North Central Conservancy Trust (NCCT) recently received a $5,000 grant from American Transmission Co.’s (ATC) Pollinator Habitat Program and $400 from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) to help support a restoration project to revegetate a nearly one-acre area with native, pollinator-friendly plants on Bukolt Island during the spring and summer of 2022.

Bukolt Island, also known as Annabel Lee or Kulas Island, is located west of Bukolt Park in the Wisconsin River. NCCT purchased the 2-acre island, along with their 5-acre mainland property located just north of Bukolt Park in 2019 through a partnership with the Green Circle Trail and the City of Stevens Point.

During the fall of 2021, ATC cut and cleared brush from a 0.96-acre area beneath the ATC electric transmission line that runs through the southern half of the island to comply with vegetation management safety guidelines. As part of its management goals for the island property, NCCT seeks to complement ATC’s work by revegetating the area with low-growing, native plant species starting in the spring of 2022. Low-growing perennials and grasses can thrive within transmission line rights-of-way and won’t interfere with overhead transmission lines.