of Green Bay, Linda grew up around water. “It’s just a fundamental part of who I am,” she explained. But the water of her youth had such poor quality, she couldn’t wait to leave.

She recalls waterskiing on the Fox River in the 1970s. “It was green. Once it was entirely covered in slime. I don’t know what exactly that was, but we never did that again,” Linda said. “And you weren’t allowed to fish either. You couldn’t eat them.”

Family trips took her to Potawotomi, Sturgeon Bay, and the Wolf River, and she saw what clean water could look like. As an adult, she got her wish and moved away. She lived in Los Angeles, but made sure she was near the water. Eventually she made her way back to Green Bay, because this is where her family is.

Linda and her husband Alex settled down, building a business and having kids. “The longer we stayed,” she explained, “the more we cared about making sure we gave back to our state.” Linda didn’t want to leave anymore; she wanted to change it for the better.

“It started with Kavarna,” she said, talking about the restaurant she and Alex established. “The most sustainable thing you can do is to use what already exists.” And if you look around, you’ll notice that the decorative cubbies are a repurposed chicken coop. She and Alex also implemented composting with local farmers and insisted on using renewable energy – even when it cost a little more.

These days, sustainability looks like a mission to make the world’s first carbon-emissions-free hummus with their new business, uBu Foods. It was a no-brainer for Linda to register the business with 1% For the Planet.

As part of that registration, they had to select an environmental non-profit to partner with. “We wanted someone from Wisconsin,” said Linda. She found Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance and “we immediately got involved. I love these people! It’s been really fun.”

Of course, it can also be a lot of work to put in the time and money to make sustainable choices. Why make that a priority? “Look at Wisconsin on a map,” Linda said. “It’s just blue. There’s so much water here. We care about where we live and the future of the next generation. Why wouldn’t you make it a priority!”

Linda’s kids are old enough to be thinking about their hopes for adulthood. And they’re not planning to leave the state. “It’s easy to live here. It’s affordable to live here,” she explained. “When I was a kid, I wanted to leave. Now I’m here and I’m invested.”

And if you ask her, she’ll tell you to get involved with Fox-Wolf for yourself. “Membership is affordable, and you can volunteer too,” she said. “It feels like a community of people who care about the state of Wisconsin and the environment. Do it, because it’s so easy!”

In Their Own Words

from the blog on ubufoods.com

The 1% for the Planet program is simple enough that the entire model fits in the name. You calculate 1% of your profits and contribute them through the organization to vetted, ecologically-minded non-profits. We love it.

1% for the Planet effectively puts a “floor” on a what a company is giving back to the natural environment that supports it. And once it’s on your packaging… let’s just say you’re disinclined to take it off.

One of the best things about the program is that you get to direct where your money goes from a list of approved non-profits. For us, the choice was an easy one. If we could sum up our hopes for our local ecology in one potential moment, we would love to enjoy wild rice grown on the Lower Fox someday. For that reason we chose Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

Watershed Moments is a publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

The post Watershed Moments: Here and Invested appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

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https://fwwa.org/2024/06/18/watershed-moments-here-and-invested/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watershed-moments-here-and-invested

Sharon Cook

Young woman sits on a large rock in front of a sign that reads Welcome to Wisconsin State Parks. A dog sits at her feet.

Brenna and her dog planned to visit all of Wisconsin’s state parks in a year.

Brenna Spear went to college for something she loved, but when she graduated, there were no full-time jobs in her field. She had to rethink how to include her love of nature in her life.

Brenna grew up on a hobby farm near Omro and was outside all the time — climbing trees, running through cornfields, and caring for the animals. “I was always tromping around in puddles and stuff,” she said. She took all the ag and plant classes the high school offered.

So it wasn’t a huge surprise that Brenna decided to study forestry in college. After graduation, she was excited to get into the work. “But they were not hiring when I graduated.”

After dabbling with some different contract work and part-time jobs, her dad encouraged her to come home and work for a good company outside of her chosen field. Brenna found a good job, but it was not what she had planned. With a job inside, sitting in an office, being outside became an after-work hobby.

Working mostly nights, Brenna needed a way to be active (and outside) during the day. She also needed to find a way to help her dog be active. So she and her pup set out to visit all of the Wisconsin State Parks in a single year.

“They’re all my favorite!” Brenna declared. But seeing so many great parks opened her eyes to the fact that there were amazing outdoor spaces closer to home. “I challenged myself to get outside more without having to drive many hours,” she said.

For several years now, Brenna has been doing just that with the annual Fox-Wolf Watershed Cleanup. The first year she did it by herself, but lately “I’ve been stealing friends to do it with me. It makes it really fun to bring co-workers and their families.”

It turns out, the cleanup combined Brenna’s longing to be outside with her desire to be more involved with the community.

Ironically, it was through her non-forestry job that she first heard about the cleanup. Her employer actively promotes volunteerism, giving employees time and information, but also matching their donations of both time and money.

Brenna figured out how to make the most of this system and looks forward to the cleanup every year.

“I’m starting to recognize faces at the Cleanup,” Brenna said. “I don’t really know them, but people are nice. Everyone is there for a common purpose. And Fox-Wolf staff do a great job connecting with others.”

Brenna readily sees the connection between her time cleaning up trash and her time visiting the state parks.

“I want to visit them all again in 20-30 years to see how it changes. I hope there will be more parks, more green space, more opportunities for people to be out in nature and find their spot.”

