Dec 2003 CAWS Newsletter Madison Audubon Society

8/9/2019 Dec 2003 CAWS Newsletter Madison Audubon Society

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Growth is good, especially when it'sat Goose Pond!

In January 2003, Madison AudubonSociety added 194 acres to GoosePond Sanctuary, bringing the totalacreage to 527. This major purchasehas been named the Western PrairieAddition. It buffers the core of thesanctuary property from undesirabledevelopment and when restored willalso provide a large area of habitatattractive to prairie and wetlandwildlife.

It takes large restorations to main-tain the biodiversity of tallgrassprairie. At Goose Pond, more than 400acres of mesic (tallgrass) prairie arebeing restored. Only about 100 acres

of Wisconsin's original million acres ofmesic prairie are known to exist, and

these are in small, scattered parcels ofa few acres at best . . . often along rail-road tracks.

The Western Prairie Addition willprovide more habitat of restoredmesic prairie than exists in all theremaining mesic prairie remnants inWisconsin.

Madison Audubon Society strives topreserve and protect natural systems.Large-scale restoration allows parcelsto be linked together for increasedwildlife production and usage.Increased prairie habitat and wildlifepopulations offer greater public view-ing and educational opportunities.

Why are we buying more land?We humans continue to increase in

number. Our homes and roads sprawlendlessly over the south centralWisconsin landscape. Development isalso increasing in the Arlington area.

Between 1990 and 2000, both Daneand Columbia Counties experienced16% growth rates. In just 10 years,Dane County (2000 population:426,526) added 59,441 people, equiva-lent to three communities the size ofSun Prairie. Columbia County (2000population: 52,468), added 7,380 peo-ple or another DeForest.

We must grow our wildlife sanctu-aries to provide and protect grassland,savanna and wetland ecosystems.Land adjacent to Goose Pond seldomcomes up for sale, and the MAS Boardof Directors acted quickly to acquirethe 194-acre parcel when it went onthe market.

Plans for the futureWhen restoration has been complet-

ed, the Western Prairie Addition will

include 160 acres of prairie and up to25 acres of wetland habitat. Winterfood plots will also be maintained.

Volunteers will have many opportu-nities to help with prairie restorationover the coming years. They will col-lect seed from existing MAS prairies,although some seed will also be pur-chased. Prairie planting is scheduledto begin in 2005.

Continued page 6

Madison Audubon is a chapter of the National Audubon Society

Western Prairie Addition "Grows" Goose Pond Sanctuary

THE AUDUBON

NEWSLETTEROF THE

MADISONAUDUBONSOCIETY

222 S. Hamilton St. / Madison, WI 53703 / 255-BIRD / http://madisonaudubon.org DECEMBER 2003

SpecialSanctuaries

Issue

Goose PondSanctuary now

has 527 acres.With the 194-acre Western

Prairie Addition(dotted bound-ary lines), the

sanctuary grewby 58%.


2/8

Madison Audubon SocietyReceivesVirginia M. Kline Award

On Thursday, October 2, MadisonAudubon Society received the Virginia M.Kline Award for Excellence inCommunity-Based Restoration. The com-petitive Leopold Restoration AwardsProgram is sponsored by Friends of theArboretum and the Aldo LeopoldFoundation to honor "individuals whoshare a vision of restoring the land anddedicate their time and talents to the prin-ciples of ecological restoration."

Two UW-Milwaukee faculty membersreceived the Henry A. Greene Award forInnovative Approaches to EcologicalRestoration. James A. Reinartz andTimothy J. Ehlinger used a creativeapproach to move a section of AllentonCreek, making way for a new stretch ofHighway 41 in Washington County.

About 30 Madison Audubon membersand friends enjoyed a banquet precedingthe awards ceremony, held at theArboretum Visitor Center. About 170 peo-ple attended the festivities.

Mark and Susan Foote-Martin, residentmanagers at Goose Pond Sanctuary,accepted a beautiful glass plaque and$2,000 cash award on behalf of MadisonAudubon Society. Here follows the text ofSusan Foote-Martin's acceptance speech:

It is with great pleasure that I accept the

Virginia Kline Award for excellence in com-munity-based restoration on behalf of the

Madison Audubon Society. The opportunity towork with a group of dedicated people towardthe goal of purchasing land, restoring the land,and then maintaining the land is to experiencethe real joy of Conservation.

