Thanks to the late Bessie McGwin Eggleston and her niece and nephews and the dedication and vision of many conservation partners, on September 5, 2014, Groundswell purchased part of the original John Muir family farm in Marquette County between Montello and Portage. John Muir was a founder of the Sierra Club and is widely regarded as the father of our National Park System, which is turning 100 years old in 2016.
This 198-acre acquisition (map) includes 38 acres of the original 320-acre farm settled by Daniel Muir in 1849. About 60 acres of the Muir farm is already permanently protected at the adjacent John Muir Memorial Park/Muir Park State Natural Area surrounding Ennis Lake (called Fountain Lake by the Muirs).
The property we acquired will become part of a 1,400-acre protected landscape, which includes the John Muir Memorial Park/Muir Park State Natural Area and the Fox River National Wildlife Refuge. The property will be open to the public for hiking, hunting, cross-country skiing, fishing, trapping, and bird-watching. In the next few years, we will donate the 120 acres west of County Highway F to the US Fish and Wildlife Service as an addition to the Fox River National Wildlife Refuge. And we will donate the eastern 78 acres to the Ice Age Trail Alliance. A segment of the Ice Age Trail circles Ennis Lake and may continue north across the property we acquired today.
Funding to complete this acquisition was provided by the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, USFWS Fox River/Green Bay Natural Resource Trustee Council, The Conservation Fund, Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust, Greater Green Bay Community Foundation, and many generous members of Groundswell, Wisconsin Friends of John Muir, and John Muir Chapter of the Sierra Club.
Our thanks go to the McGwin family for their commitment to conservation, and to the partners made this important acquisition possible: Wisconsin Friends of John Muir, Ice Age Trail Alliance, Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust, US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service Ice Age National Scenic Trail, Wisconsin DNR, and the John Muir Chapter of the Sierra Club.
There was a dedication event at the property on Saturday, June 13, 2015.
On April 30, 2014, Groundswell placed a permanent conservation easement on the 161-acre landscape around the Historic Indian Agency House at the junction of the Portage Canal and the Fox River in Portage.
The Historic Indian Agency House was built in 1832 for John Kinzie, who was the United States government’s representative to the local Winnebago (Ho-Chunk) tribe. John’s wife Juliette Kinzie’s memoir Wau-bun describes their life and times at the Agency House. In 1930 The National Society of The Colonial Dames of America in the State of Wisconsin purchased the Agency House and have restored and opened it to the public. Recently, the Colonial Dames have become interested in helping the public understand the landscape in which the Agency House was built. The conservation easement permanently protects that landscape, opens it to the public, and may create new opportunities to restore and enhance the landscape.
The conservation easement is part of a larger conservation effort that includes the Ice Age Trail Alliance, which yesterday bought 46 acres on the south side of the canal opposite the Agency House. The Wisconsin DNR’s Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program and members of Groundswell funded the purchase of the conservation easement.
On December 20, 2013, Groundswell completed the acquisition of the final piece of land necessary to complete the bike trail along a restored section of Black Earth Creek between Mazomanie and the Wisconsin Heights Middle/High School (click here for a map).
The roughly 1.25-acre parcel lies south of the conservation easement we completed with Fred Wolf last year. With this acquisition, the entire trail corridor is now either in public ownership or permanently protected by easements. Our friends, Wolf Run Association, a Mazomanie non-profit group, worked to finish construction of the trail in the summer of 2014.
Our deepest appreciation goes out to Steve Schmitt, owner of the Shoe Box in Black Earth, for donating the property to us. We also wish to thank a number of Groundswell members and supporters who made special gifts to help us complete this project: Anonymous, Electronic Theatre Controls, Steve Born, Charlie and Barb Saeman, Bob and Christie Selk, and Lee and Jacqui Swanson.
Watch this 3-minute video about the how the Wolf Run Trail is reconnecting a community with Black Earth Creek.
In December 2014 we permanently protected a 47-acre bluff overlooking Okee Bay on Lake Wisconsin. The bluff is a beautiful and prominent feature of the landscape, seen by everyone who boats on that part of the lake. The bluff has two prairie remnants, and a biological inventory turned up about 40 native plant species on the main remnant.
Our thanks go to Tim and Terri Escher for donating the conservation easement to Groundswell. The bluff will remain in private ownership but will be permanently protected — Groundswell staff will visit the property annually to ensure that the development restrictions placed on the property by the Eschers are upheld by them and all future landowners.