Brenna hopes that not just for herself, but for you as well. She likes helping others find their favorite spots. “You have to set yourself up for success,” she advised. “Find the right thing that brings you joy, so that you will enjoy it. And get a snack first.”

Watershed Moments is a publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

The post Watershed Moments: Finding Joy appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

Original Article

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

https://fwwa.org/2024/05/28/watershed-moments-finding-joy/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watershed-moments-finding-joy

Sharon Cook

Rob Riley windsurfs on Lake Winnebago.

Rob Riley knows how to have fun on the water. From paddle boarding to sailing, white water canoeing to windsurfing, he’s no stranger to lake recreation. But when he first moved to the Fox Valley, he was a stranger to water quality concerns on Lake Winnebago.

“You can’t really miss the problem,” Rob said. “It limits your ability to participate in activities. There are days I think: I’m not going in there; it’s looking pretty green.”

It hit him in a new way when he was at a concert at Waterfest. The emcee on stage made a joke about Lake Winnebago and the green water, and everyone laughed. “I couldn’t believe it,” Rob said. “That’s not a punch line; that’s our drinking water! Are we really going to just accept that this is the way it is?”

For Rob, the answer is a resounding no. “It became a personal mission,” he said. “This is what I want to be about.”

Because Rob is an entrepreneur who owns his own business, he was able to expand his capacity for change through his company. Motto, Inc., located in Appleton, got its start selling skateboard grip tape. He experimented with having specific items that supported specific causes. “If we printed a wolf image on the tape, some proceeds would go toward wolf protection,” Rob explained. Given that a core market for him was young skateboarders, his customers weren’t really into the same causes Rob was trying to promote.

A few more experiments later, and the idea has grown. “Now it’s more about the mission of the whole company,” Rob said. “We do different things, we branch out into new products, because it funds what we want to do. It’s what drives us.”

Because Motto, Inc. is a small business, having a focus on environmental mission has a big impact on the staff. One of the newest hires has a background in environmental science and will be working to connect staff to local opportunities.

“Mainly we do this through Fox-Wolf,” Rob said. In 2023, the staff participated together on volunteer projects, including native seed planting and the annual Fox-Wolf Watershed Cleanup.

Thanks to Rob, Motto, Inc. is the first business to become a Lifetime Member of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance. And while he invested in Fox-Wolf as a way to create a sense of mission for his team, his business has benefited as well.

“Environmental sustainability registers in the marketplace,” he explained. “We speak to it all the time, and people value that.” Beyond sales and promotion, “it has also helped me hire more conscientious employees,” Rob added.

Ultimately, Rob really wants to see our waters stop getting worse and start getting better. “I hope that people will start to have gratitude for our water,” he said, “and will live accordingly.”

Join us on Saturday, May 4, 2024

The annual Fox-Wolf Watershed Cleanup takes place every year on the first Saturday of May. This event brings over 1,600 volunteers to over 60 sites across our watershed. Thanks to their efforts, thousands of pounds of trash are removed from the shores of our waters every year.

Read about it and sign up today! (Registration closes April 23, 2024)

Watershed Moments is a publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

The post Watershed Moments: Not a Punch Line appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

Original Article

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

https://fwwa.org/2024/04/16/watershed-moments-not-a-punch-line/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watershed-moments-not-a-punch-line

Sharon Cook

Emma and Rory spend time outside with their troop.

It’s not just about the cookies.

Girl Scout troops 2278 and 2378 have been working together to care for our watershed for years. No one can remember quite when they started, but they remember the badge they were working on.

Troop leader Julie Schubring explained that some badges are part of a series called a Journey. The Brownies in the troop were working on their Wonders of Water journey and needed a service project to connect them with water. For their final task, the Fox-Wolf Watershed Cleanup was a perfect fit.

“They all love water things,” Julie said. “We go kayaking, hiking to waterfalls, swimming.” So it wasn’t hard to get them interested in keeping their water clean.

Those same Brownies are now middle and high school students, some of whom are still invested in caring for our local waters. But their understanding of water quality has grown beyond just picking up trash.

“Some of the older kids have gone to the water plant and learned about how water is managed,” Julie said. The scouts wanted to learn how to help with water quality before it even gets to the treatment plant.

It would be easy for these kids to get their badges, complete their Journey, and move on to something else. Instead, they keep volunteering, year after year.

“They’re so excited to participate,” Julie shared. “They want to find new things, but their hope really is to find that there is hardly anything there to clean.”

In the past, this troop has found a wide variety of items to pick up.

“People throw away a lot of cans and wrappers,” said Rory, age 16. “And fishing line is annoying to clean up. It gets tangled in the trees.”

Emma added that they’ve seen big things too, like tires and even a whole muffler!

Because they’ve been participating for a couple of years, Emma and Rory have watched the trash at their local site come and go.

“Because our site is local to us, we get to go back and see it other times of the year,” said Julie. The troop has other events at the park, and the scouts have other family or community reasons to be there as well.

“It makes me happy to know I can help. But I also get annoyed and angry that it doesn’t stay clean,” said Rory. Emma agreed and added, “It’s sad that trash in my town is this big of a problem.”

Undaunted, these two scouts and the rest of their troop have been returning to the cleanup year after year. And they’re inviting family members to join them. “I went the first time because I was supposed to, but I ended up enjoying it, so I keep coming back,” said Emma.

Emma has managed to convince her siblings, her mom, and her grandma to join in. What’s the secret for being persuasive? “I just ask nicely!”

