CALEDONIA CONSERVANCY: A BRIEF HISTORY OF PURPOSE
In 1993 seven neighbors who had strong ties with local landowners, who allowed use of their land for horseback riding, began searching for a way to save their equestrian trails from destruction by development. After a year they incorporated and became a 501©3 land trust with the goal of permanently preserving their trail system. The target area w
as bordered by the Root River to the west and south, Hwy 31 to the east and Milwaukee county line to the north-- about 4 square miles. The first land purchased was the four-acre Trout Ponds on Four Mile Road. This area was paid for by all seven Caledonia Conservancy founders. This was followed by another contiguous 68-acre purchase which runs to the Root River and was snatched out from under the County. The County had specifically excluded horses on County property. Since then, the Conservancy and County have been cooperating together on the Root River Parkway. For the next few years we acquired a piece of land per year. We held a neighborhood thank-you picnic and special riding events every year; which are still happening to this day! Then a proposed development off Hwy 31 posed a major crisis. The whole neighborhood organized to sign petitions surrounding the area to stop town approval. The developer contacted the Conservancy and we agreed to buy 14 acres of a 100-year-old woods, to not oppose him, and he agreed to one-acre lots. We were able to win a state Stewardship Grant to pay for half of the eventual $120,000 cost of the land. This was the first time we pursued land because of its environmental value. With the help of neighbors in the contiguous subdivision volunteering their writing skills and time we were able to acquire grants from the Johnson Foundation, We Energies, Root Pike Win, some individuals and a bank loan. Who would buy land without knowing the exact price until closing?—but we did, and it all worked out. At this point several of us became involved in Caledonia’s Neighborhood Planning, which created conservation subdivisions (like what we had done with the developer) and other environmentally positive laws for the town. Actually, several new board members for the Conservancy were recruited from those planning groups to join us with the thought of further preserving land. Conservancy volunteers had always trimmed, mowed, and created trails, but now the need for more organization caused us to form separate committees. Today we have six: Stewardship, Preservation, Finance, Governance, School to Nature, and Outreach which includes fundraising. We now have a part-time Executive Director, Suzi Zierten and make efforts to attend national rallies and webinars by computer. Four years ago we were the second group nationally with no staff to attain Accreditation from the national Land Trust Alliance. We have developed strategic plans to give focus on work that otherwise could go in so many directions. The Conservancy has benefitted from strong neighborhood support. With the exception of some grants, including a very large lottery drawing from Potawatomi, residents and riders in our four-square-mile area have financially supported us and provided much of the volunteers hours needed to make everything work. Nevertheless, in the last few years we have begun to reach out beyond our target area. The School to Nature committee works with some Caledonia and RUSD schools to bring Fourth and Sixth graders out to our properties, using DNR-generated programs to study nature. In spring they study Life in a Log, finding wonderful critters like blue salamanders, worms, fungus and also wild flowers. In fall, students study the four environmental areas of water, prairie, woods, and river at the Trout Pond Prairie. They collect samples, look through microscopes and feel and smell plants. Other groups help spread wood chips on trails. The boy scouts have done some major projects with us as well. In spring, other students pull garlic mustard, which earned us a state award this year for most harvested. This year the Conservancy, again after some soul-searching about mission, has launched a further initiative to reach beyond our neighborhood. We have chosen our King’s Corner property to develop as a child-centered general use park for the larger community. We wish to create a legacy for the King and Toni Ehrlich families who donated that land and many other property pieces to us. The King and Ehrlich family created most of the original trails on King’s Corner; and Conservancy volunteers will initially add a parking area, child nature play areas, and nature trails including a special needs one. We have commissioned a full site plan with the hopes of shelters and perhaps a building in the future. The Conservancy has preserved significant woods with endangered species. We have worked hard to extinguish invasive plant species; however, we remain basically a recreationally based organization. We don’t just save land; we use it.
