Central Sand Plains ecological landscape Attributes and Characteristics the sandstone escarpment forming the eastern Plains Sand Central border of the Western Coulee and Ridges ecolo- The dominant feature in this landscape is gical landscape. They are the result of the steady the vast, remarkably flat, sandy plain that was erosional forces of wind and water (particularly once the bed of Glacial Lake Wisconsin—the Glacial Lake Wisconsin) slowly wearing away enormous body of water fed primarily by glacial the softer sandstone surrounding them. runoff. This lake, ringed by the Driftless Area to the southwest and the glacier to the north and east, There are no large, naturally occurring was 70 to 150 feet deep and covered over 1,800 square lakes in this ecological landscape, although miles. Streams and rivers draining from the glacier there are a number of hydroelectric dams into the lake carried enormous loads of sand, silt, on the Wisconsin River that create and clay that settled onto the lake bottom. The lake large impoundments. is believed to have drained catastrophically, in an estimated 7 to 10 days, when the ice dam along its Conservation Needs and Opportunities southern end failed. This flush of water out of the Prior to Euro-American settlement, large lake carved the spectacular narrow, deep-sided wetland complexes, sand prairies, and oak UEEN Q T gorges at Wisconsin Dells. forests, savannas, and barrens dominated R OBE R Additional striking features are the castellated the area. Some mesic forests, containing white pine and hemlock, were found in the Birdwatching, one of Wisconsin’s most mounds scattered across the southern portion of this rapidly growing outdoor pursuits landscape. These irregular bluffs are remnants of northwest portion of the landscape. Much Eau Claire MARATHON SHAWANO Legacy Places CF T QUEEN EAU CLAIRE R CLARK BF Bear Bluff PV Plover River ROBE DW BR Black River QB Quincy Bluff and Wetlands Sandhill Cranes (Grus canadensis) at Necedah State Wildlife Area PV PORTAGE Stevens Point Central Wisconsin Forests Robinson Creek Barrens BR CF RN WAUPACA WOOD LV CG Central Wisconsin Grasslands SM Sandhill - Meadow CF CG Valley - Wood County JACKSON CU Colburn - Richfield Wetlands TREMPEALEAU DW Dewey Marsh and Woods Wildlife Areas RN BF SM YW GC Greensand Cuesta YW Yellow (Juneau) River NC MW WAUSHARA CU LV Little Plover River JUNEAU ADAMS LL Lower Lemonweir River LA CROSSE MONROE QB MW Middle Wisconsin River La Crosse MARQUETTE GREEN LAKE Minnesota GC LL NC Necedah National Wildlife Refuge VERNON SAUK COLUMBIA RICHLAND Wisconsin Land Legacy Report Legacy Places by Ecological Landscape 165 Central Sand Plains 166 Figure 101: Legacy Places by Ecological Landscape Merrill Legacy Places and public conversation lands of the Central Sand Plains Cornell Legacy Places andMedford public conservation lands 27 Central Sand Plains 73 Stanley Thorp Wausau Owen Abbotsford 29 29 51 Colby 29 Schofield 13 73 153 Greenwood Mosinee CF 2 1 Loyal Augusta 12 Marshfield DW 10 1 10 66 10 PV Neillsville 13 18 Stevens BR 10 73 Point 14 er LV iv R Pittsville 95 Black 6 CF Wisconsin CG Rapids 54 94 54 13 22 6 Black River 3 23 Nekoosa 73 Falls 3 3 SM RN r BF e 13 v i 54 12 YW 4 R n 2 1 i 73 s n Yellow o c is 5 15 MW W 27 NC 39 7 River Wautoma 71 CU 21 21 Le mo 20 nw eir Tomah R i ve r Sparta 16 5 Adams 16 80 90 4 19 58 QB Onalaska New Lisbon 27 Mauston Montello 33 71 LL 23 82 GC 82 12 94 Elroy 90 9 Hillsboro 33 23 Westby 21 11 Wisconsin Dells 82 16 Portage 8 17 Viroqua Reedsburg 80 33 23 Baraboo 16 58 78 22 51 14 12 Richland Center 60 Public Conservation Lands Lodi Wisconsin Land Legacy Report State Iowa 60 Federal 60 14 County Forest 14 Boscobel Miles 130 0 2.5 5Middleton10 23 Prairie 80 78 du Chien Madison Wisconsin L Figure 102: a Merrill Legacy Places and land cover of the Central Sand Plains n Cornell Medford d L Legacy Places and land cover e g a c 27 y Re Central Sand Plains p o LOWER CHIPPEWA r t WATERSHED BLACK RIVER 73 WATERSHED Stanley Thorp Wausau Owen Abbotsford 29 29 51 Colby UPPER WISCONSIN CENTRAL WATERSHED Schofield 29 13 73 153 Mosinee CF Greenwood Loyal Augusta Marshfield 12 DW 10 66 10 PV Neillsville 13 Stevens BR Point 10 73 LV 94 Pittsville 95 Wisconsin CG BUFFALO-TREMPEALEAU CF Rapids 54 54 WATERSHED 13 Black River Nekoosa 73 Falls SM 54 RN BF UPPER WISCONSIN SOUTH 39 YW WATERSHED 73 MW 27 NC Wautoma 71 CU 21 21 Tomah Sparta Adams 16 80 90 58 UPPER FOX New QB WATERSHED Onalaska Lisbon 27 Mauston BAD AXE-LA CROSSE Montello 33 WATERSHED 71 LL 23 82 GC 82 12 Elroy 90 94 Hillsboro 