Ripple effects: How your support stimulates investments in wetlands

You want to protect and restore wetlands and watersheds across Wisconsin, but you know you can’t do it alone. You know that you are more powerful when you come together with others who share your passion by joining Wisconsin Wetlands Association.

With your support, WWA works hard for wetlands all across Wisconsin. Your support allows us the opportunity to take time to get to know a local landscape, its people, and its problems; the chance to understand and decide how to effectively address barriers to meaningful wetland conservation action; the time to review the science and relevant policies; and the time to evaluate which ideas and opportunities are ripe for action. Your support makes this critical project “germination period” possible.

For example, this past year, your support enabled us to build political and support for an appropriation for wetland restoration demonstration in Ashland County. Read more here.

Your support also ensures that our efforts for wetland conservation grow and reach well beyond WWA, because we can’t do what needs to be done for Wisconsin’s wetlands and watersheds all by ourselves, either. Just as dropping a pebble in a pond creates ripples that grow larger and reach far, your support ensures the same for WWA’s efforts for wetland conservation.

A frequent barrier in our work is local partner capacity, so WWA frequently works to build local expertise and increase public and private investments in local wetland conservation. In some cases, this means we’re seeking and securing grants to support not just our own work, but also the collaborative work of our partners. In the last year alone, your contributions helped us generate more than half a million dollars in new public and private investments in local wetland conservation work. A few recent examples your support has made possible:

A $50,000 award from The Brico Fund to increase tribal engagement in local hazard mitigation planning work; to promote wetland-focused climate adaptation strategies in collaboration with the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science (NIACS); and to help Ashland County implement climate-informed wetland restoration projects. NIACS has committed $25,000 in project match.
A $25,000 award from the Catalyst Fund to help hire a local coordinator for the Lake Superior Collaborative. The Lake Superior Collaborative coordinates protection and restoration efforts in Wisconsin’s portion of the Lake Superior Basin. It is composed of governmental agencies (federal, state, tribal, and local), academic institutions, and non-governmental organizations (including WWA) that work in or near Wisconsin’s Lake Superior Basin. WWA will pass these funds to UW-Extension, which will house the position and provide another $25,000 in match for the first year.
A $299,000 award from the US EPA to the Village of Plover to support hydrologic engineering, landowner outreach, and restoration planning for the Little Plover River Watershed Enhancement Project. This award will also support the export of project methods and exploratory work to build similar partnerships in at least two other Central Wisconsin communities. The Village of Plover and Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers committed an additional $100,000 in local match.

Thank you for making this critical project development and partner support possible—for generating these wonderful ripples. We—and our partners—are grateful.

Thanks to these funders and partners: