Local community members and volunteers from Trout Unlimited chapters near and far turned out in a big way to care for and enjoy the Mecan River at the first annual Central Sands Community Celebration on a wet weekend this past May.
The Mecan River watershed boasts some of the finest trout streams in central Wisconsin. Fed by cold, clear springs, the Class 1 trout waters support excellent natural reproduction of brown and brook trout in the small, upstream gravel bottom pools and long-run riffle areas. A major tributary of the Fox River watershed in the Lake Michigan basin, its unique mix of woods, water and fields provides robust habitat for a diversity of game and non-game species, offering endless recreational opportunities year-round to all who visit.
TUCARES (Trout Unlimited Central Area Restoration Effort for Sustainability) hosted a free, weekend-long celebration to educate and engage the community, provide an opportunity to participate in hands-on restoration, and celebrate the beauty and bounty of the scenic Mecan River watershed.
The coalition TUCARES is made up of four Trout Unlimited chapters including Central Wisconsin, Fox Valley, Shaw-Paca, and Frank Hornberg, and is leading the charge along with local partners including the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) to promote coldwater protection and restoration in this Wisconsin Priority Water.
Kicking off on Friday, volunteers led participants in the exploration of stream insects of the Mecan River. Tom Lager, secretary of Wisconsin Trout Unlimited, executive board member and former aquatic ecologist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, was on hand alongside other volunteers to educate participants about aquatic macroinvertebrates.
Lager said, “We collected water samples from the Mecan River to show people the vast variety of macroinvertebrates – mayflies, caddisflies, dobsonflies, and stoneflies – which live in the ecosystem. It is a quick way of introducing people to the diverse community of aquatic macroinvertebrates, common indicators of healthy trout streams in central Wisconsin.”
That evening, as participants gathered at the Richford Community Center for a hosted dinner, Chris Firkus, Fox Valley Trout Unlimited volunteer, TUCARES Coordinator, and Senior Environmental Analyst, presented the Mecan River Watershed Management Plan, giving participants insight into the history, challenges, and opportunities available in the watershed.
Guests who were not local to the area made their way over to the Mecan River Inn down the street where they enjoyed complimentary lodging for the weekend, making the opportunity more accessible to the community.
Festivities continued early on Saturday morning as cars started to fill up the Ice Age Trail parking lot that provided great access to the Mecan River.
“It was a wet, windy, blustery morning, but it couldn’t dampen the spirits of the 70-80 hearty souls who showed up to help the river,” shared Linn Beck, TUCARES coordinator and dedicated Trout Unlimited volunteer leader.
The great turnout was no surprise to the stalwart volunteers of the Central Wisconsin chapter of Trout Unlimited. In fact, the celebration was built upon their very successful monthly workdays hosted every year from May through September and their longtime partnership with the WDNR and the Elliott Donnelley Chapter of Trout Unlimited, who have been traveling from Chicago to participate in the May workday for over 20 years.
Laura Tucker, president of Central Wisconsin Trout Unlimited, and Mike Northam, chapter secretary, kicked off the workday by welcoming all the new and returning volunteers and provided an overview of the decades of efforts by Trout Unlimited and partners in the watershed. The WDNR team led by Shawn Sullivan, fisheries habitat specialist, broke up volunteers into teams to tackle the various restoration tasks from planting native trees, removing invasive species, and installing woody habitat.
Volunteers braved the elements to get in the stream and get their hands dirty to make sizable improvements to the Mecan River.
It wasn’t all hard work, though. The community members were treated to an electrofishing demonstration thanks to the WDNR and got a unique perspective into the rich life below the surface.
Thanks to a delicious hot lunch organized by Laura Tucker, volunteers were able to warm up and were even treated to some live music by Trout Unlimited friend and supporter Al Sanders.
Partners from across the watershed including the US Fish and Wildlife Service, Pheasants Forever, and Golden Sands Resource Conservation & Development Council joined the celebration to help educate community members about the diverse conservation work happening throughout the Central Sands.
The Central Sands Community Celebration embodied so much of what makes Trout Unlimited special – working together across chapters and organizations to achieve something greater than what could be done alone, reaching out to new audiences with welcoming faces and breaking down barriers to participate in conservation and fly fishing, and approaching the challenges of today with optimism and fortitude.
This was a tremendous effort accomplished by so many and could not have been possible without the wonderful volunteers of Trout Unlimited in the Central Sands and beyond.
The weekend celebration and restoration work was made possible by a grant from the Bell’s Brewery Watershed Stewardship Fund which has generously matched with donations from the Central Wisconsin and Fox Valley chapters of Trout Unlimited.
TUCARES looks forward to hosting another Central Sands Community Celebration on May 16, 2026, in conjunction with Central Wisconsin’s May workday.
Take a deeper dive into the Central Sands and other Wisconsin Priority Waters here.