Scotch Creek Restoration Project
Click here to take our quick Bird Survey!
The Village of Edgar is embarking on a 2–3 year wetland restoration in the heart of Edgar WI. The project involves the restoration of Scotch Creek, its watershed, wetlands and its main tributaries.
These sites are in critical need of restoration and enhancement to improve their ecological health and wildlife habitat value. The watershed & wetland ecosystems have suffered from stream impairments, including decades long phosphorus levels exceeding EPA safe levels, physical impairments that have further decreased stream aquatic and invertebrate life, invasive plants, sediment accumulation, and degraded wetland habitat conditions. All these impairments have reduced the stream and wetlands' ability to support diverse wildlife / pollinators, native plant communities, and seasonal flooding for the village community.
First, this project will result in a comprehensive management plan for 7.57 Miles, Scotch Creek and Omar Creek. A Civil Engineering firm will summarize existing baseline data, describe historical management actions, identify stakeholder values and goals, model nutrient loads, determine watershed management, identify storm water contributions, and identify sources of stressors and threats to ultimately recommend activities that will protect and restore Scotch Creek and Omar Creek.
Second, this project is to significantly enhance 9 acres of palustrine emergent wetland areas in Edgar, Wisconsin to provide critical habitat for bird species. These sites are currently degraded by invasive plants and sediment that impair native plants and water quality. The goal of this project is to improve wildlife habitat by reducing invasive plant competition and promoting a diverse array of native plants. This will significantly enhance the ecological health of these wetland and upland areas, providing improved food and habitat for birds.
The program is to be accomplished via a two-phase strategy:
1) Phase 1: Started in Q1/2024, a collaborative, public-private restoration/enhancement plan began for 9 acres of formally delineated wetland/upland within the Village of Edgar adjacent to Scotch Creek Park. This 2024 effort unveiled the broader issues at hand, helped foster public engagement, gathered key stakeholders/partners, whom all helped to define the program being described within this grant application and the recommended steps for a best possible outcome. These activities were privately funded, including the planning, conservation easement, and now collaboratively, a 2025 NAWCA small grant request is being submitted Q4/2024 to aid in accomplishing that specific scope of work; the balance having supplemental funding. Another DNR grant request (Knowles-Nelson) will be submitted in Q1/2025 to aid funding the creation of an ADA compliant boardwalk routed from Scotch Creek Park through that portion of the wetland; this will also have supplemental funding sources. Opportunity to begin construction of the engineer-stamped design / boardwalk is estimated to begin in Fall 2025 by volunteers and contractors.
2) Phase 1a: Starting in Q1/2025, a Comprehensive Management Plan will be developed for Scotch Creek and its primary tributary, Omar Creek, as a deliverable of the DNR Surface Water Grant - Comprehensive Planning for Lakes & Watersheds category); through an assessment of the stream impairments by qualified professionals (Civil Engineers, Environmental Engineer, Biologist), WI Department of Natural Resources, US Corp of Engineering, vendors, partner collaborators, the Village of Edgar and its local citizens, this plan will define clearly what the impairments are within the stream and watershed broadly, and offer an implementation plan for resolution in Q3/2025, and subsequent project plan to take corrective actions in Q4/2025-2026. This multi-year Comprehensive Management Plan will also be the foundation for maintaining the gains accomplished during the project execution phases and be in full alignment with the Marathon County Comprehensive Management. 3) Phase 1b - Q2 /2025 Necessary permitting identified in the Comprehensive Management Plan, will begin to be requested for in parallel in 2025. 4) Phase 2- Q3/2025 From the completion and acceptance by the DNR of the aforementioned Comprehensive Management Plan, another funding request to NAWCA in September 2025 for the wetland activities agreed upon for implementation will happen along with supplemental funding sources. 5) Phase 2a - Q3/2025 Another funding request to the DNR for Surface Water Grant - Management Plan Implementation of those approved and funded activities will then take place directly for Scotch Creek and Omar Creek starting in Q1/2026.
The following are folks who are collaborating with us to make this happen:
WI Marathon County (Comprehensive planning collaboration)
WI Department of Natural Resources (Comprehensive planning collaboration, biologists, permitting, funding)
Joint Venture: UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER-GREATLAKES (conservation collaboration)
Non-Profit: GOLDEN SANDS RESOURCE CONSERVATION & DEV COUNCIL INC. (stream invertebrate survey, education)
Non-Profit: Aldo Leopold Audubon Society (migratory bird survey, (spring & fall migration, breeding), education)
Non-Profit: Central Wisconsin Conservation Club (stream and management planning)
The Upper Mississippi/Great Lakes Joint Venture (UMGL JV) is involved in this project and has provided
insight around the project’s wildlife benefits. This project will further
the implementation of UMGL JV’s plan to conserve habitat for wetland-associated waterbird, waterfowl,
shorebird, and landbird species to meet their breeding, migration, and wintering needs (UMRGLR JV.,
2007). It will also advance the 2020 Wisconsin Waterfowl Habitat Conservation Strategy, which seeks to
retain and restore wetland waterfowl habitat and designates the project area as a high-priority conservation zone (Straub et al., 2019)