Nature Conservancy buys former Girl Scout camp in headwaters of Mukwonago River

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Nature Conservancy took another step toward protecting water quality and natural areas in the Upper Mukwonago River corridor west of Lulu Lake in Walworth County with the recent purchase of a former Girl Scout camp.

Crooked Creek, a stream in the headwaters of the Mukwonago River watershed, flows through the former Chapman Hills Girl Scout Camp in Walworth County. The camp has been purchased by the Nature Conservancy.

Acquisition of the 107-acre parcel, the former Chapman Hills Girl Scout Camp, bridges a gap between two other conservancy properties in the Town of Troy, said Sarah Gatzke, freshwater strategic manager for The Nature Conservancy in Wisconsin. The three properties are part of the group's 570-acre Crooked Creek preserve.

The preserve is named for a small stream in the headwaters of the Mukwonago River watershed, west of the conservancy's 972-acre Lulu Lake preserve. The creek also is known as the Upper Mukwonago River.

The creek forms from springs flowing out of the conservancy's 653-acre Newell and Ann Meyer Nature Preserve to the north. In 2006, the Meyer estate donated 374 acres there to the global conservation organization.

Money for acquisition of the Chapman Hills property came from the Meyer estate.

The conservancy paid $760,000 for the 107-acre parcel on Sept. 27, according to state Department of Revenue online real estate transfer records. The organization has applied for a state Stewardship Fund grant to reimburse it for half the cost.

To date, the Nature Conservancy in Wisconsin has protected 2,577 acres in the river watershed, said Cate Harrington, the group's director of marketing and communications. The total includes property purchases and conservation easements with private landowners.

Brian Miner with the Nature Conservancy checks a map showing what is left of the oak savanna in the background at the former Chapman Hills Girl Scout Camp in Walworth County. The Nature Conservancy has acquired the former Girl Scout Camp to preserve the rare oak savanna and other landscape features at the site.
The Nature Conservancy last week purchased the 107-acre camp in the headwaters of the Mukwonago River. The Conservancy paid $760,000 for the 107-acre tract. The property will become part of the Conservancy's Crooked Creek Preserve in the Mukwonago River watershed.

The remaining protected land is at the Pickerel Lake fen preserve that encompasses 382 acres around the southern headwaters of the river.

But the group does not intend to buy up all property on the banks of the river.

"We can't buy all the land, nor do we need to," Harrington said. "Working with neighbors and partners to find common ground and manage the landscape in a way that provides multiple benefits is very important."

State and regional environmental scientists consider the Mukwonago River one of the most pristine, or undisturbed, small rivers in southeastern Wisconsin. It is the home of 59 species of fish, including several that are threatened with extinction, and 14 species of mussels.

The Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois had operated the Chapman Hills camp on Scout Road since 1960. A farewell camporee was held on the land Aug. 25-27.

For nearly six decades, the organization was the steward of 40 acres of oak savanna, a rare plant community in the Midwest, that is on the property. Though the mature oaks were not disturbed, invasive shrubs have grown there in recent years and one of the conservancy's first tasks is to remove the unwanted plants, Gatzke said.

Among the invasive shrubs are buckthorn, oriental bittersweet, bush honeysuckle and amur maple, according to Dan Carter, a biologist with the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission.

Around 25 acres of open savanna have been restored at the Meyer preserve after removing the invasive shrubs, said Jerry Ziegler, the conservancy's southeast Wisconsin land steward.

Aerial photos of the former Chapman Hills camp show the 40 acres of open savanna so Ziegler and his crews have more work to do, he said.

The northwest corner of the property is marked by 250 feet of shore along Crooked Creek in the headwaters of the Mukwonago River watershed.

A small wetland of 3 to 4 acres thrives at the bottom of a depression, known as a kettle, formed by the melting of the last glacier 10,000 years ago.

There is a 10-acre open field that could be transformed to prairie with the planting of native grasses and flowers, Gatzke said.

One surprise for Carter when he walked through the property last month was the finding of a large patch of wild lupine in the old field. "Wild lupine is not common in the area," he said.

Oak trees tower over several of the remaining tents at the former camp.

The property is open to the public for hiking, wildlife watching and other outdoor recreation except for hunting, Ziegler said. After remaining Girl Scout camp buildings are removed, the parcel will be opened to hunting next year.