As a nature-based organization, MadisonAudubon approaches its restorations throughbirds, plants, insects and mammals. But the

restorations are also about the land and its peo-ple. Madison Audubon wants to teach peopleto appreciate nature through its Sanctuaries.By embracing nature, value and significanceare ascribed to the natural world. The recogni-tion of value leads to a commitment to conser-

vation, and so our work is supported into thefuture.

With the restoration of Audubon lands, anumber of natural communities can be linkedtogether, thereby increasing the significanceand value of what has already been preserved.

Additional acreage and restoration increaseswildlife production and usage, in turn provid-ing for greater public viewing and educationalopportunities.

In recent years, MAS has extended its com-munity-based restoration efforts to northwest

Jefferson County, where Aldo Leopold and hisstudents studied wildlife and initiated a majorcommunity effort to reconnect people with theland. Our Faville Grove Sanctuary has quickly

grown to 388 acres.We started with a small purchase of land in

1967 at a place called Goose Pond. The pur-chase included 60 acres of worn out land, asmall farmhouse, and part of the pond. Todaythe Goose Pond Sanctuary ownership includes527 acres and the entire west half of GoosePond.

In 1976 Audubon volunteers, under theleadership of Rosemary Fleming, restored 8acres at Goose Pond using seed collected fromthe UW's Curtis Prairie. Since that time,

MAS has restored over 200 acres of tall grassprairie and wetlands at Goose Pond. Most ofthe land being restored is mesic prairie andrestoration is very important because less than100 acres of the original 1 million acres ofmesic prairie remains.

The future for restoration looks great! In thenext few years, we will be restoring prairie on

2 The Audubon Caw

JOIN MADISON AUDUBONA Chapter of National Audubon

Introductory New membership - $20Membership Renewal - $35

Student/Senior Membership - $15Foreign - Add $10 in US funds

Make check payable toNational Audubon Society

Mail check to Madison Audubon Society,222 S. Hamilton St. Suite 1,

Madison, WI 53703

NameAddressCityState Zip

__ I do NOT wish to receive theNational Audubon magazine__ Do not release my name to outsideorganizations.

MADISON AUDUBON SOCIETYPresident: Joanne Herfel, 241-8009

Vice-president: Debra Weitzel, 836-4051Goose Pond Resident Naturalists:Mark and Sue Martin, 635-4160Editor: Abbie Kurtz, 245-1758

[email protected] design: Paul Capobianco

Printed by Roemer Printing

The mission of the Madison AudubonSociety is to educate our members andthe public about the natural world andthe threats that natural systems are fac-

ing, to engage in advocacy to preserveand protect these systems, and to developand maintain sanctuaries to save andrestore natural habitat.

CAWS Newsletter Subscriptions AvailableI am not a member of National Audubon, but am interested in receiving TheAudubon CAWS newsletter to stay informed of chapter activities. I've enclosed$15.00 payable to Madison Audubon Society to cover printing and mailing forone annual year.

Mail to: Madison Audubon Soc., 222 S. Hamilton St. Suite #1, Madison, WI53703

THE AUDUBON CAWS is publishedSeptember through June by:Madison Audubon Society,

222 S. Hamilton St.,Madison, WI 53703,

(608) 255-BIRD (2473).Birding hotline, 255-BIRM

Madison Audubon Web Page:http://madisonaudubon.org

E-mail: [email protected] services donated by Berbee

Contribution deadline is December1 for the January issue, for which

items may be sent to Abbie Kurtz,313 Moulton Ct., Madison, WI [email protected]

Z02

7xCH

Susan Foote-Martin (right) accepted the

Virginia M. Kline Award for Excellence fromLinda Bochert, President, Friends of theArboretum.


3/8 3December 2003

240 acres at Goose Pond, 85 acres at FavilleGrove Sanctuary and will be working on other

projects.MAS has helped many others, such as pri-

vate land owners, government agencies, andconservation organizations establish prairierestorations. The seed that grew the prairies in1976 has greatly multiplied.

In closing, I would like to thank everyoneinvolved with the acquisition, restoration and

maintenance of our properties. This includesthe MAS Board of Directors, donors, volun-teers, and interns. Major partners include theDNR, Fish and Wildlife Service, PheasantsForever, Ducks Unlimited, and WisconsinWaterfowl Association.

