Construction has officially begun on our Fields to Filters project! On July 14th, Fox-Wolf and project partner, Waushara County Land Conservation Department, gathered in rural northern Waushara County to break ground on the first of three project sites.
Between all three sites, this project is set to retire about 80 acres of low-yielding, marginal farmland. Each site will feature a mix of wetland scrapes and plantings of native trees, shrubs, prairie, and grasses. This restoration work will improve farm economics, provide habitat and forage for wildlife and insects, and improve water quality by stopping sediment and nutrient runoff.
Marginal acres often cost more to farm than they profit, by shifting them into conservation, farms are able to improve their overall ROI. Adding long-term and permanent conservation in fields also helps to make productive acres more profitable by improving soil health and acting as natural water storage systems, helping slow and store runoff water, preventing topsoil erosion.
Construction of the 3/4 acre wetland scrape finished a few days after the groundbreaking. While it looks like a big, muddy puddle right now, soon wetland plants will grow in and around the scrape. These plants will help to settle out sediment in the water, while also capturing phosphorus. This fall, native seeds will be sown to make an 18 acre prairie. In spring, an another 5 acres will be planted with trees and shrubs. Together, these practices will work to prevent soil erosion while also slowing and treating runoff water coming off the surrounding land, preventing pounds of phosphorous and tons of sediment from entering the Wolf River and Lake Poygan.
Thank you to our project funder, the Great Lakes Commission, project implementation partner Waushara County Land Conservation Department, and landowners for making this project happen!
To learn more, visit the project page: https://fwwa.org/fieldsintofilters/
