$100,000 awarded for Citizen Monitoring Projects

MADISON – Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary Matt Frank today announced the 2009 Citizen-Based Monitoring Partnership Program awards, providing $100,000 to help fund 22 high-priority natural resource monitoring projects conducted by citizen groups across the state. For the $100,000 awarded by the DNR this year, citizen groups will invest an estimated $188,600 in volunteer time and $98,500 in cash from other sources for an effort totaling $387,100.

“Wisconsin has been an international leader in environmental stewardship for decades, and citizen-based monitoring has a long history here,” Frank said. “It is important to recognize the valuable contributions these programs make to the conservation of Wisconsin’s natural resources and support their efforts. These projects help engage Wisconsin students and citizens in the proactive conservation of our vital natural resources,”

Through the Citizen-Based Monitoring Partnership Program, the Department of Natural Resources works with community and school groups, conservation organizations and other agencies to gather critical information on plants, animals, water and other natural resources. Projects are selected through a competitive review process with projects eligible to receive up to $4,999 in funding per year. Since 2004 the Partnership Program has helped fund 114 high priority natural resource monitoring projects statewide.

One of the selected projects, the Eau Claire County Forest Barrens Inventory, will receive $4,980 in funding and the project’s sponsors, Beaver Creek Reserve Citizen Science Center and Eau Claire County Parks and Forest Department, will contribute $6,400 in cash and 300 volunteer hours worth another $6,000.

More information on Wisconsin’s citizen-based monitoring program is available on the Wisconsin Citizen Based Monitoring Web site [cbm.wiatri.net] (exit DNR).

The 22 projects and sponsoring organizations awarded Partnership Program funding for the 2010 fiscal year are:

• Volunteer Carnivore Tracking Master Tracker and Training Program – Timber Wolf Alliance ($4,999).
• Middle and Lower Sugar River Citizen Monitoring Program Development – Upper Sugar River Watershed Association ($4,890).
• Dissolved Oxygen Monitoring on Rusk County Lakes – Rusk County Waters Alliance ($1,569).
• Monitoring Lake Level Trends in Northeastern Wisconsin – North Lakeland Discover Center ($4,999).
• Iron County American Marten Monitoring – Expanding a School and Community-Based Research Project - North Lakeland Discover Center ($4,999).
• Expanding on a Landowner Monitoring Strategy for Native Biodiversity in Southwest Wisconsin – Blue Mounds Area Project ($3,445).
• Kickapoo River Watershed Extended Water Quality Monitoring Program- Valley Stewardship Network ($4,500).
• Monitoring Protocols for Landowners – Development of a Monitoring Handbook of Tiered Skill-Level Techniques, Protocols and Data Collection – Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources ($4,999).
• Piloting a Landowner Monitoring Strategy of Indicator Species for Habitat Health in the Lower Kickapoo River – Kickapoo Initiative ($3,900).
• Third Annual Kirtland’s Warbler Census in Wisconsin – Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources ($4,818).
• Project RED (Riverine Early Detectors) – River Alliance of Wisconsin ($4,999).
• Citizen-Based Monitoring Field Practicum & Curriculum: Flambeau Mine Biodiversity Assessment – Bruce High School, Rusk County, Wisconsin ($4,999).
• Aquatic Macrophyte Surveys in Rivers of the Upper St. Croix Watershed: Working to Identify and Limit the Spread of Eurasian Water – Grantsburg High School, Burnett County, Wisconsin ($4,998).
• Citizen sampling to confirm, quantify and identify sources of E. coli pollution in the Bad River Watersheds – Bad River Watershed Association ($4,990).
• Implementing a Statewide Red-shouldered Hawk Survey in Wisconsin - Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources ($4,999).
• Monitoring Kilbourn Creek: A Service-Learning Program at Indian Trail Academy – Indian Trail Academy, Kenosha Unified School District ($3,992).
• Monitoring Phosphate in the Creeks Feeding Little Sturgeon Bay – Little Sturgeon Area Property Owners Association ($528).
• Eau Claire County Forest Barrens Inventory – Beaver Creek Reserve Citizen Science Center and Eau Claire County Parks and Forest Department ($4,980).
• Red Cedar River Basin Monitoring Group: A Partnership for Action – Tainter and Menomin Lake Improvement Association ($4,999).
• Carnivore and Timber Wolf Population Survey and Training of Friends of Crex Volunteers – Friends of Crex Volunteers and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources ($4,150).
• Building a Diverse Audience through Citizen-based Monitoring: A Career Pipeline Approach – Urban Ecology Center, Milwaukee ($4,999).
• Expanding Invasive Species Identification in Manitowoc County – Manitowoc County Lake Association & Woodland Dunes Nature Center ($4,950).