Our next BIG restoration project: Meyer Preserve 🌳💚🌎🐝

Latest News from WCLC!

Dear Friend,

I'm delighted to share how you’re helping make an impact on land, water, and wildlife conservation in our community and some stories of the leaders and volunteers who help WCLC fulfill its mission.

In this newsletter, you’ll learn about some of our exciting initiatives and announcements:

A $75,000 grant to restore Meyer Preserve, a newly protected globally imperiled rare oak ecosystem
Welcoming Justine Ghai, our new education and outreach manager, who will lead our Community Conservation Partnership Program to foster appreciation for nature and ensure nature access for all
Dedicated citizen scientists of all ages who have identified rare animals on our preserves
The tremendous impact of our volunteers’ efforts

Get involved today by supporting our summer membership drive . Your gift will help us to care for rare plants and animals, match our Meyer Preserve grant, and support our 2019 programs .

Drone video of Meyer Preserve

by Amber Janusz, UWM student

With gratitude,

Cheryl White

Executive Director

DONATE NOW

Our next BIG restoration project: Meyer Preserve oak ecosystem

$75,000 grant awarded to WCLC thanks to our leading scientists

Caring for our new Meyer Preserve, an 80-acre globally imperiled rare oak ecosystem using science-based techniques, is a top priority. We’re pleased to announce that we have been awarded a $75,000 grant from the DNR to fund this $100,000 restoration project.

Thank you to our generous and dedicated volunteers and contractors for donating their time and services to develop this top-ranking restoration plan: Meghan Wersel, WCLC staff land stewardship manager; Dr. Dan Carter, WCLC stewardship co mmittee member; Peter Ziegler, WWA and EC3 project manager; and Aaron Feggestad and M elissa Curran from Stantec. With their donated expertise powering our cost-effectiveness, we do more with every dollar you give.

Because of additional support and donated services from Friends of Mukwonago River, Jean and Tom Weedman, and Pam Meyer, we only need to raise $18,200 to complete this project. We invite you to give to WCLC today , helping us match grants, which doubles your impact .

Join us for a tour of Meyer Preserve on June 8 to learn more about this impactful project.

Justine Ghai joins WCLC as education and outreach manager

Expanding our team, broadening your impact

We’re pleased to announce that Justine Ghai has joined the WCLC team as our education and outreach manager. Justine will lead our new Community Conservation Partnership program, dramatically increasing our engagement so that we can better care for our region’s oak ecosystems, reach more citizens from underserved communities, and provide nature access for all. She will also help us build an alliance of conservation and environmental education organizations to mitigate duplicate efforts.

For the past six years, Justine led 350 volunteers for the San Diego Humane Society’s Project Wildlife. Her graduate fieldwork in Namibia, Africa involved working with the Cheetah Conservation Fund to inspire landowners to see the importance of conservation. Justine has a bachelor's in environmental studies and a master's in biology with a focus on community-based conservation. Justine and her husband Puneet live in Whitefish Bay with their dog and two cats.

Please feel free to reach out to welcome Justine and get involved in the organization, and sign up to meet Justine and tour Meyer Preserve on June 8.

Read more about Justine

Citizen scientists identify rare wildlife species on our preserves

Having fun, making an impact!

Across our preserves, citizen scientists of all ages are learning, having fun, and making a difference. These citizen science efforts are made possible by our strategic partnerships with Waukesha County Parks and Julia Robson, part our new Community Conservation Partnership program.

Equally exciting is that these scientists have surveyed rare species that have never been documented on our preserves before. Check out photos of rare digger crayfish, Blanding’s turtles, and tiger salamanders, among others (below). The Blanding’s turtle is a state species of concern, and the digger crayfish is a species of local conservation concern.

The invaluable data that we gather from citizen science efforts help us create strong, science-based restoration and stewardship plans so we can restore habitat for these rare species.

You, too, can have fun and make an impact; sign up for upcoming citizen science surveys or invest in this great program for young citizen scientists.

Click to view citizen science photos

Volunteers remove invasive species, native plants reappear

Rare American Gromwell populations explode because of volunteer efforts

Watch WCLC volunteers in action

Volunteers enable impactful work across WCLC’s 3,000 acres of beautiful protected property. During the spring and early summer, we have over fifteen workdays scheduled, where staff and volunteers will come together to remove invasive species like garlic mustard and Dame’s rocket.

We are actively looking to add to our team of volunteer land stewards to join us on our spring, summer, and fall workdays. Volunteers work in high-quality nature areas like woodlands and wetlands, learning about rare plants and wildlife and directly restoring native habitat for our local ecosystems.

Interested in learning more about what our land stewardship team does? Check out the video of volunteers in action at our recent Broken Hill workday. You can see firsthand the results of our volunteer efforts: native plants reappearing before our eyes.

Email our new education and outreach manager, Justine Ghai , to learn more about getting started, and sign up to volunteer today.

Get involved with WCLC today

Volunteer: In addition to workday volunteers, we need skilled professionals to help us. If you have knowledge in human resources, writing, training, marketing, or sales—or if you are a CPA or IT professional—WCLC needs your help!

Email Justine Ghai if you want to join WCLC, Wisconsin's 2018 Land Trust of the Year.

Become a Monthly Donor on Facebook: When you give to WCLC via our Facebook page, we do not incur credit card fees, so your entire donation reaches us. Consider becoming a $5, $10, $15 or more monthly donor and make a difference throughout the year

Use Amazon Smile to Give While you Shop . Consider connecting your Amazon account to Amazon Smile. At no additional cost to you, Amazon will donate a percentage of your eligible purchases to the organization of your choice. Sign in to your account at smile.amazon.com , click “change charity,” and search for Waukesha County Land Conservancy. This holiday season and beyond, do good while you shop.