On April 4, 2018 Groundswell helped assure the continued protection of nearly 3,000 feet of shoreline on Lake Wisconsin near Okee in Columbia County. In collaboration with Gathering Waters, Wisconsin’s Alliance for Land Trusts, we assumed responsibility for the stewardship of a 92-acre permanent conservation easement that protects a large area of wetlands and forest and includes a single house.

The conservation easement was originally established between the landowners and Gathering Waters in 1999. According to Mike Carlson, Executive Director of Gathering Waters, “Gathering Waters took on the easement to help protect this valuable land at a  time when there wasn’t a land trust active in the area. I am glad that we can hand off permanent protection of this property to Groundswell.”

Groundswell will inspect the property every year and work with the current and future landowners to ensure that Lake Wisconsin scenery and wildlife habitat remains undisturbed.