IF YOU LIVE IN OR NEAR IOWA COUNTY WI, CHECK OUT EcoARC!

Coming out of some brainstorming with fellow members of our local Sustain Iowa County group last year, Denise and I decided to create a calendar of eco-friendly events in our area. Our goal was to create a regularly-updated list of informational talks, walks, and hands-on happenings so that environmentally-minded people in our vicinity could quickly connect with the several dedicated organizations that regularly schedule gatherings designed to make a difference in our part of the Driftless Region.

A Driftless Area Land Conservancy outing.

We rolled out the EcoARC (Ecological Area Resource Calendar) a year ago, and this past week, I updated information from several area organizations. Each entry gives a brief summary of an upcoming event along with some ‘who, where and when’ info to help in planning. A link is provided if you want more detailed information. We hope it helps bring people together over the needs and opportunities in our local environs. 

Prairie Enthusiast volunteers in action.

Our intention was to make it easier for others to get involved, but bonus! … Denise and I are finding the updates to be our own best survey of the events we intend to plug into.

Of course a collated calendar isn’t very helpful if it doesn’t get used. And even if you find it useful, it’ll have the biggest impact if you go back regularly to check out what’s new. So to help with that, we intend to profile a group or event we’re covering on a monthly basis, and use the profiles as a reminder to our followers to go check out the latest update of EcoARC. 

The land that Blue Mounds Area Project protects.

As the anthropologist Margaret Mead said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” I like the idea that these events are making the world a better place by the actions we all decide to take in our local community. Check out EcoARC today and see what best suits your interests, and take a moment to subscribe to our digginginthedriftless.com blog to make sure you get updates. You can also follow @DriftlessDenise and @Doug Hansmann on twitter. #EcoARC 

And if you know of any other groups operating in our area with environmentally oriented events, please give us a heads up so we can add them to EcoARC as well.