The Oconto County Land Conservation Department received a $10,000 donation for its work to conserve wetlands and improve fish habitat in Little Suamico and Pensaukee.
The Nature Conservancy presented the donation as a sign of its appreciation to department head Ken Dolata and technicians Chad Trudell and Travis Buckley.
“The Land Conservation Division staff provided expert design/engineering services, secured landowner permission and local municipality support, obtained necessary permits, and orchestrated and oversaw construction work with the county Highway Department and local contractors,” wrote Nicole Van Heiden, director of conservation of the Green Bay Watershed, in a letter from the Sturgeon Bay office of Nature Conservancy. “Travis Buckley in particular went above and beyond to make these projects a success. The County Land Conservation Division’s in-kind services were paramount in keeping project budgets low.”
According to Van Heiden, the conservation projects improved fish passage for northern pike and other species, improved in-stream habitat, and restored stream health.
The staff gained recognition for three projects. The first was completed last fall on a tributary of the Pensaukee River at Vermeiron Road in Pensaukee. It added a properly sized and placed culvert for northern pike to pass through.
A second project, at a drainage ditch on a farm in Pensaukee, will take cropland out of production and add a natural, meandering waterway and river banks. The project is under way.
A third project, scheduled to be completed this summer, will add a culvert to Allen Road in Little Suamico. The culvert will return a tributary of the Little Suamico River to its natural stream bed to provide better passage for fish. The stream was rerouted years ago when road construction occurred.
Dolata said Nature Conservancy provides funding for the projects, while the Land Conservation staff assists with land surveys, design and other work. These projects, and others the department is completing, improve the wetlands northern pike need for spawning, Dolata said.
“Pike numbers have been slowly going down, so we’re trying to enhance the area for their spawning,” he said.
Dolata said the county’s Land Conservation Committee will decide how to use the $10,000 donation. One option is to apply for grants for additional wetlands conservation work on the west shore of the bay of Green Bay, putting up the $10,000 as matching funds for projects.
“Now with $10,000, we might be able to double it, triple it,” Dolata said.
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