Projects
Driftless Forest Network
In 2011 the Driftless Area initiative formed a partnership with the American Forestry Foundation, the Aldo Leopold Foundation, Wisconsin DNR and others. This consortium, under the leadership of the American Forest Foundation was recently approved for a forestry grant to focus resources in the Kickapoo Valley to work with private forest owners to expand forest canopy. This will be a three year project, and will involve the development a database of private forest landowners in the Wisconsin Driftless Area which will allow for micro-targeting to achieve the goals of the consortium. The program will feature the establishment of a forest advocate (peer-to-peer) network to assist private landowners improve their forests. A survey of forest owners in the targeted area has just been completed in the fall of 2011 and this information will be integrated into the database. In addition one and one-half full-time foresters will be employed to work with Wisconsin DNR foresters who have been allocated to the DFN program. We recently learned Kickapoo Valley Cooperative signed an agreement with the American Forest Foundation to share an additional forester who will work in the region. This project is seen as a national demonstration project and could have a significant impact on the way state DNR’s relate to private forest owners.
Driftless Area Land Conservation Initiative (DALCI)
The Driftless Area Initiative has joined with others to submit a proposal to the Natural Resource Conservation Service to create a new NRCS special initiative. The primary purpose of the initiative is to restore, improve and protect fish and wildlife habitat for the unique and diverse species found in the region’s working lands, forests, streams and prairies. Four resource objectives will be adopted: A) manage working lands for increased perennial cover; B) manage woodlands for increased diversity; C) restore working lands to prairie and manage existing grasslands and oak savanna habitats for improved bird and pollinator habitat; D) restore cold water trout streams and adjacent riparian areas of the region. The type of practices proposed have been proven effective, there are partners ready to help and there is a landowner base that has exhibited great interest in this proposal’s resource objectives.
Pressures from the expansion of row crop agriculture and associated soil erosion, loss of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) acres, lack of forest management, invasive species and riparian area neglect are significant threats to the region’s unique natural heritage. The additional challenges of climate change pose further threats to the soil resource and stream temperatures while increasing invasive species pressures. The DALCI presents a regional approach that will maintain and improve the area’s rich biodiversity.
Driftless Area Initiative to Increase and Promote Forest Habitat for Neo-tropical Migratory Birds in the Heart of the Upper Mississippi River Basin
The first funding DAI was able to acquire came from the Upper Mississippi River Forestry Partnership, a collaborative effort involving the US Forest Service and State Foresters from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Indiana, working to build a watershed-wide approach to forestry efforts in the Upper Mississippi River Basin. DAI, in cooperation with Northeast Iowa RC&D, Iowa DNR, the US Forest Service and other regional partners, coordinated efforts to identify regional management priorities for forest-dwelling neo-tropical migratory bird habitat in the Driftless Area. DAI then conducted a series of landowner workshops to share information on needed management practices with private woodland owners. The regional focus resulting from this effort has been used to identify Important Bird Areas of national and global significance, and to bridge gaps in communication and understanding between foresters and wildlife managers working in the unique multi-state Driftless Area.
DAI is working with partners to acquire funding and lay groundwork for a second phase of this project. Phase 2 of the Driftless Area Initiative to Increase and Promote Forest Habitat for Neotropical Migratory Birds in the Heart of the Upper Mississippi River Basin will engage foresters, wildlife biologists, woodland owners, forestry associations, and interested individuals in professional development workshops to help plan writers manage from a landscape bio-regional forest habitat perspective. Phase 2 of this project will improve regional coordination and consistency in managing habitat for migratory bird species while improving the health and sustainability of the forest resource in the Driftless Area.
Overall goals of the Driftless Area Initiative to Increase and Promote Forest Habitat for Neo-tropical Migratory Birds in the Heart of the Upper Mississippi River Basin are:
- Educate landowners about forestry issues that impact Neotropical migratory birds in the Driftless Area of the Upper Mississippi River Basin.
- Provide technical support for implementation of on the ground forestry cooperative projects that improve Neotropical migratory bird habitat in the Driftless Area of the Upper Mississippi River Basin.