Prairies Jubilee!A Celebration of Fall

On a crisp autumn morning, 43 partici-pants eagerly awaited the signal to beginthe first annual Prairie Bison FunRun/Walk through the prairie. This eventofficially opened Prairies Jubilee! held thisyear on September 28 at U.W. Arlington

Research Station and Madison Audubon'sGoose Pond Sanctuary. After the 2.7 milerun/walk, the participants returned to theEvents Building where bison burgers,

brats, or tabouli pitas awaited the hungry.Various vendors educated the public on

topics from reptiles to U.W. campus areasto native landscaping. Organic fall pro-duce, goat milk soap and prairie seedlingswere some of the items for sale along with

birding merchandise. Buses took visitorsto Goose Pond for some interesting hikescentered on prairie restoration. Anddespite the rain, two adventurous groups

joined field trips, one to experience aprairie remnant with Rich Henderson andthe other group learned about researchprojects in progress at the ResearchStation. The day ended with the raffledrawings for wonderful prizes includingthe painting by Jonathan Wilde, "When IThink of Loons".

We would like to thank all the volun-teers who helped the day of the event, thevendors, Prairies Jubilee! committee mem-

bers, and all our sponsors and contribu-tors including Fontana, Chickadee Depot,Wild Birds Unlimited, Wild Bird Center,

Eagle Optics, Premiere of Windsor,Wisconsin Trails, M & I Bank, Econoprintand Scott's Pastry. Proceeds from thisevent will help fund the Western PrairieAddition to Goose Pond Sanctuary.

Prairie ConferenceWorkshop at Goose Pond

A one-day Prairie RestorationWorkshop will take place at Goose PondSanctuary during the 19th NorthAmerican Prairie Conference, to be held

August 8-12, 2004 in Madison. The work-shop will focus on restoring areas greaterthan five acres. Instructors includeMadison Audubon volunteers and JeffGaska, Regional Director, PheasantsForever. For more information visithttp://www.napc2004.org

MAS PlansLargest PlantingIn Society's History

Madison Audubon volunteers willrestore 110 acres in three separate loca-tions in 2004 breaking all prior restorationefforts! Many hands will be needed tohelp harvest, clean and plant the estimat-

ed 1,000 pounds of seed that will be need-ed to complete the plantings.

The planning process is under way forrestorations of: 70 acres - Goose Pond, Arlington 20 acres - Rose Lake, Fort Atkinson 20 acres - Faville Grove Sanctuary, LakeMills

Controlled burns will be conducted onrestorations this spring to improve theseed producing capabilities of the plants.Fire stimulates flowering of prairie forbsand grasses and this means more seed will

be produced, provided that we have good

rainfall when plants are setting seed. Also,the germination rates of seeds increase fol-lowing burns.

Seed collecting will start in early sum-mer and continue through the fall. Wewill compile customized list of forbs(flowers) and grass species for each prop-erty. It is impossible for us to collect allthe seed needed for the project throughour traditional seed collecting efforts.Therefore we will be purchasing seedfrom nurseries that can supply us withlocal genotype seed. Savanna restorationwill also be conducted at both Faville

Grove Sanctuary and Rose Lake.All of the work to be accomplished will

depend heavily on volunteers, as is true inall of our restoration projects. The com-

bined efforts of countless volunteers overthe years have produced one of the great-est success stories for large-scale privateprairie restoration projects in Wisconsin.Beginning with Rosemary Fleming in 1976with the Bicentennial Prairie (see article inthis issue) and going forward to includeyou in the upcoming restorations helpsMAS carry on it's work to purchase,restore and manage land for it's Sanctuary

Program.

SanctuariesHighlights of the Year

2003 - 194 acres (Western PrairieAddition) is the largest acquisition atGoose Pond Sanctuary and brings thetotal acreage at Goose Pond to 527 acres.More mesic prairie will be restored onthe Western Prairie Addition than existsin all the remaining mesic prairie rem-nants in Wisconsin

Past Highlights:2002 - Goose Pond went dry - loweringwater levels provided excellent shorebirdhabitat2001 - Acquisition of 3 acres at GoosePond and 140 acres at Faville GroveSanctuary2000 - Willy Hutcheson's sighting of fivespecies of geese at one time at Goose

