Dale is a retired professional engineer and was an engineering/technical manager at Alliant Energy in Madison, WI. He graduated from UW Platteville with a degree in Civil Engineering. He enjoys nature/outdoor activities and spends lots of time on prairie, woodland, and wetland management and restoration on his properties. He is also a long term volunteer Hunter Education Instructor (40+ years) for the Wisconsin DNR.  “Conservation is very important and Land Trusts, like Driftless Area Land Conservancy, are one of the few ways that permanent land protection can be accomplished. If we are not good stewards of the land, quality landscapes may not be here for future generations.”

​

Dale and his wife, Doris, are Iowa County coordinators for the Bluebird Restoration Association of Wisconsin (BRAW) and maintain approximately 90 bluebird houses on their property where around 300 bluebirds and 50 tree swallows are fledged each year. It gives them a good reason to be outdoors with their friends, grandchildren, and dog all summer.

Lauren has been a long time environmental activist with particular focus on land conservation and sustainably-produced food. She serves on the board of Family Farmed, a Chicago-based organization with a mission to put good food on every table, is a member of the executive committee for the Good Food Business Accelerator and was Chair on the Illinois Nature Preserves Commission for two years. She joined the board of the Driftless Area Land Conservancy in 2014, serving on the Finance, Land Conservation and Accreditation committees. To create awareness and generate support for DALC’s work, Lauren is organizing a group of Chicago region residents who own land in the Driftless Area.

​

Lauren is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law and Northwestern University. Lauren and her family have enjoyed their home and land in the Driftless Area in Arena Township for more than 20 years and are fully engaged in the battle to fight back invasive plants and create quality habitat for native species.

Tim and his wife, Anne, have enjoyed the beauty of their hobby farm in the Driftless Area for the past 30 years. They are passionate about protecting and maintaining the beauty of their property and the natural world around them. They help steward the adjoining Malcolm Stack Foundation property (owned by Anne’s deceased father) that was placed in conservation easement with the Driftless Area Land Conservancy in the early 2000’s. 

​

Originally a “city kid” from Boston, Tim is a graduate of Northeastern University College of Pharmacy and Allied Health and the University of Wisconsin MBA program. He spent much of his professional career in health care administration for clinical and business operations in a variety of traditional and alternative care health organizations.

 

Tim enjoys spending most of his time outdoors in the magnificence of the Driftless, the mountains of the west and waters of southwest Florida. He is committed to maintaining and improving their habitat for future generations. 
 

Grace grew in the Driftless Region in eastern Iowa, surrounded by rolling rural farm fields, cottonwoods, and creeks. She went to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville, which brought her closer to the heart of the Driftless Region. While at UW-Platteville, she was the Student Board Member for DALC in 2021 and 2022. 

 

Grace graduated in December 2022, as the Liberal Arts and Education Commencement Speaker, with a B.S. in Environmental Science and Conservation (Natural and Physical Science Emphasis) and a B.A. in Fine Arts-Theatre. She minored in Social and Environmental Justice and Biology. She also is certified in Geographic Information Systems (GIS). 

 

Grace is an avid birder and life lister. She is currently expanding her life list in Utah while working for the Bureau of Reclamation-Provo Office as a Geographer. She looks forward to having a bird feeder outside her window at work to see numerous, new for her, western bird species.  

Dick and his wife Kim, with son Eric (Kiley) and daughter Shannon (Dan), co-own the Cates Family Farm LLC in Dodgeville and Wyoming Townships, Iowa County, a grass-fed beef and contract grazing business. Dick is a life-long farmer who grew up working on his family’s cow-calf operation, Iowa County dairy farms, Montana ranches, and in large-scale dairy grain and forage crop production overseas.

Dick earned an M.S. In Soils, (1979; Montana State Univ.) and Ph.D. in Soils/Plant Health (1983; UW-Madison) while serving a Leopold Fellowship. He took over management of his family’s farm in 1987 and Dick and Kim purchased a portion of the land to build and operate their own farming business. In 1995 Dick took partial-time employment off the farm to develop and direct the WI School for Beginning Dairy and Livestock Farmers (WSBDF), a program of the UW-Madison, to train new farmers in business planning and managed grazing. Over the years he also developed/taught courses in grassland ecology, pasture management, managed grazing and agroecology within the College of Agricultural & Life Sciences.

Dick has long served as a volunteer for local/state organizations and internationally on farmer-to-farmer assistance projects across the developing world; he is an elected supervisor for the Town of Wyoming and Spring Green Fire District. 