- To assist landowners with obtaining financial assistance to implement forest management practices that benefit targeted bird species.
- Foster an integrated understanding of forestry management and Neo-tropical migratory bird Habitat Issues.
- Educate landowners and plan writers about landscape context and the importance of interior forest habitat to regional biodiversity.
- Provide multi-disciplinary perspectives on ornithology and woodland ecosystem management while focusing on development of economically sound, habitat appropriate management plans.
- Examine the role of forest regeneration in sustaining both healthy forests and interior forest bird habitat.
Lake Pepin Water Resource Protection: Agricultural Assessment & Conservation Security Preparedness Effort
The present-day Mississippi River was sculpted by mighty geologic forces unleashed over 10,000 years ago. Broad valleys carved out by the sudden drainage of Glacial Lake Agassiz to the northwest, and Glacial Lake Duluth to the northeast, still channel runoff through the Minnesota and St. Croix Rivers to the Mississippi. Lake Pepin was formed after the glacial torrent subsided, allowing sand discharged by the Chippewa River to settle, creating a natural dam across the Mississippi. Once considered mainly a conveyance for waste and commerce, the Mississippi today is prized for its aesthetic, ecological, and recreational values. Riverfront property has become prime real estate, and Lake Pepin is the most popular site for recreational boating on the Upper Mississippi River.
Today, the Mississippi River is flanked by an ever-expanding population. Both residential development and intensified agriculture contribute to increased runoff, sediment, and nutrients entering the river. Excess nutrients lead to dangerous algal blooms in the lake, and impair the recreational value of this resource. Silt is filling Lake Pepin in at an unnaturally fast rate. The lake will, eventually, become a marsh unable to support navigation or the tourism benefiting communities throughout the region. The Clean Water Act sets a Total Maximum Daily Load limit on pollution that can be contributed to navigable bodies of water in the United States. Currently, Lake Pepin is considered impaired for fecal coliform and a study on turbidity (total suspended solids/sediment) is underway. Many community development projects are on hold until these water quality impairments are addressed.
DAI, with the assistance of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, has convened and coordinated a diverse stakeholder group from MN and WI to address resource concerns in the multi-state Lake Pepin Watershed. Participants in the planning effort include local Soil and Water Conservation Districts, business owners, farmers, and state and federal agencies like DNR, USFWS, NRCS, and others. The partner group is actively working to educate and involve people who live and work in the watershed, and is delivering assistance to improve conservation practices.
DAI has begun implementation on two projects to immediately reduce run-off related water pollution in this watershed. Hiawatha Valley and River Country RC&D's have initiated on-the ground efforts to restore perennial vegetation to the landscape, and promote best management practices like contour strips, no-till/low-till farming, enrolling sensitive lands in set-aside programs like CRP, CREP, EQIP, and WHIP. Small-scale diversified farming operations involving livestock, grain/hay, and specialty crop production provide both positive environmental solutions, and an economic solution that helps maintain community vitality. DAI is working to address technical assistance backlogs, and to engage more farmers in assessments of their operations to help identify additional practices that can keep more soil on the land and improve the productivity of their farms. Economically competitive alternatives to current farming practices will play an important role in reducing sediment and nutrient runoff in the Lake Pepin Watershed.
Funding for this effort comes from a Federal Agriculture Appropriation promoted by Senator Kohl (D-WI) and Senator Dayton (D-MN). Additional funds were contributed by River Country, Hiawatha Valley, Northeast Iowa, Southwest Badger, Limestone Bluffs, and Blackhawk Hills RC&D's.
Midwest Biomass Conference
The Driftless Area Initiative recently hosted the Midwest Biomass Conference held in the Grand River Center November 16, 17, and 18, 2010. This event brought some of the top experts in biomass to Dubuque, Iowa for three days of conversations on this important topic. So what is biomass? Simply put it is the use of plant material, vegetation, or agricultural waste which is used as a fuel or energy source. We have all grown use to the term “energy crisis,” whether we experience it at the gas pump, in the monthly bill for natural gas or electricity, or by events such as the recent BP oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, or the devastation brought by Hurricane Katrina. Kelly Cain, PhD, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, who addressed the conference suggested that peak petroleum production has already occurred and by the year 2015 oil supply will fall short of demand by ten million barrels per day.