On Monday, December 9, 2013 we assisted Jefferson County in completing a permanent conservation easement on a beautiful 189-acre working farm just south of Waterloo. The farm is owned by Dale Neupert and has been in the Neupert family since 1893. The conservation easement prohibits non-agricultural uses of the land and will ensure the farmland remains forever.
On May 1, 2013 Groundswell assisted Dane County in purchasing 382 acres of land on the Sugar River between Verona and Paoli. The land includes about 2.5 miles of the Sugar River as it winds between Hwy. 69 and Paoli (click for a map). It is open to the public for hiking, canoeing, fishing, and hunting and has been named the Falk Wells Sugar River Wildlife Area. In the next few years the county will create canoe put-ins, parking areas, and trails on the property – it will be a great place to enjoy the out-of-doors. Our thanks go to the Bruce Company for offering to sell the land for conservation.
Funding for the purchase was provided by the Dane County Conservation Fund. Groundswell acquired a grant from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program to defray the cost of purchasing the property.
Click here to read more about this purchase, which was announced at a press conference in January 2013.
Thanks to our members for supporting our work on this wonderful acquisition.
Today, January 30, 2013, in partnership with the Village of Belleville, Groundswell purchased 36 acres of land along the Sugar River. The property, which is in two parcels (click here for map), protects nearly 2,000 feet of river frontage just upstream of the Village’s Lake Belle View park where the Village has completed a very successful restoration of the river from a former mill pond.
Executive Director for Groundswell, Jim Welsh, praises the success of Belleville’s river restoration project and says the additional acreage will expand the positive impact of that effort. “The community’s commitment to transform a local mill pond into a popular conservation area is impressive. We welcomed the chance to work with the Village in protecting more land along the Sugar River.”
The property is mostly forested. Groundswell will donate the property to the Village as an addition to Lake Belle View park within the next few months. The Village plans to create a nature trail on the newly acquired land connecting to the main trail in Lake Belle View Park. Belleville Administrator/Clerk/Treasurer April Little says that “the Village of Belleville truly appreciates the efforts of Groundswell, the DNR, and Dane County in obtaining this very scenic land. Not only will the land extend our lake and river conservation efforts, it will provide more area for Belleville residents and visitors to hike, snowshoe, bird watch and fish. We hope that everyone will enjoy the addition to the Lake Belle View berm trail system, in every season.”
Funding for the acquisition came from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, Dane County Conservation Fund, and members of Groundswell.
In 2013, Groundswell celebrates 30 years of protecting the places that define our community’s connection to land. With this acquisition, we have permanently protected more than 8,700 acres of land and water in Dane County and the surrounding area.
Good news that on December 28, 2012 we permanently protected the largest remaining undeveloped land along Lake Waubesa. Our 39-acre purchase in the Waubesa Wetlands State Natural Area protects wetlands, uplands, and roughly 1,200 feet of shoreline on the lake. Click here for map.
The property will be transferred to Dane County for long-term management and will be open immediately to the public for hiking, hunting, and other outdoor recreational activities.
Funding for this project came from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, Dane County Conservation Fund, Town of Dunn, Lake Waubesa Conservation Association, and the members of Groundswell.
2012 has been a successful year for us. We have completed 10 projects resulting in nearly 1,000 acres of permanent land protection in and around Dane County. Thank you to everyone who has supported this important work over the last year.
On December 20th, in partnership with the Town of Dunn, we permanently protected an 80-acre farm on the north shore of Hook Lake – a beautiful State Natural Area. The farm was protected with a permanent conservation easement that ensures the agricultural land remains available for farming and the area on the shoreline of the lake remains natural and undeveloped. Click here for map.
This is our 22nd land protection project in partnership with the Town of Dunn. Together since 1997, we have permanently protected over 2,700 acres of important agricultural and natural lands in the town.
On December 13, we purchased approximately 200 acres in Rock County (click for map) and gave it to the DNR to be added to the Avon Bottoms State Wildlife Area. The property will be restored to native wetland and upland habitats in the coming year by the Natural Resources Conservation Service through the Wetlands Reserve Program and is open to public for hiking, birdwatching, hunting, and other recreational activities.
Avon Bottoms Wildlife Area is quickly becoming one of southern Wisconsin’s premier public natural areas. Boasting nearly 3000 acres of public lands along the Sugar River, it is home to many rare plants and animals and has been designated a Wisconsin Important Bird Area by the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative. This property is adjacent to a roughly 350-acre property we permanently protected in 2006.
Because of the generosity of the landowner, we were able to purchase this property at 50% of the fair market value. Funding for this project came from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship program and members of Groundswell.