Volunteers helped control invasive plants and assisted with priority land acquisitions to enlarge Chiwaukee Prairie State Natural Area in Kenosha County, while Madison area volunteers wrapped up six years of cutting and treating more than 50,000 bundles of invasive Phragmites at Cherokee Marsh State Natural Area.

These are just two examples of how volunteers help care for State Natural Areas, which represent some of Wisconsin’s best remaining prairies, oak savannas, wetlands and lakes and are home to 75 percent of the animal species and 90 percent of the plants listed as threatened or endangered in the state.

Efforts by 35 volunteer groups in 2017 directly impacted 3,464 acres at 43 sites and represented $121,147 in value, according to the recently released State Natural Areas Volunteers 2017 Annual Report [PDF].

For the complete story from the WI DNR,