Join us on Saturday, May 4, 2024

The annual Fox-Wolf Watershed Cleanup takes place every year on the first Saturday of May. This event brings over 1,600 volunteers to over 60 sites across our watershed. Thanks to their efforts, thousands of pounds of trash are removed from the shores of our waters every year.

Read about it and sign up today!

Watershed Moments is a publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

The post Watershed Moments: Year After Year appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

Original Article

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

https://fwwa.org/2024/03/19/watershed-moments-year-after-year/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watershed-moments-year-after-year

Sharon Cook

Andy Kiefer shares best practices and ideas with local farmers.

Andy Kiefer never wanted anything to do with agriculture as an adult. He grew up on a multi-generation dairy farm in Sherwood. All he knew was that it was a lot of work, and he didn’t really understand how any of it made a difference. “I thought ag was just kicking rocks!” Andy joked.

All in all, he would rather have been working with his hands as a mechanic. He was fascinated by the wind farms in Fond du Lac, and envisioned an adrenaline-filled career climbing to the top of the turbines to do maintenance and repair. He liked the idea of renewable energy, but was a bit ahead of his time. There wasn’t really a school program for that yet.

He wrote off agriculture. He wrote off renewable energy. But it all came together when his English professor made the class read Omnivore’s Dilemma. Suddenly Andy realized how farming and the environment are connected.

“I didn’t realize you could even farm that way,” Andy said. “It opened my eyes. I made a 180 and fell back in love with agriculture and what it can do. What it can do for our health and for the planet.”

Fresh out of school, Andy started working at the local co-op, telling everyone about what he had learned. “I wanted to become the cover crop guru,” he said, “but it was too new. People weren’t interested.”

Andy needed a way to share what he knew with others who were working in agriculture. When he became the Outagamie County agronomist eight years ago, he was introduced to Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

“Fox-Wolf helps make my job easier,” Andy confirmed. “You do an amazing job filling that piece of helping people understand what is happening in our food system. I enjoy working with you, and with Katie [Woodrow] and what she does to keep me on task with grants and help us get grants.”

The grants and resources that Fox-Wolf provides have helped Andy to encourage farmers to get started in conservation farming. “A farmer may really like the message,” he explained, “but the margins can be so thin. It takes a huge amount of courage to try something new.” A farm may be where you live, but it is also a small business. And for many of our local farmers, there is the added pressure of being a multi-generation farm.

To help farmers, Andy likes to talk about best practices like a dimmer switch. A regular light switch is either on or off. But a dimmer allows you to make gradual change. “People think conservation farming is do it or don’t,” Andy said. But there’s a lot you can do to be better and improving. Even little things start making a difference. Something is better than nothing.”

Over his eight years with Outagamie County, Andy has noticed those small things add up. Last year he was driving down a road where the fields used to be all brown in the fall. But only a few years after advocating for cover crops, just about every field was green. “It just kept going,” Andy said, “for 5-10 miles. It was amazing to see.”

He also appreciates the farmers who talk about their positive experiences. “There’s a 75-year-old farmer who just started doing no-till farming three years ago,” Andy shared. People assume he changed for money, but he did it because the practices work.

“He’d never get up in front of a stage to tell his story, but he will talk with other farmers. He doesn’t realize it, but he’s been a great ambassador and opened people’s eyes to different motivations other than money.”

Profile in Courage

Andy Kiefer shared the story of one farm where having the courage to try something new really paid off.

Ownership was transitioning from one generation to the next. The son really wanted to try some of the conservation farming practices. His dad was really opposed to it. After a lifetime of hard work, he had established a farm that was making money. Why would he want to change?

After several conversations, the dad agreed to try just 60 acres of a cover crop that would stay green on the field in the fall, but would die over the winter. And it turned out, it was a perfect year to try that. Everything went right, and the dad was pleased.

The following year, he committed to 200 acres. And instead of a crop that dies over the winter, he grew plants that would live through the winter. Despite the success of the first year, the next spring was a nightmare for rain. Farmers couldn’t get into the fields to kill off their cover crops. They couldn’t plant their primary crops when they wanted.

Everyone was nervous. But these farmers didn’t give up. It didn’t go how they planned, but they gave it 100%. In the end, it wasn’t the year for a bumper yield. But they did get a respectful enough harvest that now they are fully on board. Even after that challenging year, now 100% of their acres are planted this way.

Watershed Moments is a publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

The post Watershed Moments: What Agriculture Can Be appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

Original Article

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

https://fwwa.org/2024/02/20/watershed-moments-what-ag-can-be/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watershed-moments-what-ag-can-be

Sharon Cook

Ken and Megan Karth are citizen scientists, collecting data for use in assorted projects.

Ken Karth made a living making dirty water clean. “When I started working in the business, the Wisconsin River was a sewer,” he said. That was before the clean water act when industrial wastewater and raw sewage were commonly dumped into open rivers. In the last 50 years, that river has seen a 95% decrease in oxygen impairment in the water.

Eventually, Ken and Megan moved to the Fox Valley, and he noticed the same dedication to improving the water quality. He worked at Consolidated Paper, and there was political pressure to keep the mills running at high capacity. But there was also pressure to do the best job you could. The owner of the factory lived on an island in the Fox River, so he was known to tell his employees “I want the river as clean as we can possibly get it!”

As volunteers with Fox-Wolf, Ken and Megan care deeply about our water quality. They’ve lived through polluted water and the process of cleaning up. But they’re aware of the current threats to our water, and they don’t want to see things get worse.

