Explore the great prairies, oak savannas, and wetlands as they once were and now are again, thanks to the many hands that worked to restore this land and donors who supported it! As a nationally-accredited land trust, Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance (formerly Madison Audubon) purchases land, restores it to the habitat it would have been prior to pioneers settling here, and maintains the habitat for birds, plants, insects, mammals, amphibians, and more. These places become buzzing with life in just months of beginning restoration work!
And the end product is fabulous. Explore the lands we manage below and enjoy the many species and habitats found in these places!
Milton, Wisconsin
(40 minutes southeast of Madison)
Designated a State Natural Area in 2005, the landscape at Fair Meadows is made up of diverse habitats, including prairie, woodlands, savannas, prairies, sedge meadows, wetlands, and natural springs. Look for rails, cranes, sparrows, woodpeckers and more in these habitats. Public access to the sanctuary is limited, open to visitors registered for field trips and monthly birding days or by permission.
Lake Mills, Wisconsin
(35 minutes east of Madison)
Prairie, savanna, wetland, and woodland found here are home to incredible diversity. The landscape is defined by a delicate interplay of geology, climate, fire, and human activity and as a result, it has created a gorgeous and complex collection of habitats. You can expect to find to meadowlarks, Wood Ducks, Blanding’s turtles, and so much more in these remnant and restored landscapes.
Arlington, Wisconsin
(35 minutes north of Madison)
A matrix of tallgrass prairies and wetlands awaits you at Goose Pond Sanctuary. This collection of remnant and restored habitats is centered around the iconic Goose Pond, a State Natural Area, Important Birding Area, Watchable Wildlife Area, and waypoint on the Great Wisconsin Birding and Nature Trail. Join us for a stroll on our 12 miles of trails, or sit at the pond to watch the birds, listen to the frogs, and chuckle at the muskrats.
Cambridge, Wisconsin
(30 minutes southeast of Madison)
These scenic acres in Dane County provide critical grassland habitat for many at-risk species. The rolling landscape was formed by the movement of the glaciers, shaped by the fire management practices of the Ho-Chunk people, and farmed by five generations of the Gunnulson family. As fencerows are removed and prescribed burning is reintroduced, glimpse the grand, open prairies with pockets of oak savanna that once covered much of southern Wisconsin.
Rio, Wisconsin
(45 minutes north of Madison)
This property contains a gorgeous wetland called Hawkos Pond, oak and hickory woodland with trails meandering through, and a new addition that will soon be restored, native wetland, prairie, and oak savanna. This place has so much to explore and and enjoy! Bring your canoe or kayak and put into Hawkos Pond, or take a jaunt along the hiking trails as you listen to woodpeckers, orioles, migrating warblers, herons, and more.
Erstad Prairie, Snapper Prairie, and Hope Lake Bog
(Columbia County and Jefferson County)
Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance also owns and manages additional parcels of land. Erstad Prairie, three miles northeast of Goose Pond, contains 60 acres of wetlands and upland grassland. Snapper Prairie is a 30-acre remnant of low prairie in the floodplain of the Crawfish River. Hope Lake Bog (being preserved as an undisturbed sanctuary with no public access) is a 35-acre botanical gem known to generations of Wisconsin conservationists.
