By Sydney Widell – Coon Creek Community Watershed Council
Lake conservation groups across Wisconsin have a wide range of resources to turn to as they navigate the challenges that come with establishing their organizations, thanks to tools developed by University of Wisconsin Stevens Point Extension Lakes. But there are fewer resources available for communities organizing at a watershed scale.
In an effort to address that gap, UW Extension partnered with the non-profit Coon Creek Community Watershed Council (CCCWC) and faculty at University of Wisconsin Madison to meet the emerging needs of the state’s swiftly growing watershed conservation movement. The project is supported by the Wisconsin Idea Collaboration Grant, which seeks to develop relationships between UW Extension, UW-Madison faculty, and partners across the state.
The CCCWC presented a few of these resources during the Hill Country Watershed Alliance’s Joint Council Meeting at the Viroqua Eagle’s Club on Feb. 18. These resources include templates for defining board member roles, drafting articles of incorporation, and establishing organizational bylaws. This guidance and more is available on the Extension Lakes website.
More than 30 farmers, agency partners, university collaborators, and other members of the Alliance’s four member councils attended the event, despite the bitter cold.
These member councils and collaborator council, which include the CCCWC, Bad Axe Watershed Stewards, Tainter Creek Farmer Led Watershed Council, and the Rush Creek Watershed Conservation Council, have supported the Wisconsin Idea Collaboration project by providing feedback on tools developed by UW-Extension. They’ve also supported each other by sharing lessons they’ve learned as their organizations have grown. Gatherings like the Joint Council Meeting are critical to fostering these exchanges.
“The idea sharing among the different groups…has been a tremendous asset,” Bad Axe president Travis Klinkner told the room as the meeting closed. “It’s taken a lot of work to get where we are.”
Other presenters at Tuesday’s meeting included Vernon County Watershed Planner Samer Kharbush and producer Kent McClurg, who shared results from a season of soil testing in the Bad Axe Watershed; and Julia Gerlach and Rick Bieber, who presented on soil health projects underway at the Fields of Sinsinawa learning center.
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