Wins Delivered for Many Participants.
Article author: Tricia Baker, guest writer and member of the Waukesha/Milwaukee County Chapter
Thanks to a genuine team effort, the Chaffee Creek Segment in Waushara County just got one-mile longer. Explore this section of Ice Age National Scenic Trail using summer’s extra daylight hours. And, while you saunter, ponder the collaboration that delivered key wins for so many people – including you!
Challenges
The story begins in 2015 with a beautiful lake, appropriately named Pleasant Lake. The lake, situated at the border of Waushara and Marquette counties, abutted a large 105-acre farm, which had been sold to a corporation. The farm’s new owners planned to clear-cut the land, add a high-capacity well, and add an irrigation system to ensure abundant production in the sandy soil.
This news dismayed the Pleasant Lake Management District, a group of homeowners dedicated to the preservation of Pleasant Lake’s natural assets. The District had previously struggled with maintaining lake water levels due to the existence of another local high-capacity well. They knew they needed to act aggressively to save the lake and the surrounding watershed.
Francie Rowe, president of the Pleasant Lake Management District, reached out to local land trusts hoping one of them would be able to acquire the land to prevent the well. This contact led Jim Welsh of the Groundswell Conservancy to bring Kevin Thusius, Senior Director of Land Conservation for the Ice Age Trail Alliance, into the conversation. At the same time, National Park Service staff were working on the Ice Age National Scenic Trail Corridor Plan in nearby Marquette County. Trail easements in this corner of Waushara County would help connect Trail corridor between the two counties. With all these interests aligning, Rowe and Thusius developed a multi-pronged land protection strategy.
Strategy
- Have the District purchase the 105-acres from the corporation, thereby stopping the construction of the high-capacity well.
- Have the Alliance purchase a 48-acre easement across the newly acquired District land for future Trail.
- Work with adjacent landowners to secure a second easement allowing for a road-to-road Trail access.
- Leverage partnerships with a keen interest in improving land and water to restore the 105 acres from fields to native prairie habitat.
- Leverage multiple funding sources within conservation-minded organizations to accomplish land protection goals.
Many Participants / Many Winners
Eight years in the making, this successful land protection strategy had lots of participants and winners. In 2021, the Alliance closed on the 48-acre easement, but not before bringing on its partners at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agency funds habitat restoration projects benefitting many species, including the endangered (since 1992) Karner blue butterfly. Waushara County’s sandy soil is perfect for growing wild lupine, the Karner blue host plant.
As a result, 105 acres of former soybean fields are transforming into native prairie including oak savanna. This change supports the Karner blue butterfly and other pollinators. Grassland birds including mallards, blue wing teal, grasshopper and vesper sparrows are finding a home and thriving on this restored land. Not only that, but homeowners along Pleasant Lake have begun to enjoy a cleaner lake.
“The Ice Age Trail Alliance is not just a trail organization – they are much more than that,” said Brendan Woodall, a Wisconsin Private Lands Biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “They bring everyone together to make magic happen that wildlife and residents will enjoy into the future!”
Rowe and Thusius devised a powerful strategy that brought together many players who rallied around a shared vision. This included the Sitkiewicz family who readily embraced the project goals. As a result, they donated a Trail easement in honor of their parents, Donald and Marion. This strip of land allowed an important road-to-road connection for the Trail.
Finally, at the end of May, a brand-new one-mile portion of the of Ice Age Trail was blazed on the ground; winding its way from Czech Drive to 3rd Avenue in Waushara County. A new parking lot on 3rd Avenue also marks the now-relocated northern bifurcation point of the Trail.
Volunteers from Waushara and Marquette counties worked on this section during two Alliance staff-supported workdays and a handful of chapter-led workdays. Fresh Start high school students also lent a hand. Jeff Frazer, Marquette County Chapter Coordinator, volunteers with them, teaching construction skills, while they build Habitat for Humanity homes. Now, they’ve added trailbuilding to their list of talents!
Funding Partners Made Effort Possible
This project came together by leveraging strategic partners who contributed ideas, effort and importantly, funding. Those partners included:
- The State’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program
- Waushara County Land Conservation Department
- Anonymous volunteer donation (to fund the segment’s parking lot)
- Great Lakes Restoration Initiative
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program
- Ducks Unlimited – North American Wetland Conservation Act
- Golden Sands RC&D
- Community Foundation of Central Wisconsin
- Ice Age Trail Alliance donors who supported the Pleasant Lake fundraising efforts.
Tricia Baker hails from Summit, Wis. She’s spent her career in business and marketing and started her own marketing firm, Baker Creative/Consulting. She serves on the Boards of an ad agency and a Milwaukee-based non-profit. In her free time, Tricia is hiking all segments of the Ice Age Trail, along with her husband Brian.
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