Restoration Work in the Dog Park
Dane County Parks - Natural Areas Program
As part of Dane County Parks' Natural Areas Program, restoration work is being done in Prairie Moraine County Park on both the Ice Age Trail and the Dog Park sides. The work has been proceeding for over 20 years, primarily through the efforts of Dave Lonsdorf, with assistance provided by the young men and women of the Operation Fresh Start program, along with volunteers from the Ice Age Trail Alliance, with efforts focused primarily on the Ice Age Trail (IAT) half of the park.
Beginning in 2017, a Prairie Moraine Friends group was organized and, under the leadership of Dave Jelinski, was incorporated in November of 2019 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit with a 9-member board of directors. The new Friends group included a number of hard-working volunteers drawn from the large number of dog park users and they immediately set to work on cleanup of the park they loved.
With the incorporation of the Friends in 2019, and the inclusion of Dave Lonsdorf on the newly-elected board of directors, a major step forward in the unification of the two groups of park users and supporters was taken. Cleanup of the dog park was expanded to include restoration of the type already being done on the IAT side.
All work done is in accordance with the 2002 Master Plan for Prairie Moraine County Park and under the direction of Dane County Parks.
2019 Prairie Moraine County Park Vegetation Management Plan
Target Vegetation Community Types (above) within the park. Plan created 2018-2019.
Restoration project led by: Lars Higdon, Botanist/Naturalist for Dane County Land and Water Resources, Parks Division.
The goal for the approximate vegetation community percentages within only the fenced, off-leash dog park section of the park (79 acres) are as follows:
- Dry Prairie 35%
- Oak Woodland 18%
- Oak Opening/Savanna 32%
- Maintained Use Area 6% (e.g., mowed areas, parking lots, etc)
- Memorial Forest 3%
- Cool Season Grass 6%
Goals of Restoration work in the dog park
My post on February 3, 2022:
This was a re-post of the original August 4, 2021 "Goals" post. The restoration work in the dog park was not very advanced in 2021 so I pulled my pics of the goals of the restoration work mostly from the internet, not the park. Today, I could do this post using photos actually taken in the park itself.
We're working on it, but you'll still have to walk the on-leash Ice Age Trail side of the park to enjoy restored Oak Woodlands of this quality.