County’s champion of land preservation honored

Ozaukee County Planning and Parks Director Andrew Struck was recognized Friday for his “remarkable” career in land preservation and funding parks and nature preserves in the county and beyond.

The nonprofit Gathering Waters: Wisconsin’s Alliance for Land Trusts presented Struck with the Harold “Bud” Jordahl Lifetime Achievement Award during an event held Friday afternoon at Virmond County Park in Mequon.

Danni Niles, Gathering Waters’ director of philanthropy made the presentation.

“Andrew Struck has dedicated more than 25 years of his career to preserving the natural landscapes and waterways of Ozaukee County,” Niles said in a statement, also noting Struck’s skills in working with nonprofits and government entities to secure funding for projects.

“His visionary leadership has secured more than $35 million in external funding for natural resource projects and helped protect, restore and provide public access for a remarkable string of Lake Michigan coastal properties,” she said.

Properties singled out by Niles included Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve in the Town of Grafton, Forest Beach Migratory Preserve in the Town of Port Washington, and Clay Bluffs Cedar Gorge Nature Preserve in the City of Port Washington.

She also singled out the county fish passage program, which has removed more than 300 stream impediments and reconnected 150 miles of streams and hundreds of acres of wetlands, restoring “the ecological pulse” of the Milwaukee River watershed and making possible the recent return of lake sturgeon to Ozaukee County for the first time in more than 100 years.

County streams affected by the program include Mineral Creek in Port Washington, Mole Creek in the Town of Saukville, Sucker Brook in the towns of Belgium and Port Washington and Ulao Creek in the Town of Grafton.

The presentation was to be made after a tour of many of those sites as well as Mineral Springs Nature Preserve in Port Washington and the Milwaukee River Oxbow Nature Preserve in Saukville.

But that tour was canceled due to hot weather and the smoke from wildfires in Canada that has inundated the area.

In nominating Struck for the award, Ozaukee County Administrator Jason Dzwinel said Struck “exemplifies a true devotion to protecting Wisconsin’s land, water and wildlife through sustained leadership, vision and collaboration. The scope and impact of Andrew’s work in Ozaukee County will be everlasting and a testament to a career and life spent focused on our critical natural resources.”

Dzwinel said Struck has played “a transformative role in preserving some of the region’s most significant natural landscapes.”

Struck’s “collaborative approach helped bring together partners, funding sources, and public support” to create Clay Bluffs Cedar Gorge and bring about the county’s partnership with Sugar Maple Nature School to locate it at Hawthorne Hills Park.

“This innovative collaboration integrates conservation, education, and public access, ensuring that the next generation develops a lasting connection to the natural world,” Dzwinel said.

“Andrew Struck’s 25-year legacy is not defined by any single project, but by a sustained body of work that has permanently shaped the conservation landscape of Ozaukee County and beyond.”

Supr. Rob Holyoke, chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, which oversees the Planning and Parks Department and to which Struck reports, also was effusive in his praise.

“Andrew has saved the county millions of dollars in grants. He is such an asset,” Holyoke said. “Whenever he retires it’s going to be a big loss. Plus, he’s a good human being. If anyone deserves that award it’s Andrew Struck.”

Struck, who helped oversee the development of the Ozaukee Interurban Trail and its operations, is also an avid bicyclist, which Niles noted.

When state funding for Clay Bluffs was unexpectedly stalled in 2022, Struck embarked on a 1,100-mile solo bike ride around Lake Michigan to raise funds and public awareness for the project.

It was “an act that galvanized community support,” she said.

He also has overseen development of the county Farmland Preservation Plan, which identified more than 54,000 acres of agricultural land for long-term protection, and was the founding chairman of Bird City Wisconsin in 2009 and the Bird City Network, which today includes 300 communities in 13 states and three Latin American countries.

Struck was one of five recipients of Land Conservation Leadership awards from Gathering Waters this year.

The group presents the awards annually to “honor individuals and organizations that devote their time and talents to protecting Wisconsin’s land, water and wildlife.”

Jordahl was a director of the state Department of Natural Resources, a regional director of the U.S. Department of Interior and was a member of the committee that created Earth Day. He also was a founder of Gathering Waters.

“Andrew’s ‘partnership-first’ philosophy has made him one of Wisconsin’s most effective conservation leaders. His spirit of persistence and cross-disciplinary leadership have resulted in a lasting legacy of environmental stewardship,” Niles said.

Gathering Waters is a nonprofit group that helps land trusts, landowners and communities permanently preserve woodlands and other natural areas.