Pond1999 - Restoration of 25 acres of wetlandand prairie at Faville Grove Sanctuary1998 - Excellent growing year for prairieestablishment and seed production1997 - Snowy owl invasion in Januaryand February on Arlington Prairie1996 - Sandhill cranes return to nest atGoose Pond Sanctuary after 100 yearabsence1995 - Establishment of MaryMuckenhirn Stewardship Endowment1994 - Large numbers of waterfowl,pheasant and gray partridge broods

1993 - Record rainfall - 16 inches in Juneand July1992 - Acquisition of 74 acres at GoosePond1991 - 1,200 snow geese in fall at GoosePond Sanctuary1990 - 30,000 mallards use Otsego MarshSanctuary as staging area during migra-tion

HIGHLIGHT OF THE 1990s1996 - Sandhill cranes return to nest atrestored wetlands at Goose PondSanctuary after 100 year absence.


4/84 The Audubon Caws

Faville GroveSanctuary Turns Five

Five years old, and plenty to show forit! Since Madison Audubon Society estab-lished the Faville Grove Sanctuary northof Lake Mills in 1998, MAS has:

Invested over $900,000 in federal, stateand private contributions toward land

protection and habitat restoration atFaville Grove. Many government pro-grams are structured to match contribu-tions from other sources, so gifts fromindividuals leverage additional funds toachieve the greatest possible conservation

benefit, and are an essential component ofour success. Devoted literally thousands of hours ofvolunteer time and several thousand addi-tional hours of time by our student internsrestoring and improving habitat. Permanently protected 388 acresthrough purchase and easement.

Filled 3.3 miles of drainage ditches,including 2.3 miles filled this fall, and dis-abled drainage tiles on an additional 10-acre parcel on private land (ourSnake Marsh restoration) in order torestore the natural hydrologic characteris-tics and community structure of theseareas. Restored nearly 90 acres to prairie, andwe will plant an additional 40 acres of wetprairie this winter. Of this total, 111 acreswill be wet prairie, a particularly rare nat-ural community in Wisconsin due towidespread drainage and conversion to

agricultural uses. Cut many hundreds of invasive treesalong former ditches and elsewhere, dra-matically improving habitat for grassland

birds and other species. Worked toward restoring about 50 acresof savanna and oak woodland, onceimportant parts of the Faville Grove land-scape. Dramatically improved conditions onthe University of Wisconsin's StoughtonFaville Prairie Preserve State NaturalArea, perhaps the finest remnant wetprairie in the state, which was saved from

the plow in 1941 by Eleanor and PhillipMiles at the urging of Aldo Leopold. MAShas begun to restore the hydrologic char-acteristic of Faville Prairie, provided a crit-ical buffer from agricultural chemicals andpests, and extended habitat for Faville'sendangered plants and animals. With sup-port for summer interns from the UW-Madison Graduate School, we have madeenormous strides in controlling destruc-tive invasions of wild parsnip, sweetclover, aspen, cottonwood and whitepoplar on university lands.

Assumed management responsibilityfrom The Nature Conservancy forSnapper Prairie State Natural Area, theonly sizeable remnant other than FavillePrairie of the 2,500-acre Crawfish Prairie

that Aldo Leopold knew. Worked cooperatively with JeffersonCounty and the DNR to protect andrestore other lands in northwest JeffersonCounty, including Korth Park on the westshore of Rock Lake, and Dorothy CarnesPark at Rose Lake north of Fort Atkinson. Built on Aldo Leopold's legacy atFaville Grove by healing the land, as wellas by helping hundreds of individuals-volunteers, visitors, interns and schoolgroups-to reconnect with the land anddevelop a personal land ethic.

Art Hawkins, a career employee of theUS Fish and Wildlife Service who lives inHugo, Minnesota, and who, as AldoLeopold's first graduate student, conduct-ed studies and worked with landownersat Faville Grove, recently wrote, "My wifeand I are members of the MadisonAudubon Society and have followed theirspectacular progress in prairie restorationadjacent to and in the vicinity of theFaville Prairie Preserve (We) have fol-lowed this Audubon program closely andknow of none other that has accomplishedso much in so short a time. I consider this

program to be a model in partnershipaccomplishment.

Aldo Leopold said, The time has comefor science to busy itself with the earthitself. The first step is to reconstruct a

sample of what we had to start with."

Johnson Bank Delivers

When the email went out fromCommunity Shares of Wisconsin to itsmember organizations saying that

Johnson Bank of Madison was looking fora community service opportunity onVeterans' Day for about 60 employees,Madison Audubon was quick to respond.We had 40 acres of bare ground in theCrawfish River floodplain in our FavilleGrove Sanctuary, drainage ditches filled,ready to be seeded to wet prairie.

