Mississippi Valley Conservancy hits 20K mark for acres protected

A La Crosse-based organization has hit a milestone in protected blufflands.

The Mississippi Valley Conservancy has hit 20,055 acres of land protected permanently from development. A conservation of a 360-acre farm in Ettrick put the group over the 20K mark. 

The conservancy uses a mixture of public and private money to preserve land while still providing public access on some lands.

Total land preserved by the MVC is about the same size of the cities of La Crosse and Onalaska put together.

The Bill and Mary Ann Hein farm was the latest to get protected forever from development. And especially from frac sand mining, very prevalent in Trempealeau county.

Bill Hein said of the farm he’s owned for 52 years: ” there’s no way they’re going to do that to this farm.”

No problem, said Carol Abrahamzon, executive director of the Mississippi Valley Conservancy.

 “They’ve worked so hard to take care of this land and now they can rest assured knowing that it will always be protected,” she said.