Shoreline Buffer Demonstration Site Installed at Marble Park, Winneconne

Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance partnered with the Village of Winneconne to install three native plant beds at Marble Park in Winneconne. The goal of this project is to increase the adoption and installation of native shoreline plantings around the Winnebago System. We are excited to see the project come together and watch the plants grow! Visitors can check out the site to see native plants and see if a similar project is right for them and their property.

Volunteers helped plant about 500 native plant plugs in three beds along the pedestrian walking path at Marble Park. The three beds feature a variety of native plants. The first bed focuses on low-growing plants – these plants will be approximately 5 feet or lower when fully grown. The second bed is our shoreline edge bed. It’s located along the path near the dog park, and features plant species that can handle water fluctuations. The final bed is located near the intersection of S. 6 St. and Grant Street, and is the pollinator bed. These native plant species are particularly good at drawing in pollinators including bees, birds, and butterflies.

Native plants are used in shoreline restorations because many have deep roots. These roots allow for the slowdown and infiltration of stormwater, which, in turn, leads to less erosion and less sediment and phosphorus entering our lakes, rivers, and streams. Plus, native plants are usually well adapted to our climate, and once established, do not need much maintenance!

Shoreline property owners are eligible to receive reimbursement of up to $1000 to install this type of best management practice through a Wisconsin DNR Healthy Lakes and Rivers grant by partnering with Fox-Wolf Watershed Alliance.

Come check out what this shoreline best management practice looks like, what the requirements are for the Healthy Lakes and Rivers Grant, and what shoreline property owners can expect from the process of planning, installing, and maintaining the native plant beds.

Under a Healthy Lakes and Rivers grant, native plantings must:

• Total 350 contiguous square feet,
• Be at least 10 feet wide in any direction,
• Be adjacent to the shore,
• Follow the Healthy Lakes requirement for number of native plants and species.

A Healthy Lakes native planting project can augment an existing area of shoreline vegetation under certain circumstances.

The demonstration site at Marble Park will meet all of these requirements, and is intended to give shoreline property owners a good idea of what to expect from their native plantings, while also educating visitors about how native plantings can improve wildlife habitat, natural beauty, and decrease runoff into the Wolf River.

The Demonstration Site will showcase three different plant lists: a low-growing bed showcasing species that grow <5 ft tall, a shoreline edge bed with species that thrive close to the water and a pollinator bed which will showcase species specifically intended to attract pollinators.

If you have any questions or are interested in installing a Healthy Lakes native plant bed on your shoreline property, please contact Katie Reed at katherine@fwwa.org or 920-851-6472. Read about the eligible practices here: fwwa.org/shoreline_restoration.