County By County: Preserving the future with Friends of the Black River
BLACK RIVER FALLS, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX) – This week, we’re spotlighting the people, places, and things that make Jackson County a unique part of our area in the latest edition of our County By County series.
For the past 20 years, one group of community members in Jackson County has taken it upon themselves to preserve the black river, all while trying to encourage future generations to take part in conservation efforts.
The Black River roars through the dam at Black River Falls as part of its nearly 200-mile path from Taylor County to the Mississippi River. For 20 years, one nonprofit organization has worked to conserve and protect the section of the river that runs through Jackson County. “We want people to use it because we think that’s what gets people excited about the environment if they can actually be in it.”
Friends of the Black River began in 2004, and Jeff Polzin has been with the group since day one. He says the main goal of the organization is to make sure the river is in good shape for people who use it recreationally, “This is a really good paddling section of the Black River, the flatwater section starts below the Black River dam, and there’s a whitewater section up near Hatfield.”
Preserving the natural beauty of the river is also a top priority, which is done through a variety of clean-up efforts. “So, we usually do one cleanup in the spring that’s around Earth Day that’s more in the forest, and then at the end of the summer we’ll do a river cleanup, and we’ll try to go down the riverbanks.”
There’s also an educational component to Friends of the Black River where members teach area students and community members about the river and it’s natural wildlife, and as Polzin adds, it also comes from a genuine care about the health of the watershed, “I think when you’re out there, you start to almost fall in love with it a little bit, it gets to be like your home river, and we lead all these paddles and then can introduce new people to it.”
With the hope being that some of those new people will also want to take part in the Friends of the Black River in the years to come. “Our board of directors is older. We’re hoping to get a new generation excited enough to actually be on the board and help take some leadership as some of us get close to retiring.”
But, not too close to retiring just yet, “Right now I’m still loving it, I love getting out there.”
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