July 17, 2026
By Tim Hundt
VERNON COUNTY, Wis. – Local conservation officials revealed recently that a new challenge arrived this spring when a highly invasive aquatic species known as the New Zealand Mud Snail was discovered in the pristine waters of the Seas Branch watershed.
In response the Vernon County Conservation and Education Committee approved an application for an $8,100 early detection and response grant through the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The county will partner with the West Fork Sportsman Club and the Coulee Region chapter of Trout Unlimited to fund and execute a plan to stop the spread of the tiny invaders.
County Conservationist David Hettenbach explained to the committee that an observant fisherman first spotted the prohibited snails above the Seas Branch Dam in mid May.
“We have got a lot of great anglers in the county that are passionate about their trout streams and so when they see something that they have not seen before this angler found something and reported it to the president of the Coulee Region Trout Unlimited chapter,” said Hettenbach. “He works for UW-La Crosse as well and as a scientist so he looked into what it was and this is an invasive species.”
Hettenbach noted that while the snails are small they pose a serious threat to the local ecosystem because they disrupt the food chain for native trout populations.
“I think that they eat a lot of vegetation that fish would normally eat and so they kind of can outcompete them,” said Hettenbach.
The snails are easily transported from one stream to another by hitching a ride on the boots and waders of people fishing. Because of this the primary focus of the grant funding will be to build 20 boot brush stations and install specific signage at DNR public fishing easements in the Seas Branch and priority sites along the West Fork Kickapoo River.
“The idea would be to minimize the spread and these boot brush stations and things the main way to do that is to have anglers clean their equipment between going because they are the ones that carry them from fishing site to fishing site,” said Hettenbach.
The initiative will also fund a social media and public education campaign along with specialized training for volunteers. Hettenbach noted that La Crosse County offered to send their aquatic invasive species staff to train local volunteers on protocols which is a state program for early detectors. Once trained the volunteers will be able to monitor local streams and enter any new discoveries directly into a state database.
Hettenbach praised the local conservation groups for stepping up to help the county tackle the issue. He emphasized that the required 25 percent funding match for the grant will be entirely covered by the West Fork Sportsman Club and Coulee Region Trout Unlimited.
“This would require no financial investment from the county,” said Hettenbach.
Supervisor Kevin Walleser praised the collaborative approach and noted that it is vital for the people using the streams to take ownership of the problem. Hettenbach agreed that local engagement is the only way the effort will succeed.
“We can not be out there and watch them and monitor them every day,” said Hettenbach. “We can not get them all and we can not make them do it but it is just to encourage that behavior.”
The battle against the mud snails comes at a time when the West Fork watershed is already under significant stress. Hettenbach told the committee that staff are currently struggling to keep water temperatures down in the West Fork Kickapoo River because the shallow water behind the breached Jersey Valley Dam is warming up quickly in the summer sun. To mitigate that heat the county is physically keeping the dam gates as wide open as possible to prevent water from pooling and heating up before it flows downstream.
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