Central Sands Area
The Central Sands eco-region is located in central Wisconsin at the eastern edge of what was once Glacial Lake Wisconsin. The landforms in this region are a series of glacial moraines that were later partially covered by glacial outwash. The area is characterized by a mixture of farmland, woodlots, wetlands, small kettle lakes, and cold water streams, all on sandy soils. Current vegetation is composed of agricultural crops, and grasslands with smaller amounts of open wetland, open water, shrubs, barren, and urban areas. The major forested type is oak-hickory, with smaller amounts of white-red-jack pine, maple-basswood, lowland hardwoods, aspen-birch, and spruce-fir.
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Protection and Preservation
Management Opportunities
- Maintain and restore the Central Sands Pine-Oak forest community type. Manage for the coastal plain marsh community type and associated rare species.
- Use prescribed fire to restore oak savanna that provides important Karner Blue butterfly habitat.
- Preserve and manage for extensive emergent marsh, southern sedge meadows, and calcareous fens as well as wet-mesic prairie and relict tamarack swamps.
- Preserve and manage cold water streams, many of which are important to aquatic invertebrates and cold water fishes.
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Representative Sites
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· Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin ·
PO Box 2317, Madison, WI 53701-2317 ·
(608) 264-6267 ·
Toll-free (866) 264-4096 ·
info@wisconservation.org