Welcome to DCCL!

Did you know that the League is the second oldest conservation group in the State of Wisconsin? If you are concerned about the future of Dane County’s natural heritage, you will want to attend the Dane County Conservation League’s 21st annual fundraiser banquet. Proceeds from the event support educational scholarships, local DNR wildlife habitat projects, purchase of trout stream bank easements, prairie chicken recovery efforts, the raising of pheasants, and the construction of Blue Bird, Wren, Wood Duck, and Bat Houses

PHEASANT FARM NEWS 
Once again, we will be getting 1,000 day old chicks from MacFarlane's and they will arrive about May 20.  The farm will open for the year on Saturday, May 9 at 8am for anyone who wants to participate.   We usually close up by 10:30 approximately.  The rules will be about the same with 15 hours of work earning the maximum amount of birds and 10 hours a reduced amount.  All subject to predator activity.  
We have no face masks at the farm and only a few disposable rubber gloves.  So,  you will have to provide your own if you feel that they are necessary.  Usually, keeping a safe distance is not a big problem at the farm. 
                                                                HIGHWAY CLEANUP
We have held a highway cleanup day in the spring each year.  But due to the virus, the Board decided to wait until later in the year to do this. 
                                                                   BOARD MEETINGS
The April Board of Directors meeting was held via video conferencing for the obvious reasons.   We will probably be doing that in May, also but that has not been determined yet. The general membership is always welcome at a Board meeting.  If you would want to listen in, you can contact Archie Degnan at degnanaj@yahoo.com.   
We are told that the VFW Hall may be sold to a developer in the near future.  Therefore, we don't know if any of this fall's meetings will be held there or if coronavirus rules would even allow it.  We'll keep you posted.
                     BEST WISHES FOR GOOD HEALTH FROM THE DCCL BOARD OF DIRECTORS.  
 

2020 ANNUAL MEETING REPORT

 

The 2020 Annual Meeting was held on January 28 with a quorum of members in attendance.  Four board of directors seats to serve three year terms were up for election, while one two year seat was open to fill the unexpired term of Chuck Virnig who passed away last year.  Re-elected to three year terms were John Center and Lowell Carter.  Newly elected to three year terms were Sharon Schwab and Tim Heindle.  Denise Johnson was elected to the two year term.   Don Sprang and Gary Howards chose not to run for re-election.  Many thanks to both of them for serving the League faithfully for many years.  A plaque was awarded to Don Sprang in recognition for all of the work he put in as treasurer for over 10 years as well as many other contributions of time and energy toward conservation in Dane County.  The lucky winners of $50 gift cards to either Cabela’s or Fleet Farm were: Tom Ripp, Denise Johnson, John Center, Rollie Schraepfer, Steve Johnson, Darren Marsh, Dave Ripp, and Bob Degnan.  The League’s major financial grants for last year were $5,000 to the Outdoor Heritage Educational Expo, $6,000 to the WDNR to hire a summer intern at the Buena Vista Marsh Wildlife Area and $2,500 to Dane County Parks Foundation.  Other funding included memberships and or donations to the Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame, Clean Lakes Alliance, Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and Conservation Leaders of Tomorrow among others.  Detailed financial reports are always available to any member upon request.  After the meeting the Board elected officers for 2020 as required in its bylaws.  Those elected were: John Center, President; Greg Dahl, Vice-President; Archie Degnan, Treasurer; and Lowell Carter, Secretary.   

 

 

 

OUTDOOR LIFE/FIELD AND STREAM EXPO

(FORMERLY DEER AND TURKEY EXPO)

 

For the first time ever the DCCL will have an information booth at Outdoor Life/Field and Stream Expo to be held at the Alliant Energy Center on April 3-5.  The foot traffic at this event should provide excellent exposure for the League and, hopefully, add a few new members to our organization.  We recently revealed some fresh, new signage for our booth at the Wisconsin Fishing Expo.   If you haven’t seen it, this is your chance.  There may still be a need for some help in staffing our booth.  You may call Richard Brye at 608-831-5878 to schedule a time.  The League will reimburse members for parking and admission costs for anyone who works at the booth.  Usually a minimum of two hours is expected.  

