Current and Past LIP Projects
Jefferson County

2009: Allen Creek Fen Restoration

Project Goal and Site Description:
This project will restore and maintain remnant natural communities (wet prairie, wet mesic prairie, calcareous fen, sedge meadow) to provide habitat for rare native plants and animals. This will be done by:

1. reducing tree and brush cover;
2. limiting dominance and spread of reed canary grass, wild parsnip and sweet clover; and
3. promoting vigor of native species through the above activities in conjunction with prescribed burning.

Native Wet Prairies of the Southeast Glacial Plain

Project Goal and Site Description:
The project goal is to restore and maintain 2 remnant natural communities (wet prairie, sedge meadow) in order to provide habitat for rare native plants and animals and to promote native biodiversity.

Karow Wetlands and Cold Spring Prairie are located in south-central Jefferson County. The 33-acre Karow Wetlands are part of a large mesophytic complex along Allen Creek that originates from a large spring complex. These wetlands are rich in patterning and diversity of communities. Some areas are dominated by sedge meadow species, others by a rich mix of wet prairie species. A fen mound supports calcareous peat species as well.

Three miles to the east, Cold Spring Prairie harbors approximately eight acres of what may be the best and last remnant of wet to wet-mesic prairie in this part of the state. This site was never used for agricultural purposes, and thus is rich in diversity of native flora and fauna. The project areas are highly diverse, harboring more than 200 native plant species. The primary land uses for both sites are ecological restoration, nature appreciation and wildlife habitat.

Faville Grove Sanctuary Oak Savanna Restoration

Project Goal and Site Description:
The goal of this proposal is to restore a degraded oak/hickory savanna and thus extend habitat for endangered and threatened species. This 15-acre oak savanna is a part of the Lake Mills Ledge, a blue quartzite outcropping at the margin of the former Crawfish Prairie where Madison Audubon Society (MAS) is focusing land acquisition and restoration efforts. The recently-purchased 80-acre parcel in which this savanna project is located includes farmed uplands and converted uplands.

The savanna has been degraded by human-based activities including horse and cow pasturing. Large open-grown bur and white oaks, and shagbark hickories populate the savanna, but are being compromised by secondary growth elm, cherry, and cedar, among other invasive species present on the site. The now-closed canopy woods provides habitat for a number of birds and mammals. Plant debris hides much of the rock outcroppings.

The Lake Mills Ledge is the easternmost exposure of Baraboo quartzite at the interface of rolling upland glacial terrain and the expansive floodplain of the Crawfish River. It was here in the 1930s and 1940s that Aldo Leopold and many graduate students worked with neighboring farmers to establish the Faville Grove Wildlife Experimental Area, which influenced Leopold's conceptualization of his Land Ethic. At the interface, upland groundwater flowing over the underlying quartzite emerges as springs to feed outlying edges of the floodplain immediately east of the rock outcroppings. Springs in the restored wetlands to the south, where deep ditches have already been filled, provide open water year-round for resident wildlife. Much of the year, the stream meanders from the springs out into the restored wet prairie. We expect that the restored savanna with its restored ground cover, which will significantly decrease runoff and enhance rain and snow melt absorption, and its adjacent wetland restoration will provide this same critical habitat component.

Faville Grove Sanctuary

Project and Site Description:
This restoration of a wet-prairie remnant is part of an extensive ongoing restoration effort of Jefferson County's Crawfish Prairie conducted by the Madison Audubon Society (MAS). To date, MAS has acquired 265 acres in this project area and has worked to restore the hydrology and plant communities of more than half of those acres. MAS has worked with NRCS to fill ditches and artificial drainage swales at Faville Grove. LIP is funding tree and brush removal along the former fence lines, purchase of local genotype seed, and mowing and herbicide to control invasive species. MAS is providing 37% match through intensive volunteer labor for on-site seed collection (by hand) and dispersal of more than 100 species, targeted weed control, and prescribed burns. This site has an established history of existing ongoing management and monitoring, and the benefit to additional species will be greater than that of project site alone due to increased connectivity to the other prairie remnants.

Faville Grove is part of the Faville Prairie State Natural Area, one of the largest low prairie remnants in Wisconsin. Long revered by ecologists such as Aldo Leopold who fought for its preservation, the prairie is a remnant of the once extensive Crawfish Prairie that covered nearly 2500 acres. The prairie is situated on a small ridge in the center of the site, while areas to the east are slightly lower and contain sedge meadow and shrub carr communities. Over time ditching and other land use changes have altered the site's hydrology. As a result, the site has become drier leading to an increase in exotic and woody species and a change in native species composition. However, the prairie still retains a high level of native floral diversity due to small variations in water levels and in the water-holding capacity of the soils. Grasses include big blue-stem, Indian grass, and blue-joint grass. There is also a good diversity of sedges. Forbs include yellow-star grass, shooting-star, gentians, prairie blazing-star, prairie-dock, compass-plant, mountain mint, northern bedstraw, prairie phlox, sunflowers, and asters. In the past, rare upland sandpipers (Bartramia longicauda) have nested here. Future acquisition and restoration of nearby lands may provide the necessary acreage for their future return.

Snapper Prairie

Project and Site Description:
This restoration of an unplowed wet-prairie remnant is part of an extensive ongoing restoration effort of Jefferson County's Crawfish Prairie conducted by the Madison Audubon Society (MAS). To date, MAS has acquired 265 acres in this project area and has worked to restore the hydrology and plant communities of more than half of those acres. The focus of this project is to improve the condition of the grassland bird and Eastern Prairie White-Fringed Orchid habitat at this site. LIP is funding tree and brush removal along the property line and weeding, mowing, and herbicide to control invasive species. MAS is providing 36% match through intensive volunteer labor for on-site seed collection (by hand) and backseeding of more than 100 species, and targeted weed control. This site has an established history of existing ongoing management and monitoring, and the benefit to additional species will be greater than that of project site alone due to increased connectivity to the other prairie remnants.

Located less than one mile north of Faville Prairie, Snapper Prairie is a small remnant of what was once a large 2,500 acre low prairie in the floodplain of the Crawfish River. Depending on rainfall and moisture conditions, the prairie may flood in spring and early summer due to poorly drained clay soils but may later appear very dry by mid-summer. The prairie is dominated by big blue-stem, little blue-stem, and prairie drop-seed, and has many showy forbs including prairie blazing-star, coneflowers, compass-plant, sky-blue aster and a large population of prairie-dock. Several plants indicative of alkaline conditions and more often found in fens, grow here -- Riddell's goldenrod, nodding ladies-tresses orchid, valerian, and narrow-leaved loosestrife. Rare plants include the prairie milkweed (Asclepias sullivantii) and prairie Indian plantain (Arnoglossum plantagineum). Noticeably absent from the prairie are legumes, which may be due to previous marsh hay mowing that would occur before seed set. There are good populations of savanna sparrows and eastern meadowlarks present while bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorous) and rare upland sandpipers (Bartramia longicauda) have nested on the prairie in the past. Small mammals, including meadow voles, shrews, and white-footed mice, are abundant.