Good morning.
Friday in Whitewater will be cloudy with a high of 69. Sunrise is 6:27 AM and sunset 7:16 PM for 12h 48m 54s of daytime. The moon is a waning crescent with 33.9% of its visible disk illuminated.
On this day in 1974, President Ford signs the pardon of Richard Nixon for any federal crimes Nixon may have committed while in office.
“Prince’s Point Wildlife Area consists of approximately 2,000 acres of primarily bottomland hardwoods and open water marsh. It is located off County Highway D, 3 miles northeast of Whitewater.” Photo via WI DNR website.
Our area is about to add 1,800 acres of state wildlife area. Danielle Kaeding reports Land purchase nearly doubles the size of state wildlife area in Jefferson County:
A $3.6 million land purchase in southeastern Wisconsin will nearly double the size of the roughly 2,000-acre Prince’s Point Wildlife Area in Jefferson County, expanding key habitat for waterfowl and public access.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources acquired 1,830 acres around three miles northeast of Whitewater in May from a private landowner that’s currently managing the property as a muck farm. It’s a type of farming where wetlands have been drained, and the remaining soil is typically used to grow vegetables like beans, potatoes and onions.
The DNR is partnering with the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Ducks Unlimited on several wetland restoration projects on the property that could begin this year or in 2024.
Rachel Barker, a DNR wildlife biologist, said the work will add four wetland ponds or impoundments that are intended to provide diverse habitat for birds and wildlife.
“By restoring it to a wetland, it’s going to put the water back in the system and help create that really organic, nutrient-rich soil that is good for all the plants, forage for wildlife, and just kind of restoring that system and all the benefits of the wetland,” Barker said.
Hungry otter eats $125,000 worth of koi fish from hotel pond: