Western Prairie Restoration

Western Prairie Restoration. . , At the time of settlement by European immigrants in the mid-1800s, significant portions of western Wisconsin were covered by expanses of open grassland. The land was called "prairie" by early French settlers who could think of no other way to describe it than the word they used for "meadow". This area once had nearly 200,000 acres of tall grass prairie and oak savanna that were dotted with rich wetlands. In fact, many of the first visitors to the area reported great numbers of bison, elk and wild fowl., In addition to the large expanse of native grasslands, nearly 140,000 acres were covered by oak brush, oak forest and aspen. Since all of these vegetative communities depend on periodic disturbance, it is likely that wildfires were a frequent occurrence on the landscape. It is also likely that the actual prairie and savanna acreage fluctuated over time depending on the distribution, frequency and intensity of wildfires., An 1852 Drawing of an Oak Savanna Setting, Mid-19th Century Land Cover , St. Croix County, The Regal Fritillary, is a Wisconsin Endangered Species. Violets, are its sole larval hostplant., Badger , State Animal