Southwest Path Alliance

Illinois Central GP9 #9173 at the Spooner Street Bridge in Madison, WI; October, 1963. This line is now a trail. Rick Burn 🚂.

https://www.american-rails.com/illinois.html

Earlier this week, there was a large community effort to help a Canada Goose with fishing line wrapped around its neck in the Yahara River. It’s incredibly inspiring to see how much our community cares about wildlife in need—thank you to everyone who spoke up and tried to help!

This situation also highlighted some confusion about our Wildlife Center, specifically whether we admit waterfowl. We want to clear that up:

Yes—we DO take waterfowl, including ducks and geese! 🦆

This goose was successfully brought to Dane County Humane Society's Wildlife Center, where our team safely removed the fishing line. There was no hook attached, and the goose is doing well, with a good prognosis for recovery. It’s currently recovering in a large indoor space alongside two other geese being treated for their own injuries.

Some of the confusion likely stems from several years ago, when we temporarily stopped admitting waterfowl during the emergence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). That pause was short-term to protect other patients from infection, and we resumed caring for waterfowl once we felt it was safe enough to do so.

If you ever find wildlife in need, please call us. Our voicemail message always lists the species we are currently admitting, and you are welcome to leave a message if you’re unsure. Even if we’re not the right place for a particular animal, we’re happy to help connect you with other local resources.

We are here to help, both wildlife and our community, as much as we can with the resources we have. Thank you all for caring.

From the comments, it looks like people in Kewaunee understand that brine spraying is counterproductive, at best...

❄️ Why We Use Salt Brine on Roads ❄️
As the temperatures start to drop, we get lots of questions about salt brine—so here’s a quick look at what it is and why we use it!

Salt brine is simply rock salt and water, mixed to create a solution that helps keep roads safer by lowering the freezing point of water to about 15°F. When applied before a storm, it prevents snow and ice from bonding to the pavement, making roads easier to clear and reducing the amount of salt needed later. In fact, pretreating can use four times less salt than trying to melt ice after it forms!

During a storm, brine helps road salt work faster and stay in place instead of blowing away—especially in colder temps.

And the results speak for themselves: according to the Wisconsin DOT’s Winter Maintenance at a Glance 2024–2025 report, Kewaunee County has reduced salt use by 17% per lane mile, saving nearly $50,000 a year—all while keeping roads safer and reducing environmental impact.

We hope this gives you a clearer picture of how brine works and why we use it.

For more information on the county's brine usage, head over to the county website for a full explanation from County Highway Commissioner Marty Treml:https://www.kewauneeco.org/i/f/salt%20brine%20info.pdf

Stay safe this winter! 🌨️🚘