Please arrive early – a meeting so action-packed it starts at 6:30!

The last TU meeting until September is on Tuesday, May 14, at Schwoegler’s on Grand Canyon Drive with dinner and drinks available from 5:30 p.m. on.

BUT THE BUSINESS MEETING AND SPEAKERS WILL START AT 6:30 INSTEAD OF 7.

We have a full, worthwhile, and fun agenda::

• Elections for the SWTU Board of Directors (see separate article for candidates)
• Other business such as work days and PGT
• Report on another successful Spring Fair Fundraiser (thanks to everyone who helped and contributed — we will share MUCH MORE about it in the June newsletter)
• A brief presentation by Wade Moder of the Dane County UW Extension Office on stream monitoring in SW Dane County
• Nate Nye, the DNR fish biologist for Columbia and Sauk Counties and our featured speaker, on trout fishing opportunities in his area.

See below for more details on all these speakers and topics.
And please be sure to arrive by 6:30.

First presentation: Western Dane County Trout Streams Need Our Attention

The DNR has prioritized a list SW Dane County stream sites in need of volunteers to help collect data through the Water Action Volunteers (WAV) program. After a short training, volunteers help collect monthly data during the spring and summer including water temperature, water clarity, dissolved oxygen, stream flow and biotic index. No experience is necessary, and all data is combined with professionally-collected data to inform water quality assessment and improvement projects in Wisconsin. Here is a map of the prioritized stream sites: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=17JjRr855nOG8jPjRWOUn3b9hWZD-CZk&ll=43.179680046839%2C-89.78451000832699&z=14

Wade Moder, the Natural Resources Educator in the Dane County UW-Extension Office, coordinates this effort. He’ll explain the program and ask for volunteers at our May meeting.

In his role, Wade offers support to community organizations, spearheads educational programs, and raises awareness about Dane County’s natural resources and conservation initiatives. Before joining Extension, Wade served as the executive director of the non-profit Upper Sugar River Watershed Association (USRWA) for nine years. He continues to collaborate with a farmer-led coalition he played a pivotal role in founding, known as Farmers for the Upper Sugar River. Wade has experience in developing and leading community science programs, strategic planning, watershed management, invasive species control, and native prairie restoration.

(It should be noted that in Wade’s capacity with the USRWA, he was the most resolute and well informed champion of Badger Mill Creek as the USRWA, SWTU and others have tried to protect that creek from the Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District. He’ll continue as a great friend of Dane County trout streams in his new position.)

Second presentation: Insights on local trout fishing

Nate Nye, the DNR fish biologist for Columbia and Sauk Counties, will be our featured speaker at the May meeting. Nate will offer some information on trout fishing in his area. Many of our members now focus on Driftless streams but some of Nate’s streams are well worth the time and much closer than Viroqua.

Nate’s assessments of the trout watersheds in his area are superb. He is a clear, concise writer and has excellent observations and recommendations for every stream he has surveyed. He has a knack for finding streams, some hitherto unknown, full of wild brook trout.

He’s been a great friend of SWTU. When COVID hit, he created two videos we shared with our members and his research was vital to our partnering with other TU chapters and conservation organizations to purchase the acres on Dell Creek.

Some personal background from Nate: I grew up on a small farm in southern Michigan, and attended Michigan State University, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Management in 2002. Following graduation, I worked as a research technician at MSU for a number of years on Great Lakes trout, salmon, and whitefish projects. Also during that time I completed a number of graduate-level fisheries courses. From late 2008 to early 2012 I worked as the Big Rivers Assistant Fisheries Biologist with the Indiana DNR, focusing on river species like paddlefish, shovelnose sturgeon, sauger, and catfish. In April 2012, I moved to Wisconsin and took up my current position as the Fisheries Biologist covering Columbia and Sauk counties, based in the Poynette field office. After living much of my life in areas of the Midwest that were nearly devoid of trout, my current position offers me the great opportunity to study and enjoy the vast trout resources available across much of southern Wisconsin, and for that I am truly grateful. I currently live in Green Lake, Wisconsin with my wife Ann and our dog and cat.

The May meeting is on May 14 at Schwoegler’s on Grand Canyon Drive. Dinner and drinks will be available at 5:30 p.m. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE BUSINESS MEETING WILL START AT 6:30 WITH NATE’S PRESENTATION STARTING ABOUT 7:15.

Please join us at Schwoegler’s on Grand Canyon Drive on Madison’s West Side on Tuesday, April 9. Dinner and drinks available at 5:30 p.m. with elections and presentation starting at 6:30.

Schwoegler’s Lanes, 444 Grand Canyon Dr., Madison, WI 53719