Many of the projects undertaken by Land Stewardship Services at the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute have a water quality focus.  These projects include:

Little Muskeg Wetland Restoration

The Little Muskeg is unique in that it is located right on the Northland College campus. In 1999, Northland College signed an agreement with Wisconsin Central Railroad to “restore and enhance” four acres of wetlands on the site to mitigate for the loss of wetlands due to railroad expansion.

Students in a Wetlands class began conducting research on the site in 1999, and a plan for restoration was created in 2001. Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute interns installed piezometers, took laser level readings, and began monitoring in 2001. Since then, monitoring has been augmented to include photo-monitoring, vegetative surveys, soil surveys, and GIS mapping.

Project scope

Mitigation plans have been developed by Institute staff, Northland College faculty, and students.

Project partners

Army Corps of Engineers
Wisconsin Central Railroad
Northland College

Roy Johnson's Wetland Monitoring and Maintenance

During the summer of 2001, the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute worked with a private engineering firm and government agency partners to develop a site design for an 80-acre “wetland mitigation bank.” The site was designed for the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to compensate for the loss of wetlands resulting from road construction within the region. In 2002, the wetland was constructed north of Brule in Douglas County. The land for the project was obtained through a permanent easement from the property owner, Roy Johnson, who currently lives on the land.

Project Scope

The Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute has agreed to monitor the Roy Johnson West Wetland through 2007, documenting the findings in a formal report at the end of 2005 and 2007. Wetland monitoring takes place from April through October, and includes bird surveys, vegetative surveys, monitoring water levels using staff gauges, photo-monitoring, and creating vegetation cover type maps using GIS software. This season, we are also considering a prescribed burn as a management option to control the spread of invasive species.

This project offers students the unique opportunity to work directly with the private landowner, Roy Johnson, who provides a rare first-hand account of regional and local history. Students will also work directly with WDOT employees during the monitoring and reporting process.

Data collected by the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute will help determine whether the constructed wetland is a functional system, and our recommendations will provide guidance for future WDOT mitigation projects.

Project Partners

Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Army Corps of Engineers
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
US Fish and Wildlife Service
TN & Associates 
Northland College

Other projects:

St. Claire Street Stormwater Basin
Cable Lakes Monitoring and Shoreline Restoration
Coastal Wetland Monitoring

For more information about the Land Stewardship program at the Sigurd Olson Environmental Institute, e-mail us at soei@northland.edu, or call Mike Gardner at (715) 682-1481.