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In Vernon County, Joanne and Freddie Shird have signed a conservation agreement for 200 acres on Jug Creek adjacent to the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. The town of Stark property includes bluffs, open floodplain fields and even an oak savanna remnant.
The agreement, sometimes referred to as an easement, means they retain ownership but ensures no additional development will be done, even if the land is sold.
The Shird land is the first the conservancy has protected adjacent to the Kickapoo reserve area and has more than a half-mile of shoreline along Jug Creek, a trout stream, said George Howe, the conservancy’s conservation director.
“Not a day goes by where I am not moved by the beauty of this land and the region,” said Joanne Shird. “It’s heartbreaking to see so many farms being developed — I’m certainly relieved to know that our land will remain in a beautiful, natural state.”
In Trempealeau County, Russ and Diane Ford recently signed an agreement protecting 30 acres on the Lower Black River near Galesville.
“This land is so important to all of our family — all our best memories are there,” said Diane Ford.
The property has one-third mile of river shoreline and important natural habitats, including pine relics, upland hardwood forest, floodplain forest and sand prairie, according to the conservancy.
“This project is very significant for MVC because it is the first project completed within MVC’s Lower Black River Valley priority area that contains shoreline on the river,” Howe said.
Founded in 1997, the Mississippi Valley Conserv-ancy is a regional land trust that has permanently protected more than 6,800 acres in southwestern Wisconsin by working with private land-owners, businesses and local communities on voluntary conservation projects.
For more information, send an e-mail to mrich@MississippiValleyConservancy.org, go online to MississippiValleyConservancy.org or write to 201 Main St., Suite 1001, La Crosse, WI 54601.
