Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Monday, November 05, 2007

Conservation group celebrates 10 years

By SAMANTHA MARCUS / La Crosse Tribune

The Mississippi Valley Conservancy has had a number of large land conservation success stories in its short life, said Executive Director Tim Jacobson.

And at its 10th anniversary, the regional land trust will celebrate those and more than 5,300 acres of scenic or ecologically significant lands preserved. A banquet at 5 p.m. Thursday at the La Crosse Radisson Hotel Ballroom will mark the occasion.

The nonprofit group formed in 1997 to coordinate private, voluntary conservation efforts in the Coulee Region. The conservancy serves a seven-county territory, including Buffalo, La Crosse, Trempealeau, Monroe, Vernon, Crawford and Grant.

In September, the group announced its largest conservation agreement to date, protecting more than 750 acres in Buffalo County.

“We’re reaching a point of exponential growth,” Jacobson said. “A lot more people seem to be aware of the value in ensuring their kids and grandkids will be able to enjoy the land as they have.”

For all its successes, Jacobson said, the group really needs public support.

Of the more than 290,000 residents in the seven southwestern Wisconsin counties, only 830 are members of the conservancy, Jacobson said.

Still, he said, it’s an impressive jump from just 575 members at the start of 2006.

The banquet, featuring guest speaker Kenny Salwey, “the last river rat,” will include a silent auction. Jacobson said hors d’oeuvres at the event will showcase organic and locally produced ingredients, along with wines from three area vineyards.

Fundraising helps support the non-profit group, which employs six full-time staff, including a restoration biologist.

Jacobson joined the land trust in 1998 as a volunteer before joining the board of directors and eventually stepping in as executive director.

A former trial lawyer, Jacobson said he appreciates the cooperative setting of the land trust.

“I’m proud to carry on a proud tradition of land conservation that was started a century ago,” he said of preservation sites like Grandad Bluff and Hixon Forest.

Samantha Marcus can be reached at (608) 791-8220 or smarcus@lacrossetribune.com.