​

The Cates are members of the Iowa County Uplands Watershed Project and the Lowery Creek Watershed Initiative where they share information about and demonstrate conservation practices. The family has been recognized over the years for their soil and water conservation work, most recently with the Sand County Foundation Leopold Conservation Award (2013), Blue Mounds Area Project Bur Oak Award and Wisconsin Master Agriculturist (both 2016), Iowa County Water Quality Leadership (2018), and 2020 Wisconsin Farm Bureau Federation Distinguished Service to Agriculture.  Dick authored the book Voices from the Heart of the Land: Rural Stories that Inspire Community (2008) based on conversations with elder rural citizens; and a children’s book, An Adventure on Sterna’s Hill (2019), a story that takes place on the Cates Family Farm. 

​

Dick and Kim enjoy walking on the farm and in wild country anywhere, and skiing and dancing together; they have three grandchildren who are the joy of their lives.
 

Doug has lived with his spouse Sherry in the Madison, WI area since 1973, where they have been involved with a number of resource conservation activities and organizations. He holds a UW Madison Ph.D in economics and was a co-founder, co-owner, and officer with the Madison-based economic consulting firm, Christensen Associates. As part of this work he published a number of papers on the theoretical and practical measurement of overall resource utilization.

​

Before coming to Madison, Doug and Sherry spent two years as Peace Corps volunteers in Malawi, Africa. In 1997 they spent a year living in Costa Rica, doing volunteer work with a small school. They have 4 children and 2 grandchildren. Doug enjoys hiking, canoeing, fishing and photography, as well as downhill and cross country skiing.

Mark Hirsch is a photographer, public speaker, and the author of the book “That Tree”. He attended the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and graduated with a BS in Communication Technology with Photography Emphasis.

​

While recovering from a serious car accident in 2012, Mark was inspired by a friend to use his iPhone to embark on a year-long, photo-a-day project focusing on an old bur oak tree. He embraced the challenge, resulting in a transformative experience of healing and self-discovery.

​

Mark spent 20 years in the newspaper industry as a photojournalist, photo editor, and visuals editor before beginning a freelance career in 2006 as an editorial, corporate, and landscape photographer. He lives in Platteville, WI and his passions are mountain biking, backpacking and fishing. He cares about conservation and as a landowner and naturalist, and wants to inspire others to preserve and protect our natural and land resources.

Harald (Jordy) Jordahl loves to work & play in the Driftless Region and is excited to return to the DALC Board.  Jordy was among the group of folks who came together with the support of Gathering Waters to form the Driftless Area Land Conservancy and he served on the initial board until 2003.  

In his day jobs over the last 25 years, Jordy has worked on projects to protect special places like the Baraboo Hills, Lower Wisconsin Riverway, Military Ridge grasslands, and Mississippi River watershed while working as policy advisor to the Governor, legislative policy aide, director of intergovernmental relations for the Wisconsin Department of Administration, and for The Nature Conservancy.  His interests have focused on advancing projects affecting working landscapes and the connections between conservation and communities, agriculture, forestry and transportation.  He recently started a new position with KCI Technologies where he is focusing on environmental restoration projects to reduce nutrient pollution. 

In his personal time, Jordy actively manages his family’s properties in Richland County’s Pine River Watershed and in the Namekogon/St Croix River watershed for wildlife, recreation, timber production and water quality. Weekends are often spent with a crew of kids and friends planting or pruning trees, burning prairies, making maple syrup, hunting for morel mushrooms or cutting and splitting firewood.  Jordy’s latest project involves a lot of hours with chainsaws, backpack sprayers and planting bars to restore and enhance oak woodlands.  

Jordy lives in Madison, Wisconsin with his wife Calliope, three children, and hunting dogs. In his spare time, he is a passionate duck and deer hunter, closely follows the UW Badgers and leaves the Driftless to (slowly, but enthusiastically) ski the Birkebeiner ski marathon in northern Wisconsin.  

Danni Lang first fell in love with the landscapes of Wisconsin growing up on a farm in Columbia County. As an adult, when she and her spouse were looking for a home to call their own, they stumbled upon a beautiful 10-acre hilltop farmette outside of Argyle, WI, that was just perfect. This property became home for their family and lots of farm projects raising geese, chickens, occasionally goats, and a multitude of fruit trees. Exploring Erickson Conservation Area in Argyle was a great way to get to know her new community and served as a fantastic introduction to Driftless Area Land Conservancy. 

​

Danni started her career in libraries and loved utilizing data to help people find information. This skillset proved especially useful when switching to a career in fundraising. She enjoyed helping donors connect with causes close to their heart. From 2020 to 2021, Danni served as DALC's Development Associate in order to work closer to home and with the community that has embraced her here in the Driftless Area. After the birth of her twins, she decided to be a full-time parent. 

