A year ago at the annual meeting I reviewed the preceding 12 months, as I'll do now. There have been many achievements, initiatives, issues, and what I'll call opportunities over the past year's march to advance conservation in southern Walworth County and in particular through the Geneva Lake watershed area.

We'll be talking increasingly about our area in terms of the word "watershed," but suffice it to say a watershed embraces all the land that drains toward a common area, and in our case locally that is the great ancient pre-glacial valley we call Geneva Lake. There is a deep geographic common ground between all the nearby lands that drain into and out of Geneva Lake.

And that common ground applies to the future of the people who live and recreate on the land. Because what we do with our woods, ponds, and wetlands; with our wells and septic and water treatment systems; with our lawns and farm fields; with private and commercial run-off management; with new residential and commercial development and construction will affect the underground aquifers that feed our lake and undergird our watershed that interconnect with the lake and flow into the White River and down the Fox.

These effects, many of which will be determined by large and small decisions by our citizens and the multiple municipalities in which we live, will strongly influence the quality of life, our local land values, the desirability of living and working here, the vitality of our deep lake itself, and the very life and health of all living things in our watershed, now and for future generations. That is our real natural common ground, and these are the issues that animate the Conservancy. They are the issues that should become a priority in our communities - before damage to the natural environment becomes irreversible and the costs of recovery overwhelming.

So back to the past 12 months. I must say this period begins and ends with deep concerns about the near and ultimate fate of the very place in which we sit today, Yerkes Observatory. Twelve months ago there just was a meeting next door at Aurora University of some 70 citizens concerned about the future of Yerkes. They were led by Larry Larkin and included our state senator, Neal Kedzie, who is with us today. The community-based initiative to save this national monument for the 21st century, called Yerkes 21, was launched that day. That initiative later was merged into the proposal by Aurora University to save Yerkes and its native grounds.

Today, a year later, Aurora's response to the University of Chicago's Request for Proposal apparently has been rejected by the university, while the competing plan has been accepted. It is by a shopping-mall developer and owner of Mirbeau Resorts in upstate New York to build an imposing commercial structure containing a 100-room resort spa hotel, restaurant, and conference center on the lakefront and 72 homes near the observatory. The observatory itself would be protected for five years, but no firm plans for its long-term preservation and utilization are known yet.

The Mirbeau proposal will be subject to approvals of zoning changes, complex and costly tax and financial structuring, and specific plans presented to the Village of Williams Bay government. The presentation of Mirbeau's plan and public Q&As on these issues have been scheduled over the coming weeks. A group called the Concerned Taxpayers of Williams Bay, which I'm sure includes some of our 115-plus Conservancy supporters with Williams Bay addresses, has been formed and will be critiquing the proposals. I guarantee you the Conservancy will join in with questions, observations, and ideas to share with its own membership, the people of Williams Bay, and the entire Geneva Lake network of communities in the weeks, months, and possibly even years ahead. We'll talk with the experts and the public, analyze the plans and their implications, and focus our commentary on the many issues about historic preservation and land conservation that arise.

An observation I share with others is that the determination of Yerkes Observatory and its site is not only a question of the future for this particular unique and threatened human-made and special natural place. Yerkes is a "watershed" issue for our entire area because the results and implications will affect the common ground and future direction of many other dimensions of our community life throughout this geographic watershed. Call Yerkes a bellwether or a turning point on community character, or just call it important.

But issues surrounding Yerkes, important as they are, and which we can discuss at more length later this morning, aren't the only highlights of Conservancy activity of the past year. As a disclaimer, I won't try to be comprehensive, since there's just too much going on. Anything I overlook or get wrong in this report is my fault, not that of the staff or board.

Twenty months ago we launched a development initiative to focus a lot of effort and resources on the growing pressures for suburban subdivision expansion throughout our area. We agreed that Conservancy members are not blatantly anti-development. Good development can carry real economic and even social benefits if carefully planned in context with overall community vision and local consideration. We decided to focus on what we could do to educate, cajole, confer, and strive for BETTER development - development sensitive to density considerations and to proven conservation practices.

Executive director Jim Celano, staff, and board members since have met often with developers and builders; municipal, county, state, and even federal officials at every level; other conservation and community organizations; and with private citizens, and we've made progress. Any wins we've had usually have been combined efforts, and we don't begin to take sole credit. They are wins for and by the community.

For example, the City of Lake Geneva Plan Commission heard from the Conservancy and many others and rejected plans for what has been referred to as Geneva Ridge, off the southeast corner of the lake. The commission acted even after the plans were scaled back and notably reformatted, largely at the encouragement of the Conservancy.

