Advertisement It is the first purchase made under a cooperative agreement between the city and the conservancy.
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The land preserved by the city of Onalaska and the Mississippi Valley Conservancy is home to a lot of remarkable flora, including the yellow ladyslipper orchid, pictured above. |
Under the agreement, the conservancy was responsible for negotiating the purchase and has applied for state Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program funds to help finance it.
The land will be managed as natural habitat as part of the larger city Greenway Project with a connection to the Greens Coulee Park bluff. Hiking and other non-motorized uses such as cross country skiing and bird watching will be encouraged.
Onalaska Mayor Mike Giese said he was pleased MVC was successful in completing the purchase of a key part of the city’s Greenway Project. “ It’s a wonderful addition. It’s a win-win for all the residents of the Coulee Region,” Giese said.
George Kerckhove, MVC president, said the purchase represents another important example of how the conservancy works with its partners and land owners to preserve the region’s scenic landscape. Under a similar agreement with the city of La Crosse, MVC is helping to preserve the bluffs above the city.
MVC will own and manage the property for a couple years and then transfer it to the city with a conservation easement that will restrict some uses and all development, according to Tim Jacobson, MVC executive director.
“A goal of the preserve is to serve the needs of the public to the greatest extent possible while protecting natural resources,” Jacobson said.
Jason Gilman, Onalaska’s land use and development director, said the MVC acquisition in Greens Coulee represents another important addition to the Onalaska Central Greenway System. The Greenway plan, adopted in 2000, laid out a citywide system of interconnected parks and open space.
“This addition will complement the current system of over 100 acres of public lands running through the central portion of Greens Coulee,” Gilman said. The public land in Greens Coulee includes Greens Coulee Community Park (55 acres), Clearwater Farm (12 Acres), Pierce Park (5 acres), Medary Meadowood Park (7.5 acres) and Onalaska School Forest lands (23 acres).
Gilman said this acquisition along with the currently preserved Green Coulee Community Park to the south preserves a famed ridgeline peak from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Hamlin Garland’s “Son of the Middle Border” book.
“I also know this ridgeline to contain rare prairie remnants from Onalaska’s early settlement years or before,” Gilman said. “When I have been up there, I like to think about the prairie-covered bluffs where buffalo once roamed and prehistoric cultures occupied Wisconsin.”
George Howe, MVC conservation director, emphasized the importance of protecting this bluff from the standpoint of ecology and scenic beauty. “The land includes rare natural communities such as dry bluff prairie and globally imperiled oak savannah.”
MVC found the largest population identified in this part of the state of a rare prairie plant called death camus in the lily family, as well as the beautiful yellow lady’s slipper orchid.
“This bluff is quite scenic,” Howe added. “When you’re on the land, the variety of blooming plants, the massive oak trees, the mushroom-shaped rock formations, and fabulous views from the prairie are all spectacular.”
Howe said the land in the town may be hunted by all legal means. Deer hunting with bow and arrow might be allowed on the portion within the city. “Deer hunting should be encouraged to the greatest extent possible because deer populations are much higher than what is recommended by the DNR,” he said.
Jacobson said the MVC made an advance payment of nearly $125,000 to close the purchase along with $30,000 from the city, a $20,000 grant from the local Paul E. Stry Foundation and $78,000 from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The state’s Stewardship Fund will pay 50 percent of the project cost plus an additional amount based on the value of a land donation to MVC in Buffalo County.
The bottom line, Jacobson said, is that the city obtained land worth more than $230,000 for its $30,000 investment, and the goals of the city’s Greenway plan have been advanced.
For more information about MVC’s conservation work and opportunities to get involved, visit www.mississippivalleyconservancy.org or e-mail info@mississippivalleyconservancy.org.
