Friends of the Prairie River Newsletter
February, 1999
Our first meeting of 1999 proved to be productive as well as infomative. In our quest to see the Prairie River at it's full potential, many issues were discussed and plans made for our second year. 15 People were in attendance at this meeting including Pete Segerson from the DNR office in Antigo. The following is a recap of what transpired and what was accomplished.
The treasure's report stated that we have $410 in our account due to the membership drive of last Christmas. Another sponsorship was received this week bringing the total to $460. This was the 11th membership/sponsorship received to date (out of a mailing list of 52). We will have another membership drive this spring.
Patch and decal designs were voted on and accepted. The winning designs were submitted by Joe Krznarich. The designs will be taken to several businesses for estimates. A decision on how many patches/decals and where to order them, will be made at the next meeting.
A spring clean-up along the Prairie River from Parrish to Deer Trail Road will be held on April 24, the week-end before the traditional opener. At this time we will also check our signs and replace any that have disappeared over the winter. Two other related issues were decided on. We will try to get a two mile stretch of Hwy. 17, either north or south of Dudley as part of the Adopt-A-Highway progam. We feel that this area with the Prairie visible along the highway would be appropiate. Also, that the price of the signs were too high and should be reduced to $10 and be available as part of the membership fees/dues for an additional $10 contribution.
We will contact ALL of the land owners on the Prairie River with an invitation by mail to come to the Prairie River land owners meeting scheduled for April 7th at Les & Jims in Merrill, WI. At this meeting we will discuss our goals and listen to their input. A side benefit of this project will be the development of a database of all of the Prairie River land owners.
A Prairie River Area Map will be developed and a draft will be displayed at the next meeting. Input on what shall be on the map will be open for discussion. We will then have the end product printed and distributed to all of the participating businesses for distribution. The Wolf River Tourist organization does not charge the consumer for the maps, but the Brule River Sportsman Club Does. We have not decided to charge for the map and a vote will be taken at the next meeting.
Our Proposal to the Conservation Congress, along with 7 other trout stream proposals, have been delayed for one year due to this year's vote on the Early Trout Season. We have been asked by several groups if we, The Friends of the Prairie River, have taken a stand on this issue. We will discuss the early trout season proposal at our next meeting.
Our next meeting will be on the 24th of February at the T.B. Scott Free Library in Merrill at 6:30 pm. We also need your e-mail address if you have one. E-mail them to wffp@charter.net or joe820@aol.com.
The Friends of the Prairie River organization was formed in January 1998 to help maintain its cold, clean waters and esthetic beauty and to benefit Prairie River trout populations and habitat. The Friends\rquote represent those who use the river for recreational purposes, those who live near its banks and all citizens interested in the preservation of the river as a natural resource. The Friends primary purposes are to promote the continued improvement of water quality in the river and to maintain and restore existing habitat and wildlife in the river.