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Wisconsin’s Mukwonago Watershed
Gets Some Love

Two major conservation agencies have recently made strong moves to protect and restore southeastern Wisconsin’s cleanest, most biologically diverse small river system, the Mukwonago River watershed, which runs near the northern edge of Chicago Wilderness.

Thanks to a $12.5-million legacy gift from the late Newell and Ann Meyer—called the largest donation ever made for Wisconsin conservation—The Nature Conservancy (TNC) has begun habitat restoration along a section of the Mukwonago headwaters. In December 2007, TNC announced receipt of the couple’s 374 acres, as well as cash and other assets. Located about 40 miles southwest of Milwaukee in Eagle, Wisconsin, the property includes wetlands, oak woods, and savanna, as well as some 200 acres of agricultural land.

“We’ve started negotiating with the farmers leasing the fields to gradually decrease their production,” says Patricia Morton, TNC’s Mukwonago River Watershed Project director. “Our goal is to restore the agricultural area to native prairie over the next four years, and we’ve had great cooperation so far.”

Contractors and volunteers have also been removing invasive brush, and staff is planning trails through the property.

“Newell and Ann Meyer had a vision that this area would become a nature preserve,” says Morton. “We’re delighted to offer the public the opportunity to connect with Wisconsin’s natural heritage here by hiking, birding, and photographing the area. Folks will also be able to deer hunt, which helps us manage the population and protect plant life.” The preserve opened last fall. For details, visit The Nature Conservancy-Wisconsin.

In other Mukwonago news, just south of Eagle, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources purchased the 941-acre Rainbow Springs Golf Course property in August, for $10.8 million. Secured with a grant from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund, the site will become part of the popular Kettle Moraine State Forest South Unit and protect 3.5 miles of the Mukwonago River. Its southern section was opened in 2008 for hunting and recreation.

— Divina Baratta with Elizabeth Riotto