By Bruce Ross, Executive Director
This article originally appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s February 2020 Volunteer Newsletter edition.
We need help identifying new habitat restoration projects
A gentleman who attended WWA’s Annual meeting approached me recently to say how much he enjoyed the event, and could he help WWA identify potential restoration projects? Hell yes, I responded!! At the annual meeting, Peter had reported that we have nearly 1.3 million acres of Wisconsin wetlands to retain and 180,000 acres to restore in the next 15 years! That’s a tall order!! Peter and I are just beginning to scope out what such a volunteer opportunity looks looks like, but with the new habitat strategy published by the Wisconsin inter-organization and -agency habitat team (derived from Flyway plans), we need help finding worthwhile projects. This will take us a little while to get off the ground, but it potentially will be a model for other future efforts. More to follow.
Ron Churchill, in green shirt, works at Rome Pond Wildlife Area on the purple loosestrife project. Ron has volunteered to help tell the WWA restoration story.
Likewise, a strong Adopt A Wildlife Area (AWA) program volunteer (Ron Churchill) raised his hand recently to help us do something else we haven’t done before – tell the video story of a restoration project from start to finish which will help us tell the WWA restoration story better. We will be looking to pair him up with Peter and a videographer to make that powerful message a reality a reality. Want to help?
All of these “new” volunteer opportunities have at least two things in common – WWA and WI Waterfowling will benefit – and we aren’t quite sure how to put it all together yet. But, if you can thrive in such a entrepreneurial environment, you might just have some fun and carve out a unique opportunity. Let me know at bruceross@wi.rr.com.