2025 Impact Report
How Central Conservation, WisCorps, and The Nature Place cared for people and land in 2025.
Prefer the designed version? Download the full 48-page report as a PDF (21 MB).
2025 Impact Report
Unifying the conservation movement
We are unifying the conservation movement to benefit our communities for generations to come. Our mission: we empower humans working to care for the Earth.
80
AmeriCorps members in service
64,650
AmeriCorps service hours
20,159+
Program and event participants
252
Acres restored and stewarded
92
Miles of improved trails and waterways
68
Partnerships
3.4+ million people visit the natural spaces our crews restore and enhance each year.
Combined 2025 results for WisCorps and The Nature Place.
What we do
Shared services that let conservation teams focus on the work
Central Conservation shoulders the organizational challenges that can slow our divisions down, so they can focus on serving their communities.
WisCorps crew members at a project debrief
People and payroll
Hiring, staffing, onboarding, benefits and PTO administration, and payroll.
Accounting and reporting
Invoicing, data entry, budget management, and financial reporting.
Legal, insurance, and compliance
Grant and legal compliance, liability and workers’ comp insurance paperwork, internal systems, and operations.
Story and support
Storytelling, branding, marketing and communications, donor strategy and relations, development, fundraising, and grant management.
Our experienced staff and board members are passionate about making a real impact on our planet. By helping the public understand the importance of our divisions’ missions, we amplify their impact.
Our story
From one crew to a conservation movement
The Nature Place building
Kids exploring a meadow
The WisCorps sign
2009
Wisconsin Youth Conservation Corps, Inc. is founded as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit with $5,000 and one crew doing one week of work on public lands in La Crosse, WI.
2013
Renamed WisCorps, Inc., adding several new crew partnerships, including the National Park Service.
2014
Moved offices to 789 Myrick Park Dr. and was soon invited to run the Myrick Park Center on a year-to-year lease with the City of La Crosse. Adopted the Environmental Education division under WisCorps, formerly run by the EcoPark and the Hixon Forest Nature Center, preserving a legacy of more than 25 years of nature education in the La Crosse area.
2022
Entered a 20-year lease with the City of La Crosse, allowing for investment and growth within the organization.
2023
Rebranded the environmental education programs and Myrick Park Center rentals as The Nature Place, with a redesigned atrium that creates “nature’s living room.” WisCorps program offices moved to 411 La Crosse St. The Nature Place and WisCorps became formal program divisions.
2024
WisCorps programs rebranded and the organization renamed Central Conservation, Inc.
2025
Central Conservation upgraded its foundational systems for growth. The Nature Place completed a solar array and a greenhouse. Eight WisCorps crews completed 105 weeks of work on public lands across the Upper Midwest, benefiting more than three million people.
Our divisions
Two divisions, one mission
It is with joy and commitment that we empower humans to care for Earth. We equip our workforce to thrive and meet their mission.
Division
The Nature Place
To inspire and cultivate meaningful connections between people and nature, for the benefit of both.
Division
WisCorps
WisCorps engages the next generation of environmental leaders through guided, hands-on service opportunities that benefit our region’s public lands.
The Nature Place · 2025 impact
Connecting people and nature
When a child tastes a fresh raspberry for the first time, their curiosity sparks. When a monarch returns to its milkweed, life renews itself. Nature shows us that restoration is always possible.
Tending the gardens at The Nature Place
Meeting an ambassador animal
A bumble bee on native asters
13
AmeriCorps members in service annually
13,650
AmeriCorps service hours in 2025, supporting environmental education and land stewardship across the Driftless Region
12,000+
Participants in education programs or community events
35+
Community partners
30+
Community engaged events
98
Program opportunities offered
12
Youth scholarships provided
12
Ambassador animals professionally housed and cared for
1,035
Volunteer hours from 114 volunteers, worth $36,007 (Sept. 2024 to Aug. 2025)
5
Acres of land stewardship, including 8 gardens and 220 pounds of trash removed from the La Crosse marsh area
338
Venue rentals: 217 paid reservations and 121 partner service rentals
The Nature Place
Environmental education
Our programs serve families and school districts throughout the Driftless Region, introducing children to nature-based education and creating opportunities for engaged learning.
Homeschool Science
100+ youth a year · ages 6 to 12
Each session gives children 12 focused, screen-free hours of outdoor learning. Four-week sessions run in fall, winter, and spring.
Early Explorers
100+ youth a year · ages 2 to 5
Each six-week session gives 16 young children and their caregivers the chance to explore their surroundings, socialize, and make big connections in their little worlds.
No School Nature Camp
175+ youth a year · ages 5 to 11
A safe, structured, screen-free day in nature during academic-year breaks, so parents can keep working.
