Page 19 - Spring 2020 MT_v5.indd

TREMPEALEAU
JACKSON

Appleton
Appleton
Kaukauna
CALUMET
Neenah
ADAMS Wautoma Appleton Neenah Kaukauna Manitowoc N
Manitowoc
Manitowoc
Manitowoc
Manitowoc
Manitowoc
Manitowoc
Oshkosh
Oshkosh
Oshkosh
Oshkosh
Oshkosh
Oshkosh
MANITOWOC
A
A
LA WAUSHARA W W W I I I N N E B AG O M M M M M M M M A N I I I I I I I I T OW O C A
C
T
N
N
N
N
N
A
N
N
O
O
O
O
O
O
O
A
C
C
C
C
A
A
C
T
T
T
T
A
C
T
T
OW
OW
OW
OW
OW
OW
OW
E
E
B
AG
B
N
WINNEBAGO
N
N
N
O
O
AG
CROSSE Tomah I G
MARQUETTE M I C H
Efforts by advocates like Malzhan and Hanson

did not fall on deaf ears. As Pam Schuler, NPS
E
Ice Age Trail Manager noted, there are thirty
K
A
schools within ten miles of the complex. The
L
NPS understands that offering children and
their parents an easy way to get outside and
connect with nature is a crucial component in
ensuring our nation’s parks and public lands
will persevere. It makes sense, too, in a time
when doctors are prescribing “the outdoors”
for improved mental and physical health, to
provide Dane County residents access to
outdoor therapy that also immerses them in a
landscape fi lled with geological wonders.
This recognition is what gave Malzhan and
his team the green light to begin planning the
1.5-mile Ice Age Trail across two properties
comprising the Ice Age Complex. Untold
hours were spent in Trail layout and design.
Nearly countless hours of work by members
A sandstone rock outcrop greets hikers as they follow the yellow-blazed Trail across a patchwork of of the Dane County Chapter of the IATA
properties which comprises the Ice Age Complex. Photo by Cameron Gillie. helped prepare the site. Then, between 2018
and 2019, a total of fi ve Mobile Skills Crew
much later. It wasn’t until 2001 when Shoveler’s Sink Waterfowl Production Area is events, with their hundreds of volunteers
Congress appropriated funds for the National owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and
Park Service (NPS) to purchase the property Wildlife Service (USFWS); and the Cross and their thousand, upon thousand hours
owned by James and Jane Wilke, that new Plains Wildlife Area is managed by Dane of volunteer time, brought this section of Ice
land was added within the boundaries. The County Parks. Altogether, these properties Age Trail from a good idea, into reality.
“Wilke property,” as it is known, is now and partners make the effort to preserve Finally, in June of 2019, after a fi ve-day
home to the Ice Age National Scenic Trail and interpret the glacial story, within the Mobile Skills Crew event, which attracted
Interpretive Site which will be home, shortly, boundaries of the Ice Age Complex, a notable 165 volunteers and garnered 3,751 hours of
to NPS staff offi ces. Then, during the next partnership effort. volunteer effort, the Ice Age Trail was offi cially
decade, adjoining pieces of land were connected to the sixth Ice Age National
purchased by other public entities, turning However, a signifi cant piece was missing Scientifi c Reserve, the Cross Plains Unit, more
the area into a complex composed of 700 from this picture: public access to this than fi fty years after Congress fi rst gave a nod
acres of public land. geologically captivating and very public land. to the idea of Ice Age Reserve units.
Drew Hanson, a member of the Ice Age
However, the big picture vision – the eventual Trail Alliance (IATA), a former staff member, Go ahead. Enjoy the exclamation point. Tromp
protection of 1,700 acres of geologically and now independent consultant, began across the boardwalks on the .4-mile white-
signifi cant features which showcase the advocating for the IATA, DNR, and NPS to blaze loop; it’s an easy walk with the kids and
glacier’s effects on the landscape – guided start building trails on the site. Hanson refers the dog. As you cross the boardwalks, know
these land purchases (and future ones, to the Ice Age Trail as the “People’s Path,” you are walking where there was once an
too!). This vision grew out of a general remarking on how much more approachable enormous glacial lake. Then, strike out across
management plan guided by the National the property, which will someday host a visitor’s
Park Service in 2008 (and an environmental it is for some hikers who may be intimidated center, and follow the yellow blazes for the fi nal
impact statement written in 2010), but it was by the larger peaks of famous trails like the mile of the Cross Plains Segment. Head to the
created in tandem with public partners and Pacifi c Crest Trail or the Appalachian Trail. high ridge where the prairies roll away down
stakeholders who were eager to participate in Tim Malzhan, Trailway Director for the IATA, the hill, and from this vantage point, you’ll be
this land protection effort. was also a huge player in promoting the Ice able to imagine where mile-high glaciers came
These partners came together in a way that is Age Trail at the Ice Age Complex. He proposed to rest. A sandstone rock outcrop awaits you
harmonious and yet adds layers of complexity. what would ultimately be a 2019 Mobile Skills in the woods as does the segment endpoint
One parcel of land, the Cross Plains Scientifi c Crew Trailbuilding event to the National Park on Timber Lane, just a stone’s throw from the
Reserve, is owned and managed by the DNR; Service and Dane County. In Malzhan’s words, city of Madison, Wisconsin’s second largest
the Ice Age National Scenic Trail Interpretive the efforts at Cross Plains are “important for population center.
Site is owned and managed by the NPS; both recreational and conservation purposes.”
Spring 2020 | MAMMOTH tales 19