Seven "Manager for a Day" workshops conducted last spring by the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge yielded many approaches to solving issues facing the refuge complex. A total of 179 citizens and representatives from state and federal agencies participated in the day-long workshops in Savanna, Ill., Prairie du Chien, La Crosse, Onalaska, and Trempealeau, Wis., Elkader, Iowa (evening only) , and Winona, Minn.
The workshops are part of the refuges plan to gather public and community input to its Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP). When completed, the plan will set management long-term management direction for the refuge. From strengthening partnerships to planting trees to expanding education efforts, people offered ideas on how refuge management can address a myriad of issues. Headquartered in Winona, Minn., the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge complex stretches for 261 miles along the Mississippi River in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois, and includes Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge in Wisconsin, and Driftless Area National Wildlife Refuge in Iowa.
Summaries of the workshops are available on the Refuge Complex planning web page, http://midwest.fws.gov/planning/uppermisstop
Refuge complex staff and regional planners are beginning to develop potential management alternatives for the refuge complex. Once the alternatives are established, refuge staff will write objectives and strategies for each alternative. A draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan is expected to be ready for public review by the spring of 2004.
"As we continue to develop management alternatives and objectives for achieving those alternatives, the ideas offered at the Manager for a Day workshops will be invaluable," said Don Hultman, manager of the Upper Mississippi River refuge complex. "We greatly appreciate the time and thought people contributed."
