By Topf Wells

You’ll read and hear a lot about our Spring Fair Fundraiser. Great, great fun but some of you might wonder what we do with the money?

Some recent examples:

• $3,750 for a DNR summer intern to help complete stream surveys (see the article in this newsletter).
• $500 for native grass seed for a DNR easement on Conley Lewis Creek. As the DNR and we prepared for a work day, the Fish Biologist convinced the landowners to convert a 3.2 acre streamside area from row crops to a buffer with native vegetation. We’ll buy a variety of native grass seeds for the 500 and our Nohr friends will provide an excellent mix of native wildflowers. The results will be less runoff, more infiltration, less pesticides in the creek, less erosion and more bugs in the stream.
• $2,500 for expanded and improved water quality monitoring on Black Earth Creek. We became a member of a group of local governments and conservation organizations to enable the USGS to improve round the clock monitoring of the trout water on BEC. The DNR and others will receive immediate notification if certain problems arise, like a dangerous change in water chemistry.
• $3,000 to help the Nohr Chapter restore a headwater stretch of the Blue River; one of two big projects we’ve supported on the Blue River this year.
• $1,000 to help The Prairie Enthusiasts transform 10 acres of row crops and sediment into a wetland within a few feet of the Williams Barneveld Branch. We held a work day on the creek with TPE two years ago and saw how much that wetland would benefit the creek.

We have some requests pending, which we’re still researching. The DNR and Dane County might need about 4K to supply material for a huge restoration on the West Branch of the Sugar River. Another donation of that amount would  help the DNR buy a mower to improve access and vegetation along trout stream easements (and perhaps better control wild parsnip along some streams). The DNR and TU DARE will soon request a donation for the DNR’s stream brushing crew works on many trout streams in our area throughout the winter.