For information on daily doings at Pleasant Valley Conservancy, use this link to access Tom's Blog.
New Trail Map Just Added!
We had some nice woods burns this year and they seem to have brought out great displays of spring wildflowers. The large trillium patch that we have every year seems larger, and the flowers are very healthy looking. The photos below were taken recently. This display won't last too much longer. However, there are plenty of prairie and savanna plants flowering or coming along, including golden Alexanders, shooting star, and balsam ragwort. Stop by for a visit.
A carpet of trilliums
Trilliums and bellworts
Trilliums and maidenhair ferns

Follow this link for a summary of our burn season

Prescribed burn in oak savanna and closed oak woods, Saturday, April 18, 2009. A very successful burn in a difficult location.

White oak savanna with open-grown oaks (early August 2008). Bur oak savanna

The south-slope fire break provides the means for a nice stroll through the ridge-top savannas.

Pleasant Valley Conservancy State Natural Area

Pleasant Valley Conservancy State Natural Area No. 551 is a 140 acre Preserve in western Dane County, Wisconsin. It consists of extensive restored oak savannas, dry, mesic, and wet prairies, wetlands, and oak woods. Scenic views and wildlife viewing are excellent, and a two-mile hiking trail provides ready access into the heart of the Preserve. Especially noteworthy at Pleasant Valley are the fine oak savannas, once common in the Midwest but now very rare. The Preserve has many large open-grown white and bur oaks, which can be viewed from Pleasant Valley Road, and seen close up from the trail. Red-headed woodpeckers, a characteristic bird of oak savannas, breed at the Preserve and can frequently be seen from the upper ridge trail. Over 300 species of flowering plants have been recorded.

Pleasant Valley Conservancy is a site of The Prairie Enthusiasts (TPE), an organization active in the upper Midwest. Part of the Conservancy is owned by TPE and the rest is permanently protected by a conservation easement donated to TPE by Kathie and Tom Brock.