Faville Grove Sanctuary

Faville Grove Sanctuary seeks to preserve and restore a diverse landscape and reconnect people to the land. During the time that Aldo Leopold was working at Faville Grove, he witnessed the destruction of large areas of virgin prairie for conversion to farmland, but he did succeed in preserving one 60-acre tract-the world's first publicly protected prairie preserve,which was purchased and in 1945 transferred to the University of Wisconsin Arboretum as the Stoughton Faville Prairie Preserve. After Leopold's death in 1948, preservation efforts in the area continued sporadically. In the early 1960s, the Milwaukee Audubon Society purchased about 30 acres of buffer lands adjacent to Faville Prairie and later transferred the property to the UW Arboretum. In the early 1970s, The Nature Conservancy purchased a 30-acre tract nearby that contained undisturbed prairie and named it Snapper Prairie. But protection and restoration efforts began in earnest in 1998 when Madison Audubon Society accepted a donation of a conservation easement on 66 acres of private land in the area and established the Faville Grove Sanctuary. Madison Audubon has since expanded the sanctuary approximately 550 acres, has restored over 300 acres of prairie and wetlands, is restoring over 40 acres of savanna, and is working with the UW Arboretum and private landowners to manage over 1000 acres as wildlife habitat. The goals for the sanctuary include expanding the protected area to provide habitat for area sensitive grassland birds and other wildlife and to reconnect pieces of the landscape to provide visitors an idea of the original beauty of this part of the state. But perhaps most important, Madison Audubon seeks to continue Leopold's efforts to reconnect people with land by involving volunteers, young and old, in the process of bringing this beautiful land back to life.

Faville Grove Sanctuary encompasses nearly 850 acres of land that is rich in environmental and cultural history. Aldo Leopold began working here in the 1930's and described Faville Grove Prairie as, "...one of the largest and best remnants of unplowed, ungrazed prairie sod left in the State." Only a portion of that prairie exists today, but with the help of Madison Audubon and many volunteers we continue Leopold's mission to reconnect people to the land and restore the vitality to this once healthy ecosystem. Management activities on the sanctuary include controlling invasive species, collecting native seeds, planting new restorations, and conducting prescribed burns. We employ 5-6 interns each summer to help with these activities and have a full-time land steward. The rest is done by volunteers who, collectively, put in well over 1000 hours of work each year. We also host field trips, give tours, conduct bird/insect/amphibian surveys, and are always looking for fun and educational ways to interact with surrounding community.