Habitat Restoration Specialist Spoke April 14th
On April 14th Friends of the Black River hosted speaker Kurt Brownell to share his in depth knowledge of native Wisconsin species found in our prairies and floodplains. 
Kurt Brownell is a Natural Resource Specialist working in the Mississippi River Natural Resource Section Office, US Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District. He is an expert at designing and implementing prairie and forest restoration projects. He has tackled the formidable invasive Black Locust on Goose Island, south of La Crosse, and Reed Canary Grass in the Mississippi River floodplain forests. Currently he is working on restoring habitat at the Weaver Dunes near Kellogg MN as endangered Blanding’s turtle nesting grounds. His work has included island building and revegetation projects near La Crosse and Buffalo City.
Brownell earned his degree in Wildlife Management and Biology from UW Stevens Point. But before returning to the Midwest, Kurt worked as a marine biologist out of San Diego, CA and then with the Marine Mammal Fund and Earth Island Institute initiating a world-wide boycott of tuna. They produced the documentary “Where Have All the Dolphins Gone?” Aired on Earth Day 1990, the film resulted in worldwide adoption of dolphin-safe tuna fishing practices. 
Kurt’s primary passion is restoring native prairie habitats. As a teenager he “used to go botanizing with John Zoerb, a lifetime friend and owner of La Crosse Floral Company”. Together they roamed the goat prairies of the Mississippi River Valley bluffs and sand prairies of the flood plains. He spent his internship with the Army Reserve at Ft. McCoy, WI, now considered the site of some of the best “pre-settlement quality prairie” to be found anywhere in the Midwest.
Kurt detailed his work in restoring large prairie tracts along the Mississippi near Weaver, MN. This prairie is now home the threatened Blandings turtle, providing the largest breeding ground area in the world. It is also home to many grass land species of birds that have been threated by loss of habitat. Kurt is a believer in the resilience of native sand prairies, citing many examples of land that with just a little help reverted to near original prairie condition even after decades of farming.
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