Check-in for participants just arriving for the conference.

Connect with your people in similar roles, or with similar goals or conservation priorities over breakfast out. We’ll provide some recommendations of the best spots nearby.

Hear from a panel of land trust leaders about recent trends in the Wisconsin land trust community.

Land Stewardship Track

An essential session that demystifies the core components of a robust stewardship program. Whether you’re managing conservation easements or fee-owned properties, this workshop will walk you through the critical systems needed to meet Land Trust Standards and Practices and accreditation requirements. Deepen your understanding of why these systems matter for long-term conservation success. This session is perfect for new stewardship staff and seasoned land trust leaders looking to strengthen their organizational systems.

Communications and Fundraising Track

Every person on a land trust’s staff and board should play a role in fundraising, but not everyone has to add to the equation in the same way. The “Triple-A” model (created by Kaye Sprinkel Grace) provides a way to talk about each team member’s interests and competencies, and how to utilize these as part of an organization’s development team. Gain insights and tools to assess the mix of ambassadors, advocates, and askers on your board, and to identify where further training and recruitment could be helpful.

Conservation Planning Track

This is Part 1 of 2 GIS sessions. This session will provide an overview of the GIS resources offered by Gathering Waters and an orientation to using those resources. Learn what data you can access in the conservation geodatabase and how to put the data to work yourself. This session is great for both new users of the GIS database and those looking for a refresher.

Lunch will be served in the Wisconsin Masonic Center’s Small Dining Room.

Land Stewardship Track

The innovative approach, Buy-Protect-Sell, empowers land trusts to respond to unique, and sometimes urgent, conservation opportunities. Whether your land trust is faced with escalating land prices, challenging barriers to protecting working lands, or looking to expand your conservation impact, this session will provide practical insights into structuring deals, building funding partnerships, and managing risks. Drawing from successful examples across the state, get the knowledge you need to evaluate strategies to strengthen your conservation toolkit.

Communications and Fundraising Track

Land trust staff often juggle a lot of different responsibilities and priorities. This session will take a common-sense approach to walk you through the Land Trust Standards and Practices about financial records and basic internal controls. Understand practical methods to communicate financial information in meaningful ways to staff and board members. Get tips that will help you keep all the balls in the air. There is likely to be actual juggling!

Conservation Planning Track

This is Part 2 of 2 GIS sessions. This session will explore the decision support tool, which is a powerful interactive application intended to aid conservation planning efforts by putting a tremendous amount of data at your fingertips. Walk through the robust filtering capabilities to help you quickly zero in on particular geographies and conservation priorities. Test drive the tool with the expert guidance of Mike Koutnik, who builds and maintains this app for the Wisconsin land trust community. Both novices and power users are invited to attend.

Take a field trip to some of Groundswell Conservancy’s conservation easement and fee simple properties in the Black Earth Creek Valley. Hear from landowners, local decision makers, and land trust staff, then hike through this beautiful area (weather permitting).

This field trip is a chance to visit a really special place in Wisconsin. Black Earth Creek is a Class I trout stream known nationally for the quality of its fishing. It is rated as one of the top 100 trout streams in the nation by Trout Unlimited. The Black Earth Creek Valley also has a lot of high quality prime farmland and wetland areas that are characteristic of the valley floor. Learn more here.

After the field trip, return to the Wisconsin Masonic Center for a happy hour and dinner.

Get updates on the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, a recap of Lobby Day, information about the Land Conservation Leadership Awards, and more.

The fun doesn’t stop! Hang out at the Wisconsin Masonic Center for a game night and socializing.