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Riverway Board hears about map, water trail and conservation grazing
Lower Wisconsin River
Riverway Board meets in  Avoca
LWSRB board members are seen in deliberations at their most recent meeting, held at the Avoca Village Hall. Board and staff present, clockwise from left, include Lara Czajkowski-Higgins, Meredith Beck-man, Ritchie Brown, Mark Cupp, Steve Wetter, Dan Hillberry and Kim Cates. Board president Gigi LaBudde was absent due to an illness.

AVOCA - About 20 citizens and DNR staff attended the meeting of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board (LWSRB) at the Avoca Village Hall on Thursday, Nov. 10.

The meeting took place on what many jokingly referred to as “the last day of summer,” with a morning high temperatures  of 70 degrees, and the overnight low projected at 25 degrees. A cold front produced copious quantities of rainfall, which was heavy at times.

In his LWSRB Executive Director’s Report, Mark Cupp told the board about a meeting he had recently held at the Riverway Board’s office in Muscoda. At that meeting in late October, a large number of citizens had shown up to share information, ideas and feedback regarding a Cultural and Heritage Map of the Lower Wisconsin River. The map is the senior project of UW-Madison geography student Christina Dennis, and her advisor, Professor Bill Gartner.

“People came to the meeting, and brought ideas and items of local history,” Cupp reported. “This stimulated many conversations about the Riverway’s history and pre-history.”

Cupp said the feedback will be incorporated before the final version of the map is released. He said Dr. Gartner also plans to meeting with Bill Quackenbush of the Ho-Chunk Nation to review the map and obtain his input. The final version of the map will be available digitally through the LWSRB and Friends of the Lower Wisconsin River (FLOW) websites, and a limited print version will also be made available if funding can be secured for printing.

Water trail project

Cupp also reported about a meeting he’d recently attended in Wausau. There, he met with a group of citizens that is working on a ‘Great Pinery Heritage Trail’ project for the Upper Wisconsin River. The vision is for use of the riparian corridor in the upper reaches of the Wisconsin River for a canoe/kayak trail, with improved boat landings that are ADA compliant.

“This effort is being led by a passionate individual, inspired by his time spent hiking in Europe,” Cupp said. “The idea has been well-received up there, and is a long-term project.”

Cupp said he had encouraged the group to focus on the economic development aspect of the project in order to enlist the support and funding the group will need for the project. He said he’d suggested they reach out to FLOW about the river safety and education aspects of the project, and also to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve Management Board, for their model of integrated management with the Ho-Chunk nation. He also encouraged them to be in contact with native people in the area, and legislators around the state.

“I’ve agreed to sit in on their meetings via Zoom in an advisory capacity,” Cupp said. “There will be more meetings about this project in the future.”

Conservation grazing

Joe Childs, who recently took the position of Community Engagement Coordinator with Crawford Stewardship Project, introduced himself and addressed the board.

“Have you ever thought of using conservation grazing in the management plan for public lands in the Riverway?” Childs asked. “It would be an effective way to make more lasting improvements on the landscape and avoid the use of chemical treatments to control invasive species.”

Cupp responded that the board has heard presentations from people who offer goats for grazing on public lands in the past. He said that in responding to this question, he would defer to the DNR employees present.

“There is one property in the Riverway in Sauk County where grazing is employed as part of the management plan,” Tower Hill State Park Manager Jesse Kellogg replied.

LWSRB board member from Crawford County, Lara Czajkowski asked what the  pros and cons of conservation grazing as a management tool were. She said that she and her sister were battling invasive species on their land, and looking for ways to reduce use of agricultural chemicals, which she speculated may have contributed to her late father’s health problems.

“With any management tool we employ, there are always pros and cons,” DNR Forester Nick Morehouse said. “One issue with use of conservation grazing is fencing and access to water, and how grazing may impact citizen access to public lands.”

LWSRB board member Steve Wetter asked Childs about what kind of stocking density is required when using conservation grazing as a management tool. Childs responded that there are different schools of thought on the topic, but that he personally recommends the highest stocking density possible for short periods of time.

Permit actions

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has requested several permit extensions and two new management permit applications.  The executive director’s recommendation was for issuance of two-year extensions with retention of the original permit conditions and approval of the new management permit applications with standard conditions. The board approved all of the extensions to existing DNR permits, as well as new permit applications.

