The idea of an organization like Gathering Waters first came about at the very first Wisconsin Land Trust Conference in 1988. About a dozen conservation organizations attended that conference and all agreed that a permanent statewide network serving land trusts should be created.

During the early 1990s, two more statewide conferences happened, organized by a loose network of several state land trusts working with the Wisconsin DNR and The Nature Conservancy. That same informal group authored a nonprofit conservation organization grant program as part of the Wisconsin DNR’s Stewardship Fund. These efforts helped make Wisconsin a leader in public support for private conservation action, but fell short of the original vision of the conservation leaders present at the 1988 conference.

In 1994, Governor Thompson, along with other legislators, introduced legislation to provide a grant to establish an organization to assist land trusts in Wisconsin. Gathering Waters was the recipient of that grant. Our organization was incorporated in June of 1994, receiving its tax-exempt status from the IRS in early 1995.

Today, Gathering Waters works to assist and build the capacity of the 40+ land trusts in the state, providing technical assistance, training, and other valuable services like GIS and the Land Consrervation Law Program established in 2022. As a statewide alliance, we serve as a unified voice for Wisconsin’s land trust community, we promote better public understanding and support for land trusts, and we encourage public policies that strengthen Wisconsin’s land and water conservation efforts.

View the timeline below to learn more about the important work Gathering Waters has done since its inception.