Without partnerships Landmark’s work wouldn’t be possible, and it is reinforced daily that we make a greater impact on conservation when we work together. We are grateful to have many dedicated individuals and organizations throughout our region who give their time and skills to keep our preserves welcoming places, create meaningful experiences to connect with the natural world, steward protected lands, and contribute to our organization running smoothly. At this year’s annual meeting, we unveiled three awards to share our gratitude and appreciation for these partnerships!
Landmark celebrates Beaver Creek Reserve as our Partner of the Year! Located east of Eau Claire in Fall Creek, Wisconsin, Beaver Creek Reserve is a nature center whose mission of connecting people with nature aligns closely with ours. Their staff have guided several community engagement events on properties protected by Landmark on topics including birds, prairies, fungi, butterflies, and trees. The Friends of Beaver Creek Reserve are conservation easement landowners, and their staff are excellent stewards of the land. This year they conducted their first prescribed burn on the prairie, and they’ve been champions at controlling invasive spotted knapweed. Their careful management of this prairie habitat is important for many pollinator species. Also at their conservation easement property, Beaver Creek Reserve staff and volunteers have carried out the longest running consecutive Monitoring Avian Productivity and Survivorship (MAPS) bird banding study in Wisconsin, now over 20 years.
We recognize Bob Durfey as our Volunteer of the Year! Bob has been involved with the land trust for over a decade, and the Bayfield office staff can’t recall a time when he hasn’t been there lending a hand. This year, Bob volunteered at several local trail workdays, particularly on the Brownstone Trail, putting his construction knowledge to good use and helping to guide other volunteers as they laid gravel, fixed wet spots, or built new stairs. We also saw Bob at our monthly volunteer workdays at Tyler Forks Community Forest doing trail maintenance, putting up new signage and building boardwalk. Through the years, Bob has been an amazing spokesperson for Landmark, sharing stories of land stewardship with neighbors, friends, and visitors to Bayfield.
Special acknowledgement goes to Craig Thompson of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for his significant contributions to conservation in Wisconsin. Craig has a long history of collaboration with Landmark, and his enthusiasm and optimism inspires engagement with the natural world. Craig spoke at our annual meeting just last year and gave a second virtual presentation to our supporters on The Power of Birds. He’s been a bird guide on the Tiffany Wildlife Area train ride and is busy planning and leading our upcoming international bird trip to Panama for 2025.
Our partners help us manage and protect land, raise critical financial resources, and engage the people of northwest Wisconsin. Together, we leverage one another’s strengths and become stronger!
Hi Zaria, Sara, Angie, Kristin, et al., You all should be so proud of the work you did to make this annual meeting exceptional. I love the photo that depicts everybody seating listening to Rick. I hope there is a way to use it in the future to showcase the number of folks who support LC. It is a great photo!