VERNON COUNTY, WI â At a time when so many have had to withdraw from their usual activities to stay safe during the pandemic, Tom and Sharon Sharratt have dialed up their land conservation activities, even employing local high school students to help restore the 40-acre parcel of land they have recently conserved with the help of their local land trust, Mississippi Valley Conservancy. By salvaging and selling the black locust trees that had overgrown much of the land, they were even able to offset a significant portion of the restoration costs.
The Sharratts werenât looking to buy more land. They had already permanently conserved 231 acres of valley and ridgetop farmland, forest and woodland in the Coon Creek watershed with the help of the Conservancy. When an adjacent 40 acres became available in 2018 it was like a puzzle piece discovered, according to Tom. The adjacent property was a perfect fit with their existing land and would help to further protect what he and Sharo