Last year, Gathering Waters celebrated our 30th anniversary. Over the past three decades, Wisconsin’s land trust community has transformed—growing from a dozen organizations at our founding to over 40 today. We are honored to have been on this journey alongside dedicated, passionate individuals who care deeply about protecting Wisconsin’s land, water, wildlife, and way of life.
As a statewide alliance, Gathering Waters supports Wisconsin’s 40+ land trusts through our membership program. Our member land trusts make a critical difference in protecting Wisconsin’s special places. Together, we can accelerate the pace and scale of land conservation, adapt to emerging challenges, and defend against threats to lasting land conservation.
In 2025, our priorities include:
- Training & peer networking: Building capacity for lasting land conservation is always at the forefront of our priorities. In 2025, we are excited to bring back the Wisconsin Land Trust Conference on March 13-14. We will also continue to host monthly virtual peer group meetings for executive directors, land & stewardship staff, and marketing & development staff throughout the year.
- Advocacy campaign to renew the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program: The Wisconsin Supreme Court decision in July 2024 abolished anonymous legislative objections to Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program grants. Our next challenge will be convincing the Legislature to renew funding for this popular and vital program in the 2025 state budget debate. We are implementing a statewide advocacy campaign to make this happen. New for 2025, we’re planning our first-ever Knowles-Nelson Lobby Day on March 12! We hope you’ll consider joining us!
- Legal expertise and assistance: The Land Conservation Law Program will continue to offer legal services directly to Wisconsin land trusts. This innovative program has two main objectives: 1) to deliver education and training to attorneys across the state in order to broaden a community of legal practice available to support land trusts and landowners in land conservation transactions, and 2) to provide legal services directly to Wisconsin land trusts.
Thank you to our member land trusts for your contributions and commitment to land conservation in Wisconsin.
Learn more about Land Trust Membership and consider joining our community if your organization is not already a member!
For information on these initiatives, or questions about membership, contact Mike Carlson.