Summer Day Camps
656 registrations in 2025
Campers join for five days or half-days of play, art, and interactive lessons built around weekly themes like Colorful Creations.
School field trips
146 schools and groups · 2,798 students
Students from Arcadia, Fountain City, La Crosse, Onalaska, Sparta, Stoddard, Tomah, West Salem, Whitehall, Caledonia, Dakota, Lanesboro, Rushford, and St. Charles received hands-on, values-driven environmental education.
In our schools and universities
Guest presentations
Local schools and universities invite our staff to share environmental expertise, expanding our reach and strengthening future environmental education careers.
The Nature Place
Community programs and visitor services
Our community programs are driven by community interest and serve individuals, families, and groups of all ages and backgrounds.
Crittermobile
1,500+ people a year · 34 programs in 2025
Traveling programs introduce live ambassador animals, helping make complex subjects understandable and building empathy and responsibility. Caring for our 12 ambassador animals costs about $7,000 a year.
Community Science
12+ programs a year · ages 14+
Bridging academic research and the community through the Driftless Area BioBlitz, Monarch Watch, the Great Backyard Bird Count, the Audubon Christmas Bird Count, the Wisconsin Frog and Toad Survey, Finding Fungi, and insect surveys.
Driftless biodiversity
5 acres · 127 plant species
Our gardens and grounds are home to 127 plant species, including 88 native varieties vital to the La Crosse Marsh. Community science volunteers have documented the endangered Rusty Patched Bumble Bee here.
Nature Saturdays
400+ participants a year · all ages. Free drop-in programs with nature-based activities for the whole family.
Enviro-Wednesdays
200+ learners a year · ages 14+. A monthly nature series with new topics and speakers, in partnership with Friends of the Marsh.
Visitor services
12,000+ visitors a year. Free kids’ play, guided and self-guided garden tours, a Discovery Room with live critters, take-home activities, and a rotating local nature art studio. From September 2024 to August 2025, 114 volunteers restored native habitat, removed 220 pounds of trash from Myrick Park and the La Crosse River Marsh trails, and kept our free community produce garden growing.
Program goals
Provide a safe and inclusive learning environment; create hands-on opportunities for all ages to explore our region’s ecosystems; provide shared nature experiences that build social and problem-solving skills; foster appreciation and stewardship for the environment; teach critical thinking; and advance our AmeriCorps members’ knowledge of the natural world.
WisCorps · 2025 impact
Making a difference on public lands
“When you’re living outdoors, you notice as leaves bud in the spring, stretch to catch the sun in the summer, dazzle with vivid color in the fall, and crunch beneath your feet as winter approaches.” Beth DeFoe, Crew Leader 2024
A crew member running a chainsaw on a trail project
WisCorps members on a break between projects
A crew leader on the trail
67
AmeriCorps members in service: 40 in the Crew Program, 27 in Individual Placements
51,000
AmeriCorps service hours, enhancing natural spaces visited by 3.4+ million people a year
247
Acres restored through invasive species removal, tree planting, and habitat restoration in 17+ communities
92
Miles of improved trails and waterways
35
Crew Program projects accomplished
21
Crew Program partners
12
Individual Placement partners
249
Education programs or community events hosted by Individual Placements
8,159
Education program and community event participants
WisCorps
Crew Program and Individual Placements
Crew Program
Crews deliver invasive species removal and treatment, trail construction and maintenance, boardwalk installation, dry stone masonry, plant identification for habitat restoration, and reforestation.
WisCorps awarded 45 professional certifications in 2025. Crew Leaders earn chainsaw certification, pass the Wisconsin Herbicide Applicator exam, and are added to the WisCorps commercial pesticide license. All members are certified in Leave No Trace and, through NOLS, earn Wilderness First Aid and CPR.
Partners include Isle Royale National Park; the Great Lakes Invasive Plant Management Team (St. Croix National Scenic Riverway, River Raisin National Battlefield Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Sleeping Bear Dunes); Ottawa National Forest; U.S. Army Fort McCoy; UW-Madison Extension; Perrot, Wyalusing, and Willow River state parks; Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Waupaca counties; and nonprofits including Friends of the Blufflands, Woodland Dunes, the Ice Age Trail Alliance, and CAMBA.
Individual Placements
Members serve at host sites in environmental education, sustainability and green building, parks, trails and recreation, habitat restoration and invasive species, and gardening and food systems.
Training is tailored to each site: chainsaw safety (S-212), OSHA 10 and 30, Wilderness First Aid, First Aid and CPR, photovoltaics (PV101), lifeguard certification, national crosscut training, and government vehicle defensive driving.
