Coon Creek Community Watershed Council Inc.
Coon Creek Pilot
The goal of this pilot project is to mitigate the risks of climate change through implementation of climate smart practices. The Monroe County Land Conservation Department provides technical and agronomic services to landowners interested in implementing climate smart practices such as improving soil health and implementing flood mitigation measures. The Coon Creek Community Watershed Council promotes and educates the community, producers, and landowners about climate smart practices.
This pilot project has the following key goals and priorities. First, build on existing efforts to develop stories and a culture of climate resilient and economically viable land uses in prosperous rural communities. Currently, the Coon Creek Community Watershed Council is working with Greener Pastures at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to collect and archive the oral narratives of the people who live in this watershed. The importance of that work is that neighbor talks to neighbor, sharing stories, finding common ground, and hearing and learning from one another about how to implement climate smart practices and economically viable land uses. Integration of financial workshops into planned events that addresses the economic viability of land uses is part of this project. Together, these actions will foster a culture of climate resilience.
The second goal is to design and implement climate-focused practices, agricultural and forest demonstration projects, including but not limited to carbon offset projects. A key priority is to provide technical assistance for design and practice implementation for 5-10 farm, forest, watershed, and carbon demonstration projects. Identifying farmers and landowners interested in implementation and providing resources and information to them is also a priority. The Monroe County Land Conservation Department will provide assistance in designing and implementing climate smart practices and demonstration projects.