The DNR applicants for wildlife management activities are Travis Anderson and Savanna Hartman, DNR Biologists, and for the forestry activities, Nick Morehouse, DNR Forester.

Anderson’s extension requests were for invasive species control and habitat development in the Wyoming Bluff Unit in Sauk County; in the Mazomanie Unit in Dane County; in the Bakkens Pond Unit in Sauk County; and in the Avoca Unit in Iowa County.

“Most of these permits have multiple extensions because the battle against invasive species is an ongoing problem,” Anderson explained. “Sometimes it seems that no sooner do we complete a project, than it is time to turn around and start over.”

He said that the work will be accomplished with loppers, chainsaws, heavy equipment, and some use of agricultural chemicals. In the Avoca Unit, they are working on barrens restoration. In the Mazomanie Unit, they are working on savanna and barrens restoration, which he said is a ‘disturbance dependent’ habitat. In the Bakkens Pond Unit, they are working on barrens and prairie restoration.

Hartman’s two new permits call for work in the Blue River Unit in Grant County, and the Jordahl Unit in Richland County.

Morehouse’s extensions call for two timber harvests in the Town of Wyoming in Iowa County.

“Part of our goals for these properties is elimination of red pine,” Morehouse explained. “Riverway properties are at the southern edge of this species’ range, and with more warming, the trees are increasingly vulnerable to disease and pests.”

Prairie Enthusiasts

Cupp reported that Jack Kussmaul, on behalf of Prairie Enthusiasts, has requested a timber harvest permit at section 36, Town of Millville, in Grant County. The work is intended to enhance prairie/oak savanna restoration.

A field inspection was conducted by Cupp in conjunction with previous activity at the site.  The activity will occur on the backside of the bluff, facing County C, not visible from the Wisconsin River during leaf-on conditions. 

Plans call for selective harvest of merchantable hardwoods in the Resource Management Zone, including one dead ash, one elm, five basswood, five white oak (one dead, four compromised), three red oak (one dead, one compromised, one competing with healthy white oaks), one maple, and four black cherry.  No new roads will be constructed.  Activity will occur when the ground is frozen or dry, and the leaves are off the deciduous trees.

Cupp’s recommendation was for issuance of a general permit with standard conditions for a two-year period, and the board voted to issue the permit. Standard conditions include:

• the harvest shall be limited to areas not visible from the Wisconsin River during leaf-on conditions;

• the landowner or his/her agent shall notify the LWSRB within 10 working days upon completion of the harvest and, if necessary, the LWSRB shall conduct a post-harvest field inspection; and,

• the LWSRB shall review modification of the plans, as submitted, for compliance with the applicable performance standards.

Standard conditions

As a point of education and information, Cupp shared what the standard conditions for the management permits are:

• no existing structure(s) shall become visible from the river as a result of the activity;

• the LWSRB shall approve of any modification to the plans, as submitted; and,

• the landowner or his/her agent shall notify the LWSRB upon initiation and completion of the activity.

Cupp also shared what the standard conditions for timber harvest permits are:

• in the Bluff Zone and Riverview Zone, all trees selected for harvest shall be appropriately marked and reviewed by the LWSRB for compliance with the applicable performance standards prior to initiation of the harvest;

• in the Bluff and Riverview Zone, the harvest shall be limited to the times when the ground is frozen or dry and the leaves are off the deciduous trees;

• the LWSRB shall review the location and design of all new logging roads, if any, in the Bluff Zone and Riverview Zone;

• the new logging roads, if any, shall comply with the applicable performance standards regarding grade and erosion control and shall be re-seeded upon completion of the harvest;

• the LWSRB shall review the location and design of all small regeneration cuts, if any, in the Riverview Zone to assure compliance with the applicable performance standards;

• the Bluff Zone and Riverview Zone shall be delineated prior to initiation of the harvest, if necessary;

• the landowner or his/her agent shall notify the LWSRB within 10 working days upon completion of the harvest and, if necessary, the LWSRB shall conduct a post-harvest field inspection; and,

• the LWSRB shall review modification of the plans, as submitted, for compliance with the applicable performance standards.