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Fort McCoy personnel once again provided updates about the installation’s natural resources-related efforts June 9 during the June 2025 meeting of the Monroe County (Wis.) Natural Resource and Extension Committee.
The monthly committee includes members Nodji VanWychen, Joey Esterline, Cedric Schnitzler, Doug Rogalla, Todd Sparks, and Paul Zastophil from areas within the county. According to the Monroe County webpage for the committee at https://www.co.monroe.wi.us/government/county-board-of-supervisors/boards-committees/natural-resource-extension/-folder-2344, the committee has a diverse mission.
“The mission of the Monroe County Natural Resource Committee is to manage, conserve, and protect our natural resources,” the website states. “The committee will facilitate wise, sustainable land use and outdoor recreation through information and education while supporting technical and financial assistance to landowners of Monroe County and encourage all residents of Monroe County to be stewards of our natural resources keeping in mind the generations to follow.”
As part of Monroe County, Fort McCoy has a part is supporting the committee. The post does so through the Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch (NRB) as well as the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office.
During the June meeting, NRB Fisheries Biologist Steve Rood served as one of the Fort McCoy representatives where he reviewed recent accomplishments completed by NRB and related Fort McCoy personnel.
Among those accomplishments in natural resources management Rood mentioned from May 2025 were:
— The Fort McCoy fisheries program began monthly in-stream phosphorus sampling as part of the Adaptive Management Plan.
— Fisheries personnel collected in-stream water samples from both base flow and runoff events and monitored temperature and dissolved oxygen in all 10 lakes on the installation.
— Fisheries personnel also maintained 28 stream temperature loggers, conducted 13 creel surveys, and completed fish sampling on North Flowage, Sandy Lake, West Sandy Lake, Sparta Pond, and Stillwell Lake at Fort McCoy.
— Fisheries workers also placed 40 Floy tags on largemouth bass and recaptured 12 on the North Flowage and Lost Lake, installed 55 meters of brush bundles and removed 102 meters of woody invasives along Ranch Creek, and began stream habitat and summer IBI/electroshocking surveys.
— In forestry management, personnel administered two timber sales, drafted timber sale maps for fiscal year 2026, drafted closeout letters for four timber sale tracts, and processed contract extension requests for two tracts.
— With invasive species management, personnel provided comments pertaining to invasive species impacts for NEPA on one proposed project.
— Invasive species personnel revisited the goat grazing demo site in Pine View Recreation Area to get pictures for comparison. Located sites nearby for starting buckthorn baggie and critical cutting demos ahead of the Monroe County Invasive Species Working Group Field Day set for June 26 at Fort McCoy.
— For wildlife management, Rood gave statistics about the spring turkey season at Fort McCoy. The spring turkey season started on April 16 and ended on May 23. There were 124 birds harvested with a 33.6 percent success rate based on permits purchased. Rood said it was a very comparable year to last year when looking at harvests but did see a decrease in hunter success rate. Harvest numbers have been also reported to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
— Fort McCoy natural resources personnel also continued working with Permit Sales Office staff to begin to build the permits, harvest authorizations, and applications for the fall hunting and trapping seasons in iSportsman.
— Bluebird volunteers have been checking 400-plus boxes on a weekly basis documenting use, success, number of fledglings, etc. Volunteers have been reporting that the first batch of fledglings will be leaving the nest soon.
— Rood said summer crews with fisheries, wildlife, invasives, archeology, and more will be starting work. These crews, he said, will be conducting truck book surveys throughout the summer while moving between work sites and will be on the lookout for and recording any deer, gamebird, and predator sightings. The truck book surveys allow NRB personnel to look at population trends through time and offer great information on deer for doe-fawn ratios, and what can be expected for recruitment into the fall seasons to determine antlerless harvest quotas.
— Personnel also deployed two turtle traps for 15 days and performed nine turtle surveys; conducted biweekly telemetry tracking on five Blanding’s turtles, one wood turtles, and one bull snake; eagle nest checks were completed with eagle and osprey nests observed twice each.
— Personnel completed 41 frosted elfin surveys. This included leading a group survey day consisting of 10 people. There were 382 total frosted elfin butterflies observed across 32 survey sites.
— NRB personnel also finished seven phlox moth surveys, one cobweb skipper survey, five dusted skipper surveys, maintained stationary acoustic bat and frog detectors, ran trial mobile bat surveys, and more.
Post personnel will also participate in the next monthly meeting in July 2025.
Fort McCoy’s motto is to be the “Total Force Training Center.” Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.
The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy,” on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/fortmccoywi, and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@fortmccoy.
Also try downloading the My Army Post app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”
(Fort McCoy Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch staff contributed to this article.)
| Date Taken: | 06.18.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.18.2025 12:26 |
| Story ID: | 500986 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 14 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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