Whitewater residents Kevin and Nancy Brunner and the Geneva Lake Conservancy hosted a community conversation for residents of the Whitewater and LaGrange areas Oct. 4 at the Cravath Lakefront Community Center.
The discussion focused on the current and future conservation needs of the two communities.
“If we are to protect our land and water resources, we need to begin by involving the community in envisioning what kind of community we want to be in 2050,” Kevin Brunner said in a news release.
He is a GLC board member who will serve as the organization’s chairman beginning in 2019.
The conservancy has expanded its efforts to the Whitewater area and recently worked with the Whitewater Rice Lake Management District to send a letter to its members about how they can help reduce phosphorus in area waterways.
The conservancy recently received a DNR Knowles Nelson grant to preserve an oak forest and kettle pond in LaGrange for public use and is raising the matching funds to purchase this property, Brunner said.
Approximately 20 area residents attended the event and discussed their concerns about the area’s urban and rural forests, the increase in invasive species and the need to protect lakes and other natural resources.
The Kettle Moraine area is rated by conservationists as having global importance to migrating birds and other wildlife, according to GLC Executive Director Karen Yancey.
She said that a major goal of any efforts must be to protect the area’s high conservation values, particularly its lakes and oak forests.
These conversations will be held regularly in the Whitewater area, and the conservancy will report back annually about programs and land protection efforts it has undertaken in the area.
Call 262-275-5700 or visit glc@genevalakeconservancy.org for more information.
