Avoca Unit – Lower Wisconsin State Riverway

Avoca Unit – Lower Wisconsin State Riverway is a 5,743 acre property located in Iowa County. Find it 1 mile north of Avoca and Hwy 133. Scattered parcels along south shore of Wisconsin River (parcels between 5 miles west of Avoca to 5 miles east of Avoca). The property is comprised mostly of bottomland hardwood forest, wetlands, prairies, and savanna. The Avoca Prairie and Savanna State Natural Area is located within the Avoca Unit.

The Lower Wisconsin State Riverway is located in the Western Coulee and Ridges Ecological landscape. It is a Conservation Opportunity Area and a Large River Corridor of Continental Significance in the Wisconsin Wildlife Action Plan. [PDF 103KB]

The Lower Wisconsin State Riverway is an Important Bird Area (IBA) and a Land Legacy Place.

Management

Management Objective

The goal of the Lower Wisconsin State Riverway as stated in the 1988 Master Plan is to provide a quality public use area for unique river corridor activities and compatible recreational pursuits; maintain the generally natural and scenic landscape of the Lower Wisconsin Riverway, and manage the corridor’s natural resources for the long-term benefit of the citizens of the area and state.

Management objectives include big river protection and maintenance, prairie and barrens restoration and maintenance, management of floodplain forest, promotion of the oak type on dry-mesic and mesic sites, wetland restoration, and control of invasive species. The native prairie and wetland species are managed actively through tree/shrub control using tree harvest, brushing and especially fire to mimic natural disturbance patterns.

The Lower Wisconsin State Riverway Board, [Exit DNR] a unique and separate State agency, is responsible for the scenic protection of the river valley.

Over 285 bird and 45 mammal species are abundant within the LWSR.