Or, Jim met with the Sho-Deen group and shared our conservation concerns about the proposal for the Big Foot Farms subdivision in Walworth Township south of the Geneva Lake. The Village of Walworth Plan Commission grabbed the bull by the horns and made it clear to Sho-Deen the dense development proposal was inappropriate to the site and did not fit into Walworth's well-reasoned and up-to-date master plans for the future growth of the community.

And, Jim has been an outspoken advocate for broad evaluation of the effects on the area as well as the local community of the massive Jackson Creek residential development proposal by Sho-Deen east of Delavan Lake.

On another front, recognizing that conservation development design can be responsible and farsighted, the board authorized creation of our Excellence in Conservation Development Award and presented it to Keefe & Associates and its affiliated Red Wing Land Company for their Sugar Creek Preserve conservation community. Located on Bowers Road south of I-43, Sugar Creek offers 52 homesites on 260 acres of woods, streams, ponds, and wetlands, all designed by famed conservation planner Russell Arndt. We publicized this new award to send a signal to other developers that good conservation design can be successful and gain positive recognition from both the community and the market.

For six months we've been involved with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in our initiative to evaluate the economic impact that the health of Geneva Lake has on the economic vitality of the surrounding communities. This important baseline research is about to be conducted. We think this program will draw increased attention to the practical value of conservation practices in our community. Click here for the economic survey.

Sugar Creek Preserve

Regarding the agricultural community and our fast-disappearing prime agricultural land, last summer we took an exhibit at the Walworth County Fair to reach out to the agricultural community and other new friends. Jim has met with several agricultural officials, and we are looking into both governmental and private means to accelerate agricultural land conservation, both to help keep prime farmland in farming and to help maintain a measure of the casual country and rustic character of much of our area.

Land trusts are the vanguard of land protection in the 21st century now that deficits have limited the ability of the federal government to conserve new lands. Current rates of development mean we have 20 years or less to protect our best natural landscapes before they are gone forever. Walworth County is one of the fastest-developing areas in Wisconsin, and a corollary issue is that prime farmland is being converted to other uses at an alarming rate.

Shifting gears to a positive note, we've enjoyed over the past year several great get-togethers with the community that also have been critical fundraisers for us. From a fun Mai Tai No Tai party at Lake Geneva Yacht Club last July to our sellout upcoming 3rd annual No Tai party at Lake Geneva Country Club on July 15.

We continued the Holly Ball tradition with another great event at the Big Foot Country Club last December. At the event Bill Peterson was singled out for our annual Conservation Stewardship Award for his unrelenting efforts to preserve the historic Black Point Estate, where we have a shoreline conservation land protection agreement. Just this June we held a Farmers Market and Garage Sale at the Mill House, followed a few weeks later by a Sunday brunch and tour fundraiser at the Driehaus Estate. If you've missed these events, please join us in the future.

Lynn Ketterhagen, our staff land protection specialist, has made great progress in updating one of the key documents associated with each of our local conservation easements, called baseline documentation, to bring these in line with current national standards. We've become more sophisticated and educated in learning how to best assure the long-term, permanent protection of these lands. Lynn hopes to have this documentation completed and in the hands of all our easement landowners by this fall.

Regarding the Conservancy and the news media, we have received excellent coverage of issues and initiatives in the local press and credit it for adding power to our public information outreach. In addition to working closely with the Lake Geneva Regional News, The Beacon, The Janesville Gazette, At the Lake magazine, and others, this past year we have met with the editorial board of The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and liaised with the news and editorial sections of the Chicago Tribune, Kenosha News, and other key media to inform people about conservation issues.

In the office, Katie Sullivan, our administrator, has revamped the Web site and our newsletter, assuring they are full of current news and valuable information. We have installed new computers and upgraded and updated our software and records systems.

There's a lot on our agenda, now and looking ahead. But, none of our work would be possible without our small but great staff led by Jim, without our active and involved officers and all our board members, or without our many Conservancy members, volunteers, and donors. A big thank you to all.

At the Conservancy we try to live by our motto: "Common ground. Community character. Natural Resources." We are always on the outlook for new supporters who can donate their time or money and even prospective board members, so if you know people who may be interested in learning more, please put them in touch with us.

Jim Celano presents Phil Harvey with the Conservancy Founder's Society Recognition of Excellence

Phil Harvey, a local historian with a long-time presence in Fontana, was presented with the Conservancy Founder's Society Recognition of Excellence at the Board of Directors annual meeting. As he prepares to return to New Hampshire to a special home he helped restore, the Conservancy acknowledged and thanked Phil for his continued generosity and heartening presence in our lives.

