ABOUT US

 2008 Special Recognition Award For the DCCL

THE PAST

Individuals, who were interested in maintaining and enhancing habit for wildlife and fisheries in Dane County, organized the Dane County Conservation League (DCCL) in 1933.

• DCCL leased the first public hunting ground in Wisconsin, the Deansville Marsh, often thought to be the first in the nation.

• Purchased Castle Marsh (Warner Park Lagoons) for fish spawning grounds.

• Purchased 4300 acres in Central WI for development of Prairie Chicken habitat.

• Worked for the development of the Cherokee Marsh Waterfowl Refuge and Spawning Grounds.

• Worked to improve the Maunesha River near Marshall and the Sugar River near Belleville.

• Worked for public access to Fish Lake.

• Contributed to assist in the rehabilitation project at Baskerville Harbor in Lake Monona.

• Owned parcels in Token Creek including trout ponds & springs. Operated the facilities as a trout hatchery.

• Negotiated with landowners 20-year leases for public access to numerous trout streams in Dane County.

• Planted 2,000,000 trees/shrubs over the past six decades.

• Initiated the Madison Schools Summer Youth Conservation Program.

• Charter member of Wisconsin’s Conservation Hall of Fame. Two members, Paul Olson & Gov. Knowles, are inductees

THE PRESENT

DCCL continues to serve as one of Wisconsin’s oldest volunteer nonprofit organizations dedicated to the mission of conservation.  Members of today’s Dane County Conservation League:

• Raise Manchurian pheasants and Bob-white quail at our farm;

• Participate in the Annual Fishing Expo;

• Work on watershed and habitat improvement projects:

• Construct nesting structures for wood ducks, bluebirds, bats, and wrens;

• Distribute and plant trees;

• Sponsor WI DNR Hunter Education Safety courses;

• Lead and instruct WI DNR Hunter Education Safety courses;

• Fund scholarships for high school and college students for environmental education;

• Hold annual banquet, raffles, golf outings;

• Shoot skeet and trap;

• Have been awarded Conservationist of the Year;

• Build lunkers and help with stream bank restoration with the Upper Sugar River Watershed Association;

• Manage DCCL-owned 4300 acres of habitat restoration area with the help of the WI DNR;

• Purchased Castle Marsh (Warner Park Lagoons) for fish spawning grounds; and

• Purchased 4300 acres in Central WI for the development of prairie chicken habitat.

THE FUTURE

If you’re interested in making some new friends, helping Mother Nature, and enjoying the outdoors, the Dane County Conservation League is for you! 

Our motto dating back to the 1930s shows the League’s dedication to the future -- 

   "Conserve now, that the future may live!"