White River Fish Boil August 29 in Mason

The Friends of the White River are again sponsoring the White River Celebration and Fish Boil on Friday, August 29 at the Mason Village Park on the White River. The festivities will begin at about 4:30 p.m. with landowner information available from a number of WDNR officials, the Bayfield Regional Conservancy, the West Wisconsin Land Trust, the Bad River Watershed Association and other county, state and federal agencies.

There will be a number of speakers at 5:30 p.m. and then at 6:00 p.m. a delicious fish boils with all the trimmings prepared by John Casperson.

During the proceedings, the Friends will be having a small raffle and selling our new Friends of the White River t-shirts and hats. The artwork for the garments was donated by Greg Alexander of Ashland.

The fish boil is free and open to the public. Everyone is welcome, so bring your family and friends.

Project Update: Houghton Falls Natural Area

The Bayfield Regional Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land have been working on assembling a significant conservation project on Lake Superior just north of the City of Washburn off Hwy 13 as you drive north to Bayfield. Many of you have been to Houghton Falls and have enjoyed the waterfall, rock outcrops, sandy cove and incredible view of Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands.

A recent grant announcement coupled with the fact that two of the three properties that contain the falls and the upstream Echo Dells were listed for sale, caused us to quickly put together a proposal to the Town of Bayview (Bayfield County, Wisconsin) to submit a federal grant and to buy and hold the land. We wanted to take this incredible opportunity to try and preserve this area that so many of you have inquired about, and has been a goal of the Town of Bayview for eight years.

More information

Photo Gallery

This project will be competing nationally for funds, and we face stiff competition. Nevertheless, the Town of Bayview continues to move ahead and will be drafting a management plan for the 76-acre property in the hopes that all the funding will be acquired and all the landowners will work closely with the Trust for Public Land to reach agreements.

If you live or own property in the Town, please participate in the management planning process.

Project position opening--Conservation Planner

The Bayfield Regional Conservancy is seeking a conservation planner to carry out strategic conservation planning to direct our land protection work in the future.

The 8-month project starts September 1, 2008 - April 30, 2009. Compensation is $7,000.

The project involves collecting, analyzing and synthesizing information from existing plans, agencies and natural resource professionals and developing a strategic plan for the Lake Superior watershed in Bayfield County.

The consultant will write the plan and an executive summary for publication and sharing with our partners in conservation.

The consultant will also set up a computer GIS workstation at the BRC office for use with this planning process and future conservation projects.

Click here for more information on the position.

Click here for a summary of the project.

This strategic conservation planning process is underwritten by grants from the Land Trust Alliance and the River Protection Program of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. We appreciate their support!

Wine-tasting at Blue Vista Farm

June 28 was a warm summer evening with that golden slanting light illuminating the beautiful gardens of Blue Vista Farm for our first-ever wine-tasting benefit event.

Ellen Kwiatkowski and Eric Carlson, owners of Blue Vista Farm hosted the event. The wine was donated by Saratoga Distributors.


Blue Vista Farm is one of the farms preserved forever by the Town of Bayfield's Farmland Preservation Program administered by the BRC. It is such a lovely site for a get-together. Tables were scattered about and filled with smoked fish, caviar, cheeses, fruit and other delectables prepared and donated by area businesses and BRC members.

It was almost like a dream, the setting with tables scattered on the lawn covered with vintage table cloths and people holding sparkling glasses of wine.

Thank you to everyone who made this event possible. The silent auction and the winetasting donations raised over $2000 for our conservation work.

Artist L. Palionis donates 10% ebay proceeds to BRC

Today I got a notice that a beautiful hand-painted wooden table/stool top will be auctioned on ebay with 10% of the proceeds to benefit BRC.

Surreal Acrylic painting on a pine stool top/ thick plaque signed by the artist. Fresh, glowing colors. Painted areas finished with several layers of extra-tough exterior acrylic finish. Wood has a hand-rubbed tung oil finish. Beautiful on a wall, but plenty rugged enough to serve as a piece of furniture.

We have had a few people do this for us, and I am always grateful that they have searched the web for a worthy cause, and somehow found the Bayfield Regional Conservancy. Thank you to L. Palionis for supporting our conservation work in northwestern Wisconsin.

(If you are interested in donating part or all of your ebay proceeds to BRC click here.)

BioBlitz Results

Beaverpond racket-tail dragonflies and Dot-tailed Whiteface dragonflies were a couple of the species of living things identified at the Big Ravine BioBlitz 08.

Friday night began with frog and bat surveys along with early morning star-gazing. A 5:00 a.m. birdwalk kicked off a day of nature exploration for children and other nature enthusiasts. Field trips on mushrooms and wildflowers added to the list of species identifed in the Big Ravine. The 24-hour BioBlitz ended with a wonderful slide program of "Special Places in Bayfield County" by Tom Gerstenberger.


Thank you to coordinator Doug Lowthian for organizing the event. Thanks also to the field trip and activity leaders and hosts: Phil & Sheree Peterson, David Bratley, Brian Hyringa, Lynda Nedden-Durst, David Hanson, Mary_______ (mycologist) and Ruth Oppedahl. The total (tentative) species count was between 125-130--and we barely scratched the surface of the plant and animals that live in Bayfield's Big Ravine.

We appreciate the grant underwriting by the Natural Resources Foundation and the Four Cedars Foundation.

Bayfield BioBlitz 08

The Bayfield Regional Conservancy is helping to sponsor the first BioBlitz in Bayfield. A BioBlitz is a 24-hour initiative to catalog all living things in an area, in this case Bayfield's Big Ravine.

The event is free and open to the public and provides a variety of walks, activities and programs about the plants and animals that live here.

Of special note is Saturday night's keynote presentation "Special Places of Bayfield County" by Tom Gerstenberger at 7:00 p.m. at the Bayfield Library (37 N Broad Street).

Schedule of Activities

June 20, 2008
Friday 8:30 pm Bonfire and Stargazing Peterson's Farm, Martin Road
Friday Sunset Bat Identification: Brian Huringa Martin Road Trailhead
Friday 9:30 pm Frog Sound Identification: David Bratley Martin Road Trailhead

June 21, 2008
Saturday 5:00 am Bird walk: Bring your own fieldguide, binocs, local knowledge and enthusiasm. Meet at Baseball Field Parking Lot behind school
Saturday 10:00 am - 1:00pm Childrens Nature Activities Meet at Baseball Field Parking Lot behind school
Saturday 9:00 am - 10:00 am Nature Walk: Making Sense of the Place
Doug Lowthian Meet at Baseball Field Parking Lot behind school
Saturday 10:30 am Dragonflies and Damselflies: Dave Bratley Martin Road Trailhead
Saturday 3:30 pm-5:00 pm Wildflower Walk Ruth Oppedahl Meet at Baseball Field Parking Lot behind school
Saturday 12:00 noon-5:00 pm Fungi and Mushroom photography and identification: Mary Gruhl Meet at Baseball Field Parking Lot behind school
Saturday 7:00 pm Special Places of Bayfield County with Tom Gerstenberger Bayfield Carnegie Library

Thanks to the Natural Resources Foundation and the Four Cedars Foundation for underwriting the event.

For more information contact the BRC at 779-5263 or Doug Lowthian at 779-3029.