Business View Magazine | October 2020

261 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2020 V I LLAGE OF PLOVER , WI SCONS IN the Village. “So, we moved forward and established a partnership with the Wisconsin Wetland Association, the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), MARS-EOR, (Montgomery Associates Resource Solutions - Emmons & Olivier Resources), and the Portage County Land Conservation Department. We formed a project management team with the goal of improving the flow of the Little Plover River, but also making improvements to the entire watershed, as a whole. Currently, we have $2.6 million worth of funding for five different projects, all geared towards improvements in the watershed. “One is called the Soik Wetland Restoration Project. The Village acquired 60 acres of land with some funding assistance from the WDNR. That land is being taken out of irrigated agriculture production and being converted to wetlands and upland prairie. We have another project that’s occurring on WDNR property and Little Plover River Conservancy property. On that property, we’re re-establishing pine barrens and oak barrens. And we’re working with the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point to reformulate the river through that section, which had widened out. Back in the 1800s, the Little Plover River was only five feet in width. In certain areas, it is now 30-40 feet in width. So, the University recommended doing some channel narrowing and planting some sedges and grasses to firm up the bank, so that the river will go back to its old channel form, which is very beneficial. It’s a Class One trout stream, so it helps the brook trout in that stream. “We’ve also been working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture on a resource conservation project, where we work with local