Then in early November, more than fiveinches of rain created plenty of wet, butwithout the prairie. What's more, with theground super-saturated by the abundantprecipitation, several springs that fordecades had discharged into the bottom oan eight-foot deep drainage ditch nowfound their way to the surface, furtherinundating the future prairie. Time forPlan B - the mud hole would have to waitto be planted until there is ample frost inthe ground.

In preparation for this fall's 40-acre prairie planting, two bulldozers worked for more than a

week in early October, and a large backhoe worked for a full day to fill 2.3 miles of drainage

ditches on Madison Audubon's Brandt tract in the Crawfish River floodplain at Faville Grove.The US Fish and Wildlife Service's Private Lands Office in Madison provided funding as well as

design and oversight for the wetland restoration work at the site. Without ditches to carry rain-water and groundwater away, we plan to return the area to its original wet prairie/wetland vegetation, providing habitat for both wetland and grassland wildlife. Note the dead black locusttrees in the background, where MAS is working to free open-grown oaks among quartzite rock

outcroppings. In 2004, we plan to plant about 20 acres of uplands on the Brandt tract toprairie and continue our savanna restoration.

Photo by Roger Packard


5/8

The adjacent Brandt Savanna restorationfit the bill. Since its acquisition, MAS hasenlisted volunteer work crews to removeand pile the large quantities of slash fromour cutting of the woody vegetation thathas invaded the area ever since it ceasedto be a cow pasture perhaps thirty yearsago. At this stage of the savanna restora-tion we are concentrating our efforts onfreeing up the glorious open grown oaksand hickories that define the ecosystem.

Enter two busloads of Johnson Bankemployees - one from its east and onefrom its west branch. The morning wasovercast and damp, but spirits were high.

Within several hours the bank volunteers,along with other MAS volunteers, had cre-ated impressive brush and wood pilesalong the perimeter of the savanna. Atlunch time we had some patches of bluesky to go with the supply of extra largepizzas delivered by Anna Maria's, a localpizzeria. Dessert was the contribution of

bank employees who rose to the occasionwith a cookie bake off, complete with

judging and prizes for the three top bak-ers. The top of one of the firewood stacksdid duty as an improvised serving table.We all moved somewhat slower after suchsatisfying lunch fare, but none-the-less

succeeded in cleaning up much of cutbrush and firewood before calling it a day.

MAS and the environment owe a debtof gratitude to Johnson Bank for its com-mitment to community service, and to itsemployees and our other volunteers forthe nearly 300 person hours of work onNovember 11, 2003. And, it was a funday! Thank you all.

5December 2003

Seed for this fall's restoration on the Brandttract, like all of MAS's Crawfish floodplain

restorations, has been collected by handfrom within about five miles of the site topreserve local genetic diversity. Two dedicat-

ed volunteers, Sue Pech (left) and ShirleyEllis (above) were honored recently with agenerous contribution to MAS from Jill andJerry Martin.

Photos by Roger Packard

In the summer of 2002, MAS interns and vol-unteers at Faville Grove planted and painstak-ingly watered 7,000 prairie dropseedseedlings grown from locally collected seed

to establish a seed production bed for thiskey species. After just its second growingseason, the dropseed nursery yielded 26.5

pounds of seed worth about $3,000 that willbe used in this fall's Brandt restoration. Thenursery bed should continue to provide a

good source of seed for years to come.

New species continue to show up in MAS's1999 Tillotson Prairie restoration in the

Crawfish floodplain. This year for the firsttime, we found all four of the gentian speciesthat we planted in the prairie: greater fringed

gentian, stiff gentian, bottle gentian, andcream gentian (above)! Last year, where fourcompass-plants bloomed, this year hundreds

of compass-plants bloomed, along with abun-dant prairie dock and rosinweed. We collect-ed large amounts of these species, as well as

prairie phlox, prairie cinquefoil, prairie blaz-ing star, Riddell's goldenrod, gray goldenrod,Virginia wild rye, and many other speciesfrom Tillotson Prairie this year.

Johnson Bankemployees

clear brush inthe BrandtSavanna.

