"Sumer is icumen in/ Lhude sing cucco" — for those of us with some British ancestry, that's the start of a song our ancestors would greet the summer in the 13th Century. It's charming, important to musicologists, and vaguely familiar to folks who remember Chaucer from their survey of English lit course. We in Madison Audubon would probably agree that the start of summer and any celebration thereof should include birds. Surprisingly, mercifully, and thankfully, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Board probably agrees.
This link leads you to the Board agenda. The next DNR Board Meeting is today, June 22, the first full day of summer. The Board appears as though we'll start the summer with great news for birds, including some who reside in Madison Audubon territory. Please scroll through the agenda in search of two major land acquisitions and prairie chicken news.
LAND. The Board will have the opportunity to approve two big new purchases. The first, in Madison Audubon territory and not far from Faville is the 1,800 purchase and wetland restoration near Palmyra in Jefferson County. This massive restoration will create habitat for waterfowl and shorebirds along with many other species of native flora and fauna. Within a couple of years, birders will find have another stop on their tours of southern Wisconsin.
The second purchase is over 500 acres in Adams County on the Leola Marsh. An active Greater Prairie Chicken lek is on this land and the acreage is a most helpful addition to Prairie Chicken conservation.
Greater Prairie Chicken. Photo by Andy Reago & Chrissy McClarren
PRAIRIE CHICKENS. Speaking of whom, the Board is also scheduled to adopt an improved Greater Prairie Chicken Plan. The plan is based on an alternative that Madison Audubon supported along with 273 other persons and organizations (out of 365), who commented on the alternatives. That alternative called for the most ambitious improvements to Wisconsin's Prairie Chicken management, the reason for the overwhelming support.
COMMENTS: Regarding the land, these purchases should be the easiest decisions the Board faces all year. The two tracts of land themselves offer tremendous opportunities to create and improve wildlife habitat and outdoor recreational opportunities. Considering the cost to the Stewardship Fund, the purchases are astoundingly affordable. The Jefferson County land costs $3.7 million with 3.4 covered by federal Pittman-Robertson funds. The Adams County land requires $1.14 million. Two conservation organizations, The Nature Conservancy, and our good neighbors, the Dane County Conservation League, are donating 300,000 with another 600,000 of federal funding. Only 240,000 will have to come from Stewardship. Both lands can be preserved forever, restored, and available to the public for just a bit over 500,000 in Stewardship dollars.
While welcome, the Prairie Chicken plan concerns me a bit. While the plan DNR staff recommends to the Board is a huge improvement to current management, staff comments clearly state they have modified to be less comprehensive, less costly, and more feasible. Feasible in what sense, is my question. I (and I don't think I'm alone in this) have grown increasingly concerned that DNR staff is changing recommendations in anticipation of the conservative majority's comments and possible actions. The staff's primary duty, in my opinion, is to present the best conservation and environmental protection options to the Board. If the Board votes them down, at least the public will have a better understanding what this Board's commitment to conservation and environmental protection is or is not.
An example of Prairie Chicken habitat in the Buena Vista Grasslands. Photo by Joshua Mayer
But more to celebrate than commiserate about today. I wonder if we ventured outside at the start of summer if we'd hear our own Yellow-billed Cuckoo singing in praise of the season and the DNR. By the way, you can check out our cuckoo's song and calls through the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Stay cool,
Topf Wells, Madison Audubon advocacy committee chair
