Wednesday Evening
Watershed Walks

April 25 –
June 20, 2007

6:30 p.m.

Watershed Walk schedule print version

Explore the Upper Yahara River Watershed at these weekly nature walks. Each week walks are at a new location.

Meet TCWA member Scott Woody in the parking lot then walk to the stream. Receive an update on current stream-bank restoration efforts to create better trout habitat. Highway 19, North on Portage Road.

Meet Kurt Welke, Fisheries Biologist, at the gate. Focus on how Northern Pike are raised and released and the associated benefits of wetland habitat. County Highway M, North on Woodland Drive (South of Mary Lake Road).

Meet Jim Stephenson, ecologist, in the Willows Tavern parking lot. Discover the cultural and natural history of the marsh at the Yahara River inlet to Lake Mendota. County Highway M, South on Willow Road.

Meet Russ Hefty, Conservation Resource Supervisor. Learn about recent restoration efforts near a natural fen wetland. Highway 113 or Northport Drive, North on School Road to the junction with Wheeler Road, continue past the waste oil depot on gravel road to parking lot by boat launch. For more information about Wisconsin Wetlands Association fieldtrips visit their website at www.wisconsinwetlands.org/fieldtrips07.htm.

Meet Gary Maier at the park office. Hear an interpretation of Native American Effigy Mounds found within the park and this "4 lakes" region. County Highway M. WI License Parking Pass: $7/day or $25/annual.

Meet Nancy Schlimgen and Paul Boutwell, restoration ecologists, in Benedict House (upper) parking lot. Explore the restoration of Lost Lake and surrounding upland prairies within view of Lake Mendota. County Highway M.

Meet Ken Bradbury, hydrogeologist for the WI Geological and Natural History Survey and Janet Kane, Friends member to gain an overview of the watershed from the hilltop before descending to the natural springs to consider critical connections to our ground water and adjacent restorations. Pheasant Branch Road, 1.2 miles North of Century Avenue, just past the boundary for the Town of Springfiled is the county park parking lot.

Meet Brad Bates, Park Ranger, at the park office. Focus on life in a wetland where Dorn or Spring Creek meets up with Six-Mile Creek within the park. County Highway M. WI License Parking Pass: $7/day or $25/annual.

Meet Ellen Rulseh, Friends board member and Susan Priebe, both of Earth and Water Works at the main entrance to Olbrich Gardens. See their new rain garden which aims to protect a sedge meadow alongside the creek.