Looking out at the Fox River from Jefferson Park in Menasha, Ken said, “Water means so much here. You wouldn’t have the Fox Valley if you didn’t have water.” From recreation, to drinking water, to business, “it touches every aspect of our lives!”

Ken recalls that in his early days on the Wisconsin River, you could smell which walleye were local. The sulfides from the polluted water seeped into the fish. At a fish fry, the smell of sulfur would escape, and local fish never won the taste test competitions. The waters of the Fox-Wolf Watershed are considered a premiere walleye fishery, and Ken hopes it stays that way.

When Ken and Megan visit their son in Kewaunee County, they have to buy drinking water. Many residents of the county rely on untreated well water. The combination of a high density of farms and shallow soil mean they are constantly monitoring for unsafe water conditions.

“I don’t want that to be true here,” said Megan. “We don’t have to think a lot about turning on the tap. There are places that is such a luxury.” Megan is thinking not only about water safety, but the availability of water. In such a water-rich area of the country, Megan has “the luxury of not having to think about every drop. I can water my vegetable garden.”

To keep tabs on the water, Ken and Megan volunteer with Fox-Wolf. They check for invasive plants about three times a year, and once a month they take water samples. “We go on a nice day and pack a picnic lunch,” Megan said. They also help with planting and maintaining plots of native shoreline plants.

They love having a way to help that fits into their calendar. “The annual cleanup is a one-day thing, and that may not work for us,” Megan said. Collecting water samples “has a window, and we can work it around our own schedule.”

“Water connects everything,” Ken said. “You’re doing things we believe in, and we really like the people that we’ve met. We’re grateful for Fox-Wolf, that you’re there.”

With her safe, plentiful tap water, megan grows tomatoes in her backyard. When she had too many, she started giving them away to neighbors. She noticed that many neighbors had opposing politcal signs posted in their yards. "We may not agree on everything," Megan said, "but we all share the same watershed. We are all connected." She's on a mission to educate people, one tomato at a time.

Watershed Moments is a publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

The post Watershed Moments: You Wouldn’t Have the Fox Valley appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

Original Article

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

https://fwwa.org/2024/01/23/watershed-moments-wouldnt-have-fox-valley/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watershed-moments-wouldnt-have-fox-valley

Sharon Cook

Bridget Kufner, cleaning the banks of the Fox River.

“The visual of green sludge and litter, along the shoreline or floating, it makes me sad.”

Bridget Kufner grew up along the Branch River in Manitowoc County. She knew that sometimes you could swim and play in the river, but other times you didn’t want to go near it. As she got older, she realized why it was like that. “I don’t know all the complex causes,” Bridget said, ”but I know there is impact of people using fertilizer on their lawns or farm fields.”

Now living in Appleton, Bridget sees that Lake Winnebago is the same. Sometimes people can play in the water and enjoy it; sometimes they avoid it. “It makes me sad for the creatures that rely on the fresh water,” she said. “If I don’t want to be in it, they don’t want to be in it. But they’re wildlife and don’t have a choice.”

So Bridget decided to make a difference. “I started on walks with my dog,” she remembered. “I would see trash everywhere and get angry. Frustrated. Why do people do this?”

Instead of staying angry, she decided to just start picking the litter up.

“You see groups do adopt-a-highway, but there isn’t a similar program for waterways,” Bridget said. “That seems important.” (Fox-Wolf has created this in our Adopt-A-Launch program. See below.)

Then three years ago, she got connected to Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance when she heard about the Annual Watershed Cleanup. She signed up for a spot where she cleaned the riverbank from a kayak. “I was hooked!” she said.

Because of her positive experience, Bridget decided to earn her Master Naturalist accreditation. After completing the classroom portion, she was required to begin hours of ongoing service to the community. Those hours need to be completed with an organization. Bridget immediately thought of Fox-Wolf and called Kelly, the Trash Free Waters coordinator.

“Meeting with Kelly was life-changing, really,” said Bridget. “I was trying to find a community of people that really have a passion to help. I never saw anyone else doing this on their own, on a regular basis. I never found them before Kelly.”

As Bridget provides her 40 hours of service a year, she is now connected to more people every year. She completes most of her hours in our watershed, in Appleton city parks or High Cliff State Park. She has purchased and donated trash pickers to High Cliff State Park for volunteers to check out. She is building her own community by making it easy for people to join her in keeping our waterways clean.

Bridget is excited to continue to work with Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, meeting people and building her community. “People should check out one of Fox-Wolf’s events,” Bridget said. “I hope to go to every event from this point on!”

Adopt-a-Launch Program

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance has created the Adopt-A-Launch program to keep our launches clean and safe while also improving our lakes and rivers. Similar to the Adopt-a-Highway program, volunteers visit their launch multiple times a year to complete basic tasks:

  • Look for invasive species at boat launches
  • Remove plants from boat launch area
  • Remove litter around boat launches
  • Report any issues with the boat launch or surrounding areas

In addition to improving the boat launch, adopters get their name up for all to see! Every adopted launch has a sign posted that prominently displays the name of the group that cares for that place.

There are currently 13 launches adopted from Fond du Lac to Green Bay, with more inquiries in process. Launches can be adopted by individuals, clubs, organizations, or businesses.

To learn more

  • visit www.fwwa.org/launches
  • contact Chris at 920-460-3674 or chris@fwwa.org

The annual Fox-Wolf Watershed Cleanup takes place every year on the first Saturday of May. This event brings over 1,500 volunteers to over 50 sites across our watershed. Thanks to their efforts, thousands of pounds of trash are removed from the shores of our waters every year.

