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Conservation plan would include large parts of Walworth County

Photo

An American Coot feeds her young in a secluded spot of the Turtle Creek Wildlife Area north of Delavan. More photos at www.wisconsinphotos.com

The proposed Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge from a feasibility study by the Trust for Public Land.

Commentary: Would Walworth County embrace a National Wildlife Refuge?

WALWORTH COUNTY -- A plan to include vast stretches of Walworth County open spaces into a National Wildlife Refuge is a long way from reality, but a newly released study lays out a blueprint for what it might look like.

The Trust for Public Land, a national, nonprofit, land conservation organization, recently completed a feasibility study, which is the a first step in getting the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to begin planning for a refuge.

Download study HERE. (pdf)

Called the Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge, the area would include parts of Walworth, Racine and Kenosha counties, and stretch into McHenry County

Lenore Beyer-Clow, Policy Director for the nonprofit conservation group Openlands, told the McHenry County Board last week that the Hackmatack Refuge would protect endangered flora and fauna and could be even better for area residents since it would be the only such place within a two-hour drive of Chicago, Milwaukee, Rockford and Madison.

"This could be one of the largest economic engines open to McHenry County," Board Chairman Ken Koehler was quoted as saying in the online newspaper www.firstelectricnewspaper.com

Beyer-Clow said, "it could take up to two years" for that and even if approved, Congress would still have to come up with money to fund it "It doesn't become (a refuge) until an acre is purchased by the Federal Government," she said.

According to the study, proponents envision both acquiring land that will serve as the refuge proper and partnering with local public and private landowners to conserve and restore habitat corridors between and among National Wildlife Refuge lands and surrounding conservation areas.

Walworth County already has several land trusts and nature preserves, which presumably would be able to partner with the goals of the refuge.

The report goes on to point out that the designation as a National Wildlife Refuge has no effect on the rights, privileges and responsibilities of adjacent private landowners.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, "The presence of refuge lands does not afford the service any authority to impose restrictions on any private lands.

Control of access, land use practices, water management practices, hunting, fishing, and any other general use is limited to those lands in which the service has acquired an appropriate real estate interest or right.