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WALES, WI - September 29, 2011 - WWA is proud to announce its acceptance of a nearly 40 acre parcel in the town of Abrams, about fifteen minutes north of the Green Bay metro area, in Oconto County, just east of the split of US Highways 41 & 141, and adjacent to its current 112 acre parcel of public recreational lands, a former DOT wetland mitigation site from the '90's.
Today, WWA Executive Director, Don Kirby, revealed that the Wisconsin Waterfowl Association has accepted a donation by a local family of nearly 40 acres of undeveloped land, adjacent to and immediately south of a larger parcel of land that WWA has held since 1996, when the DOT completed a wetlands mitigation project on the site.
"We were incredibly pleased to be able to facilitate the desires of the family, to protect the land in its current, undeveloped state, while at the same time, expanding the access to the recreational property, as a whole.", said Kirby, continuing, "The new parcel will allow access to the entire 152 combined acres, which is used for a variety of upland and wetland-based hunting pursuits, from both the current northern access point off of US 41, and now, off Oak Orchard Road, to the south."
WWA has managed this recreational property, at different levels of intensity, over the last 15+ years, and most recently, the Association's group of volunteer workers in the Green Bay area has taken a new approach to actively improving the property, including performing a controlled burn of the mitigation site area, to help control invasive species, and reinvigorate native grasses, last spring.
Now, as a part of this team's work, they've reached out to Shiocton based, Challenge the Outdoors, Inc, (ctoforme.org) a group dedicated to "serving the recreational needs and desires of the physically challenged sportsperson".
As a result of this partnership between CTO and WWA, the first phase of a multi-stage project has just been completed, including construction of a gravel parking area, in the far northeastern corner of the property, as well as a compacted gravel trail, leading to the first of several planned disabled-accessible waterfowl hunting blinds.
Jeff Pagels, of the CTO Board of Directors, lauded the accomplishments of the WWA in helping CTO reach its objectives of expanding outdoor opportunities for the disabled. "We know that being outdoors improves everyone's social, physical and mental abilities. The Abrams Project opens yet another door to the outdoors for everyone. We are excited to continue to be a partner in this project with our initial contribution of $4,000 and our technical expertise."
Kirby concludes, "We are very proud of the volunteers of our Green Bay Chapter, not only for bringing these opportunities for partnership to the table, and helping us to execute it, but for their commitment to making the Abrams property a better place for hunters, particularly those who might not otherwise be able to have access to hunt." |