Since 2021, volunteers have removed 23,094 pounds of trash!

Watershed Moments is a publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

The post Watershed Moments: Green Sludge and Litter appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

Original Article

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

https://fwwa.org/2023/12/26/watershed-moments-green-sludge/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watershed-moments-green-sludge

Sharon Cook

Nick Ruzek organizes a neighborhood cleanup in his community every year.

Maybe you’ve never seen Nick Ruzek walking around with a garbage bag hanging out of his pocket, but it’s probably only a matter of time. He joyously describes the annual Fox-Wolf Watershed Cleanup by saying, “I got to walk around in nature and pick up garbage!”

Nick first moved to Oshkosh just before the pandemic struck. At the time he was hoping to learn more about his new city, it was closing down. That was only a minor obstacle for Nick.

“During Covid, I got to know the city by walking around with a garbage bag,” he said. Every evening, he held his own personal cleanup event, taking a walk while picking up any litter he saw on the way.

He started cleaning up the ground as a kid, growing up on a farm in Manitowoc. Every spring, after the snow melted, one of his jobs was to clean up the property. Along the road, there was always garbage that had been dumped by passing cars. It was disheartening for Nick and his family. “I don’t want to believe that litter is deliberate,” he said. “But it’s real and it happens.”

Nick knew all about the Adopt-a-Highway clean up events in the community, and he was glad to see trash getting cleaned up. But it’s different when the litter is on private property. “No one is coming around to clean it up, but lots of people are coming around to throw trash and tires into the ditch,” he said.

Volunteers remove trash during the Annual Fox-Wolf Watershed Cleanup

Nick didn’t know about the Fox-Wolf Watershed Cleanup or how well it matched his personal mission to clean up trash. Last year, when he saw an ad on Facebook, he knew he had to get involved. Right away, he knew he wanted to bring all his friends and co-workers along with him.

“I was hoping to get a big group together,” Nick said. When he could only find a couple other folks to join in, “it turned into a fun double date instead.”

That wasn’t the only last-minute change of plans for Nick’s first Watershed Cleanup. As the end of the cleanup arrived, Nick took his last two garbage bags and went to another site in town that he knew needed a little love. It only took two minutes for Nick and his wife to fill both bags. They also removed a garbage bag – already full of trash – from the nearby retaining pond.

Because he grew up on a farm, Nick is keenly aware that there are more challenges to our local waters than just litter. “I’m thankful for living in a place where the soil and water are relatively clean. There may be some issues, but we have people working on it. I know there are pollutants, but they aren’t visible. They don’t clog up the flow of the river.”

Reflecting on his years of cleaning up Oshkosh, Nick has a theory about which places stay clean. “Public parks have families and staff who want them to be clean,” he said. But people take less pride and ownership in industrial, semi-commercial retaining ponds.

Maybe that’s one of the benefits of having the Fox-Wolf Watershed Cleanup in so many communities across the region. “There’s always going to be a site near you, where you can feel ownership,” Nick said. “I may only see one site, but I know there are over a thousand volunteers along the watershed on the same day. It gives you a sense of hope that you’re not alone.”

Doing something together with all those volunteers builds the sense of community and ownership that helps keep our communities clean and safe. “It’s hard to believe there’s something else more worth your time,” said Nick.

Watershed Moments is a publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

The post Watershed Moments: You Can Feel Ownership appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

Original Article

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

https://fwwa.org/2023/11/28/watershed-moments-you-can-feel-ownership/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watershed-moments-you-can-feel-ownership

Sharon Cook

Not many of us have seen the birth — and death — of an entire ecosystem, right in our own backyard. But when Tom Mace was 9 or 10 years old, he and his best friend did.

Tom grew up less than 100 feet from the wetlands in Menasha. After a day of catching bait for fishing, he and his best friend came home with two buckets of leopard frogs. When his mom insisted that the creatures couldn’t stay in the buckets overnight, they released them into the wetlands nearby. The next year, “you could hardly hear anything for all the chirping of the frogs.”

The frog population boomed, and the mosquito population dropped. The year after that, black bass moved in and nested, feeding on the frogs. But he never got to see what would have happened in the following year. Instead, a developer filled in the wetlands and built a neighborhood. It killed all the frogs, and the next year the bass left too.

“We lost the wetlands, lost the frogs, lost the bass,” Tom said. “So that’s the sad story of why you don’t fill in wetlands.”

Tom Mace, retired environmental scientist

Tom understood what this experiment was teaching him, and it launched him into a long career in environmental research and monitoring. From the rivers in northern Maine to the mountains of Mexico, and from the glaciers and sea ice of the arctic to the dry land of the American southwest, Tom watched the data accumulate steadily.

“I’m a data and measurement guy,” he said. “There’s data there. Real honest to goodness measurements.” One of his last tasks before retirement was to look ahead to the year 2080 to identify future vulnerabilities. If we don’t make changes to the ecosystem now, what is at risk of damage or loss in the future?

Now that he has moved back home to Menasha, he can’t help but apply this kind of thinking to the same wetlands and lakes he loved as a boy. “I can see how things are, how they used to be (because I grew up here), and I can look ahead based on what I know about changing climate.”

He worries about the blue-green algae that blooms in Lake Winnebago, and whether a large bloom could one day overwhelm our ability to screen toxins out of the drinking water for 200,000 people. He worries that too much vegetation in the water will create anoxic zones – areas of the lake without dissolved oxygen. “Fish can swim out of small zones, but a big zone means dead sturgeon.” And he doesn’t want to see that.

