Canoecopia - 2025 Presentations by Category

Canoecopia is presented by

Presenting Sponsor

Location
Alliant Energy Center
1919 Alliant Energy Way
Madison, Wisconsin

Show Hours
Friday: 3 PM to 8 PM
Saturday: 9 AM to 6 PM
Sunday: 10 AM to 4 PM

Tickets
1-Day: $17.00
3-Day: $35.00
Ages 17 and under are FREE
Cash or check only for tickets purchased at the event

Parking Fees
1-Day: $8.00
Credit only, fees collected by Alliant Energy Center
Advanced passes may be purchased HERE.
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Conservation

Dan Dueweke

After the Storm: Clearing Trail in the BWCA Following the 2021 Tornado

Voyageur - Upstairs Sat 1:30pm-2:15pm

On October 11th, 2021 an EF-2 tornado ripped through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and laid waste to a mile of the Border Route/North Country Trail (NCT). Trail closed, ye shall not pass. Knowing that the NCT would be sending in a wilderness crew to reopen the trail after ice out the following spring, Dan volunteered his time, experience, and tools for the job. This presentation follows a joint NCT/USFS trail crew as it confronts stacks and jackstrawed piles of downed trees with only axes ... Read More

Rick Eilertson, Bev Vaillancourt

Baraboo River Restoration—30 Years since the Waterworks Dam Removal

Voyageur - Upstairs Sat 10:30am-11:15am

Rick Eilertson will cover the Dam history of the Baraboo River from 1846 when the first dam was constructed to 2001 when the last dam was removed, giving the Baraboo River it's national significance as the longest stretch (120 miles) of river ever returned to it's natural, free-flowing condition. Highlights include the controversial fights over the Baraboo Waterworks Dam removal in 1994, which created the domino effect to continue removing the private dams from La Valle all the way to the ... Read More

Vernon Fish

Explore the Wabakimi Area

Sylvania - main floor Sat 1:30pm-2:15pm

The Wabakimi Area is a vast, virtually roadless wilderness the size of Vermont (9,934 sq miles) located three hours north of Thunder Bay, Ontario. It can be accessed by more than 4,000 miles of historically and culturally significate canoe routes. Learn how you can access this huge network of rivers and lakes and help the Friends of Wabakimi protect its wilderness values.

David Meier

Leave No Trace Basics for Boundary Waters Newbies

Sylvania - main floor Sat 4:30pm-5:15pm

Planning your first Boundary Waters adventure? Or leading newcomers into canoe country?

To minimize human impact and keep the area wild, there are a few simple rules to share. We'll cover fundamentals every BWCA beginner needs to know, from fishing, to fire, to food safety. Through practical tips and a few head-shaking real-life stories, you'll learn essential skills to grow an appreciation for wilderness and make that first trip extra special.

These helpful ... Read More

Kate Prince, Vern Fish

Paddling for Boreal Caribou: Canoeing, Citizen Science, and Conservation in Wabakimi

Sylvania - main floor Fri 5:30pm-6:15pm

Friends of Wabakimi will launch the second year of the Wabakimi Boreal Caribou Citizen Monitoring Project this summer, a unique initiative that combines canoe tripping with citizen science to support conservation of at-risk boreal caribou in Northern Ontario's Wabakimi Area. Kate Prince will share captivating photos, videos, and firsthand accounts from volunteers, highlighting the activities and achievements of Year 1. Learn how you can contribute as a paddler-whether by joining a survey trip ... Read More

Sally Turpin, Kim Meyer

Keeping Soil in the Field and Not in the River

Sylvania - main floor Sun 2:30pm-3:15pm

With many Wisconsin rivers meandering through agricultural land, you might be wondering what, if anything, is being done to help protect and improve their water quality. Actually, many farmers utilize conservation practices to protect the soil on their land and are even creating farmer-led watershed groups to work together towards this goal. Join Kim and Sally, two farm kids and fellow paddlers, as they discuss some of the practices used on the farm to keep the soil where it belongs, in the ... Read More

Ellen Voss, Lisie Kitchel, Timm Zumm

Lower Wisconsin Riverway Native Mussel Rescue

Killarney - Upstairs Sat 3:30pm-4:15pm

The Lower Wisconsin Riverway is a unique gem of wildness, beauty, and biodiversity not only in Wisconsin but in the entire US. But this idyllic landscape is increasingly under threat, with impacts not only to recreational opportunities but to the creatures that call the river home. In September 2023, the unfortunate combination of drought and hydropower dams reduced Wisconsin's namesake river to a proverbial trickle below the last dam and led to the worst-case scenario for the river's most ... Read More