Mondeaux Hardwoods

State Natural Area (No. 461)

Location: Within the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Taylor County. T32-R1W, Section 1. T33N-R1W, Sections 13,14, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 35, 36. 2,826 acres.

Access: From the junction of Highways 13 and D in Westboro, go west on D about 6.5 miles, then south on FR 104 (Mondeaux Drive) one mile, then west on FR 106 (Park Road) one mile to the Mondeaux Dam area and the northeast boundary of the site.

Description: Mondeaux Hardwoods is a large site that includes a wide variety of plant communities including northern mesic, wet-mesic, and wet forest, alder thicket, northern sedge meadow, ephemeral pond, springs and spring runs, and aquatic plant communities. Along the Mondeaux River is an extensive mesic forest composed of hemlock, yellow birch, sugar maple, red maple, and basswood. In mature stands, trees exceeding 20 inches in diameter are common. A white pine super-canopy still occurs in some stands with trees more than 30 inches in diameter. These hemlock and white pine stands are some of the oldest and largest on the Park Falls-Medford District. The sapling and shrub layer is generally sparse under the closed canopy. Little hemlock reproduction is occurring. Characteristic groundlayer species include marginal wood fern, Canada mayflower, wild sarsaparilla, rough-leaved rice grass, and wood anemone. Located on gently rolling, moderately well-drained ground moraine is northern hardwood forest although areas in the south contain poorly-drained ground and there is hummocky terrain to the east. These stands are younger than those with a prominent hemlock component. Sugar maple is dominant with associated species including yellow birch, red maple, and bitternut hickory. Ironwood and eastern hop-hornbeam are common in the understory. The ground flora includes rich site indicator species such as Virginia water-leaf, sweet cicely, maidenhair fern, and bloodroot. A wet-mesic forest occurs mainly in two long bands paralleling the Mondeaux River Flowage and esker. The forest contains an usual species composition with a mix of black ash, white cedar, red maple, yellow birch, and in some places, balsam fir. Canopy gaps are common and the high-nutrient conditions favor dense understories. Shrub and small trees include alder, mountain maple, Ribes species, red-osier dogwood, American fly-honeysuckle, common winterberry, and alder-leaf buckthorn. The ground flora is diverse with cinnamon fern, dwarf red raspberry, sedges, poison ivy, spinulose wood fern, northern bugleweed, and bryophytes. Where hemlock is present common species are three-leaved goldthread, mountain wood-sorrel, bunchberry, and yellow blue-bead lily. Bog forest of tamarack in association with black spruce, occurs in widely scattered locations, often at the heads of drainages. Red maple, paper birch, and white pine are frequent associates. Groundlayers consists mainly of sphagnum, ericads, and cinnamon fern, one-sided shinleaf, and false mayflower. Moccasin-flower, bog buckbean, and pitcher plant are of local occurrence. Avifauna includes raven, pileated woodpecker, winter wren, hermit thrush, blackburnian, chestnut-sided, and black-throated green warblers, northern waterthrush, and scarlet tanager. Rare birds include the state-threatened red-shouldered hawk (Buteo lineatus). Mondeaux Hardwoods is owned by the US Forest Service and was designated a State Natural Area in 2007.