Wisconsin Wetlands Association

Wetland Outreach and Education: in 2022-23, WWA developed and presented education and outreach programs to diverse audiences of laypersons and experts and advanced the use of wetland science on matters related to wetland conservation. Programs include a bi-weekly webinar called the Wetland Coffee Break featuring short wetland-related presentations; workshops, field trips, and presentations; advising landowners about wetland preservation, restoration, and management; distribution of two books, My Healthy Wetlands (to help landowners care for their wetlands), and "Way Will Open" (a book of poetry, including wetland poetry, by a WWA member ), and an annual wetlands science conference. More than 350 people attended and participated in WWA's 2023 wetland science conference.

Place-based Projects: In 2022-23 WWA continued worked with the Village of Plover, local growers, and others in the Little Plover River watershed to restore river flows and conserve groundwater. WWA also continued and expanded work to help county land conservation departments, emergency managers, and local road managers in the Marengo River Watershed (Ashland County) identify and prioritize areas where restoring wetlands and floodplains could help reduce downstream flood risks and vulnerabilities. This project is a collaboration with the Association of State Floodplain Managers. It is part of a longer-term effort to develop and promote methods to help Wisconsin's flood-prone communities assess and address areas where degraded wetland and floodplain condition contribute to road and culvert damages during runoff events.

Public Policy Advocacy: In 2022-23, WWA's policy program work emphasized building the policy and program supports needed to increase the use of wetland restoration to solve problems. Highlights included serving on a workgroup to help the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources develop a Hydrologic Restoration General Permit, and working with legislative offices and non-governmental collaborators to support development and introduction of a bill to establish a state-based grant program to help flood prone communities identify and implement opportunities to restore wetlands and floodplains to increase resilience (AB/SB 222). Our Executive Director continued to serve as Vice Chair of the governor's Wetland Study Council. This council, representing private, agricultural, conservation, and other diverse interests discusses and develops recommendations on statewide wetland issues. WWA also helped state legislators develop a bill creating a general permit for hydrologic restoration projects. The bi-partisan legislation, was unanimously enacted into law and development of this general permit is now underway.

Program Development: In 2022-23 WWA continued working with the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection on efforts to build capacity to restore wetlands and floodplains in agricultural landscapes. The work included policy analysis and the development and delivery of trainings on hydrologic restoration concepts and approaches for DATCP's Conservation Engineering staff. Policy staff also initiated exploratory program development conversations with the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.