Partners include Ottawa National Forest, Voyageurs National Park, Perrot State Park, the City of La Crosse, Upham Woods, Kickapoo Valley Forest School, The Ridges Sanctuary, Girl Scouts, Hunt Hill Audubon Sanctuary, the Aldo Leopold Nature Center, Friends of the Blufflands, the Franciscan Sisters of Perpetual Adoration, and the Mississippi Valley Conservancy.
Goals for 2026
- Give every member Wilderness First Aid plus one more industry-recognized certification
- Add controlled burns to partner services
- Secure another master cooperative agreement (such as USFS, USFWS, or WI DNR)
- Add seasonal non-AmeriCorps crew leader positions
- Expand partnerships across the Midwest
- Locate and fund a residential base in La Crosse for 15+ participants, with a lease signed by the end of 2026 and occupancy by March 2027
AmeriCorps funding
Why AmeriCorps matters
AmeriCorps is the federal agency for national service and volunteerism. For more than 30 years, it has created opportunities for mentorship and service nationwide, supporting the environment, disaster recovery, healthy aging, and other pressing community needs.
Central Conservation and its divisions currently receive a competitively funded AmeriCorps grant (September 2025 to August 2026). It supports critical staffing across our programs.
Federal AmeriCorps funding is one part of our funding model. To sustain service, Central Conservation seeks donor support for non-AmeriCorps staffing, program needs, community initiatives, and expanding partner missions in 2026 and beyond.
WisCorps AmeriCorps members on a trail project. Photo: WisCorps
72%
of most AmeriCorps member costs are reimbursed by AmeriCorps
Philanthropic support
Ways to invest
A WisCorps crew costs $9,000 a week to operate. Project partners cover about 80% and WisCorps contributes 20%, leaving roughly $2,500 a week to raise through grants and donors. An Individual Placement costs $600 a week; host sites cover 80%, leaving about $100 a week for WisCorps.
| Gift | Investment |
|---|---|
| Camp scholarship: one full-day camper for one week | $275 |
| Staff training for one staff member | $250 |
| Garden seeds for the year | $500 |
| Animal ambassador care for one critter | $500 |
| Camp supplies | $1,000 |
| Uniforms for staff and AmeriCorps members | $1,000 |
| Camper t-shirts | $2,000 |
| Building supplies | $2,500 |
| One Environmental Educator for a summer of camp | $6,000 |
| Gift | Investment |
|---|---|
| One Individual Placement for one week | $100 |
| One crew member for one week | $500 |
| One Individual Placement for 12 weeks | $1,200 |
| One crew (6 members) for one week | $2,500 |
| 12 Individual Placements for 12 weeks | $14,000 |
| One crew for a 12-week season | $30,000 |
| Six crews (36 members) for a season | $180,000 |
| Gift | Investment |
|---|---|
| Camping gear loan-out fund | $100 |
| Boot reimbursement | $200 |
| First aid kit for one crew | $350 |
| Uniforms (two shirts per participant) | $500 |
| Brush cutter | $750 |
| AED for one crew | $750 |
| Chainsaw | $1,000 |
| Two certifications for one leader | $500 |
| Two certifications for one crew | $3,000 |
| Two certifications for the crew program | $18,000 |
| Two certifications for both programs | $24,000 |
| Educational visits for one crew | $500 |
| Outdoor enrichment for one crew | $1,000 |
| Residential base of operations | $15,000 |
Foundation of impact
When overhead is funded, passion becomes possibility
Behind every acre restored, every trail built, and every young person discovering their place in environmental stewardship, there is infrastructure and administrative support. Administrative work, grant and legal compliance, HR, finance, and IT keep our programs ethical, equitable, safe, accountable, compliant, and sustainable.
When processes run smoothly, our people can do what they were meant to do: teach, restore, lead, inspire, protect, and connect. Flexible gifts meet the organization’s greatest needs, strengthen infrastructure, and ensure long-term stability, access, and inclusion.
Download
Get the full 2025 Impact Report
The complete report as a PDF, with every figure on this page.
Together, let's unify the conservation movement.
Your generosity strengthens the systems that make conservation work possible. Today and for generations to come.
Frequently asked questions
What does Central Conservation do?
We provide shared administrative infrastructure, strategic leadership, and operational support to conservation organizations. That includes HR and payroll, communications and fundraising, accounting and reporting, and insurance and compliance.
What are Central Conservation’s divisions?
WisCorps, a conservation corps serving the Upper Midwest, and The Nature Place, a nature-focused community center in La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Is my donation tax-deductible?
Central Conservation, Inc. is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 27-0774779). Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law.
How can I support Central Conservation?
Give online through our donation page, or contact us to talk about other ways to help.
Are you hiring?
Open roles are listed on our Careers page.
Where are you located?
789 Myrick Park Drive, La Crosse, WI 54601.