Prairie Springs: The Paul Fleckenstein Trust Fund

This designated fund supports the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse River Studies Center. Its express purpose is to fund the construction of a new state-of-the-art research vessel for the RSC to expand its research in the Upper Mississippi River while training the next generation of water professionals in science, technology, engineering, and math. The fund’s founding donor, Paul Fleckenstein, ardently supported environmental education. Paul, who passed in 2011, originally established the trust to support research and scholarship in environmental studies and education, wildlife habitat and protection, conservation and ecological technology. The research vessel will add another dimension to fulfilling that mission on one of the great waterways in North America. Local construction, environmental services and harbor management company J.F. Brennan Company will store, moor, and maintain the vessel once it is completed. Vessel construction is expected to be completed in 2023.