Charlie Luthin of the NRFW featured at January FBR meeting

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Director of Resources Foundation Spoke to Local River Group
By Pat McKnight

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With the purpose of developing an endowment for funding public conservation projects and providing contributors a source of income, the National Resources Foundation of Wisconsin (NRFW) is seeking contributors to the Wisconsin Conservation Endowment.
Charlie Luthin, executive director of the NRFW, brought the concept of the endowment fund to members the Friends of the Black River (FBR). Luthin was the featured speaker at the FBR Jan. 13 meeting.
“This is a permanent source of funding for various park properties around the state,” said Luthin. “We have all these public lands and no money for them. It’s really sad, and it’s getting worse.”
The NRFW’s mission is to find ways to bring private funding to be used for public conservation projects. The organization has been developing an endowment for five years to create a permanent revenue source.
To develop the fund, Luthin is approaching individuals and organizations to ask them to consider contributing to the endowment fund. In exchange for building the principle in the fund, the contributors will receive the annual interest earned by their investment.
“We take care of the management,” said Luthin, “and all you do is figure out what to do with your annual check.”
Among the projects funded by the NRFW has been the Whooping Crane Reintroduction Project. The project has been trying to reintroduce whooping cranes to the eastern half of the country. The project involves using human intervention to hatch and raise whooping cranes.
When the young cranes are ready to migrate, they are taught to follow an ultralight aircraft, which then leads them to a wildlife reserve in Florida.
“The NRFW is not raising the cranes,” said Luthin. “It supplies the money.”
Other projects involve efforts to protect endangered species. The organization has funded programs to improve habitat for bats and turtles as well as other bird species.
Luthin shared the efforts to protect the rare Kirkland’s warbler from cowbirds. When cowbirds lay their eggs in the nests of the warbler, the cowbird hatchlings are aggressive and push the warblers’ young out of the nest.
The organization has extended species protection by using funds to help create preserves in Central America. The preserve protects habitat for birds that migrate between Wisconsin and Costa Rica.
In addition to funding efforts to protect endangered species, the fund helps finance efforts to control and eradicate invasive species. It also supports public education and outreach programs.

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