Description
WHY YOU SHOULD VISIT
This preserve is a great place to experience rugged Mississippi River bluffs covered with dry prairies and oak openings. It is home to bald eagles and other raptors, red-headed woodpeckers and migratory songbirds like the cerulean warbler.
Enjoy the beauty of this stunning Mississippi River bluffland preserve.
CONDITIONS
This property does not have any maintained or marked trails on it. Visitors may hike, cross-country ski, hunt and watch birds and other wildlife at the preserve.
WHY TNC SELECTED THIS SITE
The Nature Conservancy Addition to the Lower Chippewa River State Natural Area (SNA) is 161 acres of Mississippi River bluffland in the Upper Mississippi River Valley. It contains dry prairie, cliffs, oak openings and southern forest communities, which provide important habitat for a wide array of native plants and animals including many neo-tropical migratory birds, rare bluff-prairie plants and a plethora of native invertebrates and mammals. The land is designated by the Wisconsin Historical Society as an important archaeological site once used by Native Americans.
WHAT TNC HAS DONE/IS DOING
In May 2012, The Nature Conservancy protected the land formerly owned by Dwight and Aimee Hemion. Dwight Hemion grew up in New York City and Los Angeles but fell in love with the land his grandfather farmed in Nelson on the Mississippi River. He eventually moved to Wisconsin to help his grandfather work the land in Nelson and on the home farm near Alma.
Initial work to protect the land in Buffalo County started in 2009, when the Hemions met with staff of the Mississippi Valley Conservancy (MVC), a land trust dedicated to providing permanent protection for important natural lands in the Mississippi River Valley. Before they could finalize a plan to protect the land, Dwight passed away. Aimee Hemion continued to work with MVC on a conservation plan. After years of work on the project, MVC needed assistance to secure the necessary funding and The Nature Conservancy stepped in to help.