Meta Reigel Brandt of Waupaca and Sherman, Wisconsin received the 2022 Harold “Bud” Jordahl Lifetime Achievement Award by Gathering Waters: Wisconsin’s Alliance for Land Trusts on June 10, 2022. Charles Carlin, Gathering Waters Director of Strategic Initiatives, presented the award to Meta at Northwoods Land Trust’s Annual Meeting at the Sherman Town Hall in Iron County.

Meta has devoted her lifetime to environmental conservation. She spent over 35 years working in environmental education at nature centers and as a faculty member at UW-Stevens Point. She also served as Administrative Director for the Wisconsin Association for Environmental Education. She has been an active board member at a variety of environmental organizations, including the Northwoods Land Trust from 2005 to 2021.

When she joined the Board, the Northwoods Land Trust had just completed its 18th conservation easement, protecting a little less than 2,000 acres of private land. Today, the land trust protects over 14,500 acres of woodlands, wetlands, and wildlife habitat.

Meta permanently conserved her family lands in Springstead with a conservation easement through Northwoods Land Trust in 2005, protecting 195 acres with shoreline access to Lower Springstead Lake and Springstead Creek.

“In addition to spending her career in environmental education, Meta has led by example, protecting nearly 200 acres of critical habitat in the Northwoods,” said Mike Carlson, Gathering Waters Executive Director. “She has had an enormously positive influence in her community and has inspired others to conserve lands for future generations.”

Brandt continues to be a strong advocate for private landowners to conserve their lands through conservation easements, increasing the amount of land permanently protected in Iron County and beyond.

View the video below of Meta accepting her award.