By Topf Wells

Access to the Sugar River and other natural resources will improve thanks to recent Dane County actions and your help could assure even further preservation! The County has agreed with the Ziegler family to purchase 60 acres along the river off State Highway 69 between Verona and Paoli. Within the 60 acres are about 2/3 of a mile of river and its two stream banks, an intact wetland, a farm bridge (good for hikers), safe and easily reached access for paddlers, two Native American Indian mounds, and a 19th Century stone house that served as one of the first stage coach stops in Dane County. Many users of the property will notice that the river is lined with mature hard woods, including some grand oak trees. The purchase also includes public hunting rights on another 120 acres.

The combination of valuable natural resources and unique cultural resources made this a complex transaction, taking several years of negotiation, dozens of hours of County staff time and the strong support of County Executive Joe Parisi and his staff. Laura Hicklin, Jan Zimmerman, and Sara Rigelman of  Dane County’s Land and Water Resources Department deserve thanks for their combined efforts. We also owe the Ziegler family our appreciation.

This purchase continues the County’s strong effort to protect the Sugar River’s natural resources and make them available to the public. When approved, this property will be within three miles of almost 500 acres of land and over 4 miles of the Sugar River that is open to the public for a wide variety of outdoor recreation. Those of us lucky enough to fish, paddle, or hike these lands and waters have been grateful for those opportunities. TU has had several work days on these lands and just completed a major stream restoration on one section.

The resolution authorizing the purchase is making its way through County Committees and the County Board. Many of you responded to an email asking that you contact members of the Environment, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Committee urging their support. It passed unanimously and at least two Committee Members contacted TU members to thank them for reaching out to them.

The County Board will likely vote on this resolution on February 15. Please take time to contact your County Board Member and ask that he or she support this resolution. You can easily find out who your Supervisor is and have several ways of contacting him or her by using the Board’s website at https://board.countyofdane.com/.  While I don’t think the resolution is controversial, it’s always a good idea to thank the Board for its past excellent support of conserving the Sugar River and ask that its members continue the good work.