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In June, John Nelson joined The Nature Conservancy as project manager for the Sheboygan River watershed project, a collaborative effort among farmers and other landowners and conservation professionals in Sheboygan County to test a more efficient way to improve water quality in streams. Nature.org caught up with John recently to learn more about him and the Conservancy’s work in the Sheboygan River watershed.

Nature.org:

John Nelson:

When I was young, my family ran a dairy farm in Illinois, and I was outdoors a lot. I was curious about water and what lived in it, so I was always climbing in and out of ditches, rivers and lakes looking for things. I’d bring home clams and crayfish and anything else interesting. Later on, when I learned you could have a career doing this, I knew right away what I wanted to do in life.

Nature.org:

John Nelson:

I’ve spent most of my career with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. In the early days, I worked as a wildlife technician in the Horicon area. For 26 years, I was a fisheries biologist in Plymouth, and most recently, a fisheries operations supervisor in Oshkosh.

Nature.org:

John Nelson:

Our main goal is to work with farmers and other landowners and conservation professionals to come up with a strategy to reduce phosphorus loss from agricultural fields into nearby streams. The Conservancy is already working on this with partners in the Pecatonica River watershed in southwest Wisconsin, so we’ll be adding to what they’re learning there. Eventually we hope to develop a strategy that can be implemented throughout Wisconsin and nationally.

Nature.org:

John Nelson:

Right now I’m meeting the farmers and other landowners in the project area, sharing information and, hopefully, engaging them in working with us. So far, the response has been positive. I’ve been part of this community for a long time and know some of these folks already. I’ve coached their kids’ soccer teams and attended church with some of them.

Once they’ve agreed to participate, our partners and I will be meeting with them about their cropping plans and collecting soil samples. We’ll put all the data in a model developed by UW-Madison scientists, and that will help us figure out which farm fields are at highest risk of losing phosphorus through run-off into area streams. Those are the farms we’ll focus on in terms of working with landowners to put conservation practices in place.

Nature.org:

John Nelson:

Interacting with the landowners is definitely the best part. I love meeting with them, talking about their farms and exchanging thoughts and ideas.

Nature.org:

John Nelson:

If we can successfully blend sustainable agriculture with improved water quality in this project area, then both farmers and our rivers and streams will win. I think we will see cleaner water entering the Sheboygan River, which flows into Lake Michigan, and that’s good for fish and other wildlife and for people who get their drinking water from Lake Michigan. And landowners who put new conservation practices in place will benefit as well by retaining soil and using less fertilizer on their farm fields, which is good for their bottom line.