Phil's support of the Conservancy began in 1998, and in 2000 he generously created a unique opportunity that allowed the Conservancy to purchase his home, the restored Mill House in Fontana. Phil has remained an active Conservancy member, often helping around the Mill House and supporting us in many ways.

Phil and his late wife Jean returned to the Fontana area in 1981 to buy and restore the Mill House, which had been in Jean's family for generations. Our offices are in this 164-year-old building, surrounded by the charm and loving care Phil and Jean put into the house.

Phil always has been eager to share with the community his love for this distinctive home. The Mill House supposedly was built in 1857, although Phil recently discovered information that could date the building to as early as 1842. The massive stove-wood structure is one of only two surviving examples of such construction in the entire Midwest and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Conservancy Board and staff express their deep appreciation to Phil for his esteemed friendship and support, which have aided our mission of promoting responsible stewardship of our land and water resources.

The Conservancy, in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Fiscal and Economic Resource Center, has launched a study of the economic impact Geneva Lake has on the local and regional economies.

Taking a cue from a similar study conducted a few years ago for Delavan Lake, we are asking more than 1,600 residents located in and around the Geneva Lake watershed a series of questions aimed at finding out what the lake means to a cross section of area residents. As development pressures mount on the lake, the open lands, and historic sites throughout the area, we are looking for a guidepost as to what the likely consequences are from all that is associated with this activity.

If you have received the survey, be sure to fill it out and return it to the university. If someone you know has received this survey, encourage him or her to do the same.

A comprehensive analysis of the returned surveys is scheduled to begin in late September and will be completed sometime in October. Once finished, the Conservancy will announce the findings in November. As plans are developed further, we will update you on when and where you can join us to hear the results. The survey is available here to all those interested.

"Computers and men are not species of the same genus . . . . [Computers] must always be an intelligence alien to genuine human problems and concerns." Joseph Weizenbaum

Or, in my own words, the computer is possessed and doesn't really like me. One bright, cold day in early 2006 my computer database decided to self-combust and took much of our donor records with it. Although I managed to resurrect the data, it had one interesting side effect: The database had duplicated itself!

In to save the day was Gwen Ferrari, our newest volunteer. Over the last three months Gwen has been cleaning up the database and erasing the duplicates. She has been instrumental in preparing the databases for the data transfer in late fall to a database that is more efficient and more appropriate for a not-for-profit.

To facilitate the transfer, we are asking all our members to fill out the form included in this newsletter. It is our goal to communicate with all our members in the best way; this represents a significant advance to our becoming a more member-driven organization. We are asking for contact information so that we may reach all our members in the most efficient manner - be it phone, email or regular mail. We need feedback from all our constituents to find the right balance of advocacy, land protection, and education. With it, the board of directors can make better decisions, thus ensuring the future of the organization.

Another form of communication we continually seek is feedback from our members. To accomplish this, the Conservancy sends out mailings about GLC activities to update members. They are encouraged to call in and provide feedback.

These outreach attempts are not fund-raising requests; they are simply an opportunity for increased communication. Please feel free to call, e-mail, or stop by at anytime with thoughts and ideas no matter how trivial. Someone should be here to help you between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday-Friday

"Collecting data is only the first step toward wisdom, but sharing data is the first step toward community." Henry Louis Gates Jr.

"Esker! Esker! Read All About It!" announces the masthead above the information sign recently installed in front of the Mill House. As part of the Conservancy's 2005 grant request from the Lake Geneva Garden Club, the information sign is our way of reaching out to the community, letting everyone know we are here and giving passersby a window into the Conservancy when they may not have time to amble up our brick walk and say hello. Of course, the first person to take some time to amble and tell us what "esker" means wins a prize!

"I have a rock garden. Last week three of them died." Richard Diran

Thankfully, Sharon O'Brien does not suffer this dearth of green-thumb aptitude, and our gardens never have looked more lovely. Originally the result of a Lake Geneva Garden Club grant in 2004, the two-year labor of love that is the fenced-in cutting garden had its crushed granite pathways laid in early July, beautifully highlighting the fragrant herbs and picturesque boxwood hedges. Work continues on our grounds, and we are eagerly awaiting the first apple, pear, and grape harvests. Since Lynn and I are intent on stuffing everyone with baked goodies, chances are if you stop by we will have something delicious available from our gardens! Click here for some more pictures of our lovely gardens and here for one of those fabulous recipe's we keep talking about!

Whether it is to voice your opinion, ask a question, or simply enjoy our lovely office, we encourage all of you to stop by the Mill House. We at the Conservancy work to protect our beloved Geneva Lake and its surrounding watershed, and we need your voices to help lead us.

With contributions from Charles Colman, GLC vice chairman and Fund-Raising Committee chairman, and Lynn Ketterhagen, Land Protection Specialist.

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