Friends of the
Upper Mississippi River Refuges

Press Release from the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge
La Crosse District
555 Lester Avenue
Onalaska, WI 54650

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Ann Blankenship (608) 783-8403
April 15, 2005 Bill Thrune(608)7838402

Meet New People and Help Your Refuge All at the Same Time

The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge and the La Crosse Fishery Resources Office held their annual Volunteer Recognition Banquet in late February this year. This annual event honors all the people who have volunteered on the Refuge during the previous year.

You are invited to join this special group of people who donate their time and talents to a variety of Refuge projects each year. Some of the projects needing volunteers this year include the following:

What you can do to help the Refuge and the river

Survey woodcocks

 Conducting an evening woodcock singing ground survey in the Holmen/West Salem area and/or near Newton in Vernon County. Surveys are conducted once each year between April 25th and May 15th. Surveys begin after sunset and are usually completed by 9:30 p.m. Volunteers would accompany experienced wildlife biologists to learn proper procedures, with the hope that volunteer(s) could conduct the surveys unassisted in coming years.

Collect snails

 Assisting parasitologists in collecting snails from Lake Onalaska. The purpose of this project is to learn more about the faucet snails implicated in the recent waterbird die-offs. Sampling will be conducted one day each month through the summer and early fall.

Look for arrowhead tubers

 Washing sediment samples to look for arrowhead tubers. These samples were collected from the river. Time of day and length of time worked can be easily adjusted to accommodate volunteers’ schedule. Work is conducted at the Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center on French Island.

Count heron colonies

Assisting staff with heron colony production counts. Nest production surveys are conducted between June 1 – 15th. The heron colony is reached by boat and the survey conducted on-the-ground. Hip boots are provided. Volunteers may encounter insects, stinging nettles, and poison ivy. Surveys usually take one day to complete.

Sample wildcelery

Assisting staff with wildcelery sampling in August on Lake Onalaska. Volunteers help collect plants from the lake in relatively shallow water or sort and count the plants collected. Sampling takes one day to complete.

Sample invertebrates

 Assisting staff with invertebrate sampling. Working from a boat, samples are collected and invertebrates washed and sorted. Sampling is conducted in September in Pools 7 and 8.

Light maintenance

 Assisting with light maintenance tasks including sign repair, painting, carpentry, and other similar work. Projects are scheduled on an “as needed” basis.

Adopt a Landing

 Volunteering to Adopt-a-Landing including picking-up litter, filling brochure boxes, and general maintenance work.

In 2004 Refuge Volunteers contributed 450 hours to habitat and wildlife projects, almost 300 hours to maintenance projects, and over 750 hours to wildlife-dependent recreation. You could be a part of this unique group of dedicated people who care about their Refuge. Read below to find out some of the great things our volunteers have accomplished:

The Jay and Connie Alvin family of Brice Prairie received our Volunteer of the Year award. Their sons, Nathan and Luke, both earned the Eagle Scout rank by working on two Refuge projects. Luke supervised a shot study on Lake Onalaska - 220 hours volunteered. Nathan supervised construction of an observation deck at Upper Halfway Creek Marsh Project – 325 hours volunteered

Friends of the Upper Mississippi River Refuges - $1,500 donated for building materials

Several longtime volunteers reached significant milestones this year:

Fred Lesher - over 250 hours volunteered as an expert birder and taking care of the Highway 26 observation deck.

Ruth Nissen - 1,500 hours volunteered conducting habitat and wildlife surveys, maintaining canoe trails, and working on many other projects.

Irv Halvorsen – has volunteered for 13 years, over 2,500 hours working at Brice Prairie and upper Pool 7 boat landings.

Don Schroeder - contributes 100 to 200 hours each year for the Refuge

For additional information about the Volunteer Program, please contact Ann Blankenship of the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge at (608) 783-8403.

The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge is the most visited refuge in the United States. The refuge extends 261 miles along the Upper Mississippi River from Wabasha, Minn. to Rock Island, Ill., protecting and preserving habitat for migratory birds, fish, and a variety of other wildlife. This 240,000 acre refuge was established in 1924.

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