Thursday, May 20, 2010

Lesley Brotkowski - Assured Wetland Delineator at Cedarburg Science


Cedarburg Science is proud to announce that our Senior Conservation Biologist, Lesley Brotkowski is a part of the Wetland Delineation Professional Assurance Initiative of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. Lesley is one of only seven people in Wisconsin with this distinction. This means her work is assured for purposes of State of Wisconsin wetland delineations. As an Assured Wetland Delineator, wetland boundary review and concurrence from WDNR is not needed when Lesley performs a delineation of a wetland boundary. This greatly speeds up project approval processes.

As described by the Wisconsin DNR: “The goal of this program is to provide a high level of certainty about wetland boundaries for project planning, and save time in state review of wetland boundaries, while enhancing protection for Wisconsin's wetlands through more accurate wetland boundaries overall.” To learn more about the Wetland Delineation Professional Assurance Initiative, go to this link.

In addition to her many other skills and areas of experience, Lesley specializes in the performance of Wetlands and Upland Habitat Assessments, Natural Resource Management projects, and Endangered Species Surveys. Lesley is skilled in Invasive Species Management, Plant and Wildlife Surveys, Restoration, and Habitat Quality Assessments. Lesley works closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) to conduct surveys for the Federally Endangered Hine’s emerald dragonfly, Somatochlora hineana. Habitat assessments and surveys are conducted to document and protect active breeding locations, which aid in the conservation of this rare species.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Progress on the Forest Beach Migratory Preserve, plus International Migratory Bird Day Celebration!



















Cedarburg Science has been involved from the start of the restoration and development of the Forest Beach Migratory Preserve, a property of the Ozaukee-Washington Land Trust. During this past year, the Land Trust received $454,000 in federal economic recovery act funds to help pay for project development and restoration activities. On May 8th, the first observance at this location of International Migratory Bird Day was held for members of the public to participate in bird walks, learn from presentations by WDNR –Bureau of Endangered Resources Ornithologist Kim Grveles and Cedarburg Science Ornithologist Bill Mueller, and see displays from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Land Trust, Flying Wild, Treasures of Oz, Bird City Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology. Representatives of the Land Trust and the Fish & Wildlife Service were on hand to assist the public in learning more about the restoration and management activities. Cedarburg Science is proud to have prepared the Restoration and Management Plan for this site. Photos here show recent planting work done on the preserve.