 

DCCL SCHOLARSHIP

 

Two years ago we created a perpetual scholarship fund at UW-Stevens Point for any Wisconsin resident with junior or senior standing enrolled in the College of Natural Resources.  The annual award is $1,000.  This year’s recipient is from Oregon, Wisconsin.   Our President John Center will attend the awards ceremony on April 3rd in Stevens Point.  

 

CONSERVATION CONGRESS SPRING HEARINGS

 

The annual spring hearings will be held on Monday, April 13 at 7p.m. at one location in each county.  In Dane County the location is Waunakee High School.  It is best to arrive at least a half hour early due to some registration requirements that take a little time.   Again this year, you may stay and vote on paper ballot as in the past, or you may ask for a randomly selected verifiable number and then go home and vote on-line.  You may also vote on-line without a number, and your vote will be “considered” but not counted.  You have up to 72 hours to vote starting at 7p.m. on April 13.  For more details you can go to the DNR website and click on the Conservation Congress tab.  There are many questions pertaining to deer hunting issues that might be very important to many of us.  If you wish to vote for Congress delegates, you must stay for part of the meeting and vote on paper.  

 

HUNTER SAFETY CLASSES

 

Thanks to DCCL members Ray Anderson and Dale Moody among others, five Hunter Safety classes were held in 2019 which totaled 149 students of which 125 were kids.  The League provides blaze orange caps to all graduates with the DCCL name on front.  Ray and Dale have been involved in hunter education for many years and they deserve our gratitude for introducing many people, young and old, to hunting, conservation and the outdoors.  

 

 

DCCL Supports Portage High school Clay Busters Trap Team

 

We need Your Likes ON Facebook!!  We are trying to get a E-Newsletter going and by liking our Facebook page we can make sure you are kept up to date with all the latest events.

DCCL E-NEWSLETTER

 

 

 All Family members are welcome to join in on the fun!!

Pheasants will be given out starting aug 31st.  And Remember you must :

Bat House Project.

In April we initiated our first bat house project successfully with the help of many members at the farm cutting the pieces, staining, and painting them .  We built 20 nursery bat houses and 10 single bat houses.  Collaborating with the DNR Heather Kaarakka, a bat biologist, and Darren Marsh, director of the Dane County Parks who picked specific sites; we installed four bat stations at four county parks.  Installation took about 6 hours, and those sites are:  Yahara Heights, Token Creek Park, Babcock Park, and the Lower Mud Lake Natural Area.  Two bat houses are also installed at the farm. We still have some nursery and single houses for sale for anyone interested.  Nursery houses are $20 and single houses are $10.

As a conservation league our highest priority is to help preserve threatened or endangered species. Bats in Wisconsin have seen a huge reduction in population due to White Nose Syndrome (WNS).  Our recourse is to help supply summer habitat for bats on city, county, and private land to help them recover.   With growing interest, continuation for bat houses next year requests should be done in March with site selection by April whether citizen, private club(s),  city, county, or state.   

New Go wild DNR Website To Purchase a license, permit or register you kill.

Need a place to hunt this fall? Want to know where the pheasants are stocked each week? or even find a parking lot. check out this great hunting tool.  http://dnr.wi.gov/topic/lands/fflight.html

 

Membership meeting are starting in September

Board meetings are the third Tuesday of the month at 7:00pm.

Membership meetings are the fourth Tuesday at 7:00pm. With Guest Speaker To discuss farm issues and conservation efforts. Everyone is Welcome to join us.

All Meetings are held at the VFW Hall, 133 E. Lakeside St.(off John Nolen drive). in Madison.

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