Visitors

In the last couple of days we have had visitors here for short tours of Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie and Pleasant Valley Conservancy. These two State Natural Areas could not be different in character, but they are both very interesting.

Black Earth Rettenmund is a tiny but very high quality prairie remnant (I think it is one of the best in southern Wisconsin) that has had a venerable history. Pleasant Valley Conservancy, is a fairly large but newly restored site, with a focus on oak savannas.

One of our visitors was a small mammals researcher from UW-Stevens Point who will be using these two sites as part of a larger study in southern Wisconsin. We are delighted to be able to see such research under way, and are eager to see the results.

The second visit was by a group of environmental studies students from UW-Oshkosh, under the tutelage of Shannon Davis-Foust. Because their time was short, we trucked them to the top of the ridge and let them walk down through the south-facing slope.

The conditions could not have been better. The wood lilies are starting to bloom at Black Earth Rettenmund, and we also saw quite a substantial number of prairie turnip (Pediomelum esculentum, a Special Concern species).

The savanna understory at Pleasant Valley Conservancy is also lush right now, and lots of early summer species are in flower bud and should be showing in the next several weeks. It is impressive how quickly everything has grown as a result of the good rains and warm temperatures.