Location: Winnebago County

Area protected: 188 Acres

Protection strategy: conservation easement

Donated in December 2004, this conservation easement preserves large wetlands which filter and purify water flowing into Lake Winneconne and consequently the drinking water of Oshkosh and the Fox Cities.

This large area of marshland and adjacent upland fields and forests is home to many varieties of plants and animals, especially bald eagles, sandhill cranes, and numerous species of ducks.

Thousands of chorus frogs can be heard during the spring mating season thanks to the landowners returning agricultural lands back to wetlands through the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The landowners are also removing invasive buckthorn and phragmites and planting native species to enrich and restore the habitat.

Notable species include:

• bald eagle
• sandhill crane
• numerous species of ducks
• chorus frogs