Ed Holsen presents GLC with its first preserve, Christel Woods. Director Vickie Hall and David Grusznski accept the gift of land.
The William F. Christel Memorial Woods and Wetlands Preserve
This gift of lowland hardwood swamp was donated by owners Edward and Carole (Christel) Holsen in March 2010 to preserve their wooded wetlands as a habitat for wildflowers, trees, birds and other wildlife. The family named the project to honor the late Carole Christel Holsen’s grandfather, an early resident of Valders who earned the title of “Mr. Valders” because of his entrepreneurial spirit.
Christel Woods ash swamp
As the first property to be gifted outright to the Conservancy, the decision to take on land ownership was one that the board directors weighed carefully. “We felt it was an opportunity that we could not turn down,” said board president David Grusznski. “To work with a willing landowner to preserve 35 acres in the village’s hub — it was a project we could stand behind.”
This quiet refuge in the center of Valders maintains a place of habitat for breeding and migratory birds, small mammals and other wildlife. The site inventory work began in May when board members Shirley Griffin and Tony Smith, along with local expert Bernie Brouchoud and a school teacher walked the property, taking notes and photos. Out of this inventory and future assessment work will come a site management plan that will guide GLC as it manages the woods and wetlands and tries to control invasive, non-native vegetation and other species.
Iwen Easement Kewaunee River
The Bill and Andrea Iwen Conservation Easement — our first for Kewaunee County!
Please join us in thanking Bill and Andrea Iwen of Algoma for donating a 43-acre conservation easement in the Town of West Kewaunee to Glacial Lakes Conservancy during the last week of 2010.
The Iwen’s private land within, and next to, the C.D. (Buzz) Basadny Fish and Wildlife Area is situated along the Kewaunee River environmental corridor of the southern Door Peninsula and contains riverbank, hardwood floodplain forest, grasslands, wetlands, upland woods, open fields and scenic vistas. Maintaining a vegetative buffer along the river is important for protecting habitat for small mammals, upland game, native populations of fish, and the seasonal migration of trout and salmon and migratory birds and raptors along the Lake Michigan Flyway corridor. The Kewaunee River and Grasslands is one of Wisconsin’s Land Legacy Places of conservation significance.
