Sauk Prairie Hillside Remnant

Saturday, July 12th, 2025 - A small, determined crew of volunteer land stewards gathered on the Sauk Prairie State Recreation Area for a day of service. This soggy band of eco-warriors focused on a tiny remnant of the ancient 14,000-acre prairie. The tropical air had those wearing glasses struggling to see through foggy, sweat covered lenses.

Our Soggy Bottomed Eco-Warriors!

Decades of hard work have gone into this tiny micro-environment, without which this too would have been smothered by invasive growth. The native landscape was once incredibly bio-diverse, with fire-dependent vegetation. Five years without flames touching this specific parcel has been disastrous in that invasive plants now cover recently recovered portions of this tiny remnant. Under a thick blanket of vines, poison ivy, wild parsnip, and an assortment of woody brush lies native grasses, and patches of flowers trying to reach the light. Without flames, many prairie plants will not germinate their seeds.

Our Executive Director Ron Lutz II on wild parsnip patrol.

Until a viable solution to this predicament is resolved, the land relies on folks like these soggy bottomed heroes!

Not only to we wish to thank our hardy volunteers, but we would also like to thank WI DNR Wildlife Management Southern District Biologist Nancy Frost received a grant from The Cherish Wisconsin Outdoor Fund. This fund is managed by The Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin and is a public-private partnership. Part of this fund comes from the DNR’s sale of hunting an fishing licenses, as well as private donations. This generous grant then allowed for the implementation of "forestry" mowing, where large brush cutting machinery is used to cut down all the woody plants that have covered the grassland. They have successfully treated the area since the cutting!