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Wequiock Creek

Wequiock Creek

Natural Features           History           Cultural Features         Map          Research

The 76 acre Wequiock Creek Natural Area was acquired during 2019 through a partnership involving the Northeast Wisconsin Land Trust (NEWLT), University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, and the Town of Scott.


Natural Features

The majority of Wequiock Creek Natural Area is flat upland, dotted with a few wetlands, and bisected by a steep sloping forested riparian area sloping to Wequiock Creek.

The upland area is former agricultural fields that are currently being converted to a grassland community. This is the beginning stage of restoring this area to an oak savanna community, remnants of which occur along the edges of these fields.
agricultural field

Three, small (one acre or less) naturally occuring wetlands  are located in one of the fields north of Wequiock Creek. These wetlands were bermed to encourage them to hold water longer after rain events and into the spring. Another wetland has been created on the south field by berming a gully that drained into Wequiock Creek.

The intact floodplain wetlands located along the naturally meandering Wequiock Creek are a nationally declining wetland type, known as  palustrine forested wetlands.  This area is dominated by green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), American elm (Ulmus americana), basswood (Tilia americana), box elder (Acer negundo), black maple (Acer saccharum ssp. nigrum)  and other hardwoods.
floodplain

The natural area contains some upland forest as well; some of it is pine plantation and the rest is early successional forest with woody invasive shrubs in the understory. 

Some of the upland and riparian forest contains a high quality understory plant community, including an assemblage of spring ephemerals, plants that complete their life cycle before forest overstory trees are fully leafed out. These spring ephemeral plants provide vital food source for bees and other insects as they are some of the first plants to bloom in spring.

It's important to note that Wequiock Creek Natural Area has an important role in the protection of the Point au Sable wetlands located less than one half mile downstream.

History

Funding for acquisition of the Wequiock Creek Natural Area came from the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, The Fox River Natural Resource Trustee Council, the Wisconsin Coastal Management Program, University of Wisconsin Sea Grant, and The 1923 Fund, a private philanthropic foundation.

Additional funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Fox River Trustee Council, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, UW Sea Grant, and UW-Green Bay’s Cofrin Center for Biodiversity has initiated the first stages of ecological restoration at the property.

The long-term goal is to establish a natural mosaic of Midwestern oak savanna, riparian woodland, and shallow wetlands, together supporting rich native biodiversity and a landscape representative of the region’s unique cultural history. An additional goal is to inform visitors about biodiversity conservation, watershed protection, and the important heritage of indigenous people who helped shape this environment.

Cultural Features

Like much of the landscape surrounding this natural area, Wequiock Creek Natural Area has great significance to First Nations people, including the Ho Chunk, Potawatomi, and Menominee people. 

Because of this significance, UW Green Bay and NEWLT are consulting with archaeologist Dr. David Overstreet and as many representatives from First Nations who have an interest here as we are able.

Map

Map of Oak Savanna Restoration

Google earth photo of Wequiock Creek area

Research

UW Green Bay students and staff began monitoring Wequiock Creek in 2016 and began conducting research on soils and a variety of biota at the natural area in 2019.  These efforts will provide pre-restoration data that can help assess how successful management efforts have been over time.

UWGB staff presented a poster about the early stages of our restoration efforts at the Natural Areas Association Conference in September 2022.   See a pdf of the poster here.