What Tom does want is to preserve all of the natural resources of this community for future generations. And he hopes that everyone is able to find common ground in that goal and not wait any longer to get started.

“If we had understood this in the 1970s, we would have a lot less to do,” Tom noted. “And if we wait until 2050, we’ll be in real trouble.”

“Is Fox-Wolf going to have a big enough impact to cause change?” Tom asked. It depends on whether or not people are willing to act on what we know.

He encourages everyone to look at the data and use their critical thinking skills. “We can’t undo everything,” he said, “but we can change what we’re doing now.”

Watershed Moments is a new publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

The post Watershed Moments: We Lost the Wetlands appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

Original Article

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

https://fwwa.org/2023/10/03/watershed-moments-lost-wetlands/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watershed-moments-lost-wetlands

Sharon Cook

If your property were disappearing at a rate of one foot a year, how long would it take until it was gone entirely? And what would you do about it?

Erosion can be a long slow process that isn’t always visible. But when Valerie and Allen Stabenow moved into their home on Lake Poygan, they noticed right away.

“We were losing a foot of land a year,” Valerie said.

On the back of their property, where the channel offers lake access to their neighbors, the problem was wildlife. Turtles laid their eggs on the shore, then raccoons came to dig up the eggs.

On the lake side of their property, the problem was the power of wind, waves, and ice. The relentless energy of weather pounded the shoreline in every season.

They knew they were losing property fast. When they saw an aerial photo of their property, through the shallow water, they could see what was likely dry ground of their yard in the recent past. And they knew they had to do something before the rest of their property was underwater or washed away entirely.

But Valerie and Allen are go-getters, raised to take the initiative to get things accomplished. “You can’t sit back and wait for someone else to do it,” Allen said. “If you do, it’s probably not going to happen.” So they got to work.

When Valerie and Allen lived on the lake in Montello, they were involved in water quality improvement for the lake district there. Then they moved to Winneconne.

“We were actively searching for something like Fox-Wolf to continue our work,” said Valerie. They watched for a year or two to see how Fox-Wolf works, to see if it had momentum.

“Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance is clearly the player in this area,” said Allen. “You keep an eye on the whole watershed, and all the competing interests. I’m impressed with the leadership. Some folks come and go, but you keep moving forward.”

After volunteering with Fox-Wolf programs and investing in erosion prevention, they decided to become members at Fox-Wolf. “We choose our lifetime memberships carefully,” Allen said. “Fox-Wolf is a get-it-done organization. So are we. What they do directly affects this property and also our lives.”

When you partner with Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, you are part of a community that isn’t waiting.

Members of Fox-Wolf provide critical funding that increases capacity and reach, and starts impacting the environment immediately. You support on-the-ground projects, general outreach, education, and hands-on engagement. Learn more about how you can join this community at www.fwwa.org/membership.

On the channel side, they added native plants with long roots to stabilize the soil. They still have turtles (and raccoons), but the shoreline is holding. On the lake side, they’ve added riprap to the shoreline and a breakwall off shore.

These big projects were not cheap. But as Allen said, “You either invest now, or you lose the property.”

Allen and Valerie were glad to get help with their projects in the form of cost-sharing grants, thanks to Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance and Winnebago County. And today, they see the impact of over a decade of improvements.

It’s also important to Valerie and Allen to share what they know. “An organization like Fox-Wolf empowers us to spread the message,” said Valerie. They invite conservation staff and students to tour their property and see what they’ve done. They let their neighbors know what they are up to and share their experiences with other shoreline property owners.

“What we’ve done here has been successful,” said Allen. But watching the two of them continue to work around their property, planting new trees and maintaining a small wetland, it’s clear they’re not done.

They’re concerned about the increase in algae blooms, more than they’ve noticed in the past.

“I’m a swimmer. I grew up on lakes. But I would not swim in this lake,” said Valerie. She is particularly concerned about the toxic blue-green algae that can foam up nearby. “I don’t want the water to get so disgusting that I can’t even kayak.”

So you can find Valerie and Allen working on water quality in other ways around the watershed. You might see Valerie in her kayak, identifying and removing invasive species, or pulling trash out of the water. Allen will talk to anyone about the work they’ve done and why it matters.

“We’re just caretakers until whoever comes after us,” they said.

Watershed Moments is a new publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

The post Watershed Moments: A Foot of Land a Year appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

Original Article

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

https://fwwa.org/2023/09/05/watershed-moments-foot-of-land/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watershed-moments-foot-of-land

Sharon Cook

Imagine having to bring your own water to the beach.

Kevin Fermanich doesn’t have to imagine this, because he’s already seen it. He was at a state park one day when there was algae blooming along the beach. He didn’t know if it was toxic or not, but it was certainly a nuisance. He didn’t want to have his kids swimming in the water.

Then he noticed another family show up. A woman went back and forth several times from her car to the beach, carrying jugs of water.

“She carried several gallons of water from her car to the beach for her kids to play with,” Kevin said. “Along a Great Lakes beach. She had to bring her own water to the beach, just to build sand castles.”

Kevin Fermanich, retired environmental scientist

For some people, that would be the story that motivated them to engage with conservation for the first time. But for Kevin, this was not his first brush with polluted water.

“We live ¼ mile from the East River [in Green Bay],” he said, “but that’s not a place we’d go paddling. It’s chocolate-colored at times and has significant algae. It impacts our choices about where to be.”

