MCFARLAND, Wis. — Dane County plans to buy 128 acres of land along Door Creek in the town of Dunn as part of its effort to remove sediment and phosphorus from the Yahara chain of lakes, County Executive Joe Parisi announced Thursday.
The land, which the county plans to buy for $925,000, is located on County Highway AB and borders the Door Creek Wildlife Area and Fish Camp County Park. Money for the purchase will come from the 2022 Dane County Conservation Fund, Parisi’s office said.
The purchase is the latest part of the county’s Suck the Muck effort, which began in 2017 as a way to reduce the amount of nutrients and phosphorus that run off into the lakes.
“This purchase will provide a staging area to allow us to undertake the most extensive Suck the Muck effort to date as well as to restore the Door Creek wetlands, a 1,000-acre wetland complex and one of the largest in the Yahara watershed,” Parisi said during a news conference at the site Thursday afternoon.
“The Door Creek watershed contains some of the largest sediment deposits of all of the tributaries that were assessed for Suck the Muck, so it’s vital that we address this area if we are to address our overall needs for our lakes,” he added.
As part of the project, the wetland complex will be extended to Highway AB and will provide an opportunity for public access and parking. The property also provides an opportunity to build a trail connection to Fish Camp County Park.
In addition to the wetland expansion, the project will create a new spring spawning location for fish and create additional storage for floodwaters.
Planning for the project is scheduled for next year, with construction planned for 2024.
Since the Suck the Muck effort began, 180,000 pounds of phosphorus and 56,000 tons of sludge have been removed from Dorn Creek, Token Creek and Six-Mile Creek, Parisi said.
COPYRIGHT 2022 BY CHANNEL 3000. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
