Conference symposia

Time: 10:40 to 2:40 (w/ lunch break)

Facilitator: Sally Jarosz (Wisconsin DNR)

This symposium will work through the basic considerations and techniques utilized in Wisconsin wetland management and care. The goal is to empower landowners and land managers with a menu of management options and project considerations. Talks will each touch on commonly-utilized land management techniques or planning tools. The symposium will wrap up with an informal conversation and questions with a panel of land managers.

Speakers coming soon

Time: 1:20 to 4:30 p.m.

Facilitator: Mark Pfost (Wisconsin Waterfowl Association)

In the early 20th century, land speculators and farmers undertook a massive effort to expand agriculture in central Wisconsin by draining thousands of wetland acres. To expose the dark peaty soils, they dug a branching network of straight ditches spanning hundreds of miles through isolated wetlands and meandering streams. Aldo Leopold called this the Decade of the Drainage Dream. Since then, many central Wisconsin streams, like the Little Yellow River, have had the form and function of a ditch. The network of tributary ditches continues to draw water from adjacent wetlands and quickly deliver it to the straightened Little Yellow River. Ditch-side spoil banks consolidated flow and increased erosion. The predictable surface water flows, high ditch banks and small culverts were a boon for beavers, and in turn a burden for township road departments. The Drainage Dream set in motion a cascade of changes that land managers and others have long dreamed of reversing. In 2021 a grass roots effort to restore the Little Yellow River and its’ watershed began. We will report on the progress of our restoration work thus far; we restored thousands of wetland acres by re-meandering a stream and disabling about nineteen miles of ditch. Restoring hydrology has reduced local-government infrastructure headaches, improved wildlife habitat, and expanded recreational access. Opportunity exists to extend our efforts in coming years.

Speakers coming soon

Time: 10:40 am to 2:50 pm

Facilitator: Andrew Meier (US Army Corps of Engineers)

Lowland hardwood forests in Wisconsin and the Upper Midwest are critical habitats for many species of wildlife and provide critical ecological services. However, management of these forests often fall in a knowledge gap between forestry and wetland ecology. Foresters are traditionally not trained in the details of wetland hydrology and soils, while wetland ecologists may not receive extensive training in forest dynamics and silvics. This disconnect has become more pronounced as managers of lowland hardwood forests contend with the impacts of emerald ash borer, changing precipitation and inundation regimes, and nonnative invasive species. This symposium will bring together presenters who will address a range of topics related to the ecology and management of wetland forests in the Upper Midwest and will build on the outcomes of two Roundtables focused on Wetland Forests from the 2026 Science Conference.