So this was an appropriate time for experts in biomass utilization, markets, and production to gather in Dubuque to discuss possible solutions. Erik Rund, Rund Farms International AGtivities shared how his organization is using Illinois farmland and harvesting Miscanthus (a large perennial grass) to produce energy crops which can compete economically with the corn and soybeans which were formerly grown there, giving farmers an alternative to traditional row cropping. Steve Flick the Chair of the Board of Directors of Show Me Energy in Missouri, a farmer owned cooperative with 400 plus member-farmers runs a cellulosic biomass facility which develops and processes energy crops and agricultural residues which is used at a local electric utility and for heating resident’s homes.
Steve Bertjens, Coordinator for Southwest Badger Resource Conservation and Development Council reported on the switchgrass demonstration and research project studying best practices for maximizing yields in the Driftless Area. Southwest Badger is partnered with Alliant Energy, the University of Wisconsin and the Driftless Area Initiative. These crops are attractive, not only because they provide an alternative energy source, but do not have to be replanted each spring, saving input (including fuel) costs. Because these crops are often perennial grasses they have extensive root systems which hold the soil in place all year long, preventing run-off and erosion, one of the chief causes of pollution in the Mississippi River and ultimately, the Gulf of Mexico. Additionally, their root systems capture carbon, reducing greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, resulting in a true win/win solution. The introduction and extensive use of these perennial grasses could have a significant positive impact on our environment.
Other presentations were made on the use of Algae as a fuel source (Dr. David Peterson, Community Synergies, LLC), Large Scale Electric Generation from Biomass (Rod Christian, Detroit Edison), School Community Partnerships using biomass fuels (Monti Holberg, Superintendent, Barron, WI School District), the use of woody biomass (Bill Berguson, University of Minnesota, Dr. Tricia Knoot, Iowa State University and Rusty Dramm (U.S. Forest Service Lab).
Pamela Porter, Midwest Office Director for Biomass Energy Resource Center (BERC) presented on the Wisconsin Fuels for Schools & Communities Program which conducted feasibility studies at ten school and community sites in Wisconsin which led to two pilot community-scale biomass heating programs. There were over forty-four such presentations by folks from universities, power companies, producer groups, government agencies, private energy companies, school districts and law firms. Tom Christiansen, Regional Conservationist—Central Division, United States Department of Agriculture/NRCS delivered the keynote address.
All this ties in well with the effort of the Dubuque mayor and city council to make sustainability a significant factor in the future direction of the city, reflected in the recent alliance with IBM making Dubuque one of the first “smarter, sustainable” cities in the U.S. Discovering and developing new and efficient ways to produce energy from non-petroleum products to reduce energy dependence and decrease our carbon footprint will be central to any conversation about sustainability. Dr. Cain said it is important that we “de-politicize the word ‘sustainability, which is not some new radical concept but merely a return to traditional American values.” In his view we must either lead in that direction or “risk irrelevance.”
Dubuque Mayor Roy Buol, who has been a leader in encouraging sustainability as a core value in our community and gained national attention in the process, is pleased with the direction in which the city is headed. “During my mayoral campaign in 2005, I shared my belief that “the next five years would define the next fifty for Dubuque!” By engaging citizens as partners, the “Sustainable Dubuque” model was created, and in 2010, we are poised to use regional biomass resources to help heat, power and amend soils in our community. Dubuque is now poised to turn our “waste to wealth” by using currently wasted natural resources in our efforts to develop a healthy, balanced, sustainable regional economy!”
Tim Baye, Professor of Business Development, University of Wisconsin Extension, commented, “I have participated in many conferences like this one and I have to tell you I am really impressed with the quality both of the presenters and participants. This is a very smart, engaged conference.”
Discussions are underway on plans to hold another conference next year.