THE NOTE THIS ISSUE: Nitrogen’s role in algal blooms, Food, Land & Water conference recap, & more. Wisconsin Land & Water Conservation Association, Inc. 131 W Wilson #601 Madison, WI 53703-1533 (608) 441-2677 www.wisconsinlandwater.org NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION US POSTAGE PAID MADISON WI PERMIT NO. 1989 Letter from Jimmy Locals Must Lead on Conservation Jim VandenBrook Executive Director [email protected]DECEMBER 2017 Most indicators of water quality are not improving in Wisconsin. reats to surface water quality and groundwater quality and quantity are increasing. e small numbers of documented success are the exceptions that prove the rule. At the federal level, U.S. Department of Agriculture funding for conservation is currently frozen and the presidential budget offers steep cuts. e Environmental Protection Agency is rapidly retrenching on issues like pesticides protections and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). At the state level, there are proposed bills aimed at removing sulfide mining restrictions and eliminating permit protections for about 1 million acres of “isolated” wetlands. Additionally, a years-long process to transfer the CAFO program from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) continues, which will divert limited staff from resource protection to interagency org-chart chess play. Despite numerous threats to the future of conservation in Wisconsin, not all is gloom and doom. Locally led conservation efforts continue to push conservation issues forward. For example, Marathon County advanced their own ordinance in anticipation of the removal of mining environmental protections. Similarly, several counties have adopted ordinances that either prohibit or restrict manure irrigation, largely over health concerns. Pressure from counties and citizens moved DNR, DATCP, and NRCS to modify standards and rules concerning groundwater quality in northeast Wisconsin. Key to these efforts are active Land Conservation Committees and their staff, who are simply responding to the needs and desires of their constituents and the people they serve. Even with many attempts to pre-empt local action, the real concerns of local people are irresistible.
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THE NOTETHIS ISSUE: Nitrogen’s role in algal blooms,Food, Land & Water conference recap, & more.
Wisconsin Land & Water Conservation Association, Inc.131 W Wilson #601Madison, WI 53703-1533(608) 441-2677www.wisconsinlandwater.org
Most indicators of water quality are not improving in Wisconsin. Threats to surface water quality and groundwater quality and quantity are increasing. The small numbers of documented success are the exceptions that prove the rule.
At the federal level, U.S. Department of Agriculture funding for conservation is currently frozen and the presidential budget offers steep cuts. The Environmental
Protection Agency is rapidly retrenching on issues like pesticides protections and concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
At the state level, there are proposed bills aimed at removing sulfide mining restrictions and eliminating permit protections for about 1 million acres of “isolated” wetlands. Additionally, a years-long process to transfer the CAFO program from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to the Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection (DATCP) continues, which will divert limited staff from resource protection to interagency org-chart chess play.
Despite numerous threats to the future of conservation in Wisconsin, not all is gloom and doom. Locally led conservation efforts continue to push conservation issues forward. For example, Marathon County advanced their own ordinance in anticipation of the removal of mining environmental protections. Similarly, several counties have adopted ordinances that either prohibit or restrict manure irrigation, largely over health concerns.
Pressure from counties and citizens moved DNR, DATCP, and NRCS to modify standards and rules concerning groundwater quality in northeast Wisconsin. Key to these efforts are active Land Conservation Committees and their staff, who are simply responding to the needs and desires of their constituents and the people they serve. Even with many attempts to pre-empt local action, the real concerns of local people are irresistible.
Upcoming EventsLand and Water Conservation Board Meeting
Lake Michigan Area Association Meeting*
Western Area Association Meeting*
Lake Winnebago Area Association Meeting*
Southeastern Area Association Meeting*
December 5
January 12
january 23
January 26
February 1
Please join us for our
65th Annual Conference
at the Grand Geneva Resort
on Lake Geneva,
March 14-16, 2018
2018 Annual Conference
$3,921 total money raised in 2017
Northwestern Area Association Meeting*
North Central Area Association Meeting*
West Central Area Association Meeting*Southern Area Association Meeting*
WI Land+Water Annual Conference
February 2
February 9
Febuary 12
March 14-16
Training OpportunitiesVegetated Swale & site Evaluations for Storm Water infiltration
Have a training need in your area? Let us Know!
Should I plant corn, convert to pasture, or...? Learn how a basic enterprise budget can help farmers increase their financial vitality and benefit from conservation techniques. We will run through a variety of scenarios and practice enterprise budgeting so you are proficent enough to take it back to your counties. Bring a laptop with MS Excel.
Contact Chris if you have conference suggestions, want to post a job opening, or for training information.
WI Land+Water, in partnership with the State Interagency Training Committee (SITCOM), assesses and provides conservation training across Wisconsin. From hands-on field days to webinars, we provide a variety of resources so you can stay updated on the latest techniques, tools, and regulations.
