The Public Land Owner Stewardship Fund offers five $500 grants each semester for college clubs to complete stewardship projects on their local public lands and waters. This past year the backcountry gang from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point was 1 of 5 PLO grant recipients. On the application, UWSP BHA indicated that they would assist the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WI DNR) with the management of woody overgrowth on a chain of islands in the North Fork Flowages at Crex Meadows Wildlife Area in Grantsburg, Wisconsin. The assistance of UWSP BHA would help the WI DNR with the management of habitat for sharp-tailed grouse. In addition to grouse habitat management, work done would benefit other species including the sharp-tailed grouse, eastern whip-poor-will, American bumble bee, Blanding’s turtle and various species of waterfowl.  

On February 17th, 2022, students took a 4-hour drive to the Crex Meadows visitor center where they stayed the night at an on-site cabin generously provided by WI DNR staff. Students spent the night trying to catch a glimpse of the northern lights from the midnight sky and listened to a wolf howling in the distance before finally getting some rest for the long day of work ahead. The next morning, after some quick bites of breakfast donuts, the BHA crew met up at the chain of islands in Crex Meadows to work at 7am sharp. Even recently graduated chapter president, Harrison Stasik, joined them for the workday after volunteering with the Minnesota BHA chapter at Pheasant Fest in Minneapolis the night before. After 8 hours of running chainsaws, trudging through snow, waddling across ice, and a beautiful day on the flowage; BHA’s 6 volunteers successfully put in a total of 48 hours removing various sized trees on 3 of the 4 islands in the North Fork Flowage. While finishing up their last island a grouse was flushed out and the day wrapped up with a short, hysterical, turkey gobbling how-to by UWSP BHA’s Adam Nyhus.  

After the Crex Meadows workday, the PLO grant also supported an additional workday on March 11th, 2023. The funds from the grant helped pay for additional chainsaw chaps needed for a project in Portage, WI. The Portage, WI workday was in partnership with private land biologist, Brendan Woodall, from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The purpose of this workday was to assist Brendan and the landowner of the property, Brian, with the thinning of an oak stand to promote oak savannah habitat adjacent to a 640-acre wetland. About 12 volunteers from BHA helped make quick work of the 5.5-acre unit, Afterwards, students got to meet the landowner--who is a diehard waterfowl hunter--and receive professional advice on chainsaw maintenance from Brendan. After the help he received from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Brian generously donated $2,500 toward BHA's efforts to continue habitat projects like these.