Shawano County
Embarrass River
12 Acres Protected
This site is typical of the Northern Mesic Forest. It is heavily wooded and contains rich, well drained soil that contributes to the large diversity of tree species on the property. While 75% of the property is wooded, the remaining 25% is wetland and is an ideal habitat for aquatic species. The recent removal of the Hayman Falls Dam has created a floodplain along this stretch of the river in which a wetland prairie is being restored.
A quiet paddle along this undeveloped shoreline may reveal some of these species that call this place home: salamander mussel - threatened, snuffbox mussel - endangered, slippershell mussel - threatened, wild licorice, gray fox, osprey, bald eagle, and great egret.
Embarrass River II
64 Acres Protected
Tucked away just off of Highway 29 in Shawano County, the middle branch of the Embarrass River, a DNR-designated Class II trout stream, boarders this conservancy. A spring-fed creek also flows through the property and into the river where the owner and his family used to watch fish spawn. He recalls Huck Finn like adventures as a child, building rafts and swimming in the river.
He says the property has changed a lot since he was a child when his family lived off this land. Now in the absence of cows grazing, the woods has grown so thick you can barely see the river from the top of the steep banks; his favorite spot to sit as a boy.
The land has been held in the family since 1946. Beginning in approximately 1993, spruce, ash, oak (deer ate them) and pine were planted in formerly agricultural fields. In 1994, they signed a 25 year MFL contract and worked with DNR foresters to manage the woodland.
Kroenke Creek
65 Acres Protected
This conservancy protects 1,788 feet of undeveloped shoreline along Kroenke Creek, a Class 2 trout stream which provides a rich riparian habitat for fish, amphibians, and reptiles. The 65 acres of Northern Mesic forest along the stream’s steeply sloped banks is dominated by coniferous trees and offers a diverse habitat for a large array of wildlife including deer, turkey, and pileated woodpeckers. Less than 300' from the confluence with the Red River, this conservancy provides habitat for neo-tropical song birds.
Trees: beech, white pine, red oak, hemlock, paper birch, black cherry, balsam fir, ironwood, yellow birch, sugar maple, red pine. Flowers: white violet, yellow violet, anemone, nodding trillium, white trillium, Canada mayflower, mayapple, Solomon's plume, blood root, round-leaf hepatica, star flower, jack-in-the-pulpit, buttercup, geranium, gaywings, skunk cabbage, wild oats, bellwort. Ferns: ostrich fern, maidenhair fern, and sensitive fern.