A Visit to a Special Place

On Saturday, February 23^rd, Discovery Center staff, members and partners had the opportunity to visit a very unique and beautiful landscape.  In cooperation with The Nature Conservancy, the Discovery Center was able to invite members on a very special outing at the Guido Rahr, Sr. Tenderfoot Forest Reserve. 

Photo 1: Matt Dallman, of The Nature Conservancy,
discusses the property before the snowshoe hike. 

  The program was put together by Matt Dallman of The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Rod Sharka, of Partners in Forestry and a volunteer of TNC, Discovery Center staff and special guests, local authors and naturalists John Bates and Mary Burns.  Thanks to the hard work of Matt and the sponsorship of TNC, we gained special access to the site by land.  Normally the site cannot be visited unless you canoe across Palmer Lake, up the Ontonagon River and across Tenderfoot Lake. 

We set out early in the morning, and after a somewhat adventuresome ride in the big van down the curvy, steep, snowy roads, made it to the starting point of the snowshoe hike.  Since this snow had not yet been touched by anyone, we took turns breaking trail; there were several feet of beautiful snow covering the ground.  All the hemlocks and yellow birch had a layer of fresh snow from the night before.  We spent the next three hours snowshoeing through the old growth hemlock forest, listening to a site history from Matt, old growth forest interpretation from John and a few chickadees and nuthatches that joined us.  Some of the funnier moments came from snow that started to fall off the trees, landing on some of the group members. 

Photo 2: Group shot on Mirror Lake.  (l to r) Mary Burns, John Bates, Peg Uihlein,
Bob Schmidt, Ted Crabb, Sherlene Schmidt, Mike Uihlein, Licia Johnson,
Bob Twelmeyer, Cheryl Bowen, Barb Crabb and Rod Sharka. 
Taking the photo and missing from the shot is Matt Dallman. 

  It was a very enjoyable morning and not one we all will soon forget!   

(Information below from TNC website)

TNC in Wisconsin

Since their founding in 1960, The Nature Conservancy has protected more than 229,500 acres of land and water in some of Wisconsin’s most critical landscapes. These areas include the Baraboo Hills in Sauk and Columbia counties, the Door Peninsula, the forests of northern Wisconsin, the Mukwonago River watershed in southeast Wisconsin, and the Military Ridge Prairie Heritage area in southwest Wisconsin.

The Nature Conservancy also owns and manages preserves in other locations around the state. Conservancy preserves are open to the public for recreational activities such as hiking, hunting, canoeing, cross-country skiing and wildlife-watching.

Why the Conservancy Selected This Site

The Tenderfoot acquisition is significant because it protects 500 acres of old-growth hemlock-hardwood forest--the largest remaining expanse of old-growth forest in private ownership in Wisconsin.

Photo 3:  John and Mary stop to measure the
diameter of a large yellow birch tree.

The preserve also protects more than four miles of undeveloped shoreline on three wild lakes in northern Wisconsin.  According to a 1996 report by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, two-thirds of northern Wisconsin’s undeveloped lakes 10 acres or larger have been developed since 1960.  If this trend continues, according to the report, all undeveloped lakes in northern Wisconsin not in public ownership could be developed within the next 20 years.

Tenderfoot is a critical link in a network of public and private forest lands that make up the Border Lakes Area, which spans about 24,000 acres in Vilas County.  The area harbors white pines up to 400 years old and includes wetlands, spring-fed ponds, many wild lakes and streams.

The Border Lakes Area is also the headwaters of the Presque Isle and Ontonagon rivers.  The Tenderfoot property contributes surface water and groundwater to both rivers, whose watersheds cover more than 1.25 million acres in Wisconsin and Michigan.  Management of the land will play an important role in protecting water quality in these two important rivers.

What the Conservancy Has Done/Is Doing

Photo 4:  Enjoying the snow and the scenery.  

In October 2005, the Conservancy purchased the land from the Rahr family, which is originally from Manitowoc where they brewed beer and made malt for the beer industry. The family donated more than $1 million of the value of the land to the Conservancy in order to ensure that the property remains in its natural state for generations to come.

Prior to selling the land to the Conservancy, the Rahr family had owned and cared for it for more than 120 years. The preserve is named in honor of Guido Rahr, Sr., who served on the Wisconsin Conservation Commission for 23 years in the 1950s and 60s.  During those years, his leadership and business experience were credited with making Wisconsin’s Conservation Department one of the most outstanding wildlife agencies in the nation.

2012 Wisconsin update:

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/wisconsin/wisconsin-update-fall-2012.pdf

We thank The Nature Conservancy, Matt, Rod, John, Mary and all the Discovery Center members who joined us and made this such an amazing experience!

Photo captions: (all photos taken by Licia, except #2 by Matt Dallman)