33 23 Westby Wisconsin Dells 82 16 Portage ViroquaLegacy Places Land Cover Reedsburg BF Bear Bluff 80 33 BR Black River Urban 23 Baraboo 16 CF Central Wisconsin Forests LOWER WISCONSIN Agriculture CG Central Wisconsin Grasslands WATERSHED 22 CU Colburn-Richfield Wetlands 78 Lega 51 Grassland 58 DW Dewey Marsh and Woods14 c GC Greensand Cuesta y Pl 12 LV Little Plover River Shrubland a Richland ces LL Lower Lemonweir River Center 60 MW Middle Wisconsin River Forest b Lodi y Ecological Landscape NC Necedah National Wildlife Refuge Open Water Iowa PV Plover River 60 QB Quincy Bluff and Wetlands Open Wetland RN Robinson Creek Barrens60 14 SM Sandhill-Meadow Forested Wetland Valley-Wood County 14 Wildlife Areas Boscobel 130Miles YW Yellow (Juneau) River 0 2.5 5 10 Middleton 23 167 80 Prairie 78 Madison du Chien Central Sand Plains Central Sand Plains ecological landscape Figure 103: Land cover of the Central Sand Plains Figure 104: Public conservation and other land ownership Figure 105: Land cover of public conservation lands Public Conservation Lands in the Central Sand Plains in the Central Sand Plains Map# Property Name Size (acres)1 Central Sand Plains Sand Central Agriculture Urban Urban Open Water 0% 1% State 4% 1% Grassland 6% s 1 Augusta State Wildlife Area2 380 Agriculture County Forest Open Wetland Open Wetland 16% 15% 21% Shrubland s 2 Big Roche A Cri State Fishery Area 810 13% 1% s 3 Black River State Forest 2 65,930 s 4 Buckhorn State Park 2,610 State 8% s 5 Buckhorn State Wildlife Area 4,380 Forested Wetland Grassland 6 Buena Vista State Wildlife Area 7,740 12% s 10% Federal s 7 Colburn State Wildlife Area 5,050 2% Forested s 8 Dell Creek State Wildlife Area2 770 Wetland Shrubland 12% s 9 Dells of the Wisconsin River State Natural Area 1,370 Other 1% 75% s10 Dewey Marsh State Wildlife Area2 4,960 (private land, roads, 2 Forest s11 Hulburt Creek State Fishery Area 590 schools, cemetaries, Forest 43% 59% s12 Jay Creek State Natural Area 360 military lands, etc.) s13 Leola Marsh State Wildlife Area 1,870 s14 Little Plover River State Fishery Area 245 s15 Meadow Valley State Wildlife Area 58,040 s Mill Bluff State Park2 1,150 16 of the Central Sand Plains were subject to The Central Sand Plains ecological landscape s17 Mirror Lake State Park 2,150 frequent, and likely wide-ranging, fires. With provides some of the best prospects in the state s18 Paul Olson State Wildlife Area2 780 s19 Quincy Bluff And Wetlands State Natural Area 4,870 increased development spreading through much for managing large oak and pine barrens complexes. s20 Roche A Cri State Park 460 of the area, this ecological landscape remains Excellent conservation opportunities exist for a s21 Rocky Arbor State Park 230 one of the state’s highest needs for fire manage- number of species dependent on these “shrubby” s22 Sandhill State Wildlife Area 9,480 ment and suppression. Prescribed burns, carefully habitats, including brown thrasher, eastern towhee, s23 Wood County State Wildlife Area 1,070 timed and controlled fires that seek to mimic some eastern phlox moth and the federally-Endangered 3 Miscellaneous Lands 4,175 aspects of those that occurred in pre-settlement Karner blue butterfly. Some of the largest wetland Federal times, are increasingly seen as a way to complexes in the southern portion of the state are s 1 Necedah National Wildlife Refuge 39,580 reduce the risk of large, economically found within this landscape, and they provide 4 and ecologically damaging fires. important habitat for numerous species of rep- County Forest 2 R s 1 Clark County Forest 123,300 EYE tiles, amphibians, and birds, including sandhill M Today, much of the existing forest is com- s 2 Eau Claire County Forest 2 41,340 crane, golden-winged warbler, and northern 2 HOMAS prised of oak, aspen and pine. A minor portion s 3 Jackson County Forest 118,130 T harrier. Efforts are underway to establish a is maple-basswood forest and lowland hardwood. s 4 Juneau County Forest 2 14,950 new population of the federally-Endangered 2 Coastal plain marsh at Silver Lake State Natural Area Conifer swamps occupy a significant portion of the s 5 Monroe County Forest 3,500 whooping crane, which hopefully will spend Wood County Forest 37,570 wetlands. Timber management is focused on pulp s6 their summers in these large wetlands. production, giving rise to an abundance of pine TOTAL 557,840 plantations. Farmland and grassland comprise the Because much of this landscape is character- 1 Actual acres owned in this Ecological Landscape. bulk of the remaining area.