Local Schools Receive Clean Energy Grant
Terrific news from the CLEA-N partnership! Thanks to the hard work of the student environmental clubs at Mineral Point and Dodgeville high schools, these districts have been selected to receive an Office of Energy Innovation grant that will help create significant energy savings for their buildings. Read more about this exciting accomplishment and how it will create greater energy sustainability here in the Driftless.
Get Out in the Field with Southern Driftless Grasslands
There's a great lineup of events and trainings coming up from our partners at Southern Driftless Grasslands throughout June! Whether you're a landowner with a restoration project, an aspiring farmer looking for inspiration, or someone who simply enjoys learning out on the land, there's something for everybody. Learn more and register today.
Evenings Afield: Controlling Invasive Plants
The June session of the Lowery Creek Watershed Initiative's Evenings Afield series is coming up on Thursday, June 6 from 6-8pm at the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center south of Spring Green. Learn how to identify and control common invasive plants in our area, from people who have battled them for many years. Find more details and register for this free event here so we can send you details and notify you if we cancel due to weather.
Volunteer Opportunities
Head outside and make a difference! Join our outdoor workdays:
Weekends at Wild Oaks: 1st and 3rd Saturdays of the month. Upcoming dates: 6/1, 6/15
Sundays at Sardeson: 3rd Sundays of the month. Upcoming dates: 6/16
Wednesdays at the Wetland: 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month. Upcoming dates: 6/5,6/19
Driftless Trail Workdays: 1st Sundays of the month. Upcoming dates: 6/2
Find more details and let us know you're coming at our Volunteer page.
Notes From the Field
with Barb Barzen
Greetings and happy spring!
My entrée into working at DALC was being contracted to help with different aspects of planning for the Driftless Trail, Lowery Creek Watershed Initiative, and the partnership that is now Southern Driftless Grasslands. This was 2016-2018, when the community repeatedly turned to Driftless Area Land Conservancy to help organize various efforts to protect and steward this unique landscape. This included the campaign against the Cardinal-Hickory Creek transmission line.
“Community conservation” was a new dimension for DALC’s work, which was never mentioned in any strategic plan to that point. It just happened. Ironically, this all happened when the Land Trust Alliance began to promote this approach as essential for landscape-scale conservation. Conservation easements are up to landowners, but landscape conservation is up to the whole community.
I have the great pleasure of helping to build this community in our region through my involvement with the Lowery Creek Watershed Initiative and Driftless Trail. I’m seeing a rapidly growing number of people showing up and stepping up -- to learn about conservation topics, inspire and motivate each other, make and manage new trail, sample water quality in streams, build benches and bridges and fence stiles, host public-access trail on their land, and work with neighbors to collectively steward their land.
We are often asked for metrics for measuring our success. In my view, the best outcome of DALC’s work can’t be measured. It is the countless conversations that go on at our spring social, work days, bird hikes, Evenings Afield, potlucks, site visits, presentations, and workshops. People inspiring each other to care for and enjoy this special place as best they can.
See you in the field!
Barb Barzen
Community Conservation Specialist
Opmerkingen