As the service center for Wisconsin’s land trust community, we’re fortunate to have the opportunity to travel across the state, visit its special places, and work alongside Wisconsin’s most talented and passionate conservationists. What follows is a glimpse of a week in the life of Gathering Waters Conservancy…
Working with our Regional Partners to Strengthen Conservation in the Mississippi Blufflands
Although our mission is clearly focused on Wisconsin conservation, we often find that our work here is strengthened by working with partners at the regional and even national levels. One such example is our partnership with the Blufflands Alliance – a group of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, and Iowa land trusts working together to preserve the blufflands of the Mississippi River. We were present at their quarterly meeting in Galena, IL to explore how working together increases our collective capacity to protect more land in the blufflands.
Introducing GWC and the Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust to community leaders in Green Bay
At GWC we’re lucky to have an exemplary, committed board of directors that is always striving to advance our mission using their unique skills and connections. One such director is Randall Lawton, from De Pere, who has stated that his goal during his service on our board is to increase support for private land conservation in northeast Wisconsin. In an effort to do just that, he hosted a breakfast reception in Green Bay to introduce his friends and colleagues to GWC and NEWLT. In attendance were representatives from the local media, business owners, elected officials, and community leaders — all of whom now know more about their local land trust and how we’re working together to protect the special places in northeast Wisconsin.
Throwing out the First Pitch!
GWC had the unique opportunity to be the featured nonprofit at a Madison Mallards game – the popular summer collegiate baseball team. Not only did we introduce GWC and Wisconsin land trusts to ~1,000 new people, but we also got to throw out the first pitch!
Supporting our friends at the Northwoods Land Trust
The Northwoods Land Trusts’ annual meeting was held over the weekend at Minocqua Winter Park – the site of the largest ever conservation easement donated to a Wisconsin land trust. GWC was in attendance to show our support for the land trust and its record-breaking work, as well as to meet with their staff and board to discuss our upcoming work to help NWLT prepare for Land Trust Accreditation.
Delivering Capacity-Building Services to Tall Pines Conservancy in Wisconsin’s Lake Country
A central component of our Land Trust Excellence & Advancement Program (LEAP) is working one-on-one with land trusts to assess how they meet Land Trust Standards & Practices, the legal and technical guidelines
that guide land trust work. This week our Land Trust Program Director, along with her counterpart from the Midwest office of the Land Trust Alliance, visited with the staff and board of Tall Pines Conservancy to guide their assessment session. Next, they’ll deliver a set of recommendations and provide support to assist Tall Pines with fully implementing Land Trust Standards & Practices.
And we’re already looking forward to what next week holds!
