Earlier this month, Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance hosted State Senator Mark Spreitzer for a tour of Fair Meadows Sanctuary, a 374-acre property near Milton, Wisconsin. We joined the property’s former landowners, land steward Chris Kaplan, and Executive Director Matt Reetz to walk the property with Senator Spreitzer and talk about what it takes to protect and restore land like this. We also discussed how the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program lapse could affect similar projects across the state going forward.
Penny and Gary Shackelford began restoring the land in 1985, planting their first prairie in 1990 and spending the decades since expanding it through prescribed burns, invasive species removal, and native plantings. In 2023, they donated the property to Southern Wisconsin Bird Alliance, and it became the organization’s newest sanctuary, permanently protected as a State Natural Area.
Today, Fair Meadows’ woodlands, savannas, prairies, sedge meadows, wetlands, and natural springs support a wide range of birds, plants, and insects.