Before he retired and became a kayaker, Kevin worked for UW-Green Bay researching soil and water quality. He discovered that Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance had connections to funding sources and centralized much of the conservation work across a variety of other companies and organizations.

“I’ve stayed with Fox-Wolf for so long because I am impressed with Fox-Wolf and what you have been doing. Working with Katie and the integrated water plan was important. Yours is as good of a partnership as any in the Great Lakes region.”

Kevin may have been an environmental scientist, connecting academics with water quality, but he also understands the importance of water from a personal perspective. He owns the farmland where he grew up. When he saw erosion damaging the land and carrying away valuable topsoil, he worked with his tenant farmer to put in contour strips.

That’s where Kevin sees the full complexity of our watershed. “What’s happening on my farm in the upper watershed is connected to what’s happening between Green Bay and Lake Michigan. I work at the scale of what’s happening in the soil… it impacts the rivers, all the way out to the Bay, to Lake Michigan, to the Atlantic Ocean. There’s a microscopic connection from my soil to the Great Lakes.”

Kevin takes his stewardship of the land seriously. He hopes to start additional conservation practices on his farm. But these things don’t happen overnight. “We need to change momentum and habits, and bring farmers along with us,” said Kevin. “It’s challenging but rewarding to come up with ways that are more sustainable.”

Why work so hard on the challenging tasks? “Some of it’s a hope; some is an imperative,” said Kevin. “Things will get worse if we don’t become more resilient and make our landscape more adaptable to our changing environment.”

What is Kevin’s hope? That we can have our landscape in balance with producing food, fiber, and resources while minimizing the impact on water resources.

And having drinkable, swimmable water. “That’s a good goal,” he said. “Everywhere, as many places as possible. That should be the goal. That’s my hope for the future.”

Watershed Moments is a new publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

The post Watershed Moments: Water for Sand Castles appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

Original Article

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

https://fwwa.org/2023/08/08/watershed-moments-sand-castles/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watershed-moments-sand-castles

Sharon Cook

Rick Fox grew up on Lake Michigan in Kenosha, always on the water. He was a SCUBA diver by age 13, and by 15 years old knew he wanted to be an oceanographer when he grew up. He ended up with a career as an environmental scientist, consulting with large companies and government agencies. He worked on superfund sites, including the removal of PCBs in the lower Fox River.

“I’m proud of my career, but it was not as satisfying as it could have been,” Rick said. Working on billion-dollar projects to remove pollution involves collaboration between corporations, lawyers, non-profits, and government agencies, and too often they didn’t work well together.

Groups with different perspectives would point fingers at one another rather than working toward solutions. “I’m not looking to accuse anyone,” Rick said. “Let’s build a coalition and just move forward.”

When it came time to retire, he and his wife ended up on the eastern shore of Lake Winnebago. “We didn’t know anything about Lake Winnebago,” he said, “except it’s a big lake with good fishing.”

As they were moving in, the town was facing problems with runoff. With large spring storms becoming more common, no one could ignore the rain that would race across the fields and flood the community. “All this water, milky brown with manure and top soil, it’s going in our garages and basements,” Rick said.

His neighbors knew Rick had worked in that field and quickly connected him to the new community committee. “The first thing I did,” Rick said, “was get a hold of Korin and other staff at Fox-Wolf.” He learned that Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance was already working in the area on the Pipe Creek Watershed. And Rick noticed that Fox-Wolf was working hard to build bridges between groups with different perspectives. “In particular,” he said, “I see it as you work with farmers.”

Property owners on the town committee were blaming farmers, until they realized that farmers don’t want to lose that topsoil either. “There was a convergence of interest for all of us. It wasn’t us/them, but we,” said Rick.

“What we’re all realizing is we can’t point fingers. We have to line up and work together.” That meant not only a town committee, but starting a farmer-led group as well. And now the town committee and the farmer-led group are working toward the same goals, in collaboration and alignment with Fox-Wolf.

Rick is thankful for the chance to get back to the grassroots type of cooperation. “To me, it’s all about partnerships. We can do this better. I spent 30 years trying to do projects better. I am so impressed with Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance. You are amazingly efficient and get things done. I want to help champion that. That’s why we decided to write the check for a lifetime membership.”

Rick said he became “more retired” just yesterday, but he’s clearly not slowing down. “I got a little bit of mud in my garage,” Rick said. That’s how it started. “But I’m really here for the blue-green algae. I worry for my dogs, the swimmers in the lake… it’s got to be bad for the fish too. Cyanotoxins in the water is scary.” And while that may seem like a daunting task to take on as a retirement project, Rick sees how to break it down to make it manageable for all of us.

“Every little thing you do has an effect. So it’s worth doing the small things that may not seem like they’ll add up,” said Rick. “Take three feet of your lawn and convert it to native plants. It’s a step. Go from three applications of fertilizer to two; that’s a step. Pick up that piece of trash. What the heck can we do? Everything we can.”

Watershed Moments is a new publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

The post Watershed Moments: Rick Fox appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

Original Article

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

https://fwwa.org/2023/06/13/watershed-moments-rick-fox/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watershed-moments-rick-fox

Sharon Cook

Travis Coenen grew up on the river in Wrightstown, fishing, canoeing, and launching from the boat ramp. As an adult, he works for the community as the Village Administrator of Wrightstown.

He was aware of the pollution in the river, even when he was young. He didn’t know what was causing it, but when the algae would bloom in late summer, “all of a sudden the river would turn bright green – like in Chicago for St. Patrick’s Day when they dye the river. It didn’t seem right.”

