August 2014

What's Inside
Events Around the Watershed
Paddle & Pig-Out on August 23
USRWA Receives Stream Monitoring Award
Prairie Planting in the Watershed
Sugar River Clean-up Day
 
Events Around the Watershed

USRWA Sugar River Clean-up Day
Saturday August 8
9am-Noon
Meet at Paoli Park in Paoli 15 minutes prior

USRWA Board of Directors Meeting (public welcome!)
Monday August 10
7pm-8:30pm
USRWA Office
207 E. Main Street
Mt. Horeb, WI 53572

9th Annual Paddle & Pig-Out
Saturday August 15
8:30am-4:00pm
Paoli Park

Belleville Lakefest
Sunday August 30
11am-3pm
Belleville Community Park 

9th Annual Paddle & Pig-Out filled with Pizza & Hops on Saturday August 15

Our famous Paddle & Pig-Out, offering 45-60 minute canoe rides down the Sugar River into Paoli, is back for its 9th year.  This is a free event providing the canoe, transportation to the start point and every thing else you need to have a great trip down the Sugar River. 

The event starts at Paoli Park in Paoli, WI with canoe and kayak trips leaving at 9 am, Noon and 3 pm.  Arrive early to reserve your spot!  It's great way for adults and children alike to experience what the Sugar River has to offer. Thank you to Rutabaga Paddlesports for lending us a fleet of canoes for the event!

This year food, beverages (including beer!) and cake will be served at The Hop Garden across the street from Paoli Park. Pizza will be provided by Sugar River Pizza Company of Belleville, drinks from Tuvalu Coffeehouse & Gallery of Verona, along with other fixings to complete the meal.  Lunch will be provided free of charge for USRWA members, and pizza will be sold for $2.50/slice for non-members. Vegetarian options will be available. Beer brewed locally by The Hop Garden will also be available for $4.
 
Also, raffle tickets for the event are now available!  Our raffle includes over 20 items, including a brand-new kayak and paddle valued at over $300 courtesy of Payne & Dolan .

Tickets are $5 each or 5 for $20, and can be purchased on event day or by calling 608-437-7707.  The raffle will be drawn on August 15th at 3:30 pm and you do not need to be present to win. 
USRWA Receives 2015 Wisconsin Volunteer Stream Monitoring Award

USRWA is proud to accept the Wisconsin Volunteer Stream Monitoring Award, thanks to the tireless efforts of our committed volunteers. Since 2002, UW-Extension and Wisconsin DNR recognize exemplary work done by groups, individuals, employees, teachers and students who perform stream monitoring around Wisconsin.  Individuals and groups are recognized for their efforts leading to increased participation in stream monitoring, collecting stream data, and sharing their knowledge of stream monitoring.

 

To date, USRWA manages 10 volunteers and 25 stream monitoring sites in the Upper Sugar River Watershed. All data collected from our monitoring is given to the Wisconsin DNR to assess the health of our steams and make resources available should a problem arise.

Prairie Planting at Falk Wells Sugar River Wildlife Area

On Wednesday July 29, Upper Sugar River Watershed Association and Dane County Office of Lakes and Watersheds helped organize over 20 high school volunteers from Students Today Leaders Forever (STLF) to help plant prairie plants at Falk Wells Sugar River Wildlife Area. The volunteers from STLF were from Minneapolis on a volunteer service tour in the Midwest, and were able to lend a hand during their time in Madison.
 
Prairie plants establish deep root systems which help to reduce erosion, replenish groundwater supplies and filter out toxins such as pesticides and herbicides. Thank you to STLF for their hard work and enjoy the rest of your service trip!
Join us to help Clean-up the Sugar River

Our next scheduled volunteer clean-up day is Saturday August 8th from 9:00am-Noon.  All interested volunteers can meet at Paoli Park around 8:45am to register and have a bagel to get you going.  
 
Volunteers can expect to get a little dirty, so a pair of old shoes and quick drying clothes are recommended.  If you haven't participated in the past, give it a shot!
 
View pictures from past clean-up days on our Facebook page .
Like us on Facebook