FIELD TRIP: SPRING GREEN PRAIRIE FIELD TRIP

At the end of the Ice Age about 10,000 years ago the climate warmed fast and the melting

glaciers released enormous amounts of water, forming vas shallow lakes geologists

named "Glacial Lake Oshkosh, Glacial Lake Wisconsin, Glacial Lake Baraboo", etc.

When the meltwaters broke through the Baraboo Range forming the Wisconsin Dells, the

water flowed west to the Mississippi gouging a huge canyon out of the the sandstone

sedimentary layers, creating a wide sandy canyon with steep sandstone and limestone

walls. This canyon eventually became a dry prairie that included many species more

typical of the Great Plains. We will tour a small remnant of this ecosystem now owned by

the Wisconsin Chapter of the Nature Conservancy.

We can meet in Plover at the public parking area along business 51 between the railroad

tracks and highways 54 and B at 8 AM. to carpool, or meet at about 10:30 at the Nature

Conservancy parking lot on the north side of Jones Road, a half mile north of highways

14 and 60 (north edge of Spring Green) and a mile east of highway 23. We will hike the

prairie and bluff for about an hour, and then decide what to do about lunch and our return

trip. We should be back by 4 PM. Questions? Contact Bob Freckmann 715-344-0686, or email: rfreckma@uwsp.edu.