White River Prairie/Tamaracks

State Natural Area (No. 368)

Location: Within White River Marsh Wildlife Area, Green Lake County. T17N-R11E, Sections 2, 11, 12, 13. 780 acres.

Access: The area is best seen by canoe. A boat launch on Highway 73 in Neshkoro provides access to the river.

Description: White River Prairie/Tamaracks contains one of the largest tamarack bogs and one of the largest and least disturbed wet prairie remaining in Wisconsin. The tamarack bog contains a dense canopy of tamarack with an understory dominated by sphagnum moss with a sparse willow and dogwood component. Also present are paper birch and a small area of black spruce along the eastern edge of the site. Ground cover consists of many northern plant species such as yellow bluebead lily and three-leaved gold-thread. Also present are marsh marigold, lake sedge, tussock sedge, bunchberry, bulbet water hemlock, marsh fern, and round-leaved goldenrod. The low, wet prairie contains an excellent flora with some fen aspects and is dominated by a great diversity of native species, none of which occupy more than 10% of any area. Some plants more typical of fens include sweet grass, shrubby cinquefoil, and boneset. Grasses present are big blue-stem, blue-joint grass, and prairie cord grass. Showy forbs include prairie blazing-star, Michigan lily, narrow-leaved loosestrife, wild bergamot, swamp milkweed, swamp saxifrage, spiderwort, culver's-root, golden alexanders, northern bedstraw, and hoary vervain. Scattered around are small upland black oak "islands" and small ponds, which add diversity to the site. The prairie harbors a substantial population of the state-threatened Henslow's sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii). Other birds include the rare northern harrier (Circus cyaneus), sedge wren, northern waterthrush, Nashville and black-throated green warblers, bobolink, and veery. White River Prairie/Tamaracks is owned by the DNR and was designated a State Natural Area in 2002.