The Avon Bottoms Wildlife Area is a tract of protected land located on the border of Illinois in Rock County, Wisconsin, managed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR).WDNR Avon Bottoms WFA Website- Retrieved February 6, 2023
History The Avon Bottoms Wildlife area was established in 1960 as part of a federal wildlife restoration project, specifically to improve duck and pheasant populations in the area to attract hunters.WDNR Sugar River Planning Group Final Master Plan and Footville Wildlife Area Feasibility Study p. 71- Retrieved February 24, 2023
The area was established to improve and preserve wildlife and habitat diversity along the Sugar River, a popular destination for kayakers, canoers, and tubers.National Rivers Project Website- Retrieved February 6, 2023 The area's preservation has led to the Wisconsin Wetlands Association to declare the floodplain forest a "wetland gem".Audubon website- Retrieved February 6, 2023
The Natural Resources Conservation Service, an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture restored wetlands and grasslands in the area, with 3,100 such acres working as easements directly adjacent to the wildlife area.
Land cover The main feature of the wildlife area is the bottomland hardwood forest, making up over one third of the total area. There are also many notable examples of large swamp white oak trees in the floodplain areas, mainly in the Avon Bottoms natural area sector. The 1986 WDNR master plan for the Wildlife Area states that some of these trees are near record size, and important to the biodiversity and the environment.WDNR Avon Bottoms Wildlife Area Master Plan 1986- Retrieved February 6, 2023
+ Cover type acreageWDNR Sugar River Planning Group Final Master Plan and Footville Wildlife Area Feasibility Study p. 72- Retrieved August 24, 2022 Cover type Acres Percentage cover Agriculture 200 6% Bottomland hardwood 1,440 42% Developed 10 <1% Grassland 410 12% Lowland shrub 200 6% Non-forested wetlands 38011% Oak 70 2% Prairie 340 10% Upland conifer 85 2% Upland hardwood 30 1% Water 237 7% Total acreage 3,402 100%
State natural areas
The Avon Bottoms State Natural Area is a unit of the larger wildlife area, and comprises of mostly floodplain forest.WDNR Avon Bottoms SNA Website- Retrieved February 6, 2023Lower Sugar River Watershed Association Open Letter- Retrieved February 25, 2023
In 2016, the State Natural Area Swenson Wet Prairie, designated in 1968, coalesced into the existing Avon Bottoms State Natural Area.WDNR Swenson Wet Prairie SNA Website- Retrieved February 24, 2023
References
External links U.S. Geological Survey Map at the U.S. Geological Survey Map Website. Retrieved February 25, 2023.