Leopold Wetland Management District Comprehensive Conservation Plan

Draft CCP Comment Period Ends August 25
Open House Held August 13
The Plan in a Nutshell
Next Steps
What is a CCP?
Leopold Wetland Management District
For More Information

Draft CCP Comment Period Ends August 25

Anyone interested in commenting on the Draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) for the Leopold Wetland Management District is encouraged to send his or her comment in by August 25, 2008. The planning team will begin preparing the final CCP as soon as the comment period ends, so it will be important to submit comments soon. See For More Information for e-mail and mailing address information.

The CCP describes how the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service intends to manage District lands for the next 15 years. The public review period is an opportunity for everyone interested in the plan to review the proposed management direction and comment on it. Have we missed an issue that should be addressed in planning? Do you have questions about how the proposed management direction might affect how you use District lands, or even your own land?

A summary of the Draft CCP describes the issues being addressed in planning, the alternatives considered and the District's preferred alternative for management.

The Draft CCP is available in a variety of formats and locations:

• It's on this site in portable document format (pdf).
• Limited numbers of paper copies are available. To request a copy, please call the District Headquarters at 608/742-7100.
• It is also available as a pdf document on a CD-ROM. To request a copy, please call the District Headquarters at the number listed above.
• Both a paper copy and a CD-ROM are available at the Portage Public Library in Portage, Wisconsin. The library is located at 253 W. Edgewater Street.

Copies of the plan or summaries of the plan are being mailed to individuals who have requested them and organizations, agencies and American Indian tribes that have an interest in the lands within the District.

Open House Held

Two representatives of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources attended an open house hosted by the District on Wednesday, August 13, 2008, in Portage, Wisconsin.

The Plan in a Nutshell

The District is proposing to continue existing habitat management activities, but with more acres affected.

• Monitoring of habitat and wildlife would increase compared to the current direction.
• Visitor services would expand and improve in quality compared to the current direction.
• Outreach activities would increase over the existing level.
• The District would aim at restoring 200 acres of grassland per year.
• The 15-year target for wetland restoration would be 75 percent of the drained wetlands.
• Up to 90 percent of the woodlands and oak savannah would be inventoried with the objective of restoring approximately 75 percent of the identified potential savannah.
• Invasive species would be inventoried on 100 percent of the District and control applied to 25 percent of District lands.
• The District would develop a monitoring program to determine waterfowl recruitment.
• Land acquisition would continue as funds were available with the intent of establishing larger complexes of wetlands and grasslands.
• Seven WPAs would be more fully developed with visitor services facilities.
• The volunteer and partnership programs would increase.
• Full implementation of this alternative would require the addition of 3.5 full-time equivalents to the current staff.

Next Steps

When the 30-day comment period closes on August 25, 2008, District staff and other Service staff will review the comments that were offered on the Draft CCP and, if warranted, revise the document based on the comments. The final CCP is expected to be completed in the autumn.

What is a CCP?

In 1997, Congress mandated that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) prepare a CCP for every refuge in the National Wildlife Refuge System. Comprehensive conservation plans are intended to outline how a national wildlife refuge or a wetland management district will fulfill its legal purpose and contribute to the National Wildlife Refuge System's wildlife, habitat and public use goals. The plan will articulate management goals for the next 15 years and specify the objectives and strategies needed to accomplish these goals.

Leopold WMD

The Leopold Wetland Management District manages more than 11,600 acres of waterfowl production areas (WPA) in southeastern Wisconsin. Established in 1993, the WMD includes some of the most important waterfowl areas in Wisconsin. The District is authorized to acquire lands and manage WPAs in 21 counties, and the District also administers 45 conservation easements totaling 3,000 acres in 34 eastern Wisconsin counties. The WPAs consist of wetland habitat surrounded by grassland and woodland communities.

While WPAs are managed primarily for the benefit of ducks and geese, they also provide habitat for a variety of other wildlife species, including:

• non-game grassland birds
• shorebirds
• wading birds
• mink
• muskrat
• Wild Turkey
• deer

The Leopold WMD is named after Aldo Leopold, who is widely acknowledged as the father of wildlife conservation in America. In tribute to his philosophy, the Leopold WMD is dedicated to preserving, restoring, and enhancing wildlife habitat in Wisconin for the benefit of present and future generations.

For More Information

For more information on the Draft CCP, please e-mail us, call or write to District Manager Steve Lenz at:
608/742-7100
TTY: 1-800-877-8339 (Federal Relay)

Comments can be mailed to the WMD at:
Leopold Wetland Management District
Attention: CCP Comment
W10040 Cascade Mountain Road
Portage, WI 53901

Last updated: August 15, 2008

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