| For the latest on VSN activities go to our News Section.
Stewardship and Education
We collaborate with local groups and agencies to promote field days and educational workshops for natural resource management and outreach education. We organized a Kickapoo River Cleanup. Our newsletter, Kickapoo Visions, is published twice a year and is distributed to watershed residents. For new or perspective landowners in the valley, we have recently published Owning Rural Lands. We provide other online resources and many resources available at our office.
Comprehensive Planning
We work to encourage local involvement in planning and creating a vision for the future of the area. As part of these efforts we conducted Kickapoo Conversations, a community wide visioning exercise. For more information visit our Comprehensive Planning page.
Water Quality Monitoring
The Kickapoo Citizen Water Monitors actively record baseline data at 14 sites along the tributaries and the main stem of the Kickapoo River. We follow the statewide guidelines of the Water Action Volunteers. In 2004 we partnered with the Monroe County Land Conservation Department, Vernon County Land and Water Conservation Department and the DNR to begin bacteria sampling in the Kickapoo.
Biological Inventories
We are
currently conducting a survey of rural landowners to collect land use and natural resource data to be compiled into a GIS mapping database that will be accessible for comprehensive planning purposes.
VSN is also involved in:
- Collaborating with groups working in such areas as: sustainable forestry, organic and alternative agriculture
- Raising awareness of the need to control invasive species threatening our forests and waterways
- Working with student organizations to take on projects that demonstrate good stewardship of our resources
- Continuing working with others to identify mechanisms that will serve to support the development of low-impact tourism
- Facilitating the formation of a citizens working group to develop methods and partnerships for land preservation programs
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