Earlier this month, Baird Creek Preservation Foundation welcomed State Senator Jamie Wall for a tour of Hartman Prairie, a 20-acre property acquired with support from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program.
Gathering Waters staff joined Baird Creek board members Charlie Frisk and Steve Lambert, and Executive Director Matt Reentmeester, along with the organization’s Land Management interns, to walk the land with Senator Wall. The group talked about what the Knowles-Nelson lapse means for future land protection, and the urgency of acting fast on nearby parcels that could be key to connecting corridors before development pressure takes them off the table.
Hartman Prairie is located off County Highway JJ in the Town of Eaton. It was restored by Baird Creek Preservation Foundation from an old farm field into native habitat that now supports 26 species of migratory birds and draws monarchs each year. A gazebo and small parking area, added in 2021, make it accessible to the public. The property is named for Paul Hartman, one of BCPF’s founders and a longtime Brown County horticulturalist, whose alarm over the loss of nearby old-growth forest to development led directly to BCPF’s founding.
Sites like Hartman Prairie exist because of Knowles-Nelson funding, organizations willing to do the restoration work over decades, and legislators willing to see the results in person.
