LA CROSSE, Wis. (WKBT) – More than 21,000 acres of land now are under the protective umbrella of the Mississippi Valley Conservancy, a tally reached with the recent signing of an agreement that gave permanent protection to 88 acres in Monroe County.

The conservancy announced tally of 21,056 acres today in advance of annual Earth Day on Wednesday, which has a global theme of “Climate Action.”

“Land conservation is one of the key means of ensuring the resilience of the Driftless Area to the threats of climate change,” said Rob Tyser, the MVC’s board president. “That puts our community organization at the forefront of ‘Climate Action.’”

MVC’s protected land — some private and some public — includes native habitat, farmland and scenic landscapes in the conservancy’s nine-county service territory.

If gathered into one spot, the protected land is more than twice the size of La Crosse’s 15,230 acres, bigger than 27,500 football fields and lap at the size 300 Noah’s Ark waterparks — the largest outdoor water park in the country.

The land trust, founded in 1997, provides landowners and communities with protection from damage resulting from subdivision, mining and other kinds of development.

The nonprofit trust’s main thrust is to conserve bluffs, forests, prairies, wetlands, streams and farms. It also offers outdoor education and volunteer activities to enrich community care for the land and restore native habitats.

“We aimed big, and we felt confident, for there were many of us in the area with shared values,” said Barbara Frank, a founding MVC board member.

Barbara and her husband, Don, were among the first to protect land with the help of the conservancy. The Franks donated 6 acres to what is now the La Crosse Blufflands, Frank tract.

While much of the land with MVC protection is owned privately, more than 5,000 acres are maintained as nature preserves with public access for recreation, education and research.

“Today, more than ever, the nature preserves provide an opportunity for people to get outdoors for health and wellness, even while practicing social distancing,” said Carol Abrahamzon, the MVC’s executive director.

Sugar Creek Bluff, designated as a State Natural Area, was the first land the conservancy acquired, with funding from the Knowles Nelson Stewardship Program. Towering above the village of Ferryville, the preserve includes native wildlife habitats and is a cornerstone in the town’s tourism economy.

Adjacent pieces of land also have gained the protection of the MVC and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, expanding wildlife habitat.

The conservancy’s land protection has benefited from mix of private land and public projects, said Gretchen Benjamin, a founding board member who has dedicated her career to protecting the Mississippi River through The Nature Conservancy.

“It’s important to have many tools in the toolbox,” Benjamin said. “We’re not a huge group, but we’ve done huge things.”

Many farmers have done a great deal to protect and enhance their soil, pastures and woodlands in this area, which is prone to flooding and erosion.

“When landowners give such care to the land and then go the extra mile to protect it for the future, they are making a generous gift to the broader community for the benefit of us all,” Abrahamzon said. “Everyone wins when the land is allowed to go on protecting wildlife as it has for thousands of years.”