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Fox River Headwaters Ecosystem:
An Ecological Assessment for Conservation Planning

Fox River Headwaters. Photo by Eric Epstein

The Fox River Headwaters Ecosystem, located in the "sand counties" of central Wisconsin, is home to a remarkable variety of high quality natural communities and rare plants and animals. These are situated within the area’s landscape of expansive wetlands, productive farm fields, abundant surface waters, diverse forests, and growing human communities. As the sites where these significant ecological resources are located are mapped and studied, the results provide a sort of blueprint to communicate the highest priority needs for conservation planning in the future. Some of the most significant sites are found within the existing boundaries of public properties or are otherwise protected by groups or individuals. However, many others lack adequate long-term protection.

Wisconsin DNR staff at the Endangered Resources Program and the Northeast, West Central and South Central Regions conducted a one-year assessment of the significant ecological resources of the Fox River Headwaters Ecosystem. The project was designed to summarize what is currently known about the most significant ecological resources to help guide future conservation strategies by public, nonprofit, and private land managers and landowners.

Project Highlights

  • The Significant Ecological Areas Workshop, the second of its kind, again showed the value of harnessing the collective knowledge of local observers who shared their expertise of the natural environment and commitment to conservation. Thirty-seven individuals provided information on over 192 locations, and over 60 people attended the workshop to discuss the values and conservation needs of each site.
  • A final set of 86 Significant Ecological Sites were identified. Each Site is placed within one of 4 categories of ecological significance based on current knowledge. Significant Sites are distributed among many community types; however, their overall relative significance relates in large part to their size, buffering from adjacent land uses, and other aspects related to their potential for successful long term protection.
  • Twenty-five of the Significant Ecological Sites meet the criteria for State Natural Areas designation.
  • Many rare natural communities and plant and animal species exist in the study area, including some of state and national significance:
    - Karner blue butterfly, listed as endangered by the Federal government
    - Fifteen species (4 plants and 11 animals) listed as endangered by the State of Wisconsin
    - Twenty-three species (8 plants and 14 animals) listed as threatened by the State of Wisconsin
    - 36 natural community types, including 11 of particular significance to the region or state
  • Ecological Restoration Opportunities are identified for a variety of habitat and natural community types, including grasslands, oak savannas, wetlands, lakes, rivers and streams.
  • Information needs and data gaps are identified to support effective conservation planning, including inventory recommendations and guidance for Site boundary review.

Funding for this project was provided by the Endangered Resources Fund and the Great Lakes Protection Fund.

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Last Revised: August 08, 2007