Download - Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Wisconsin’s Strategy for Wildlife Species of Greatest Conservation Need The Western Prairie Region is highly dependent on agriculture. It has the second highest percentage of total acreage in farmland. Note that farmland is defined as all land under farm ownership, which includes cropland, pastureland, and woodland. Compared to the other regions, these counties are third highest in corn production per acre and fourth in milk production per acre. The region has the highest percentage of both agricultural and forest land acreage sold, and the second highest percentage diverted to nonagricultural and non-forest uses. Overall acreage in lakes is low in this region. Per capita water usage in the region is the lowest of all regions in the state. Although the population density of this region is not high, it does have the fastest growth rate since 1970 and the lowest median age. The population density (108 persons/mi 2 ) is slightly higher than that of the state as a whole (96 persons/mi 2 ). The population is fairly young, not racially diverse, and very well educated, on average. Economically, people in the region are quite prosperous with a high per capita income and the lowest rates of child and adult poverty and unemployment. Agriculture is important with a higher percentage of jobs in agriculture than any other region. Management Opportunities • Opportunities for restoring wetland and grassland communities are prevalent in this Ecological Landscape. • Restoration of wetland/grassland communities throughout this Ecological Landscape with a special focus on grassland birds. • Maintenance of the St. Croix River corridor including floodplain, goat prairies, oak/pine cliffs, islands, and prairie remnants along the river. • Protection of the Apple River canyon. • Protection of the Kinnickinic River watershed and corridor, which contains many rare plants and significant geological features. • The Star Prairie/Western Habitat Restoration should continue to receive management emphasis. • This Ecological Landscape is an important breeding area for the rare loggerhead shrike. • Continued restoration and maintenance of prairie pothole/wetland complexes and other wetland communities for waterfowl and other wetland wildlife, including the US Fish and Wildlife Service's Waterfowl Production Areas. Natural Communities The following table (Table 2-12) lists the natural communities occurring in the Western Prairie arranged by the level of opportunity to sustain and manage the community type in this Ecological Landscape. For further explanation of natural communities and opportunities to sustain them, see Section 3.3. Table 2-12. Natural communities occurring in the Western Prairie arranged by the level of opportunity to sustain and manage the natural community type in this Ecological Landscape. Major Opportunity Important Opportunity Present Mesic Prairie Floodplain Forest Northern Dry-Mesic Forest Emergent Aquatic Southern Dry-Mesic Forest Northern Mesic Forest Southern Mesic Forest Northern Wet Forest Cedar Glade Southern Dry Forest Oak Opening Emergent Aquatic-Wild Rice Oak Woodland Alder Thicket Dry-Mesic Prairie Ephemeral Pond Dry Prairie Northern Sedge Meadow Sand Prairie Shrub Carr Submergent Aquatic Southern Sedge Meadow Bedrock Glade Wet Prairie Dry Cliff Moist Cliff Page 2-36
Wisconsin’s Strategy for Wildlife Species of Greatest Conservation Need 2.2.3.11 Western Coulee and Ridges Ecological Landscape General Description The Western Coulee and Ridges Ecological Landscape in southwestern and west central Wisconsin (Figure 2-33) is characterized by its highly eroded, driftless topography and relatively extensive forested landscape. Soils are silt loams (loess) and sandy loams over sandstone residuum over dolomite. Several large rivers including the Wisconsin, Mississippi, Chippewa, Kickapoo, and Black flow through or border the Ecological Landscape. Vegetation Historical vegetation consisted of southern hardwood forests, oak savanna, scattered prairies, and floodplain forests and marshes along the major rivers. With Euro-American settlement, most of the land on ridgetops and valley bottoms was cleared of oak savanna, prairie, and level forest for agriculture. The steep slopes between valley bottom and ridgetop, unsuitable for raising crops, grew into oak-dominated forests after the ubiquitous presettlement wildfires were suppressed. Current vegetation is a mix of forest (40%), agriculture, and grassland with some wetlands in the river valleys (Figure 2-34). The primary forest cover is oak-hickory (51%) dominated by oak species and shagbark hickory. Maple-basswood forests (28%), dominated by sugar maple, basswood, and red maple, are common in areas that were not subjected to repeated presettlement wildfires. Bottomland hardwoods (10%) are common in the valley bottoms of major rivers and are dominated by silver maple, ashes, elms, cottonwood, and red maple. Relict conifer forests including white pine, hemlock, and yellow birch are a rarer natural community in the cooler, steep, north slope microclimates. Hydrologic Features There are no natural lakes in this Ecological Landscape, but there are a number of impoundments. Levels of stream and groundwater pollution are worse than average, according to Wisconsin DNR watershed rankings. Land Use The total land area for the Western Coulees and Ridges Ecological Landscape is approximately 2.2 million acres, of which 38% is classified as timberland. Public land ownership includes only 3% of this Ecological Landscape (Figure 2-35) . Socioeconomics Socioeconomic data are summarized based on county-level approximations of the Ecological Landscape (referred to as a "region"). Economic data are available only on a political unit basis with counties as the smallest unit. The counties included in this Page 2-37 Forested Wetland 2% Forest 42% Other 96% (private land, roads, schools, cemetaries, Wetland 3% military lands, etc.) Figure 2-33. Western Coulee and Ridges Ecological Landscape. Shrubland 0% Open Water 2% County Forest 0% Urban 1% State 3% Agriculture 36% Grassland 14% Figure 2-34. Current land cover in the Western Coulee and Ridges Ecological Landscape. Federal 1% Figure 2-35. Public land ownership in the Western Coulee and Ridges Ecological Landscape.
Page 1 and 2:
Prepared by Wisconsin Department of
Page 3 and 4:
Wisconsin’s Strategy for Wildlife
Page 5 and 6:
Page 7 and 8:
Page 9 and 10:
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
Page 17 and 18:
Page 19 and 20:
Page 21 and 22:
Page 23 and 24:
Page 25 and 26:
Page 27 and 28:
Page 29 and 30:
Page 31 and 32:
Page 33 and 34:
Page 35 and 36:
Page 37 and 38:
Page 39 and 40:
Page 41 and 42: Wisconsin’s Strategy for Wildlife
Page 91: Wisconsin’s Strategy for Wildlife
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
Page 149 and 150:
Page 151 and 152:
Page 153 and 154:
Page 155 and 156:
Page 157 and 158:
Page 159 and 160:
Page 161 and 162:
Page 163 and 164:
Page 165 and 166:
Page 167 and 168:
Page 169 and 170:
Page 171 and 172:
Page 173 and 174:
Page 175 and 176:
Page 177 and 178:
Page 179 and 180:
Page 181 and 182:
Page 183 and 184:
Page 185 and 186:
Page 187 and 188:
Page 189 and 190:
Page 191 and 192:
Page 193 and 194:
Page 195 and 196:
Page 197 and 198:
Page 199 and 200:
Page 201 and 202:
Page 203 and 204:
Page 205 and 206:
Page 207 and 208:
Page 209 and 210:
Page 211 and 212:
Page 213 and 214:
Page 215 and 216:
Page 217 and 218:
Page 219 and 220:
Page 221 and 222:
Page 223 and 224:
Page 225 and 226:
Page 227 and 228:
Page 229 and 230:
Page 231 and 232:
Page 233 and 234:
show all

Download - Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?