PADDLE RAISE #1

We requesting donations of $2,000 for our Land Acquisition Fund for 2021.   While we don’t know exactly which properties will ultimately be purchased, we are currently working to preserve a beautiful 3 acre ravine property in Fontana, a farm in the Hackmatack Wildlife Refuge, and an extension of the Bromley preserve that will protect approximately 40 acres more of their spectacular oak woodlands.   We hope to close on one or more of these properties in 2021 but we need your help.

______ $2,000 will buy approximately an acre of wetland in the Hackmatack Wildlife Refuge or a fifth of an acre of wooded upland in the Geneva Lake or Fox River Watershed.

PADDLE RAISE #2

We have been inspired by the large number of lakefront property owners in Walworth County who want to plant rain gardens or buffer strips as part of our Healthy Lakes grant program.  In fact, the demand is so high that our one staff person who handles these grants can no longer do it all alone.   We need a part-time staff person during the summer months to meet with these landowners and guide them in planting these gardens once they are funded by the DNR to help keep our lakes clean and unpolluted.  

________$1,500 will fund a part-time land steward for a month.   Help us fund this job for six months and we can establish new rain gardens and buffer strips on lakefront property throughout the County to help filter out manure, fertilizers, chemicals, and other pollutants. 

PADDLE RAISE #3

Our children will become the caretakers of Walworth County’s lakes and lands.  It is essential that they learn the importance of keeping our lakes clean and our land healthy.  Help us fund presentations by our staff at middle schools throughout the County each spring during Earth Week as well as conservation projects on school grounds.

_______$1,000 will cover the cost of three presentations at  Walworth County schools each spring as well as a conservation project to plant native plants and trees on school grounds.

PADDLE RAISE #4

We are also expanding our work on Geneva Lake through leadership of the Water Alliance for Preserving Geneva Lake.   One of our big success stories this year is working with farmers in the Geneva Lake watershed to plant cover crops that stop polluted runoff from farm fields during the winter and spring months.   While many more farmers want to plant these crops of radishes, rye or oats, many can’t afford the $25 per acre cost of seed.  The Alliance is starting a fund to give qualified farmers the money to buy these cover crop seeds and stop the runoff from farm fields that contains manure, fertilizers and other chemicals that reach our lakes.

__________$500 will provide seed money for 20 acres of cover crops.

PADDLE RAISE #5

Only 17 percent of the oak forests that dominated Walworth County before European settlement still remain.   Each oak tree provides habitat for 500 species and is one of the most beautiful trees on our landscape.   Help us continue to plant hundreds of new oak trees around the county each year to replace all of those that have been lost.

__________$250 will allow us to plant five three-year old oak trees on public lands throughout the county.

PADDLE RAISE #6

Once the Conservancy has purchased properties, we have to take care of them, as well as build public trails.   Increasingly, we are find Scout troops and student groups from local colleges who want to spend a day volunteering at one of our preserves to remove invasive species, cut trails and build boardwalks.   The Conservancy is establishing a long-term maintenance fund that will permanently ensure that the long-term needs of our nature preserves are addressed.  Giving $100 to the endowment fund will provide supplies for these work days, materials for boardwalks and other projects needed to keep our trails open and our nature preserves healthy.

____________$100 dollars will provide the supplies for one work day of 10 students on our preserves, including saws, gloves, safety glasses and snacks through our long-term stewardship fund.