A bulldozer on a prairie is not a common sight, nor a vision that comes to mind when one thinks of habitat restoration. But it is often a necessary tool in the process of bringing the land back to its previous state. Over the past 20+ years at Faville Grove Sanctuary and 50+ years at Goose Pond Sanctuary, we have put bulldozers, backhoes, excavators, and many other heavy machines to work filling man-made ditches, re-grading large areas, re-installing wetlands, and more. Our goal is always to bring the land back to its native and former glory.

We are working on such a project right now at Faville Grove Sanctuary! In 2019, we purchased a 63.3 acres that included uplands surrounding Faville Marsh. Our goals with the purchase were to recreate the beautiful, vibrant, life-supporting habitat that native species need and humans enjoy, as well as protect the water quality of the marsh. It’s a big project, but big projects are kind of our thing!

*The area in red shows the property we acquired in 2019 at Faville Grove, including the pond in question.*

A small but significant issue that we inherited by purchasing the property is a 25-feet-deep man-made pond just north of the marsh. This pond was installed by the previous owner who enjoyed fishing. He installed a well to fill the pond, he stocked the pond, aerated the pond, and fished the pond (maybe inspired by Dr. Seuss’s McElligot’s Pool ?!).

*The pond at the early stages of draining. The pond was created and used by the previous owner as a fishing pool. Photo by David Musolf*

This pond has steep sides and deep water, with virtually no habitat for wildlife besides the fish stocked there. And, being it wasn’t a natural feature on the landscape, removing the pond rose to the top of the priority list. To get started, we closed the well and gave away the damaged windmill that had previously aerated the pond. Next, we secured funding from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and hired a consulting engineer to create a detailed, strategic, well thought out plan for the process. The plan was approved by the Army Corps of Engineers, WNDR, and Jefferson County. And with permit in hand last Thursday, Sept. 9, we got started.

Video by David Musolf

To begin any type of earth moving, we first needed to drain the pond. Our contractor dug a trench to run the water from the pond to Faville Marsh. Because of the drought this summer, water levels were relatively low in both sites, so the marsh is benefitting from a little extra water. Once the trench and piping were in place, we began pumping water out of the pond.

These photos below show the pond partially drained — note the receding water line. This year, the water was already quite low before the contract began pumping water out.

Once water was low enough, the contractor began pushing stone riprap into the pond along the south edge. The material dug out when creating the pond years ago was put along the top edge of the pond and adjacent fields, so we are using that material to push back into the hole left by the pond.

Video by David Musolf

The video here is by land steward Drew Harry from Thursday, Sept. 9, showing the process and vision for the area.

As water levels receded and the large-sized crushed rock riprap was pushed into the pond from the pond edges, turtles were able to migrate to the shrinking pond. In the pond’s previous state, turtles couldn’t access the water because of the riprap along the edges and lack of suitable habitat to help them in and out of the water. This year, many of the area wetlands are drying down due to the drought, and the turtles were seeking water.

Now, we didn’t want to hurt the turtles of course. And we needed to keep moving with the project. So our creative and passionate staff and volunteers came up with a solution: they used an apple picker to rescue around 40 turtles from the pond and relocated them to a safer location nearby.

*This beautiful turtle was washed off and relocated to safe habitat. Photo by David Musolf*

Below you see images from Sunday, Sept. 12, as the water levels are minimal.

And finally, the photo below shows the area after fully draining the pond and regrading the site to allow the water and soil to function as they should in this habitat. Today, the Faville Grove team are hand seeding the area with oats as a cover crop until this winter, when these 5 acres will be planted with various prairie species. The surrounding area was planted to prairie last winter (December 2020), and we are excited to see how this now-filled McElligot’s Pool will be a whimsy of the past, replaced by thriving native habitat.

*The finished product! It may not look like much right now, but the earth moving was finished just before a big rainstorm, and the site will be planted shortly. Photo by David Musolf*

This work is done with funding from the US Fish and Wildlife Service and donations from Madison Audubon members. Your support means so much, and can make a huge difference on the landscape. You can support the work of Madison Audubon by making a donation and by volunteering to help with sanctuary work. It takes a village to make these incredible projects happen and beautiful sanctuaries thrive. Thank you for being part of it!

We hope you will visit the site next summer to see the ongoing transformation!

Written by Brenna Marsicek, director of communications and outreach, and David Musolf, Faville Grove Sanctuary resident manager