​

She loves to visit the land protected by DALC with supporters, listen to stories about the Driftless Area, and calling supporters to say “Thank You”.

Carol and her husband, Chris, own property in the Driftless that has been in their family for over 30 years. They have restored prairie and oak savanna on the property and are currently working on restoring grassland habitat.

 

Carol is a graduate of Williams College and The University of Chicago Law School and practiced as a partner at Sidley Austin LLP and then as Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Northwestern Memorial HealthCare. Other roles at Northwestern Medicine included human resources, governance, compliance, and real estate operations.

 

Along with her involvement with Driftless Area Land Conservancy, she is on the Board of Directors of Evanston Scholars, a non-profit organization that improves college access and success for students from Evanston, Illinois who are traditionally first-generation college entrants, low-income students and students of color.

Mark was born and raised in Western New York, attended prep school in Maine, and graduated from UW-Madison with a BS in forestry, wildlife & ecology. Since the hills, farms and trout streams of southwest Wisconsin are very similar to Western New York, he hung around after college to see how it would work out. Forty years later, Mark still lives and works in the area as a forester and has worked with over 1,000 private landowners on basic forestry and natural community restoration. He became more passionate over time about native communities and rare species – the rarer something is the more it needs protection.

​

Mark was a founding board member of Driftless Area Land Conservancy. He liked the idea of helping landowners to permanently protect whatever was most important about their properties. It was an obvious match. Mark also served as Board President for 6 years, and continues to enjoy seeing DALC grow. He said, “This is one of the best things I’ve done in my career.”

Jake grew up in the small town of Fulton, Illinois along the Mississippi River. He has grown up in the outdoors and his passion for conservation is shared with his father. He grew up hunting and fishing from the age of six and is planning on continuing to show his love for the outdoors with his future career. Jake has always had his mind set on trying to influence his younger peers on how hunting and conservation go hand in hand and how they are both important factors for the environment.

​

Jake is a Junior who attends University of Wisconsin Platteville (UWP) and studies Environmental Science and Conservation while minoring in Biology. After getting his bachelor’s, he plans on attending UW-Stevens Point to further his academic career with a masters in Fisheries or Wildlife Biology.

​

Jake notes: “Outside of school, I enjoy spending time with my family which mostly consists of being outdoors or hunting with my father and two sisters. I had the great opportunity of having an internship with the Water resources Biologists out of the Dodgeville DNR office in the summer of 2022 and it was one of the best experiences I have had and I’m looking forward to a career where not every day is the same.”

Yasi grew up in Madison and spent time in the Driftless area where she developed a love of nature. She studied biology and Spanish at UW Madison and continued her studies there, graduating with a M.Sc. in Environmental Conservation. She is now a Project Manager for an ecological restoration company that works primarily in southern Wisconsin.

 

She is excited to work with the board and staff of DALC to conserve and restore the unique habitats that are present throughout the Driftless area. When not spending time in the numerous natural areas that Wisconsin has to offer, she enjoys reading, running, and yoga.

Peter and Jody Vanderloo have resided in the Dodgeville area since 1978 where they raised four sons. The area is starting to feel like home. Their current residence is a small tree farm which includes Managed Forest Land, a small restored prairie, and an even smaller stream. Peter’s hobby is out the back door.

In his professional life, Peter is a veterinarian, serving as a veterinary pathologist in the US Army, as a practitioner in Dodgeville for 25 years, and as associate director at the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, School of  Veterinary Medicine. After 40 years as a veterinarian he has now downsized to only one client.

In their time in Dodgeville, Peter and Jody have been involved in numerous community, professional, and conservation activities. In 1998 Peter and Jody were founding board members of Iowa County Recreation and Prairie Restoration LLC, (ICRPR), a volunteer group that leased the 400 acre Iowa County Farm, likely preventing it from reverting to crop land. The property is now restored prairie and open to the public (see Bloomfield Prairie). Since that time Peter has devoted substantial time and effort to the property. He is also serves on the Town of Dodgeville board.

His introduction to DALC occurred in 2015. Iowa County Recreation and Prairie Restoration LLC needed a partner to efficiently re-enroll  the 400 acres of prairie at the Iowa County Farm in the USDA CREP program. DALC stepped up, thereby ensuring that this prairie would remain in the public domain for at least another 15 years. That has been a gratifying partnership. By serving on the DALC board, Peter hopes to promote the value of natural resources to the community.