Gathering Waters Conservancy is working with
Wisconsin Public Television to develop a series of television
segments on land trusts. Featured on the television show In
Wisconsin, which airs on WPT Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. and Sundays
at noon, the segments are also available for viewing online.
Building the Ice Age Trail
This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of our state’s
Ice Age Trail and to celebrate, In Wisconsin will air
a series of reports on this state treasure. The hiking trail follows
the leading edge of the last glacier that covered the state some
15,000 years ago. The trail, one of only eight National Scenic
Trails in the entire country, is a work in progress. Producer JoAnne
Garrett’s
first report profiles some of the volunteers who make up the Mobile
Skills Crews, work groups that lovingly build this top-notch trail,
crafted completely with hand tools. What is it about the trail
that compels these volunteers to give up their weekends to haul
dirt and dig out this footpath? Garrett travels to Lincoln County
to one of the most isolated and beautiful sections of our state
to talk to some of the volunteers building Wisconsin’s Ice
Age Trail. Learn more »
Watch Building the Ice Age Trail Show on Real Player
Rudolph Lake Land Trust
Wisconsin's Northwoods are under increasing pressure from developers. Land prices are soaring and some fear that what makes the North so wonderful may be lost. So imagine the surprise when a tourist couple from Chicago plays a major role in saving a 325 acre parcel from development in Vilas County. What did they do? And how might it prove to be a model for other communities in Wisconsin? Join us for this story, part of IN WISCONSIN continuing series on the role of land trusts in our state.
Watch Rudolph Lake Land
Trust Show on Real Player
Read Show
Transcript
Wild River Legacy Forest
101 square miles, that’s the size of the newly created
Wild Rivers Legacy Forest in northeast Wisconsin. The forest is
larger than the city of Milwaukee and within the forest’s
borders are 48 lakes and ponds, and 70 miles of rivers and streams
including sections of the Pine and Popple rivers, two of Wisconsin’s
wildest. It is a beautiful place and the story of how this forest
was saved from development is a chronicle of the state’s
largest land conservation project to date. So how did it happen?
How did a Wisconsin land trust broker this deal that saved 64,000
acres of prime timberland and pristine waters? Join us, for a look
at the fascinating twists and turns that garnered this wonderful
gift for Wisconsin. Take a look at a new state treasure that’s
open to hiking, hunting, and recreation and that still offers logging
jobs and commerce for the local community.
Watch Land
Trust Wild River Legacy Forest Show on Real Player
Door County Land
Trust
A group of business people and residents in Door County created
a small, non-profit land trust with the goal of purchasing and
preserving natural areas. One of the projects involved a 30-acre
area in Ephraim, called the Anderson Pond. Through community
action and donations, from residents like artist Charles Peterson,
the Door County Land Trust was able to save this piece of environmental
history.
Watch Land
Trust Door County Show on Real Player
Bayfield Regional
Conservancy
Rick and Janet Dale, who moved to Bayfield County more than thirty-five
years ago with very little money and very big dreams. They wanted
to raise their family in a rural setting and start a fruit farm.
They succeeded and their Highland Valley Farm is well-known in
the Bayfield County area. But the Dales were beset by a problem
that is common to many farmers: all their money was tied up in
their farm. In order to get access to the wealth they had built,
they would be forced to sell the land to developers and the farm
they worked so hard to build would be divided into lots and lost.
Such an outcome was unbearable to them. The Dales found a solution:
guided by their local land trust, the Bayfield Regional Trust,
the Dales chose to sell the development rights to their farm.
They put a conservation easement on their deed which permanently
protects the farm from being subdivided into separate lots. The
land will stay as a green space or a working farm. In return,
the Dales received a sum of money which will them a more financially
secure future and the peace of mind that their farm is protected.
Watch
Land Trust Bayfield Show on Real Player
Read Show
Transcript
West Wisconsin Land
Trust
Sally Lewis still lives on the family farm in Chippewa County
that was her childhood home. Her parents, Thomas and Doris Lewis,
bought the dairy farm decades ago and lived on the land until
they passed away. As the executor of her parents’ estate,
Lewis had an important responsibility. She had to decide how
she could develop the land in a way that still met her parents’ desire
to keep the farm intact and preserve the wild areas that are
part of the property. Lewis found a solution by working with
her local land trust, the West Wisconsin Land Trust, to place
a conservation easement on the property. Find out how Sally Lewis
was able to honor her parents’ wishes to preserve their
farm and provide for some development of the property.
Watch Land
Trust Chippewa County Show on Real Player
Read
Show Transcript
The Nature Conservancy
and the Brule River
For Bill Rogers of Superior, the Bois Brule River in Douglas
County has been a second home. His grandmother bought a cabin
on the river in 1949 and to this day, the Brule remains an
important part of his life. Five U.S. Presidents have visited
the Brule, including Calvin Coolidge, who made it the site
of his summer White House. How has this beautiful piece of
history stayed so pristine? The Brule is protected from development
by a series of conservation easements negotiated by a local
land trust; The Nature Conservancy. By working together, property
owners like Rogers’ mother, were able to protect a large
block of riverfront that preserves their view and provides the
public an opportunity to explore one of the state’s most
pristine rivers.
Watch
Land Trust Brule Show on Real Player
Read Show
Transcript
River Revitalization
Foundation and the Milwaukee River Cleanup
The morning comes early for Milwaukee high school students who signed up with
the River Revitalization Foundation. They’re reporting for a summer job
that will not only benefit their bank balance, but benefit the environment for
decades to come. The students are restoring native plants a few miles north of
downtown. In turn, they’re cleaning up the water and improving habitat
for animals along the shoreline of the Milwaukee River. The students also helped
build a riverside trail that allows users of all abilities to access this natural
area. The benefits of their work will multiply over time… improving water
quality, increasing diversity of plants and animals and inviting more people
to visit this special place in the heart of the city.
Watch Milwaukee
River Cleanup Show on Real Player
No compilation DVD of
the land trust segments is available at this time.
Gathering Waters Conservancy is also working
with Wisconsin Public Television to develop a series of television
segments on Stewardship protected properties. Check back
in Fall 2008 for more information.
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