Our project began five years ago as part of Wisconsin's new Important Bird Areas (IBA) Program, an effort to gather the expertise of ecologists, land managers and birders to take stock of Wisconsin's rich bird life and identify the places most critical to sustaining those birds. Of the 88 sites identified, many were already set aside as federal or state properties such as Horicon Marsh and the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. Others included regions composed of both public and private lands such as the Baraboo Hills and Lower Chippewa River. After all, private landowners own roughly 85 percent of Wisconsin, and those lands harbor the majority of Wisconsin's wildlife.Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine
