Winnebago County
Clarks Bay I
188 Acres Protected
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.
Clarks Bay II
135 Acres Protected
Very close to Lake Poygan, Lake Winneconne, and Clarks Bay I, this conservation easement protects primary wetlands affecting the water quality of Lake Winnabago and the Fox River which provide drinking water for the Oshkosh, Neenah, Menasha, and Appleton municipal water systems and over 165,000 people.
This large area of wetlands and uplands is home to many varieties of plants and animals. This includes: black ash, bitternut hickory, swamp white oak, black cherry, basswood, bald eagle, wood duck, and sandhill crane.
Zimmerman Marsh
31 Acres Protected
This property was purchased by the current landowners in order to protect the wetlands that encompass 75% of this conservancy. This high quality wetland provides important habitat for panfish, largemouth bass, and northern pike as well as filtering runoff from adjacent uplands.
The Zimmerman Marsh Conservancy offers an excellent opportunity for the preservation of a native Wisconsin ecosystem, a lake nurturing wetland/shoreland breeding ground and an accessible location for study, observation and general viewing of this ecosystem and its animal and vegetative inhabitants.
This conservancy also provides excellent habitat for migrating waterfowl, and nesting sites for birds such as the sandhill crane and mallard duck. T