WOCA 2024 Meeting Agenda

2024 Wisconsin Outdoor Communicators Association Annual Meeting
Trees For Tomorrow Conference Center, Eagle River, Wis.

Friday, Aug. 2

5 to 6:25 p.m.: Dinner and Social at Trees for Tomorrow, The meal will feature grilled “fireman’s corn,” and brats and/or hamburgers/cheeseburgers. Location: Outside the dining hall.

Evening Session. Location: Trees for Tomorrow main classroom/conference center.

6:30 to 8 p.m.: Bill Smith, Chairman, Wisconsin Natural Resources Board

  • A few minutes with the NRB’s chair and longest serving member. Remarks and Q&A.

8:05 to 9 p.m.: Nick Vander Puy, author and correspondent

  • WOCA member Nick Vander Puy will discuss his recent book, “Water Protectors: The HELP Campaign to Save the Penokees.”


Saturday, Aug. 3

7 to 7:30 a.m.: Breakfast

7:35 to 7:45 a.m.: Welcome to Trees for Tomorrow, Cheryl Todea, Executive Director.

7:45 to 8:45 a.m.: Nature’s Beauty Through the Eyes of a Photographer

  • WOCA member Robert Haase, Veteran nature photographer and WOCA vice president.

8:50 to 10:20 a.m.: Latest Insights: Southwestern Wisconsin Deer & Predator Study

  • Dan Storm, Chief Deer Researcher, Wisconsin DNR. 

Break

10:30 to 11:45 a.m.: Wisconsin’s Bowhunting History, and the Legacy of Racine’s Roy Case

  • WOCA member Bill McCrary, author of the books, The History of Wisconsin Bowhunting and Roy Case: Wisconsin Bowhunting Legend; and Teresa Case-Doney, Roy Case’s granddaughter. 

11:45 a.m. to 12:15: Silent Auction Closes, Prizes Awarded; Group Photo at Education Center entrance

12:15 to 12:55 p.m.: Lunch Break

1 to 2 p.m.: How Controlled Burns Help Woodlands and Fight Tick-Borne Diseases

  • WOCA member Mark Horn discusses why Wisconsin needs Prescribed Burn Associations, like the one in Sauk County where members help each other conduct burns on their properties. Prescribed fire reduces invasive shrubs and buildups of fuel loads that threaten catastrophic wildfires. Regular burns also help reduce tick populations while decreasing the odds of contracting tick-borne illnesses.

2:05 to 3:05 p.m.: Preserving and Enshrining Gordon MacQuarrie’s Writing Legacy

  • WOCA member Dave Evenson has put many of Gordon MacQuarrie’s best newspaper columns and magazine articles into four books since 2018. The books are titled, “Right off the Reel,” “Dogs, Drink & Other Drivel,” “Found Stories of the Old Duck Hunters,” and “MacQuarrie on Muskies.” 

3:15 to 4:15 p.m.: “People & Wolves” Documentary Film

  • WOCA members Rachel Tilseth, director/producer; and Manish Bhatt, co-producer; created an award-winning film on Wisconsin’s wolves, titled “People & Wolves: A Story of Coexistence.” The movie details the wolf’s comeback here, and its centuries-long connection with the Ojibwe people.

Break (and/or “Rain Date” for group photo session)

4:25 p.m.: WOCA Business Meeting

  • 2024 WOCA Scholarship presentation to Mallary Bade of Frontenac, Minnesota; and Northland College.
  • Review of WOCA 2023 minutes, WOCA budget and finances; Room/conference rates, Laurel Steffes.
  • Donations for 2023-2024, Scholarship Program update: Laurel Steffes, Art Barlow.
  • A few quick thoughts from WOCA president Pat Durkin, and discussion.
  • Elect/appoint WOCA officers and BOD representatives.
  • Dates for next year’s WOCA conference at Trees For Tomorrow: Aug. 1-2, 2025

4:45 p.m.: WOCA door prizes5 p.m. Adjourn.

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