Mantoan 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and now 6!

The Cedar Lakes Conservation Foundation (CLCF) is excited to announce the closing on March 9, 2023 of a 24.2-acre agricultural land easement on the Mantoan family’s Sauve Terre farm. This is the sixth conservation easement that Joe and Laura Mantoan have entered into with CLCF since 2004, and CLCF is incredibly grateful to Joe and Laura for their 18 years of conservation efforts to protect land west of Gilbert Lake in the Town of West Bend.

This sixth transaction, the Mantoan6 agricultural land easement, adds an organic patureland field south of Hillcrest Drive. The Mantoans have been and continue to be focused on long-term soil and water conservation practices on their farmland, which is particularly important given the farm’s ecologically sensitive location. Sauve Terre’s farmland slopes towards Gilbert Lake, and so the Mantoans’ conservation efforts are truly appreciated.

In total, the Mantoan family has helped to protect nearly 119 acres of land. Adding in adjacent land protected by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) and CLCF, this number totals 184 acres in the sensitive Gilbert Lake region.

Thank you to Joe, Laura and family for conserving this land and being a positive advocate for farming in the Cedar Lakes region and beyond!

The closing of the Ostberg, Fehring and Mantoan6 transactions brings CLCF’s total protected land to 2,784 acres—as we continue to strive to achieve our Strategic Plan goal of 3,000-acres by 2024.