Farm Enterprise BudgetingFriday, December 159:oo AM - 3:00 PMStevens Point
Thursday, December 710:00 - 11:00 AM
Join us for this one-hour webinar that reviews the updated technical standards for 1005 Vegetated Swales and 1002 Site Evaluation for Storm Water Infiltration by DNR. Attendance certificates for one PDH will be available to participants.
Webinar will review:
• Vegetated Swale design criteria, considerations, and operation and management.
• Site Evaluation for Storm Water Infiltration methodology and infiltratied rate calculations.
Waste Management Technical standards training
Our annual conference is a great opportunity to network with over 350 conservation professionals who are tirelessly working to preserve Wisconsin’s agricultural and conservation legacy.
Conservation professionals will be discussing accomplishments, challenges, and finding ways to improve land and water management. Want to support their incredible efforts or present your own exhibit?
Sign up to be a sponsor or submit an exhibit form found on our Annual Conference webpage:
Connecting & Exhibiting
wisconsinlandwater.org/events/annual-conference
it’s for the kids!Youth Ed. Silent auctionHelp us inspire the next generation of scientists, teachers, farmers, and environmentalists! All proceeds directly support our Youth Education programs, which teach hundreds of kids theimportance of good stewardship and conservation every year.
Help Make 2018 our best year yet
$5,000 GOAL
Visit our annual conference website for bid sheets, sample thank you letter, and a list of possible
donation items.
Be the TeacherLearn how you can inspire kids by attending “Hands-on Conservation for the Classroom.” Youth Education committee members will share innovative programs that tie into our poster themes: water, soil, pollinators, and forestry. Sign up to attend this session, and the
many other sessions discussing current conservation topics, on our conference website.
For additional conference details or questions, contact Chris Schlutt at [email protected]
The Standards Oversight Committee (SOC) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) teamed up to host five training sessions on the revised 313 and associated waste management standards.
Meetings occurred throughout the state, reaching over 180 individuals. NRCS staff guided trainees on the major changes within each standard, how to navigate the new standard format, and implementation related to agricultural programs and job approval. Sessions also included multiple hands-on activities with site examples.
If you missed out on the trainings, you can view all the materials on our media website:
www.wislandwatermedia.org/webinars
For additional information, be sure to subscribe to the SITCOM newsletter and SOC listerv.
*For area association poster & speaking contest dates, please visithttps://wisconsinlandwater.org/events/320
Standards Oversight Council
Jennifer ThiemeStandards Oversight Council Program Manager
In July, Tracy Arnold and I had the opportunity to attend the 2017 North American NCF-Envirothon at Mount St. Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, Maryland. We had a great time cheering on our state’s high school team, Island City Academy, who did an outstanding job representing Wisconsin at the national competition, placing 26th out of 54 teams.
We watched Island City Academy during their oral presentation and networked with over 20 states to learn more about ways to improve our state’s Envirothon. In addition to the competition, the students enjoyed a field trip to Washington, D.C. and were treated to a Maryland crab boil on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. The NCF-Envirothon wrapped up with a scenic hike on the Appalachian Trail. A big thank you to my partner Tracy, who kept us out of the poison ivy.
Most of all, we would like to thank our state and national sponsors of the Envirothon, who helped make the state and national competition possible.
youth education
The smell, the mats, the color, the pea soup that plagues our lakes. Algal blooms keep us off the beaches and leaves tourists looking for a place indoors. Excess phosphorus (P) in our waterways is understood to be the main cause of these harmful blooms. While P does plays a large role, researchers are beginning to turn their attention toward another contributor, nitrogen (N).
The focus around excess phosphorus is based on decades of research that identified it, coming from
the ends of pipes and agricultural fields, as the main contributor to turning lakes green. These studies have led to fertilizer bans, new standards, and stricter point source requirements, all aimed at reducing P. But now, an emerging body of research suggests that a failure to include N in nutrient reduction has shifted the composition of many harmful algal blooms (HABs).
Researchers at Ohio State University’s Lake Erie station have been studying the organisms that make up the HABs responsible for contaminating drinking water sources. Unlike the phytoplankton present in early research that was able to take up as much N as needed, HABs in Lake Erie also contain a nitrogen-dependent toxic organism, microcystis. Studies indicate that N plays the critical role in forming microcystis and may be the responsible nutrient causing its toxicity.
Microcystis is also found in many Wisconsin blooms. With the recent attention on N and its role in bloom toxicity, we wonder, do you include N in yourwatershed inventory?
Get a more comprehensive look at your watershed by including the nitrogen package to your surface water monitoring program, downloading available public drinking water data to get a rough idea of nitrate hotspots, and connecting with your local public health departments to share data and identify overlapping goals.
