For our 5th annual Gathering, we partnered with the River Revitalization Foundation and the Land Trust Alliance and met in Milwaukee to celebrate the fruits of what partnerships at the local, state, and national level can accomplish.

Our local partner,The River Revitalization Foundation in Milwaukee is a land trust that strives to recreate the urban landscape using the river as a focal point. Our national partner, The Land Trust Alliance is an organization that works with land trusts, like the River Revitalization, to help strengthen land conservation across the country, similar to what Gathering Waters does at the state level.

The 5th annual Gathering consisted of a tour of land that was conserved through great partnerships; the Beerline Trail and Wheelhouse property. A huge congratulations to the River Revitalization Foundation for protecting these urban gems!

The hike began with a guided tour of the Wheelhouse Property, named for an old restaurant that was purchased and removed by the River Revitalization Foundation to make way for a park and to connect the Beerline Trail and the Oak Leaf Trail together.

Hikers also witnessed the ribbon cutting of the newly completed Kiwanis Landing which provides improved access to the Milwaukee River.

For the last part of the afternoon, hikers were taken on a guided tour along the Beerline Trail.

The tour provided scenic views of downtown as well as of the Milwaukee River.

After the hike, attendees gathered at The Hamilton for the reception, where good food was had and great speeches were given by our sponsors and partners.

Thank you to everyone who came out to the 5th annual Gathering and helped us celebrate all of the wonderful conservation work happening in Wisconsin!