Photo by Ron Windingstad


6/86 The Audubon Caws

(Continued from front page)

Benefits to wildlife and plantsAdditional wetlands and prairie will

provide vital migration and winter habitatfor species such as shorebirds, northernharriers, short-eared owls, snowy owls,tree sparrows, Lapland longspurs, andsnow buntings. Greater numbers of breed-ing birds such as mallards, blue-wingedteal, ring-necked pheasants, willow fly-catchers, sedge wrens, common yel-lowthroats, dickcissels, and eastern mead-owlarks will find a home at Goose Pond.

Animals such as badgers, jumping mice,tiger salamanders, and monarch butter-flies will also benefit from added habitat.In the future MAS hopes to restore rareprairie insects such as the red-tailedleafhopper.

State threatened plants will have moreroom to grow at Goose Pond. Examplesinclude the pale purple coneflower, prairie

bush clover (federally threatened), creamgentian, wild quinine and prairie parsley.

Your help is essentialThe funding goal for the Western

Prairie Addition is $975,000, includingacquisition, restoration, and endowmentfor long-term management of the land.

About 75% of the total has beensecured, mostly from the WisconsinDepartment of Natural ResourcesStewardship Fund, the US Fish andWildlife ServiceNorth AmericanWetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA), a

bequest and two private donors. Specialthanks go to the Sand County Foundation

for providing $10,000 of their NAWCAaward to this project. About $240,000remains to be raised.

MAS members and friends have a longtradition of support for wildlife sanctuar-ies. Since 1991, you have helped raisemore than $1 million for the MadisonAudubon Sanctuaries Campaign.

We are confident that you will againinvest in the future for wildlife. There area variety of opportunities for giving,including cash or non-cash gifts such asstocks, bonds and equipment. Otheroptions are charitable bequests, life

income gifts (gift annuity, charitableremainder trust), or life insurance.

Thank you for supporting MadisonAudubon Society's growing wildlife sanc-tuaries. Growth is good!

Rosemary Fleming

Visits Goose Pond"The memory of the softly rolling hill-sides, covered with prairie and blendinginto the sky will remain with me forever".Rosemary Fleming

Former UW Arboretum Naturalist,MAS Board Member and good friendRosemary Fleming was in Madison thissummer to be honored at the dedication ofthe Rosemary Fleming Prairie at DaneCounty's Cam Rock Park in Cambridge.Longtime friends and dignitaries came to

celebrate the day with her sharing storiesof Rosemary's many contributions to pub-lic and private nature projects. Rosemarywas instrumental in the establishment ofthe Bicentennial Prairie at Goose Pond,

begun in 1976.During her visit, Gene Woehler and

Mark Martin gave Rosemary a tour of theprairie restorations at Goose Pond. Geneassisted Rosemary with the BicentennialPrairie planting and today, he serves aschair of the Goose Pond SanctuaryCommittee.

It was a treat for Gene and Mark to give

Rosemary an "off road" tour, and it waswonderful for them to hear her talk aboutthe expansion of the prairie at GoosePond. In a letter that she wrote followingher visit, she thanks us "for the fantastictime you gave me showing the develop-ment of the many recent plantings and

best of all the projected acquisitions. Tostand on those hills and view the horizonwhere prairies outnumbered corn!"

"The beauty of the Bicentennial Prairiecontinues to bring great pleasure and somany memories of those days spent with

Ruth Wynn (former Goose Pond ResidentManager). I appreciated every momentand will keep those multiple prairies inmy minds' eye and heart!"

Rosemary telephoned a few weeks afterher return to her home in Florida andmentioned to Sue that the trip to revisitGoose Pond remained one of the high-lights of her Wisconsin trip.

How many of us can look back over our

hobbies, careers and associations withprairie restorations in Wisconsin and finda common thread of individuals who wereinstrumental in forming our love of theprairie? Certainly, Rosemary Fleming'sname would be prominent.

2002 FallPlanting Update forFaville Grove Sanctuary

The 34-acre prairie planted inNovember 2002 at Faville GroveSanctuary was mowed twice. More rainwould have been welcome, howevermany prairie species were found on anOctober visit to the site. At first, onewould think the only plant growing onthe restoration was the non-native foxtailgrass. When one took a closer look, manyprairie plants could be found, and a num-

ber of species were flowering.The foxtail seed should provide food for

migrating sparrows and wintering birds.It will be interesting to see the foxtail dis-appear next year and the prairie plantstake over.