To learn more about the role of nitrogen in HABs or about what might be headed toward your streams, visit our website:
The final, revised Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Standard 313, Waste Storage Facility was released in October, after extensive public review. The team considered and responded to over 150 comments from the public and included significant updates based on reviewers’ comments. The revised standard includes new criteria for facilities in the newly defined Sensitive Environmental Settings (SES) and an increased depth to subsurface saturation or bedrock under some liner types, among other changes, to align with national NRCS criteria and protect groundwater resources in Wisconsin.
DNR standard 1002, Site Evaluation for InfilrationThe final, revised Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Standard 1002, Site Evaluation for Infiltration was released in October. The revisions were made after the team considered over 70 comments from the public. Major changes included means to ensure high-quality soils data is collected on site. This is in response to documented cases and team professional experiences where inaccurate soils investigation led to substandard design or early device failure.
The biennial SOC survey received responses from 133 individuals, including non-governmental organizations, private sector, and all sectors of government. Standards that ranked most in need of revision, such as Channel Erosion Mat (DNR 1053), Proprietary Filtration Devices (DNR New), and Waste Transfer (NRCS 634), will be included among many others in the 2018-2019 SOC Work Plan. All responses were shared with relevant partners, including the State Interagency Training Committee, to continue improvements to team selection, collaboration among agencies, and follow-up training.
Respondents identified the invitation to participate (via teams, reviews, etc.) in the SOC process as extremely valuable to them, and identified several ways to improve input and buy-in. These suggestions will be used to adjust the team selection and offer additional means to provide input on revisions. To find out more, visit www.socwisconsin.org.
TurnIng Feedback Into Action
Sand Settling Lanes, Washington County
Submit your creative solutionsDon’t forget to check out the new Technical Photo Gallery at
www.wislandwatermedia.org, where you can share experiences, get ideas, and help solve problems for engineering in challenging settings. Have a creative
engineering solution to share? Submit photos and details!
See page 2 fortraining info.
on 313 and 1002 standards
North American NCF-Envirothon
How You can Support The Youth education Committee
1. Encourage your county to check the $55.00 dues box on your membership invoice to support the WI Envirothon.
2. Help expand the number of counties that donate items to our Silent Auction at WI Land+Water’s annual conference in March. All proceeds directly support our Youth Education programs. See page 3 for more details.
3. Vote on our Conservation Awareness posters at our upcoming annual conference.
4. Connect with a Youth Education committee member in your area to help expand the number of schools participating in our poster and speaking contests.
5. Sign up to volunteer at our speaking contest or WI Envirothon, as well as become a camp counselor at one of our two summer conservation camps.
Island City Academy at the 2017 North American NCF-Envirothon
Board of DirectorsLake Michigan
Ken Dolata | Oconto CountyChuck Wagner, Kewaunee County
Lake WinnebagoGreg Baneck, Vice Chair | Outagamie County
Patrick J. Laughrin | Calumet County
SoutheastAlan Barrows, Treasurer | Waukesha County
Monte Osterman | Racine County
SouthernKurt Calkins, Secretary | Columbia County
Dale Hood | Grant County
WesternBen Wojahn | Vernon County
Kathy Zeglin | Trempealeau County
West CentralChase Cummings | Pepin CountyRussel Rindsig | Barron County
Thank you to all who joined us at the Food, Land & Water Conference on October 16-17, 2017 at the Osthoff Resort on Elkhart Lake. Whether you were a member of the Steering Committee, a workgroup, or were new to the project at the conference, your engagement advanced the conversation about the future of agriculture and Wisconsin’s land and water resources.
Food, Land & WaterConference RecapToward a sustainable Wisconsin
The 165 participants at the conference poured over the goals, objectives, and strategies in the Food, Land and Water report, which is the result of almost two years of meetings, and offered reactions and priorities for action. Two big questions arose by the end of the conference:
1. How will the prioritized strategies outlined at the conference be implemented?
2. Will the project and its energy continue?
These next steps will start with a summary of the conference findings and a convening of the Steering Committee to begin development of an implementation plan.
The Food, Land and Water Conference and the report are not the end, but rather the beginning of the conversation on the ways forward to a vibrant agriculture and sustainable land and water resources. WI Land+Water is committed to continuing collaboration with partners to identify patrons to help begin the implementation of key strategies.
Above all, the Food, Land & Water project is a conduit for the suppressed and silent energy that surrounds the intermingled values of agriculture, land and water. That energy can take us all forward if we commit to a truly collaborative effort and always remember that we all aredependent upon food, land and water.
The report Food, Land and Water: Moving Forward is available online at wisconsinlandwater.org/programs/food-land-water-project
as well as additional project information and FLW resources.
