Wisconsin's Prairie Chickens
People
The comeback story of the greater prairie chicken in Wisconsin was
written by many people--individuals who were passionate about protecting a small
piece of our natural heritage partnered with wildlife managers and researchers
who could see how it might be done. Their unique partnership began as a suitable
blend of all the necessary components. It stands as one of the most successful
private/public collaborative efforts ever organized in the name of
conservation. This joint effort continues today to support the grassland
management program in central Wisconsin.
The
story begins with pioneering research by the husband and wife team of WDNR
wildlife biologists, Fred and Frances Hamerstrom. Their outdoor laboratory was
the drained marshland in southwestern Portage county, locally referred to as
Buena Vista Grassland. The Hamerstroms' work culminated in 1957 with an urgent
call for habitat protection for the prairie chicken, or certain extirpation in
Wisconsin would occur in a few short years. The birds had not been hunted in
the state since 1955, but a loss of suitable grasslands to intensive
agricultural development was continuing at a rapid rate.
The Hamerstroms' message, alone with growing interest among private
conservation groups, already had prompted Wisconsin Conservation Department
(forerunner of the WDNR) to issue a policy statement declaring the state's
commitment to saving a dwindling prairie chicken population.
Things began rolling when one of the
most active private conservation groups in the state, the Dane County
Conservation League (DCCL), took notice of the prairie chicken dilemma in 1958
and recognized that protection of the habitat in central
Wisconsin was critical for survival of the species. The DCCL's Paul Olson
solicited private donations to purchase land and arrangements were made to lease
that land to the DNR. At last, state wildlife experts could begin a serious
habitat management program.
Increased visibility of the chickens' plight led, in 1961, to
formation of the Society of Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus, Ltd., an organization
founded solely for the purpose of protecting and preserving Wisconsin's prairie
chickens. Much like the DCCL awakening, the Society grew from the experience of
a group of concerned conservationists - this time from Milwaukee - who visited
the booming grounds one April. There they witnessed the bird that is its own
best salesman. The Society soon began a broad-based fundraising program that
made possible the purchase of additional large tracts of land in the central
Wisconsin area, which also were earmarked for DNR management. Today, over
15,000 acres have been acquired for prairie chicken management thanks in large
part to the combined efforts of these two organizations.
Paul Olson
Recalling
his impression of seeing male prairie chickens performing their booming ritual,
Paul Olson said it left him "bug-eyed" and determined to go to work. That was
1958 and, as founding father of the Dane County Conservation League, Olson had
worked for years with other private citizens on the conservation front. Olson
saw the prairie chickens as a chance to guarantee the continued existence of a
native bird on the Wisconsin Landscape. The DCCL, with Olson in the lead,
generated public interest and private funds to purchase land in central
Wisconsin and launch a protection program that is the envy of like-minded
conservationists across the country. For more than 25 years, Olson helped weave
the pieces together - the Hamerstroms' research, DNR project managers, members
of the Tympanuchus Society, lawyers who worked gratis, legislators, and donors
who cared. Paul Olson explained his devotion to the saving of Wisconsin's
Prairie Chickens as a natural desire to leave a legacy for his children. In
fact, we all inherit the results of his commitment. In his own words, "It
worked!"
Willis Sullivan
Willis
Sullivan, too, can be credited with writing an important chapter in the effort
to purchase and protect land for prairie chicken habitat in Wisconsin. A chance
meeting with Dory Vallier, a friend and fellow conservationist who was active in
early efforts to save the grassland habitat, stirred Sullivan's own interest in
the plight of the precious bird. In April of 1961, Sullivan made his first
visit to view a spring booming, and he was hooked. "It was like learning a
long-forgotten friend was in trouble," he recalled. Sullivan moved quickly to
organize a group of committed people into what became the Society of
Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus, Ltd. Behind this tongue-twisting, affectionate
name was a fundraising powerhouse. Sullivan and the Society spread the net
wide, including individuals and institutions worldwide who were all interested
in the preservation of a species that , once seen, could not be ignored. For
Willis Sullivan it was "the accomplishment of my life." For the greater prairie
chicken of Wisconsin, support from the society continues to provide the
lifeblood necessary for survival.
Fred and Fran Hamerstrom
Prairie
chicken research in Wisconsin was the heart and soul of scientific study for
Fredrick and Frances Hamerstrom. For more than 40 years, they worked
side-by-side, acquiring an intimate knowledge of the birds that still remained
in the central part of the state. Habitat loss had pushed the greater prairie
chicken from the savannas and prairie wilderness of southern Wisconsin. It was
the landmark work of the Hamerstrom's that, by the mid-1950's, signaled an
absolute urgency for establishing a management program in the remaining
grasslands of Wisconsin, or the species would be gone from the state forever.
Wisconsin's greater prairie chicken population exists today because their call
for preservation was heard and heeded in time. Husband and wife studied with
the great Wisconsin naturalist Aldo Leopold in the 1930s and 1940s and worked
together fervently on prairie chicken research for the DNR from 1948 to 1972.
The Hamerstroms' studies and observations prompted efforts by private groups to
purchase land for lease to the DNR to establish a grassland management program.
The result is the heroic habitat restoration effort that has saved the greater
prairie chicken and its grassland habitat in central Wisconsin.
Dory
Vallier and Gordon Kummer
Dory Vallier and Gordon Kummer, a
husband and wife team, were on their way to visit a property near Tomahawk,
Wisconsin that they were interested in purchasing. On the way they decided to
visit their friends the Hamerstroms. According to Dory, Fran was particularly
persuasive in describing their plan to protect prairie chicken habitat. The
plan consisted of purchasing blocks of land and restoring the habitat. The plan
would create a checkerboard effect at the Buena Vista Grassland which the
Hamerstroms believed would aid in the survival of the prairie chickens. At the
time, land was being cleared for vegetable production and remaining habitat was
quickly disappearing.
Gordon Decided to help by purchasing the
first 40 acres of prairie chicken refuge. The couple quickly became committed
and dedicated to the cause of saving the prairie chickens. They formed the
Society of Tympanuchus Cupido Pinnatus, Ltd. Dory continues to participate in
the group's annual meeting.
