The trail cam project is intended to provide an accurate and cost-effective system for monitoring Wisconsin elk herds. It will enable researchers to estimate the size of herd and the cow/bull ratios. In addition, volunteer monitors can provide a picture of wolf, bear, deer, turkeys and other wildlife populations within the elk range.

Volunteers will be asked to commit to volunteering for at least a year, attend a training session and make four camera checks each year.

Each camera check is estimated to take one to three hours. Maintenance could include replacing memory card and camera batteries, clear vegetation from around the camera and fill out simple data sheet. After doing the camera check, volunteers will upload photos onto a personalized website, view and classify the photos.

Training and equipment will be provided, but volunteers will need to have transportation to the camera site they are monitoring, access to a GPS unit, a working email account, an internet connection, a computer with Windows operating system and camera memory chip (SD card) reader.

Interested parties in the Black River Falls area are asked to sign up online at http://goo.gl/forms/iE2noJRArw. For more information, contact Susan Frett at 608-221-6323 or by emailing Susan.Frett@wisconsin.gov.

The cleanup will be held Saturday, April 23 and volunteers are asked to meet at the Lake Wazee Park Beach parking lot at 8 a.m. to receive assignments. Cleanup volunteers will have free admission to the county park for the morning.

After working in groups cleaning up dump sites, volunteers will bring the trash and recycled materials brought back to the parking lot to put them into dumpsters.

In conjunction with the cleanup with the county, FBR also needs volunteers to help with the Adopt-A-Highway cleanup on County Highway K. FBR has adopted County Highway K for litter removal between State Highway 54  east of Black River Falls to Hryz Road.

Lunch will be provided by the county around noon. To volunteer and get a count for the lunch, contact Steve Rake by calling 715-284-2087.

To sign up or for more information email to info_fbr@yahoo.com.

A frac sand mining company will request a condition use permit to excavate within the shoreline of Halls Creek and build a rail line within sight of the waterway. Concerned citizens can voice their objections to the plan at the January 18, 2016, meeting of the Jackson County Zoning Committee. The meeting will be held at  11 a.m. in the Jackson County Board Room, 2^nd Floor, Jackson County Courthouse, 307 Main St. Black River Falls.