Key characteristics: » Rolling topography and sandy soils of glacial origin » Pine-oak and oak forests » Oak savanna » Numerous wetlands, some very rare types » Coldwater springs, streams, and glacial lakes Size: » 2,170 square miles » 1,387,900 acres (3.9% of Wisconsin) Population: » 141,000 (2.7% of Wisconsin’s population) Notable species: » Karner blue butterfly » Brook and brown trout » Mottled sculpin » Chorus and Wood frogs » Sandhill cranes » Fassett’s locoweed » Virginia meadow-beauty » Long-beaked baldrush Natural communities: (See Appendix B for descriptions) » Bog relict » Calcareous fen » Central Sands pine-oak forest » Coastal plain marsh » Dry prairie » Emergent aquatic » Northern wet forest » Shrub carr » Southern sedge meadow » Wet-mesic prairie Central Sand Hills ecological landscape THOMAS MEYER Headwaters of the Mecan River Madison Milwaukee Green Bay Oshkosh Appleton Fond du Lac Sheboygan Stevens Point Manitowoc SAUK DANE DODGE WOOD JUNEAU ADAMS MONROE PORTAGE CLARK WAUPACA COLUMBIA BROWN IOWA RICHLAND FOND DU LAC WAUSHARA OUTAGAMIE JACKSON VERNON WINNEBAGO CALUMET SHEBOYGAN MANITOWOC MARQUETTE GREEN LAKE WASHINGTON WAUKESHA JEFFERSON OZAUKEE SHAWANO BA AP LM MW BO HE LV PV GL WM PB SC OX CM NN MP 174 Legacy Places by Ecological Landscape Wisconsin Land Legacy Report Legacy Places AP Arlington Prairie BA Badger Army Ammunition Plant BO Baraboo River CM Comstock-Germania Marshes GL Grand River Marsh and Lake Puckaway HE Hartman & Emmons Creeks LM Lewiston Marsh LV Little Plover River MW Middle Wisconsin River MP Montello Area Coastal Plain Marshes NN Neenah Creek OX Oxford Savanna PV Plover River PB Portage to Buffalo Lake Corridor SC Sand Country Trout Streams WM White River Marsh and Uplands Attributes and Characteristics This ecological landscape is located at the eastern edge of the old Glacial Lake Wisconsin and contains a series of glacial moraines that were later partially covered by glacial outwash. Pre-settlement vegetation consisted of oak forest, oak savanna, and a variety of prairie types in the uplands. Fens, wet prairies, and rare coastal plain marshes occurred in the lowlands. Soils throughout the landscape have a significant sand component. A mixture of farmland, woodlots, and a variety of wetlands now characterizes the area. Agricul- ture is successful in the sandy areas with the use of center pivot irrigation but there is a considerable amount of less productive and idle agricultural land. Numerous small kettle lakes are associated with the pitted glacial outwash. Several larger lakes occur along the eastern side of the landscape and include the state’s deepest natural lake (Green Lake at 236 feet) and one of the shallowest large lakes in Wisconsin (Puckaway at over 5,000 acres and only 5 feet deep). Both Puckaway and Green Lake are very productive fishing lakes and between them contain nearly all species of game fish and panfish found in Wisconsin. In addition, a series of very high quality coldwater streams originate from the moraines and generally flow southeasterly. Central Sand Hills
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Central Sand Hills - Wisconsin DNRin the Central Sand Hills Wisconsin Land Legacy Report Legacy Places by Ecological Landscape 175 Conservation Needs and Opportunities Given the sandy,
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Natural communities:(See Appendix B for descriptions)»Bogrelict»Calcareousfen»CentralSandspine-oakforest»Coastalplainmarsh»Dryprairie»Emergentaquatic»Northernwetforest»Shrubcarr»Southernsedgemeadow»Wet-mesicprairie
CentralSandHillsecological landscape
Tho
ma
s m
eyer
Headwaters of the Mecan River
MadisonMilwaukee
Green Bay
Oshkosh
Appleton
Fond du Lac Sheboygan
Stevens Point
Manitowoc
SAUK
DANE
DODGE
WOOD
JUNEAU
ADAMSMONROE
PORTAGE
CLARK
WAUPACA
COLUMBIA
BROWN
IOWA
RICHLAND
FOND DU LAC
WAUSHARA
OUTAGAMIE
JACKSON
VERNON
WINNEBAGO
CALUMET
SHEBOYGAN
MANITOWOC
MARQUETTE GREEN LAKE
WASHINGTON
WAUKESHAJEFFERSON
OZAUKEE
SHAWANO
BA AP
LM
MWBO
HE
LV
PV
GL
WM
PB
SC
OX
CM
NN
MP
174 Legacy Places by Ecological Landscape Wisconsin Land Legacy Report
Attributes and CharacteristicsThisecologicallandscapeislocatedattheeasternedgeoftheoldGlacialLakeWisconsinandcontainsaseriesofglacialmorainesthatwerelaterpartiallycoveredbyglacialoutwash.Pre-settlementvegetationconsistedofoakforest,oaksavanna,andavarietyofprairietypesintheuplands.Fens,wetprairies,andrarecoastalplainmarshesoccurredinthelowlands.Soilsthroughoutthelandscapehaveasignificantsandcomponent.Amixtureoffarmland,woodlots,andavarietyofwetlandsnowcharacterizesthearea.Agricul-tureissuccessfulinthesandyareaswiththeuseofcenterpivotirrigationbutthereisaconsiderableamountoflessproductiveandidleagriculturalland.
