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Wapashaw Chapter Updates
Keep up with our neighbors to the north! Read more about projects and programs hosted by the Wapashaw Chapter of the IWLA in Wabasha, MN…
Bluffs2Backwaters: Celebrating Our Waters and the Community That Cares for Them
The second annual Bluffs2Backwaters was a wonderful reminder of what happens when a community comes together around something we all have a stake in protecting: our water and natural resources…
Book Review: “Woolly Buggers Don’t Count: Trout Fishing Adventures in the Driftless Area” by Bob Luck
Bob Luck’s Woolly Buggers Don’t Count is a well-developed account of his lifelong love for fishing, particularly his fascination with trout fishing in the Driftless bluff region of the Upper Mississippi Valley…
River Rat Musings: The Dynamic Nature of River Deltas
A stark reality check for Black River users happened this summer when the primary channel of the Black River for over 200 years completely dried up! The entire flow of the Black River is now…
Zebra Mussels
Everyone likes a good underdog story, and this is just that. Nearly 35 years ago, news reached the Coulee Region: zebra mussels had been discovered in Pool 8 for the first time…
UMR NGO Engagement
I wrote about the Ikes and working with other River Non Profit conservation organizations in the spring GRS article, “Ikes, NGO’s, and the River: A New Era of Citizen Engagement (Spring 2026)”. Since then the work has proceeded…
Healthy Lake Winona: Citizen Scientists Work to Improve the Lake
Healthy Lake Winona (HLW) was established in 2014 by local concerned citizens with the goal to improve water quality of Lake Winona that will support a variety of native species and provide recreational activities for all ages…
Young Ike’s: Growing the Next Generation of Watershed Stewards
Every week from mid-June through the end of August, Tuesdays and Wednesdays brought excited young people to Prairie Island Campground to play in nature, be of service, and build lasting connections with one another and the greater community…
The Courage to Create Change: An Ike's Perceptions of Navigation Maintenance Policy
This is a big topic and is difficult to enter as my mind relives the ongoing controversies and confrontations around expanding commercial navigation dating back to the 1970s, building in intensity until the Corps released their draft navigation report during the late ‘90s…
We Are the Ikes
The Izaak Walton League of America holds a deeply personal relationship with the nation's waters and outdoors, engaging in paddling, youth fishing events, and critical conversations about our waters, wetlands, water quality, agriculture, and of course the river and its wing dams, sedimentation, and navigation…
Member Spotlight: Lori Lisowski
Lori Lisowski is a member of the Will Dilg Chapter of the IWLA. Now retired, she worked as a journalist, historian, archivist, and librarian—one career wasn’t enough! One fun fact about Lori is that she enjoys playing fantasy football. Her team name is The Loonatics! Learn more about Lori’s involvement with the chapter.
A Season of Connection: People, Place, and the River
Labor Day Weekend is coming up, youth are headed back to school, and the songbirds are already beginning their migration! Summer has been full of opportunities to get outside, learn together, and care for the watershed we love…
UMR Chapter Update: Projects and Local River News
At La Crosse's July 11 Youth Outdoorfest we had over 300 visit our "Touch of the Wild" trailer that we borrowed from the Outdoor Heritage Education Center. We're discussing the customizing of one of their trailers for the Upper Mississippi River…
Upper Mississippi River Chapter Creel and Use Survey Report
My name is Brett Welch, and I am proud to be a founding member of our chapter in the La Crosse, Wisconsin, area. As a relatively new chapter, we are still developing activities that engage our members and contribute to conservation on the big river. This past winter, I began thinking about an activity that would meet those goals…
River Queens: Community Paddle Series Report
Last Friday, floating behind Latsch Island, the air was full of sound—sandhill cranes calling overhead, giggles drifting across the water, and the steady hum of cicadas, frogs, and crickets rounding out the evening chorus…
The River We Have Sought: A River’s Mortality
This title echoes the profound legacies of John Anfinfinson’s The River We Have Wrought and Cal Fremling’s Immortal River. Both books are essential chronicles of the river’s history, cultural significance, and the economic policies…
Upper Mississippi River Chapter IWLA Update
Our Upper Mississippi River chapter’s collaboration with a UW-La Crosse Recreation Management class to develop QR-code-based environmental interpretation materials for Hintgen Island (near La Crosse) is drawing to a close…
Ikes, NGO’s, and the River: A New Era of Citizen Engagement (Spring 2026)
For decades, the direction of river management—the debate over which ecological needs should be prioritized and where specific infrastructure projects should be situated—has been the near-exclusive domain of Federal and State agencies…
Boundary Waters Update May, 2026— Protections put in place in 2023 revoked by U.S. Congress & President Trump
In January, 2023, Deb Haaland, then Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, signed Public Land Order 7917, putting federal lands in the Boundary Waters watershed off-limits to federal mineral leasing (and thus mining) for 20 years…
Will Dilg Chapter Update: Hands in the Water, Roots in the Ground
As the river valley softens from brown into green, our chapter has been gathering wherever the season invites us — in stewardship, learning, and community. From conversations about water quality and hands deep in habitat restoration…