His family enjoyed fishing, but his parents would encourage him to bring home a perch from the bay or up north. “We would go north to Clintonville or Tomahawk,” Travis said, “and the lake waters were so much clearer than the Fox River.”

By the time he was taking biology and chemistry classes in high school and college, Travis had his aha moment. He understood that the problem was what we were putting into the water. At that time, it was the PCBs in particular, coming from the manufacturing along the Fox River.

But that wasn’t the only thing. Travis also noticed that as generations changed and property was handed down, people were adding septic systems to old cabins. And he realized the dirty water from those buildings used to go straight to the lake. “I was just swimming there!” Travis said. “How can that be? We need to do something better.”

While the DNR sets regulations for stormwater treatment according to the size of the community, Wrightstown is working to exceed those expectations. Travis knows that “water quality is part of our community,” so the Village has partnered with area municipalities to meet higher standards.

The Village is also partnering with Fox-Wolf to restore Plum Creek. There’s so much erosion and sediment in the creek that Travis says it looks like “a chocolate milk stream coming into town.” This project will start at the mouth of the creek and provide almost a mile of shoreline restoration.

A project of that magnitude is often beyond what a small community can fund. “This is a million-dollar project, but we’ve only had to pay 20%,” said Travis. The grant money brought in by Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance has dramatically increased the impact the community can afford.

The Plum Creek project isn’t done, but the Village is already seeing the benefits of doing more than is required for water quality. Travis says you can see it in the fish.

There’s a small, family fishing tournament in Wrightstown every year, trying to see what is the biggest fish of each species they can catch. At first, they only caught carp, catfish, and bullhead. But recently, they’re also catching perch, walleye, muskie, crappie, and bass. Not only are there more species, “the coloration of the fish is so much better. The clarity of the river is so much better.”

And that’s how Travis knows the work is making a difference. “I feel blessed that I got acquainted with Fox-Wolf. The collaborative efforts they’ve initiated, created, or facilitated have been amazing,” he said. “They’re stewards out there trying to actually fix things. Their feet-on-the-ground initiatives are actually happening.”

Plum Creek flows into the lower Fox River carrying so much sediment it looks like chocolate milk.

Watershed Moments is a new publication of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance, sharing the stories of how your donations have impacted lives in our community. Read our latest project updates, make a secure online donation, or become a member at www.fwwa.org

The post Watershed Moments: Travis Coenen appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

Original Article

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

https://fwwa.org/2023/06/11/watershed-moments-travis-coenen/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=watershed-moments-travis-coenen

Sharon Cook

Lifetime Business Member of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

A huge thank you to Rob and his team at Motto Inc. (pictured above), a locally owned and operated business, for their continued support of Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance’s water quality initiatives in the Winnebago Waterways Recovery Area. Last year, Motto Inc. donated $18,262 to Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance. This year they beat their own record by donating $25,000! Their donation will have an even bigger impact because a percentage was matched by the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation’s Give Big Green Bay program.

In addition to their generous donation, Motto Inc. has volunteered with Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance. Last winter, the Motto Inc. team volunteered to sow native plants and take care of them over the winter. These plants will be used in our shoreline restoration projects!

Motto Inc. is also a business member of 1% for the Planet, which connects businesses and individuals who pledge to give 1% of their sales back to the planet each year with approved environmental nonprofits around the world. This partnership will help Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance connect with more businesses who share the same values of promoting water quality and environmental stewardship.

Motto Inc. lives up to their commitment through quality branded products and their ongoing support of various causes that improve the community and environment. We invite you to learn more about this local business by visiting their website: www.mottoinc.com

Thank you to Rob and his Motto Inc. team for their continued support!

The Winnebago Waterways Program facilitates regional coordination and implementation of recovery efforts for the Winnebago Lakes and surrounding watersheds. Priority implementation projects are outlined in the Winnebago Waterways Lake Management Plan. Winnebago Waterways is a program of the Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance. The Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance is an independent non-profit organization that works to protect and restore the water resources of the Fox-Wolf River Basin. We are focused on finding cost effective, science-based solutions. To meet our goals, we work with partners to maximize efficiencies, bringing resources to those who are already doing great work while utilizing our strengths to fill gaps when needed.

About 1% for the Planet

1% for the Planet is a global organization that connects dollars and doers to accelerate smart environmental giving. Through business and individual memberships, 1% for the Planet inspires people to support environmental organizations through annual membership and everyday actions. The organization advises on giving strategies, certifies donations and amplifies the impact of the network.

Started in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, founder of Blue Ribbon Flies, their members have given more than $250 million to environmental nonprofits to date. Today, 1% for the Planet is a network of more than 3,000 business members, an expanding core of individual members and thousands of nonprofit partners in more than 90 countries.

If you are interested in learning more about 1% for the Plant and how to become a business partner, please contact Korin at korin@fwwa.org.

Questions? Comments? Send us an email at wwinfo@fwwa.org.

Follow the Fox Wolf Watershed Alliance on social media: Winnebago Waterways on Facebook and @WinnWaterways on Twitter!

Winnebago Waterways is a Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance program. The Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance is an independent nonprofit organization that identifies and advocates effective policies and actions that protect, restore, and sustain water resources in the Fox-Wolf River Basin.

The post Local Business Continues Support of Water Quality Initiatives appeared first on Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

Original Article

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance

https://fwwa.org/2023/04/26/local-business-continues-support-of-water-quality-initiatives/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=local-business-continues-support-of-water-quality-initiatives

Katie Reed