Figure 106: Land cover of the Central Sand Hills Figure 107: Public conservation and other land ownership in the Central Sand Hills
Figure 108: Land cover of public conservation lands in the Central Sand Hills
Wisconsin Land Legacy Report Legacy Places by Ecological Landscape 175
Conservation Needs and OpportunitiesGiventhesandy,nutrient-poor,andacidcharacteristicsofsoilsthatarepredominantthroughoutboththeCentralSandHillsandtheCentralSandPlains,theforestsherediffersignificantlyfromthoseinsurroundingland-scapes.Thedominantspeciesarewhiteandredpine,white,red,andblackoaks,andonmoremesicsites,redmaple.Theunderstoryistypicallynotverydiverseandconsistsprimarilyofhuckleberry,blueberry,brackenfern,andPennsylvaniasedge.Althoughasignificantamountofthisnaturalcommunitytype,referredtoastheCentralSandspine-oakforest,isprotectedintheCentralSandPlainsecologicallandscape,verylittleisprotectedinthislandscape.
Figure 109: Legacy Places and public conservation land of the Central Sand Hills
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176 Legacy Places by Ecological Landscape Wisconsin Land Legacy Report
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Figure 110: Legacy Places and land cover of the Central Sand Hills
Mad
ison
Fitc
hbur
g
Osh
kosh
Stev
ens
Point
Port
age
Mar
shfield
Berlin
Mos
inee
Wat
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nPr
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n
Middlet
on
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ano
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Mills
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Wisconsin Land Legacy Report Legacy Places by Ecological Landscape 177
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PublicConservationLands
Map# PropertyName Size (acres)1
State s1 Caves Creek State Fishery Area 810s2 Comstock Bog-Meadow State Natural Area 630s3 Devils Lake State Park2 460s4 Emmons Creek State Fishery Area2 1,120s5 French Creek State Wildlife Area 3,260s6 Germania State Wildlife Area 2,410s7 Glacial Habitat Restoration Area2 340s8 Grand River Marsh State Wildlife Area 6,990s9 Grassy Lake State Wildlife Area 690s10 Greenwood State Wildlife Area 1,440s11 Hartman Creek State Park2 390s12 Hinkson Creek State Fishery Area 230s13 Jennings Creek State Wildlife Area 530s14 John A Lawton State Fishery Area 280s15 Lawrence Creek State Wildlife Area 940s16 Lodi Marsh State Wildlife Area 1,090s17 Lower Wisconsin State Riverway2 250s18 Mecan River State Fishery Area 6,390s19 Mud Lake State Wildlife Area2 2,010 -Columbia Countys20 Peter Helland State Wildlife Area 3,070s21 Pine Island State Wildlife Area 5,260s22 Pine River System State Fishery Area 1,920s23 Radley Creek State Fishery Area 1,420s24 Rocky Run Creek State Fishery Area 710s25 Rowan Creek State Fishery Area 650s26 Swan Lake State Wildlife Area 2,290s27 Upper Neenah State Fishery Area 380s28 White River State Fishery Area 2,970s29 White River Marsh State Wildlife Area2 840s30 Willow Creek State Fishery Area2 1,840 Miscellaneous Lands3 4,260
Federal s1 Fox River National Wildlife Refuge 800 Waterfowl Production Areas 3,050
County Forest 4 None
Total 59,720
1 Actual acres owned in this Ecological Landscape.2 This property also falls within adjacent Ecological Landscape(s).3 Includes public access sites, fish hatcheries, fire towers, streambank and non-point easements,
lands acquired under statewide wildlife, fishery, forestry, and natural area programs, small properties under 100 acres, and properties with fewer than 100 acres within this Ecological Landscape.
4 Locations and sizes of county owned parcels enrolled in the Forest Crop Law are presented here. Information on locations and sizes of other county and local parks in this Ecological Landscape is not readily available and is not included here, except for some very large properties.
Tho
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s m
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Lawrence Creek in Marquette County
178 Legacy Places by Ecological Landscape Wisconsin Land Legacy Report
Recreation Uses and OpportunitiesThisecologicallandscape,especiallyduetothesouthernportion’scloseproximitytoMadisonandtheeasternportion’scloseproximitytoOshkoshandNeenah,hasthepotentialtohelpmeetgrow-ingdemandforavarietyofrecreationalactivities.Propertiesandtrailsthatprovidehiking,offroadbiking,birdwatching,horsebackriding,cross-countryskiing,huntingandfishingareinhighdemandinthispartofthestateandcouldlikelybeestablishedinseveralplaceshere.ThestretchoftheWisconsinRiverfromWisconsinDellstoSaukCityprovidesmanypaddling,boating,andfishingopportunities.
Wisconsin Land Legacy Report Legacy Places by Ecological Landscape 181
Other Areas of InterestFishLake(Dane County�)FishLakeisa330-acreseepagelakewithagoodfisheryforlargemouthbass,withsomenorthernpikeandpanfish.Rareinlandciscopopulationsandbandedkillifisharefoundhereaswell.Baldeagles,ospreyandwaterfowlareoftenobservedonthelake.Havingnooutlet,thelakesufferssomewhatfrompollutantsthatarecarriedinbyrunoffandthenremaintrappedinthelake.Inrecentyears,thewaterlevelofthelakehasbeenrisingandhasfloodedlakeshoredevelopment.AlargestretchofshoreontheeastendofthelakehasrecentlybeenpurchasedbyDaneCountyforapark.FishLakehasbeenextensivelystudied,anditssomewhatunusualcharacteristicsoffergoodpotentialforfurtherresearch.