Our Story
Before 2000, private landowners in Southwest Wisconsin who wanted to protect the places they loved were out of luck. Although other land trusts worked to the east and west, they couldn’t expand their reach to the heart of the Driftless Area. Wanting to protect natural resources in their own community, a group of local land stewards came together and created the Driftless Area Land Conservancy, also known as DALC.
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The amount of protected land in Southwest Wisconsin began to grow, and so did DALC! In 2003, DALC hired its first staff member and completed its first conservation agreements to protect private land from development. In 2012, DALC acquired its first nature preserve. Today, we have a staff of nine and a variety of programs that serve both the human and natural communities of the Driftless Area.
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Look at a timeline of DALC’s accomplishments in our first 20 years here.
Staff and volunteers plant a burr oak at Wild Oaks Preserve, our newest ambassador property.
Staff and volunteers plant a burr oak at Wild Oaks Preserve, our newest ambassador property.