New restoration tool for southwestern Wisconsin land trust

Last week, I attended a celebration for a local land trust’s recent fundraising success. Mississippi Valley Conservancy raised enough money to purchase a work truck for the restoration and management of natural areas. Prairie Moon Nursery was one of several corporations and individuals who chipped in.

The Conservancy protects and restores thousands of acres of natural areas throughout southwestern Wisconsin–including rare flora, fauna and geological and archeological features. The new truck is especially useful for managing prescribed fire because it has been equipped with a 200-gallon water pump. Now the Conservancy can more effectively restore the fire-adapted native plant communities and the wildlife that depends on them. In the Midwest and beyond this is especially important because of the trend from prairies, savannas and open oak woodlands towards closed-canopy mesic forests–a process called “mesophication.”

Practical matters aside, the truck’s body features some awesome scenes of nature:

Near the right wheel: A peregrine falcon. Some say this amazing bird is the world's fastest animal. Once extremely rare due to the effects of DDT, nesting pairs have been returned to several locations in the Midwest and beyond, thanks to conservation efforts.

On the right panel:The Mississippi River and a Blanding’s turtle. As the aerial view shows, the Mississippi is a mosaic of different types of habitat, from the main waters to the flood- plain forests that receive spring flood waters. The Mississippi is one of North America’s major flyways for migratory birds. Blanding’s turtle (not competing for fastest animal on earth) has become less common over time, in part due to the draining of wet prairies for agriculture.

Near the tailgate: Hoary puccoon with a tiger swallowtail. This plant inhabits dry prairies, which are being steadily lost to fire-intolerant trees and shrubs. You will not find its seed in our catalog because it eludes collectors, its seeds ripening one at a time. Perhaps the mighty peregrine has been presented on the side of a truck before, but this must surely be the quarter-panel debut for hoary puccoon!