WETLAND FIELD TRIPS: Friday, February 3, 1:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Co-hosted with Invasive Plants Association of Wisconsin
Each trip has limited space; sign up for one of these trips with your conference registration or by contacting WWA at 608-250-9971 or programs@wiscwetlands.org
Note: Cherokee Marsh and Pheasant Branch Conservancy field trips are full. Space still available on the Lake Wingra Wetlands trip; call WWA at 608-250-9971 to reserve your spot.
Lake Wingra Wetlands
Invasive Species Management Planning and Control Efforts
Co-hosted with Friends of Lake Wingra
Leaders: Jim Lorman, Steve Glass, Katy Wallace, Dick Lathrop, and Kelly Kearns
Lake Wingra is a spectacular urban lake in the heart of Madison yet invasions of aggressive, non-native species into the lake and adjacent wetlands have reduced the ecological health of Wingra’s native communities. Friends of Lake Wingra (FOLW), a watershed stakeholders group, has developed a comprehensive Invasive Species Management Plan for the lake and the watershed and is implementing site-specific invasive species control efforts. This trip will include several stops along the Wingra shoreline to learn about FOLW’s invasive species work in Wingra’s wetlands. We will also visit a macrophyte restoration experiment led by WDNR in which invasive carp have been excluded from 2.5 acres of the lake and a length of shoreline along the Edgewood Marsh.
Pheasant Branch Conservancy
A Case Study of Wetland Threats
Co-hosted with Friends of Pheasant Branch
Leaders: Tom Bernthal, Pat Trochlell, and Randy Hunt
Pheasant Branch Creek meanders through this 500+ acre Conservancy, which contains a marsh with open water, natural springs and seeps, sedge meadows, restored prairies and savanna, lowland forests and wooded hills. However, urban development that surrounds the property on three sides and agricultural runoff are sources of threats to the hydrology, biodiversity, and overall health of the Conservancy’s wetland habitats. Trip leaders will present the site as a case study of wetland threats and will discuss efforts to maintain the health of the land through management, restoration, and research efforts that have been conducted by the City of Middleton, Dane County, U.S. Geological Survey and Friends of Pheasant Branch.
Mitigation and Restoration
A Tale of Two Cherokee Marsh Projects
Leaders: Perry Rossa, Cathy Bleser, Quentin Carpenter, and Russ Hefty
This trip will highlight two wetland projects that are close in proximity but very different in terms of historical impacts, hydrology, ecology, regulatory issues and restoration approaches. Participants will view restoration efforts at Cherokee Marsh, which provides a unique habitat for a diversity of species. This project is using innovative structures to restore some of the 600+ acres of "floating mat" shoreline wetlands lost in the past 150 years due to artificially high lake water levels. Participants will also visit a nearby wetland mitigation project that was constructed to offset impacts on Cherokee Marsh from expansion of the Dane County Regional airport. This project has involved filling two miles of ditches to restore wetland hydrology as well as invasive species management.
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