Valley Stewardship Network

08/26/2026

Valley Stewardship Network is looking for volunteers this Tuesday, Sept. 1 from 3:45-5pm to help us lay down clear plastic and weigh it down with 60 lb sandbags to prepare the area for a native prairie seeding later next year. The plastic works as an organic method to solarize and kill off the pasture grasses that are currently growing there. We are so excited for this prairie to bloom beautifully in the years to come and support all the pollinators, birds, and other wildlife!

Please RSVP to: [email protected], and we will share the location address.

Thank you to our members and volunteers for your continued support in our conservation efforts.

If you would like another way to support our prairie planting efforts, please consider donating to our prairie fund at https://valleystewardshipnetwork.org/store/

08/26/2026

08/26/2026

Friends of the Little La Crosse Watershed (FOLLW) is coming up this week!

When: Thursday, August 27 at 6pm
Where: Bruce Peterson's Farm, 4808 Highway J, Rockland, WI
Optional: Bring a potluck dish to share!

NEW webpage has been set up on River to Ridge Disaster Resilience's website: https://www.r2rdr.org/projects-6-1

08/25/2026

08/25/2026

Reminder to submit your data!

Volunteers have spent all summer monitoring their local streams and rivers, collecting invaluable baseline stream data, including water temperature and dissolved oxygen. Data collected is then submitted to the Wisconsin DNR's Surface Water Integrated Monitoring System (SWIMS), which is used by DNR staff to enter and search for water quality monitoring information for assessing the health of our state’s waters and to guide water protection and restoration decision-making. How cool is that?

This season, 257 volunteers have submitted baseline monitoring AND nutrient sampling data for 358 stream sites so far!

Though the monitoring season is not over yet, we strongly encourage volunteers to continue (or start) submitting their data to SWIMS.

Want to dive into more data? Check out all data, current and past, on the WAV Data Dashboard!

https://connect.doit.wisc.edu/wav-dashboard/

08/25/2026

Back to school time is here, and the end of summer naturally brings your mind to periods of learning and growing, regardless of how old you are.

If you ask a Prairie Enthusiast how they caught the prairie bug, chances are they credit a mentor with introducing them to the prairie. Where would we be without our mentors?

In 2023, Scott Weber reflected on his prairie mentor and the influence his mentor has had on Scott's prairie restoration and reconstruction work in the Upper Midwest. You can read Scott's reflections in his piece "We All Have Mentors" here: https://theprairieenthusiasts.org/we-all-have-mentors/

We'd love to hear from you: who is one of your prairie mentors? How have they shaped you and inspired you?

Photo of Konrad Liegel, Scott Weber's mentor, collecting seed for the International Crane W Foundation at Muralt Bluff Prairie in fall of 1980 by Scott Weber.

08/24/2026

Summer is for field-day learning! Join us at a farm near you:

-- August 12, West Salem, WI - https://forms.office.com/r/Ja5JfViEDW

-- September 1, Spring Green, WI - https://forms.office.com/r/KC5m2KHC5g
Mississippi Valley Conservancy
Savanna Institute

08/24/2026

A new bumble bee species has recently been observed in Wisconsin for the first time!

The Nevada bumble bee (Bombus nevandensis) has a historic range including the Western United States and Canada, but was observed in Minnesota and Chicago in recent years. Last summer, this species was first documented in Wisconsin when a female was recorded in Sauk County.

Closely related to the black and gold bumble bee, this species is distinct in its large size – especially among queens and females.

Wisconsin is home to 21 additional species of bumble bees, and you can learn more about identification and contribute by reporting sightings at https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/WildlifeHabitat/BumbleBeeBrigade

08/24/2026