Although the timing was fortuitous, Madison Audubon celebrated Earth Day in an especially wonderful way. We agreed to buy land that will dramatically improve one of our smaller sanctuaries.

Otsego Marsh is a mostly wonderful 80 acres that Madison Audubon owns in Columbia County, about 15 minutes north and east of Goose Pond. It contains a nice marsh and upland woods. Madison Audubon has worked to improve the woods, most recently with some tree-planting last year. A path runs through the woods, enabling you to see some nice spring ephemerals right about now.

The Marsh lacked any upland, grassland cover. This has meant that many species of waterfowl could not nest there, and certainly no grassland birds. Graham Steinhauer, our Goose Pond land steward, looked at Ostego Marsh carefully and drew up a plan which identified the key neighboring properties, the purchase of which would improve bird habitat. The Number One property in the plan was 36 acres with wetlands, row crops, and a small woods. The crop land converted to prairie would provide the nesting habitat that waterfowl and grassland birds need. Pollinators would exult and thrive too.

*Wood geraniums bloom with vigor in the woods at Otsego Marsh. Photo by Mark Martin*

Lo and behold, Number One came up for sale this year! The Madison Audubon staff and Board swung into action. As a result of timely, careful, and respectful negotiations, we reached the agreement to purchase the property just after Earth Day.

Earth Day should include celebrating and thanking conservation heroes and Madison Audubon had several on this project: Graham, Mark Martin of Goose Pond, and Matt Reetz, our executive director, researched and negotiated the purchase of the property and were superb. The Board (let's admit a bias here —I'm lucky enough to serve on the Board) visited the site (observing the current order's restriction on number of visitors, social distancing, and masks) and thoroughly reviewed and discussed the purchase before approving it.

Madison Audubon members deserve the most thanks. Your generosity and that of the previous generations of Madison Audubon members put us in the financial position to improve Otsego Marsh in such dramatic fashion.

We will work with some conservation partners to win grants for wetland protection and enhancement on this property. Graham thinks those woods offer a chance to help out another great Wisconsin bird, the red-headed woodpecker. That would be the icing on the cake!

*A red-headed woodpecker will add a berry to that cake too! Photo by Arlene Koziol*

Earth Day has its somber side. We can't help but think how much we have to do, especially with the changed and changing climate. If we don't confront those problems more directly and effectively, we will one day view COVID-19 as just a preview of the devastation we'll face. We also think of the conservation heroes we lost. As much as he accomplished, Aldo Leopold should have had some more years of conservation achievements and inspiration.

Right before Earth Day, Wisconsin lost a great conservationist, and I, the dearest of friends. Dan Wisniewski helped conserve somewhere between 50,000-100,000 acres of some of Wisconsin's best land and waters over the last two decades of his life. With his start as the Secretary of the Board of Public Land Commissioners, through work on the County’s Park Commission as well as Northwoods Land Trust, Dan and helped protect some of Wisconsin’s most cherished and vulnerable natural resources. You can read more about his incredible work and life here.

Dan was also an Madison Audubon member. We hope to have good news soon about a major conservation collaboration between Dane County and Madison Audubon, which Dan worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make possible.

We also honor another dearly beloved member of the birding and conservation world in Wisconsin, Peter Fissel, who passed away on April 23. Friends describe Peter as “a walking, talking nature encyclopedia” whose love for birds big and small, butterflies of all varieties, and community of all meanings of the word made him a treasure to all who knew him. Peter was highly and enthusiastically involved with Madison Audubon for over 30 years, leading hundreds of field trips over that time to share his knowledge and love for birds with the public. He was a lovely person. We will be sharing more about Peter and how Madison Audubon is honoring his memory soon.

I think it's worth remembering that Aldo Leopold was a great friend and neighbor to many, in addition to being a wonderful thinker, writer, and conservationist. He died helping a neighbor fight a fire and was beloved by colleagues and students. He organized a great group of city friends and neighbors to work with farmer friends to improve wildlife habitat on their lands. Dan and Peter shared that same friendly nature and found joy in working with others. They would have been thrilled over news about Otsego Marsh, as I hope all of you are. It is a great success for conservation!

Written by Topf Wells, Madison Audubon board member and advocacy committee chair