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Pleasant Valley Conservancy State Natural Area

Pleasant Valley Conservancy is a Wisconsin State Natural Area that has been extensively restored to its original character. It works to educate the conservation community and the general public on the values of nature and wildlife. Its principal focus is on the preservation of its restored habitats, especially the plant communities.

Pleasant Valley Conservancy is open to the public for hiking and nature study. Scheduled tours are offered several times a year as well as special events for school or college groups.

Pleasant Valley Conservancy is a site of The Prairie Enthusiasts (TPE), an organization active in the upper Midwest. Part of the Conservancy is owned by TPE and the rest is permanently protected by a conservation easement donated to TPE by Kathie and Tom Brock.

What is a State Natural Area?

According to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources: "State Natural Areas protect outstanding examples of Wisconsin's native landscape of natural communities, significant geological formations and archeological sites. Encompassing over 362,000 acres, Wisconsin's 655 natural areas are valuable for research and educational use, the preservation of genetic and biological diversity and for providing benchmarks for determining the impact of use on managed lands. They also provide some of the last refuges for rare plants and animals."

Pleasant Valley Conservancy is State Natural Area Number 551.

Remnant Prairies

Hill country in SW Wis. South-facing slopes.

Oak Savannas

Oak savannas were once common in southern Wisconsin but are now rare. Only about 0.01% of the remaining oak savannas remain, and most of these are unrestored and in bad shape.

Fire-dependent Ecosystems

As all of southern Wisconsin, until about the 1950s much of the land at Pleasant Valley Conservancy was burned almost annually, and these fires were critical in helping to preserve the original vegetation. When fires ceased, the land gradually reverted to a woody state, with low plant diversity and poor wildlife values. When restoration began in the mid 1990s, fire was one of the first practices to be reintroduced. Without fire, what you see today would not be possible. Fire destroys invasive woody vegetation as well as many fire-sensitive undesirable tree species. On the other hand, the oaks and hickories as well as all of the herbaceous vegetation are fire tolerant and not only survive, but thrive.