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Program staff:
Allison Werner, Program Manager
The River Alliance of Wisconsin believes strongly that the best
way to promote the health of our rivers is through building local river
and watershed organizations. The Local Groups Program supports these groups by providing training, technical and organizational assistance.
We
are working toward the day when every Wisconsin river will have a local
organization dedicated to its long-term care. The movement is growing
rapidly. Today there are more than 150 citizen-based river groups
around Wisconsin that vary widely in their mission, membership and
level of organization. Some have staff, others are all-volunteer. Some
educate communities about their local rivers, some watchdog polluters
for compliance, while others advocate for protective zoning ordinances.
Some groups organize river restoration and habitat improvement projects.
 Studies
continue to make the link between good water quality, a healthy tourism
industry and strong property values. Watershed protection is essential
to a community’s long-term social, economic and environmental survival,
and is most effective when community members play an active role.
We
are committed to building the effectiveness of Wisconsin’s growing
river community for long-term river protection. Organized people are
essential to resource protection:
Citizens apply the lessons of their community’s past and provide a vision for its future.
They participate in watershed management decisions and provide a voice for local waters.
Citizens are able to bring together different interests for a common purpose.
An organized group can make a bigger difference than individuals acting alone
The Local Groups Program helps Wisconsin’s river groups organize in
their communities, and provides them the tools and training to be
effective. We offer workshops, technical trainings and one-on-one
consultation on technical (stormwater) and organizational (fundraising)
topics across Wisconsin.
Tools we offer to assist your group include:
- Trainings, including Making Your Board Effective, Mapping Your Future, Raising Funds to Reach Your Goals, Sustaining Your People Power and Preventing Construction Site Erosion.
- Statewide conferences
- River Links, interlibrary loan resources for building successful conservation organizations
- Watershed Advocate Toolkit
- Wisconsin River Groups e-mail group and Word on the Stream, the River Alliance electronic newsletter
- An online directory of citizen-based river and watershed organizations
- Technical assistance in preparing DNR River Protection Grant proposals
- Sample documents (e.g. bylaws, grant proposals, etc.)
Recently the River Alliance took a closer look at the needs of local river and watershed groups on Wisconsin. Through listening sessions with local groups and discussions with partners, we have evaluated how we support local groups.
In the upcoming months we will be launching several new approaches to more effectively assist groups with staying sustainable in order to accomplish the great work of protecting their home rivers.
To learn more about the comments we received and the themes we heard during the listening sessions read the report, Assessing Citizen and Local River Group Needs for Protecting Wisconsin’s Rivers ]PDF1.2MB].
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We
are working toward the day when every Wisconsin river will have a local
organization dedicated to its long-term care. The movement is growing
rapidly. Today there are more than 150 citizen-based river groups
around Wisconsin that vary widely in their mission, membership and
level of organization. Some have staff, others are all-volunteer. Some
educate communities about their local rivers, some watchdog polluters
for compliance, while others advocate for protective zoning ordinances.
Some groups organize river restoration and habitat improvement projects.