About Us
The Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership, Inc. (LNRP) has been actively working throughout the Lakeshore Basin since 2003. The Lakeshore Basin has 12 primary watersheds defined by the Niagara Escarpment, and with it’s many rivers, creeks and associated wetlands, are a primary focus of LNRP’s conservation activities.
As a diverse group of people, we use education and coordination to support local community efforts to maintain or improve the health of our natural resources. We do this by fostering partnerships, providing funding, promoting a forum for discussion and supporting activities advocating a balance between land use and natural resource management, conservation and protection.
LNRP is a tax exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
We work with communities in Manitowoc, Kewaunee, Door and portions of Calumet, Brown, and Sheboygan counties.
Our Vision
The Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership is the leading environmental advocate on the waters of Northeast Wisconsin, fostering stewardship in the planet's largest watershed, and taking action to champion the environment.
Our History
The Formation of the Partnership
The notion of “basin partnerships” was developed in 1998 during the administration of George Meyer, then the Secretary of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). His idea had several facets. One was to create a partnership between citizens and DNR staff in order for citizens to have input into the work plans of the DNR and for the DNR to have a sounding board for their ideas about the most urgent environmental problems. Another facet was that the DNR staff would be organized as interdisciplinary teams that worked together within the watershed areas or basins. Meyer also worked out an arrangement with the University of Wisconsin Extension (UWEX) whereby the DNR paid 50% of the salaries of an educator in each basin and the basin educators served as conveners and facilitators for basin partnership teams. Finally, the DNR provided funds for Limited Term Employees in many of the basins to help the partnerships get off the ground.
The Lakeshore Basin Partnership Team was formed in September of 2000. At the end of 2000, the natural resource issues that the partnership members perceived as most important in the lakeshore basin were identified and prioritized. Thirty-five natural resource issues were considered and narrowed to a top-10 list using a nominal group process.
View a summary flyer of the lakeshore basin and the top 10 most urgent natural resource issues (pdf)
From there, LNRP went on to form several work groups to begin to address the issues. Among the most productive were organized day-long workshops in the management of small forest lots and a traveling PowerPoint presentation on threats to drinking water. In addition, another presentation was created that focused on the critical role of wetlands.
Until December 2001, the Partnership Team had no formal structure. Its meetings were organized and supported by the UWEX Basin Educator. However, it was felt that for its long-term survival and effectiveness, the Partnership Team should have a structure and by-laws. To that end, a group of citizens and agency people volunteered to devise and recommend a basic organizational structure and statement of purpose.
This group proposed:
- the “Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership” (LNRP) as the name
- an executive committee to govern the LNRP
- a vision statement
- a mission statement
When the Executive Committee met February 25, 2003 to adopt the proposals of the volunteer group, they were briefed about changes coming from Madison that could threaten the existence of the basin partnerships all across the state. The Executive Committee considered the idea of forming a non-profit corporation to take over the work of THE Partnership Team. John Roberts was at this meeting and he had a set of by-laws he had developed for a similar organization. He had also completed the paperwork for filing as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.
The decision of the Executive Committee was that the Roberts by-laws be re-shaped to fit the Vision and Mission of the LNRP and that the LNRP itself should be adjusted to carry on as a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) corporation. A by-laws subcommittee was appointed from among the members of the Executive Committee. By early March of 2003, the subcommittee had re-shaped the by-laws.
The Executive Committee met on March 24, 2003 and unanimously agreed to support the formation of the Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership, Incorporated by private citizens residing in the basin. It was agreed that the Executive Committee would stay intact for a year as a “safety net” for the new corporation.
A year later, on April 13, 2004, the original DNR-supported Partnership Team was officially dissolved in view of the success of the LNRP, Inc.
In the fall of 2003, the LNRP applied for and was awarded two grants totaling $112,000. The money was from the Joyce Foundation, through Dairy Gateway. The grants supported:
- the Community Agriculture Project
- an Executive Director
- $50,000 for grants to local community environmental projects
Later in the fall of 2003, the DNR funded a half-time Limited Term Employee
for outreach and to help manage the newly formed Community
Grant Program.
Over the winter of 2004-2005, the LNRP Board of Directors developed a Strategic Plan with the help of UW Extension Educators. The Plan was adopted April 20, 2005.
Two public appeals for contributions were made in December of 2004 and the spring of 2005. With the money raised, the LNRP invited applications for a second round of its grant program. In December 2005, the LNRP Board approved nine grants, totaling $8,220.
In the fall of 2005, the LNRP was awarded two River Planning Grants. With the money, the LNRP entered into a contract with Agua Media Exhibits International for assistance with developing the LNRP Business Plan and, in particular a fund raising and marketing plan.
In the spring of 2006, LNRP received a Coastal Management Program grant that brought together the four Lake Michigan shoreline basin groups into a series of project collaborations. The groups included Root-Pike Water Initiative Network (WIN), the Milwaukee River Alliance, the Sheboygan River Partnership, and the Lakeshore Natural Resource Partnership. The first project involved creating a collaborative initiative called “We All Live on the Water” to develop a media consultant-designed signage and marketing campaign.
Later that year, LNRP received a portion of a Joyce Foundation grant that allowed for the hiring of a new Executive Director and the development of the Agricultural Watershed Improvement Network (AWIN). AWIN evolved into a locally-led and comprehensive effort to inform, educate, facilitate, demonstrate and coordinate agricultural practices that contribute to improving the Basin’s water quality. In 2008, we received funds to develop and deliver Environmental Management System training as part of a State Innovation Grant awarded to the WI DNR. Twenty farms have gone through the EMS training. At least three of these farms will apply for Green Tier status in 2010. The Joyce Foundation provided funding for Phase One (2003-2004) and Phase Two (2006-2007) of project.
In 2007, the same Joyce Foundation grant provided $30,000 to the Community Grant Program. LNRP also received another DNR River Planning Grant to launch the We All Live on the Water Seminar Series and a basin-wide electronic newsletter. Funding was also secured for the Lakeshore Environmental Resource Network (LERN) and further development of AWIN.
The Champions of Conservation Award Program was launched in 2008 with funding from Dominion, owner of the Kewaunee Power Station. The environmental award program recognizes and honors the outstanding environmental initiatives throughout Northeastern Wisconsin. The program has given 10 awards through 2009 to nominees coming from Water Resources Protection, Land Use and Habitat Restoration, and Environmental Education and Outreach. Our award programs have brought Peter Annin, author of the Great Lakes Water Wars, Buddy Huffaker, Executive Director of the Aldo Leopold Foundation, and Joel Brammeier, Acting Executive Director of the Alliance for the Great Lakes.
Our 2009 Community Grant Program delivered $23,100 in grants ranging from $670 to $5000 for seven projects focused on water quality issues. This brings the total amount of four grant rounds to over $111,000 funding 45 projects in the basin.
Launched in 2007, the LNRP has received two DNR River Planning Grants to support the Explore and Restore Your Rivers Program. We are working in the Pine Creek Watershed in Calumet County on complementary efforts to PCB remediation, in the Centerville Creek Watershed to restore an abandoned millpond, and in the Branch River Watershed on education and outreach.
Founded as a formal partnership in 2008, the LNRP has continued to promote the Water’s Edge Artists, creating a 2009 and 2010 calendar. The Water’s Edge Artists choose prominent and otherwise overlooked creeks, streams, lakes, rivers and wetlands to feature in their paintings. The calendar hopes to capture the essence of these important places through the painters’ direct contact with nature. This project directly supports LNRP’s efforts to protect and restore our waterways through our “We All Live on the Water” campaign and other LNRP programming.