Rosemary Fleming and Gene Woehler

Photos by Mark Martin

Jerry Martin, seed collecting volunteer, in asea of foxtail.


7/87December 2003

Thanks toPrairie Alliance Interns

Thanks to all the hard work of the 2003summer Prairie Alliance interns - AdamBoth, Matt Burczyk, Brenda Boddiger,Grant Engler, Kimberly Laschinger, BetsyMeter, Lane Milde, Travis Wood and NateFayram (2nd year intern). All interns werefrom UW-Madison.

The interns worked with a number ofpartners including Madison Audubon

Society, St. Benedicts Center, RiverlandConservancy, Savanna Oak Foundation,The Prairie Enthusiasts and theDepartment of Natural Resources.

Work included weedy species removal(woody and herbaceous plants), seed col-lecting, and plant inventorying at a num-

ber of work sites in southern Wisconsinand Door County. This summer tens ofthousands of wild parsnip were killed andsome interns reported dreaming of dig-ging parsnips.

If you are a college student or know ofone who is interested in restoration ecolo-

gy, who isn't afraid of hard work, andwho is looking for fun and educationalsummer employment, please contact theMAS office.

Scouts and Students Helpwith Seed Collecting

Thanks to leaders and teachers, scoutsfrom Lodi, and students from RiverCrossing Charter School in Portage,Poynette High School for (three days ofcollecting), and UW-Madison Ecologyclass for collecting seed at Goose Pondand Faville Prairie this fall.

We hope the scouts and studentsenjoyed their prairie experience.

Everyone's help is greatly appreciated.

Get Out More in 2004!

Have you resolved to spend more timeoutside in the coming year? Here's yourchance to jumpstart your New Year's reso-lution by watching the sunrise on January1 over a beautiful Wisconsin wetland withfellow outdoor enthusiasts. Join MAS onNew Year's Day for our sunrise field tripat Faville Grove Sanctuary.

Meet at Buddy's Place, the old farm-stead at N7710 Hwy 89, at 6:55 a.m. FromI-94, take the Lake Mills/ Waterloo exitnorth on Hwy 89 about 2.5 miles. The dri-veway is on the right immediately pastNorth Shore Road on the left. Dress forthe weather and, if there is good snow,

bring snowshoes or cross-country skis. Wewill head to the marsh overlook to watchthe sun rise, and then spend the earlymorning exploring the west unit of thesanctuary. Volunteer sanctuary managersDavid Musolf and Roger Packard willlead the trip.

Winter is the best time to get a close-uplook at the sedge meadow and sphagnum

bog at Faville Grove Marsh, so this NewYear's Day skip the hangover and get out-side!

MAS has an account

at the Madison

Recycling Center on

Fish Hatchery Rd.

Remember MAS next

time you recycle.

Prairie Alliance Interns - Adam Both, Matt Burczyk, Grant Engler, Kimberly Laschinger, Sue

Martin (Goose Pond Manager), Betsy Meter, Lane Milde, and Travis Wood. Brenda Boddigerand Nate Fayram are missing from the photo.

Poynette Students Tanya Westlie, Carrie Franson, Heather Tompkins, and Haylie Woff with atray of yellow coneflower.

PhotobyMarkMartin


8/8

12/03

Praise for MAS

My support of the Madison AudubonSociety was molded in my first years. I wasborn in central Kansas in the early 1930sand in the intervening years have witnessedthe destruction of many natural communi-ties. In my youth I spent countless hoursobserving the birds and mammals thatoccupied the many local remnants of the

mid-grass prairies. But everything there haschangedthe remnant prairies and associat-ed Osage Orange hedgerows and dustbowlorigin shelter beltsall that I treasured inmy youth are gone now, totally sacrificed tothe plow and wheat. No meadowlarks,jackrabbits, prairie dogs or badgers.Biological deserts.

In more recent years, however, some haverealized that in the long run our air, water,food and recreationthe necessities of adecent lifedepend on healthy ecosystemsand have begun to restore and preservesome of our destroyed heritage. MAS isobviously one of the leaders in these

endeavors.I was introduced to the wonderful prairie

restoration efforts of MAS and became adedicated volunteer and financial supporterfollowing a tour of the Goose Pond andFaville Grove Sanctuaries. Goose PondResident Managers Mark and Sue Martinenthusiastically described the history of thesites and envisioned continued expansionefforts contingent on financial and volun-teer support. The ongoing prairie restora-tion efforts at both locations were veryimpressive in both size and quality.

