2024 was another productive year for restoration of our amazing prairies and woodlands surrounding La Crosse.
Stry Prairie on Miller Bluff received a lot of attention both from contractor work (Morchella) and volunteer work. The early success of this is quite evident from the city below. A large amount of brush has been cleared from the prairie. More work is being done to connect the west prairie section to a smaller remnant on the eastern end. We also done prep work in order to burn either this winter or next spring. Take a glance up when you’re driving north on Losey/Hwy 16 – the prairie is looking much better.
Birch Point Prairie has been getting a lot of well-deserved attention. A large area of the original bluff prairie has been cleared of invasive species. The difference between cleared and uncleared prairie is quite dramatic.
As you can see, about half of the prairie has been cleared but much of the prairie is still overtaken by invasive and woody vegetation. There is still much work to do.
Lookout Savanna below Lookout Prairie is taking shape year by year. We spent the last year doing more tree and brush clearing to further restore this rare habitat. Overseeding has been done with local seed to help speed the process.
Juniper Prairie on La Crosse’s south side is looking much better after a lot of work by contractors and volunteers removing invasive species and brush. This prairie is easily seen from a distance in the south side Walmart parking lot.
Dobson Blufflands continues to improve with our restoration efforts. The prairie reconstruction next to the parking lot looks more like a prairie every year. It is also the most easily accessible example of a prairie in this area – just a 20 ft walk from the parking lot on level ground. The lower hill prairie in Dobson has had another year in its recovery and is also doing well.
If you can zoom in on the above picture you can see a remnant prairie on Grandad Bluff in the distance. With more time and resources perhaps we can restore that prairie as well.
Lastly, not to forget our other prairie gems, work continues on restoration of Mathy Bluff Prairie, Lookout Prairie and Zoerb Prairie. Hopefully, in the next year, we will be able to complete burns on Zoerb, Stry, Lookout Savanna, and Dobson to further their recovery.
Thank you to everyone who has given their time and money to do this rewarding work. We hope to see you out there in the next year enjoying this world class resource that we have in the La Crosse area.