Jul. 18--As a conservation warden in Chippewa County, Dean Gullickson used to spend some spring nights prowling the Cedar Creek Wetlands to make sure poachers kept their hands off walleyes that ran up the small creek from Lower Long Lake to spawn.

Now retired, Gullickson remains active in a coalition of conservation and outdoor groups leading the effort to purchase 720 acres of the 1,000-acre marsh and preserve it for posterity.

"It's one of the premier wetlands in Chippewa County," Gullickson said.

Because most of the land is wetland, it couldn't legally be developed as a residential area. The Omhart family from Iowa has kept it wild, but it legally could be converted to a cranberry bog or a peat harvesting operation, Gullickson said.

The Chippewa Valley Outdoor Resource Alliance and West Wisconsin Land Trust are proposing to purchase the wetland from the Omharts. The property often is called the Hawk Metal property, after the Omhart family business.

Cedar Creek and the marsh are used for spawning by walleye, muskie, northern and other fish from Long Lake and Chain Lake, Gullickson said.

The marsh has beds of wild rice and is heavily used by ducks. "I call it a wildlife mecca. Just about every kind of bird you can think of is there," he said.

The two groups need about $277,000 to buy the property. Chippewa County has allocated $50,000 through its county Stewardship program, which is derived from a county sales tax; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has awarded the project a $50,000 North American Wetland Conservation Act grant; the state has awarded a $126,000 Knowles-Nelson Stewardship grant; and CVORA is contributing $10,200.

CVORA and WWLT are trying to raise the remaining $41,000 by Jan. 1 through donations and raffles and provide a matching share of grants, said Don Dukerschein, CVORA president.

"This is a rare, dynamic wetland," he said. "We'd like to see it preserved from here on out."

The group was selling raffle tickets at the recent Northern Wisconsin State Fair and plans to continue at the Great Outdoor Games Aug. 15-17 at the Eau Claire Rod and Gun Club.

On Aug. 30 CVORA will have a fundraising banquet at Larrabee Lodge on Highway 40 east of New Auburn, where the raffle drawing will be held.

Ralph DeLuga of the Island Chain Lake Association, which comprises property owners on Clear, McCann, Island and Chain lakes, said water quality in the lakes is tied to the health of the marsh.

"We consider it our filter. It filters everything," he said.

The lakes are somewhat unusual in that they drain north. The water passes through Island into Fireside and eventually into the Chippewa River, where it takes a turn south.

Long Lake and Round Lake, which drain into the marsh, also have a vested interest in the marsh, he said. The lake residents have watched with concern the water quality issues involving Big Sissabagama Lake in Sawyer County and an adjacent cranberry bog, and are hoping to ensure the future of the marsh in a wild condition, DeLuga said.

"It's quite an effort by all of us," he said. "Our biggest concern is that if a developer got it, it could ruin our lakes."

The groups hope to raise about half of the $41,000 needed through donations and half through raffles, he said.

The land was purchased in the late 1940s or early 1950s by Lowell Omhart, who trapped it with a friend every fall, said his son Ted Omhart of Des Moines, Iowa. They each owned half at first, and later Lowell Omhart bought it all.

"He was quite an outdoorsman. He was a hunter, tapper, fisherman; he used to dive for snapping turtles," Omhart said of his father, who died about 20 years ago.

The family is paying fairly high taxes on the property and felt it was time to sell the land, although the agreement they reached with WWLT requires that it be kept in its natural state, he said. The family is selling the property considerably below the assessed value, Ted Omhart said.

"We could have put it up for private sale, but we really wanted to continue the use as it is and keep it in its present state," Omhart said.

The Omhart family will keep a cottage on Chain Lake near the property.

Rick Remington of WWLT said the trust has been talking with the Omharts about the purchase for four or five years. "We're not set to close until the end of the year. This is not a done deal yet, but everything looks good," he said.

The federal North American Wetland Conservation Act grant shows the importance of the marsh to wildlife, Remington said. Congress passed the act with migratory waterfowl in mind, but the program also considers water quality and the value of the wetland to all migratory waterfowl.

"It's not just a wetland," he said. "It has some narrow ridges with oaks and white pines, some tamaracks and a few hummocks with white cedar."

If WWLT is successful in purchasing the property, its plans are to donate it to the Department of Natural Resources. The state already has made a major contribution through the Stewardship grant, he noted.

The remaining 280 acres of the marsh are privately owned.

Under DNR ownership the land would be kept open for public use, including hunting, fishing, trapping, canoeing and boating, Remington said.

Mike Dahlby, private lands conservation specialist for Chippewa County, was impressed with the number of partners involved.

"The coolest thing about this whole thing is how different community groups are banding together to get the job done up there," he said.

The Round Lake Association and Lower Long Lake Association also are involved in the project.

Knight can be reached at 830-5835, 800-236-7077 or joe.knight@ecpc.com.