The Nature Conservancy has bought more than 3,200 acres of forest and wetlands in Wisconsin’s Central Sands region in what the group calls “a rare opportunity” to protect and restore a stronghold of native species in the face of climate change.
Primarily red pine plantations, the five separate tracts in Adams County include more than 500 acres of wetlands as well as some hardwood forest.
The largest tract — more than 1,900 acres — adjoins the Quincy Bluff and Wetlands State Natural Area, a 6,600-acre preserve just east of Castle Rock Lake, part of which The Nature Conservancy previously donated to the state. The remainder includes four tracts to the northeast.
“We saw an opportunity to buy some large tracts of land to keep them open to the public and for nature,” said Stephanie Judge, conservation project manager for the conservancy.
Judge said the land will remain open to the public for hiking, hunting, fishing and snowmobiling.
People are also reading…
According to state property records, the nonprofit organization acquired the land for $3.5 million from Meteor Timber, an Atlanta-based investment company that is one of the largest private landowners in Wisconsin.
TNC said the funding was provided by member donations.
With its highly varied terrain, the Central Sands is considered one of Wisconsin’s most resilient landscapes, one where plants and animals are likely to thrive even in a fast-warming climate.
Central Wisconsin is a key “tension zone” where northern forests and southern grasslands meet with a mix of river bluffs, plains and wetlands.
“When we’re looking at resilience it’s this mix of unique and connected microclimate, areas with confirmed biodiversity,” Judge said. “That part of the state is really fabulous.”
And while the region is under pressure from recreational and agricultural development, it remains largely intact.
“That’s not to say it’s undisturbed,” Judge said.
Much of the land has been planted with tight rows of red pine, which Judge says will be thinned to restore some of the more open grasslands — or barrens — that once dominated the landscape.
“It doesn’t happen overnight,” Judge said. “Restoration takes time. It needs to be a process that comes in stages.”
Judge said the restoration will allow native wildflowers like lupine to return, providing better habitat for threatened species like the Kirtland’s warbler and Karner blue butterfly.
“It’s hanging on in the shade of those pine trees,” Judge said.
Photos: See how Madison’s lakes have changed since the 19th century
Mounds on Edgewood Dr.
A row of conical burial mounds adjoins the Park and Pleasure Drive on the north shore of Lake Wingra (now Edgewood Drive, at the south edge of Edgewood College) in 1915. (WHS #39011)
Steamboat “Scutanawbequon”
View across water towards the “Scutanawbequon,” owned by Francis (Frank) Barnes, launched on April 17, 1866, with seven people aboard. The boat, known as the “Scut,” was made in Whitewater. Barnes purchased Squaw Point, known today as Winnequah Point, on Lake Monona across from the city of Madison. (WHS #120625)
Lake Monona
This barge was used in copper sulfate treatments of Lake Monona in the 1930s, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society. An inboard motor boat was used to tow the barge along the lake shoreline during spraying.
Yahara River from Williamson St.
The Yahara River is shown from Williamson Street with Lake Monona in the background in this undated photo. (WHS # 2234)
Madison bird’s-eye view
Bird’s-eye map of Madison with an inset of the Wisconsin State Capitol. The bird’s-eye was done by the Norris, Wellge and Co., as a promotional item for S.L. Sheldon, a large Madison agricultural implement dealer. (WHS #11432)
Mound on the Dividing Ridge
Two men relax among Native American burial mounds on the Dividing Ridge between Lakes Monona and Wingra in Madison. The Dividing Ridge and the mounds were subsequently destroyed by gravel mining. (WHS #38942)
Crest of the Dividing Ridge
A horse grazes near Native American burial mounds on the Dividing Ridge between Lakes Monona and Wingra in Madison. The mounds, and the ridge they stood on, were subsequently quarried away by gravel miners. (WHS #39008)
Woman in sand pit
A woman smiles as she poses while standing in a sand pit near the intersection of Fish Hatchery Road and Park Street. A note on the back of the photograph reads, “Dividing Ridge, Sand Pit, Pieh’s Hill/Keyes Hill.” (WHS #102503)
Native American map of Lake Mendota
This pictorial map of Lake Mendota shows Native American sites and legends associated with the lake and its surrounding area. Some of those mentioned on the map include Lost Lake, Fox Bluff, Den of Water Spirits, Merrill Wishing Spring, and Eagle Heights. (WHS #96155)
Plan for Madison as a model city
A plan by John Nolen from 1910 shows a vision for Madison as a model city. The plan shows existing and proposed parks, railroads, and marshes in a color coded key. (WHS #100762)
Fish catch from Lake Mendota
In this Sept. 25, 1957 photo, Charlie Bran kneels with his catch of white bass, crappies and bluegills from Lake Mendota. The photo headline reads, “Big Haul for Charlie”. (WHS #96299)
Linear mounds
A visitor takes in the sight of three linear burial mounds at the Sure-Johnson mound group south of McFarland in 1905. (WHS #2388)
New state park on Lake Kegonsa
Marshland sedges and rushes, foreground, Lake Kegonsa and a tree-lined horizon are shown in 1965. The then-newly acquired area consists of marsh, woodland, Native American mounds and open fields on the northeast corner of Lake Kegonsa. (WHS #118562)
UW varsity crew vs. California
A man looks out over Lake Mendota in 1954, as the UW-Madison varsity crew team beats the California Golden Bears by 10 feet in a late spurt to win in record time.