2017 Summer Events
WI Land+Water Communications SpecialistElliot Meyer joined the WI Land+Water team as the new Communications Specialist this past October. Before moving to Madison, Elliot previously worked as the Press Assistant for Virginia GovernorTerry McAuliffe. In his free time, Elliot enjoys swimming, biking, and listening to podcasts (Fresh Airis his favorite).
High School campers visited a logging operation and learned about the history of logging and conservation in the North Woods at theWI Land+Water Conservation Camp held at the North Lakeland Discovery Center in June.
Participants learn about cover crops, stream bank restoration, and soil health at Windy Hill Ranch, hosted by the Shelliam Family.
Greenhouse and aquaponic systems are showcased at Lake Orchard Aquaponics in Sheboygan County.
Leroy Gehring from Stone House Dairy discusses his manure reception pit to the Southeastern Area Association tour. The visit also included a look at a new robotic milking barn, manure transfer system, and a barnyard runoff control system.
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Sand Lake Conservation CampOver 78 middle school campers learned about conservation issues such as aquatic macroinvertebrates, reptiles, amphibians and water pollution at the Sand Lake Conservation Camp at Camp Bird.
Know Your Conservation MemberRead the full interviews at wislandwatermedia.org
BobMott
Oneida County LCC Supervisor
What made you decide to run for county board?
Why do you think it is important to be active on the Conservation Committee?
What are Oneida County’s most valuable natural resources?
What is one interesting fact about Oneida County that few may know?
What does the future of conservation in Wisconsin look like to you?
I like being involved and I felt that furthering conservation ideas and protections at the county level could help my district, which covers much of eastern Oneida County, and its people, forests, and lakes.
The conservation committee protects county resources that generate millions of dollars in tourism for Oneida County. The economic argument is one. The “Do the Right Thing” argument is another. Through the services offered to Oneida County residents and non-resident land owners, the Oneida County Land and Water Conservation Department leads the way in conserving what so many people from around the United States come here to enjoy – our natural resources.
Oneida County has over 1,100 lakes, many miles of streams, thousands of acres of state and county forests. We have a wealth of natural resources that are being managed for the public. Our county forests are being harvested in a responsible way to provide jobs for our loggers and mills to provide wood products for the nation and world. Our waterways provide recreation for our citizens and those who visit. Last year, we had a $221,000,000 tourism industry in Oneida County. Conservation of and responsible use of those resources will ensure a continuance of that economic driver in Oneida County. Conservation and the economy are not enemies. The key is exercising responsibility through responsible governing.
Conservation in Wisconsin is under siege. Pro development and business first attitudes pervade the government leadership. Without strong leadership in organizations like Land+Water, the state’s conservation heritage is threatened. I am an optimist. I believe that the people of Wisconsin, when informed with science based knowledge, will protect what makes Wisconsin great.
Oneida County’s Conservation Department is heading a campaign to protect and increase pollination. We have planted pollinator gardens throughout the county, including on the courthouse grounds.
Patty bEnedictPortage County
Administrative Associate II
What previous experiences prepared you for conservation work?Although I had years of office experience, I was pretty green (no pun intended) where conservation is concerned. It was, and continues to be, a “learn as I go” process. I feel fortunate to have met awesome teachers and role models through WI Land+Water and its conservation partners!
What project are you most proud of?In early 2017, I was tasked with submitting an application for an AmeriCorps NCCC team to assist the Central Wisconsin Windshed Partnership (CWWP) and the Portage County Parks Department. The application was approved and we welcomed a team of eight AmeriCorps NCCC volunteers during the month of June. Under Parks Department supervision, the team hand picked garlic mustard at Standing Rocks County Park, and helped the CWWP with all aspects of windbreak and living snow fence establishment and maintenance. All but one team member were from the east coast, most from larger cities. They endured the ever-changing Wisconsin summer weather (mostly wet this year), ticks, and mosquitoes. There were introduced to, and loved, cheese curds and Point sodas! We were fortunate to have such an enthusiastic team, interested in the environment, and eager to do their part.
How would you improve the state of conservation in Wisconsin?It will take a lot more than me, but I believe outreach and education is one of the most valuable tools. Reaching out to every age is important, but it is especially critical to engage school age children. Plant the conservation seed and hopefully it spreads faster than an invasive species!
What’s one interesting fact about Portage County?Portage County is home to the Renew the Earth Center, headquarters for the Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA), which annually hosts the world’s largest and longest running renewable energy event in June. I’ve lived in Portage County for 30 years and just made my first visit this year. Put a tour of the MREA on your bucket list!
What is your favorite outdoor activity in your county?Doing fun runs – Point Bock Run, Central Waters River Run… the rewards at the end are worth it!
Patty (right) with her daughter, Casie, after proudly finishing the Minneapolis YMCA Mini Triathalon.