As a greenhorn volunteer, I quicklybecame aware of the costly funding andgreat effort involved in larger scale prairierestorations. The restoration site must beacquired by purchase or donation. Sitepreparation, seed collection, planting andlater invasive weed eradication all requiremany, many hours of volunteer help.

As a second year volunteer I am evenmore impressed with the professionalism,knowledge, dedication and enthusiasmexhibited by the volunteer restoration lead-ers. Mark and Sue, Faville Grove ResidentManagers David Musolf and RogerPackard, Sue Pech and Shirley Ellis are allwalking field guides to the wildflowers and

grasses of Wisconsin and their propagation.Their science is truly inspiring. I wouldurge anyone interested in prairie plants totap their expertise.

The spirit of MAS leadership is infectiousand I will continue supporting the organiza-tion financially and by volunteering. MAS isfully committed to acquiring, restoring andpreserving some of Wisconsin's naturallandscape. Madison Audubon Societyrestorations will truly make a difference.Jerry Martin

Holiday Gifts

ACRE MAKERIn Honor of Sue Pech and Shirley Ellis

Jerry & Jill Martin

MY OWN VISIONSean CarrollSuzanne Brockman Zeigler

GIFTS IN MEMORY OF A PERSONIn Memory David Lubbers

Janet Riley Mazariegos

MAS Calendarat a Glance

Christmas Bird CountsMonday, December 15: Waterloo,Bob Domagalski, email [email protected], or 262-251-6259Saturday, December 20:Madison, Tony Kalenic and Carol

Anderson 249-8836Monday, December 22:Baraboo, Ken Wood 767-3343Saturday, December 27:Sauk City, Nancy Raffetto 643-1274Sunday, December 28:Mt. Horeb, Ken Wood 767-3343Saturday, January 3:Poynette, Mark and Sue Foote Martin635-4160

Field TripThursday, January 1:Sunrise Tour of Faville Grove Sanctuary

YES! I want to make the Madison

Audubon Societys vision a reality.

Here is my contribution to the

Wildlife Sanctuaries Campaign.

[ ] Acre Maker. $2000 or more to buy and

restore another acre of land.

[ ] Half-Acre Maker. $1000-$1999.

[ ] Quarter-Acre Maker. $500-$999.

[ ] Adopt An Acre. I pledge $100 a year for

three years ($300 total). Here is my first

installment.

[ ] Nest Egg. I pledge $50 a year for three years

($150 total). Here is my first installment.

[ ] My Own Vision. $ to help sanctuaries

as much as possible.

[ ] My Gift $_____for MAS Program Support (i.e.

Education & Newsletter)

Direct my gift to:

[ ] Where it will help the most

[ ] Endowment fund to restore and

maitain the sanctuaries.

[ ] Land acquisition at Faville Grove.

[ ] Land acquisition at Goose Pond

[ ] MAS Program Support

Name

Address

In Memory of

In Honor of

For Gifts Honoring Another, send acknowledge-

ment to (name and address)

Contributions will be acknowledged near the

Madison Audubon Information Board at Goose

Pond as follows: $1,000 or more-name will appear

on a permanent plaque; $250-$999-name will

appear on engraved paving brick.

[ ] Do not acknowledge in Madison Audubon

Society Newsletter, CAWS.

Make checks payable to:

Madison Audubon Society

Mail to:

Madison Audubon Society

222 S. Hamilton Street, Suite #1

Madison, WI 53703

Gift is tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Madison Audubon Societys financial statement is

available upon request.

THANK YOU!

Thanks to everyone who helpedwith the sanctuaries this past year.Your generous donations of time andfunds to our Sanctuaries helped us buyadditional land and manage what wealready preserve. You helped us inmany varied ways, from stuffingenvelopes to selling raffle tickets and

building nest boxes for birds.Youprocessed newsletters, presented talks,wrote grants, and gave tours. Youassisted with collecting, cleaning andplanting prairie seed, donated tools,repaired equipment and buildings, andremoved invasive species. You con-ducted wildlife and plant surveys, pro-vided food and drink for volunteersand did many other important jobsthat we depend on you for. But mostof all, you provided us with yourfriendship. THANK YOU for a greatyear!

Dec 2003 CAWS Newsletter Madison Audubon Society

Documents

Transcript of Dec 2003 CAWS Newsletter Madison Audubon Society