Ice fishing on Lake Mendota
Mike Wagner, age 77, is shown “loaded down” with ice fishing equipment on Lake Mendota in 1951. (WHS #69248)
Vilas Park beach
A lifeguard observes swimmers at the beach in Vilas Park in 1950. A rowboat used by the lifeguard is on the beach. (WHS #66915)
Shoreline at UW-Madison
A view of the Lake Mendota shoreline, including the Armory and Gymnasium (Red Gym or Old Red) and the Old Boat House from 1900.
Aerial view of Governor’s Island
This aerial photograph shows Governor’s Island in Lake Mendota, as well as the area surrounding the Mendota Mental Health Hospital, in 1935. (WHS #34750)
Frank Lloyd Wright boathouse
Exterior view in 1920 from the lake of the Madison City Boathouse at the foot of North Carroll Street on Lake Mendota. It was an early design of Frank Lloyd Wright. (WHS #34327)
Formal group on steamboat
A large group of well-dressed people stand aboard three small steamboats on Lake Monona in 1875. The boat in the foreground is a barge with a sternwheel. The two behind are sidewheel excursion boats. (WHS #27189)
Lake Mendota near UW varsity boat house
A group of people in a large model launch with an American flag on Lake Mendota near the UW-Madison boathouse in 1915.
Lake Waubesa at Crescent Park
A boy stands on a pier on Lake Waubesa in 1927. There are boats docked at the water’s edge and a group of children and adults are on the shoreline in the background. (WHS #119306)
Ice fishing
Hundreds of people from all parts of southern Wisconsin descend on Lake Mendota to fish through the ice for perch and other pan fish from a spot about a mile out from Maple Bluff in January 1948. (WHS #34483)
Water skiers on Lake Mendota
Joanna “Josie” Mayer and her water skiing partner, Jimmy Schneiders, water ski side by side on Lake Mendota on July 12, 1955. (WHS #36843)
Lake Monona rowboat
A man rows in a rowboat on Lake Monona in 1894 with a view of the city in the background. (WHS #2123)
Aerial view of isthmus toward Lake Monona
This aerial view of Madison looking southeast over the Isthmus in 1928. Visible at the bottom is the Lake Mendota shoreline. At center, Lake Monona, just above, Lake Waubesa, and in the distance at the top, Lake Kegonsa. (WHS #31148)
Lake Kegonsa log cabins
View of Lake Kegonsa shoreline, with cottages and boathouses along the shore, and farm buildings on a hill behind in 1930. There is a dock with several rowboats in the foreground. The dock is at the bottom of a ramp contraption that runs from the shoreline. (WHS #100585)
Mendota Yacht Club members
Mendota Yacht Club members Rosamond Ross, from left, Ann Hastings, and Gina Johnson take down the sail from their boat, “The Freckles,” on the pier behind the James Payton house, 409 N. Blair St., in 1947. (WHS #48369)
Boat houses on Lake Monona
View from Lake Monona of a row of boathouses at East Wilson Street between South Hancock and South Franklin streets in 1934. (WHS #3647)
Tonyawatha Spring Hotel from across Lake Monona
Illustration of the exterior of the tourist resort Tonyawatha Spring Hotel (an earlier version was called Tonyawatha House) from across Lake Monona in 1885. (WHS #11250)
Yahara River painting
The Wisconsin Historical Society collection includes a watercolor painting of the Yahara River at Lake Monona.
Burial mounds on the Edgewood campus
Charles E. Brown poses near a historic tablet marking one of a row of conical burial mounds on the Park and Pleasure drive on the north shore of Lake Wingra in May 1939. These mounds are now incorporated within the Edgewood College campus. (WHS #39012)
Steamboat landing
Two men pose on a boat docked at the Askew Steamboat Landing on Lake Monona off South Carroll Street. The old Governor Harvey residence is in the background on the far shoreline. (WHS # 3494)
Farwell’s mill
A mill on the Yahara River at the outlet of Lake Mendota is shown in 1890. The mill was built in 1850 by Gov. Leonard J. Farwell.
Eben Peck cabin
The Eben Peck cabin, the first house in Madison, was built in June 1837. (WHS # 2859)
