Land and Water Resource Management Plan: Wisconsin Statues (Chapter 92.10) requires each county to prepare a Land and Water Resource Management (LWRM) plan as a condition of state grants through the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP). This new planning process was adopted in October of 1997. It is intended to be more comprehensive by including local citizen input into the county's local natural resource management issues. A new plan was developed in 2009.
Technical Assistance: Provide local landowners, managers as well as units of government with technical assistance to find solutions to land and water resource concerns. Technical assistance is also provided to lake associations, districts, and managers with regard to water quality, grant writing, best management practices, and shoreline restoration. Water quality specialists work with lake groups to collect data regarding numerous water quality indexes including chemical and physical data, algae and zooplankton enumeration, and sociological data pertaining to water quality perceptions.
Conservation Information/Education: Conduct a variety of conservation educational programs in partnership with other agencies and organizations. Our target audience included everyone from young to old, urban to rural. Our goal is to provide landowners with as much information as possible about reducing water pollution as well as encouraging the protection of our natural resources. With this information, our current land managers will be able to make management decisions that consider the best interest for the sustainability of our natural resources. In addition, our youth will be exposed to conservation ethics of which they may choose to practice in their lifetime to ensure a bright future for their children.
Farmland Preservation Program/Working Lands Initiative: The Wisconsin Farmland Preservation Program identifies and protects agricultural areas against unplanned development. The Farmland Preservation Program Conservation Compliance is a state mandated cross-compliance rule that requires all landowners receiving tax credit through this program meet the State Performance Standards for Soil and Water Conservation. The program is designed to preserve agricultural land and open spaces by while implementing soil and water conservation practices, in turn providing tax relief to landowners in the program.
Financial Assistance: Determine what financial assistance may be available to local landowners, managers, towns, villages, cities, and lake organizations to help offset the costs of conservation work and assist them in obtaining those funds. Financial assistance can be in the form of tax credits, cost sharing, conservation easements and other incentive payments.
Regulatory Activities: Administer local ordinances and program compliance requirements. This currently includes the Farmland Preservation Program, Animal Waste Storage Ordinance, Nonmetallic Mining Ordinance, Stormwater Ordinance, No Transport Ordinance and the Implementation of the Water Quality Performance Standards found in NR151
Landowner Project Consultation: Part of the day-to-day service provided through the LWRD consists of acting as a project consultant. We provide a basic service to all landowners that request all forms of land use related information. We serve as a resource for reference material, maps, and soils information. We also provide information about their potential need for various permits through DNR, Corps of Engineers, Planning and Zoning and other local municipalities.
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