February 2010

TOPIC:  Aesthetics and Land Management in the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway

SPEAKER:  Brad Hutnik and Mark Cupp

WHEN:  Tuesday, February 16

TIME:  7:00 pm Refreshments
TIME:  7:30 pm Program

WHERE:  Capitol Lakes Retirement Community -- click for map
333 W. Main Street, Madison

PARKING:  Free – ramp across the street
Lower levels – must use unmarked spaces or those labeled “DNR”

PRE-MEETING DINNER:  You are invited to join Madison Audubon board members and friends at the pre-program dinner with our speaker beginning at 5:15.

Paisan's 131 West Wilson Street

QUESTIONS?:  Please call the MAS office at (608)255-2473.

“Yet there remains the river, in a few spots hardly changed since Paul Bunyan’s day; at early dawn…one can still hear it singing in the wilderness…Perhaps our grandsons, having never seen a river, will never miss the chance to set a canoe in singing waters."

We still have the chance to set a canoe in the lower Wisconsin River, much as it was when Aldo Leopold wrote. How has it retained the qualities Leopold admired in an age of rapid development? Why isn’t the river lined with condos? Thank the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway created 20 years ago. The Riverway’s boundaries extend 92.3 miles from below the dam at Prairie du Sac to the confluence with the Mississippi River near Prairie du Chien and encompasses 79,275 acres. The Riverway seeks to protect and preserve the scenic beauty and natural character of the river valley, seeks to manage the resources of the area for the long term benefit of the citizens of the state and seeks to provide a quality public recreational area in a manner consistent with the resource and aesthetic protection goals and objectives.

Brad Hutnik and Mark Cupp will review the background of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway, it's unique aesthetic regulations, and land management options. They will focus on bottomland forests, upland oak forests, and birds

Since 2002, Brad Hutnik has been the WDNR Lower Wisconsin Riverway Forester. His duties include coordinating forest management for State land in the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway (LWSR) and advising private landowners within the LWSR about ecologically sound, sustainable forestry.

Mark Cupp is Executive Director of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board. The Riverway Board, one of the smallest state agencies in Wisconsin and is charged with administration of a unique set of regulations designed to protect and preserve the scenic beauty and natural character of the final 92 miles of the Wisconsin River.