2023 Master Plan

View Master Plan

The master planning process provided the opportunity to review the Preserve’s infrastructure, land use, broad land management strategies, and protection of its distinctive natural, cultural, and educational features. Taking an updated look at the needs and opportunities of the Preserve led to prioritized recommendations for the next ten years.

The master planning process generally included:

• Setting planning goals
• Reiterating the mission, vision, and guiding principles
• Inventory and analysis of the existing facility conditions of both land and amenities
• Inventory and analysis of land uses,
• Identifying issues/needs and opportunities,
• Providing draft plan and final plan documents for public review,
• Engagement of stakeholders throughout the planning process.

Planning Goals for Master Plan Update:

• Create clear ecological direction – based on science, traditional knowledge, and adaptive management.
• Prioritize the many facility and management needs.
• Demonstrate how the Preserve is integral to the University’s teaching, research, and outreach mission.
• Enhance the welcoming feeling of the Preserve.
• Include diverse perspectives in the process.
• Understand and make recommendations for the Preserve that are relevant to its setting on an urban campus. 

Core Values and Guiding Principles:

Core Values (we believe in…)

Guiding Principles (therefore we will…)

1. Education and Research

   1. Provide students, volunteers, interns, the university, and larger campus community opportunities for teaching, research, and experiential learning in an outdoor setting.
   2. Share stories of the Preserve lands, it’s natural and cultural histories, and its management and care through multiple world views.
   3. Foster an understanding of the intrinsic value of nature and communicate the ecosystem services provided by healthy functioning landscapes.

2. Access, Engagement, Collaboration

   1. Engage with UW-Madison students, staff, and faculty to promote use of the Preserve in line with its mission and vision.
   2. Provide a welcoming setting for respite, wellness, and low impact recreation with consideration for safety, ease of navigation, and a quiet/peaceful user experience.
   3. Balance the provision of appropriate facilities for reasonable use and access for all with the cultural, ecological, and aesthetic integrity of the site.
   4. Promote a culture of inclusion.

3. Ecologically Sound Management

   1. Utilize scientific, indigenous, and local knowledge to guide restoration and management.
   2. Build diverse natural communities and ecological resilience through a diversity of management approaches and be adaptive to what is learned over time as we face a changing climate.
   3. Recognizing the Preserve’s setting in an urban context, deep indigenous history, and wide use for education & research, address the associated challenges and opportunities as a model approach for others to follow.

4. Respect

   1. Respect this place as ancestral Ho-Chunk land.
   2. Respect the sensitive natural and cultural areas within the Preserve.
   3. Promote an ethic of care and respect for the health of the land and the life which it supports.