Biologically Rich

12/22/2025

12/09/2025

12/08/2025

12/07/2025

12/03/2025

If you've been hiking at Retzer Nature Center recently, you will have seen areas that a few weeks earlier were filled with wildflowers, tall prairie grasses, and buzzing pollinators, which are now void of vegetation and blackened by fire. These areas are burn units in Retzer's prairies, and prescribed burns were done in mid-November. 🔥

Prescribed burns are a land management tool used by trained field staff (burn crews) and are used in nearly all Waukesha County Parks to safely maintain beautiful prairie and oak savanna habitat. Controlled burns cannot magically create prairie habitat where these plants don’t already exist, but burns do:

🌱 Recycle nutrients trapped in dead vegetation to stimulate plant growth.
🌱 Increase the amount of sunlight reaching the soil, which also stimulates plant growth.
🌱 Increase the diversity of prairie and oak savanna plants.
🌱 Help eliminate or control invasive plants and woody vegetation.
🌱 Fall burns can promote more forb and wildflower growth in grass-dominated prairies.

Many factors are taken into account before a safe burn begins, including weather conditions, relative humidity, wind speed, firebreaks, time of year, active wildlife, and wildlife refugia (unburned areas set aside for wildlife and insects).

12/03/2025

Some of the best pest treatments for next growing season can be done by creating a habitat for pest predators and soil microbes to over winter.

Brush piles aren’t just clutter—they’re vital winter shelters that save lives! ❄️🐾

12/03/2025

11/21/2025

Recently, our Land and Water Conservation Department staff gave a presentation on the agricultural work they do in the Rock Lake watershed. The Rock Lake Improvement Association requested the presentation to learn about programs and practices that help reduce pollution in the watershed. This work includes implementation of the Farmland Preservation Program, which gives landowners a state tax credit for following agricultural standards, and conservation practices such as cover crops.

11/20/2025

11/18/2025

11/18/2025