A Brief History

"The black-eyed Susans were ablaze with color last fall," observes Skip Wittler, professor of biology, about Ripon College’s largest outdoor classroom — the Ceresco Prairie Conservancy. "There’s a spiritual aspect to the prairie. It’s more than just plants and animals -- it’s humans, too."

Arguably one of Ripon’s most valued teaching environments, The Ceresco Prairie Conservancy is 130 acres of native prairie, oak savanna and wetland habitat in the making. The area, which serves as a place of study as well as recreation, is the subject of numerous student research projects concentrating on various plants and animals. It also is part of the Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Glacial Habitat Restoration Program, a partnership between the DNR and Ripon College, aimed at the restoration of the Conservancy’s prairie grasses and forbs. "We often name things for what we take away, such as naming a housing subdivision for the lost sand hill crane habitat it replaces," says Ellen Barth ’80, DNR wildlife biologist. "I think it’s neat that the Ceresco Prairie Conservancy is named for something we are putting back into the landscape."

Wittler, who serves as the director of the Conservancy project, works with the DNR in the management and restoration of the land, which has 3.5 miles of public trails and the Patricia Kegel Environmental Classroom, west of Ripon’s Storzer Physical Education Center. The beauty of the Conservancy, in Professor of Biology Bill Brooks’ mind, is the return of a sizable portion of a past prairie ecosystem to Wisconsin.

"Prairie and oak savanna ecosystems have fallen to .01 percent of their former acreage in Wisconsin, and from 6,000 acres to six acres in Fond du Lac County," Brooks says. "The gain of more than 100 acres of restored prairie is significant and provides a major area for student/faculty research in prairie use and land restoration, and the study of prairie structure and dynamics."

Working in sections of 10 or more acres at a time, Ripon's biology department is accomplishing the prairie, oak savanna and wetland restoration through the seeding and maintenance of native plants, and the removal of non-native, invasive species.

"The non-native prairie species don’t provide the necessary cover for animals in the winter," Wittler says. "Native warm-season grasses stay upright even under heavy snow, providing needed shelter." In an area that supports wildlife such as deer, fox, pheasant, sand hill cranes and turkey, Brooks and Wittler believe that encouraging the growth of the Conservancy’s native plants will, in turn, encourage other animals to inhabit the area.

The Conservancy’s wetlands won’t see changes for a couple of years, according to Wittler, but he hopes eventually to eradicate non-native reed canary grass and introduce chord grass and other native grasses and sedges. "We’d like to increase the diversity of the wetlands in hopes of attracting various waterfowl," says Wittler. Although Conservancy wetland restoration is on hold for now, Ripon has started to alter the makeup of the land in other areas.

The Conservancy’s prairies, depicted on the map in sections "A-F," have received most of the nurturing to date, according to Wittler, who says section "A" is in its sixth season of growth, section "B" is in its fifth, "C/D" is in its fourth, and "E/F" in its third. "Typically, we harvest the seeds, and the DNR takes care of the planting and mowing," he says. In 1998, the southern half of section "A" was intentionally burned with the help of the DNR, in part to boost native prairie plant growth and also to allow Ripon biology students the chance to study the affects of the burn. During the past two years, alumni and students have joined Wittler in collecting native prairie seeds at Goose Pond, south of Pardeeville, Wisconsin, and on the Conservancy prairie. Altogether, Wittler estimates the groups have gathered 20 different types of seeds weighing in at more than 400 pounds.

The oak savanna habitat, spanning 15 acres of the Conservancy, presents
a different challenge, although the goal is the same as that of the prairie. Each fall, biology professors lead teams of volunteers in the removal of European buckthorn, an invasive plant whose main order of business, according to Brooks, is "strangling the oak trees." In the past few years, Ripon alumni, students and friends have joined the professors in combating the buckthorn’s gnarled branches, first by sawing the plants down and then by applying short-lived herbicide to the stumps. "If you just cut the buckthorn down, it sprouts up again and is worse than before," explains Wittler.

It's a tiring process, added Brooks, who has worked with many volunteers in this effort. "It seems that Paul Kegel ’57," who generously donated the Kegel Environmental Classroom in memory of his wife, Patricia Kegel ’56, "is always leading the pack to help," Brooks says. "He’s gone out several times on his own and has organized volunteers to tackle the buckthorn. Ripon owes him a lot of thanks."

Through the process of restoring the habitats, entailing physical exertion as well as knowledge, much is learned. Since hands-on learning is Ripon’s trademark, the Conservancy provides an ideal location for students to conduct animal and plant studies, or to simply sit, write or reflect.

"The conservancy provides a lot of students with senior research projects, just in keeping track of the animal and plant species year by year," says Melissa Pischke ’98, who discovered through her research that the Conservancy balsam poplar trees were from one clone. "It’s an exciting area for research, especially for chemistry and biology majors."

Work this fall by Wittler’s "Prairie Ecology" class included an exhaustive survey of plants on the prairie. "The use of the Conservancy in the classroom is phenomenal," Wittlere says. "We take plant samples from the prairie and add them to our plant specimen collection for future use."

In one of Brooks’ ecology labs, which focuses on buckthorn removal, students learn the reasons behind and the process of prairie restoration, according to Brooks. But it’s the "Biology 500" senior thesis course that demands the hard-nosed research. Many students select some aspect of the Conservancy to be the topic of their research project. Their studies have added valuable insight into the mechanics of Ripon’s delicate ecosystems.

"The Conservancy provides an amazing classroom where Ripon students can participate in the restoration of an endangered ecosystem," says Sara Tiner ’98, who conducted her senior research project on prairie forbs. "Ripon students are at an advantage because of the research and learning opportunities made possible by the prairie — for both the college and community, the prairie offers a chance to relax, bird watch or catch a glimpse of our wildlife."