Visit from local landowner group

Yesterday we conducted a tour for the Berry Backyard Club, a group of local landowners from the Town of Berry (Dane County, Wisconsin).

Private landowners play a major role in ecological restoration, and Kathie and I are always happy to offer them tours. In Wisconsin there is vastly more "restorable" land owned privately than owned by government entities.

The Town of Berry is similar in many ways to the Town of Vermont, where Pleasant Valley Conservancy is located. Berry is in the Driftless area and is almost exclusively rural in character.
According to its web site: "The Town of Berry landscape is defined by steep, wooded hillsides and verdant lowlands. In addition to residential and agricultural attractions, the town boasts Dane County's Festge Park and Indian Lake Park, the Town's Kahl Halfway Prairie Park, as well as several parts of the National Ice Age Trail. Nearly 1200 residents currently inhabit the Town of Berry."

Those on the tour had smaller or larger parcels of land which they were restoring or were interested in restoring. Our tour took them through our prairie and savanna remnants and part of our planted prairies. Lots of really good questions! The weather was a bit breezy but sunny and pleasant. In all, a fine Sunday afternoon.