Prairie Chicken Project Wisconsin, county Road W, Bancroft, WI (2026)

06/16/2026

HOT OFF THE PRESS

The Central Wisconsin greater prairie chicken 2026 survey is released from the WI DNR.
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You can find the full survey here

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zb2f7hnlHDTVPaRtzfS5nV-xsSg6_2Lx/view?usp=drivesdk

ABSTRACT
Greater Prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnatus) were surveyed during peak breeding in
central Wisconsin from 7 April through 22 April 2026. A total of 35 booming grounds were
detected, and surveyors counted a mean of 273 (range: 252-298) males (c***s) on those booming
grounds. Average lek attendance was 7.8 (95% CI: 6.5-9.1) males per booming ground across all
surveys.

The goal of Greater Prairie-chicken surveys is to provide an annual index to population abundance
in Wisconsin with which to make informed management decisions. Survey objectives are to count the number of males on identified booming grounds (also known as leks) and determine the
distribution of Greater Prairie-chickens by documenting the occurrence of booming grounds.

Attendance at leks by c***s varies temporally, making single counts of males at a specific booming ground unreliable as an indicator of abundance. However, multiple counts also do not account for detection probability. surveys are thus an index to population abundance, not a
complete census. As such, it can be difficult to draw conclusions from small changes in counts from one year to the next; results are best viewed as changes in population trends over the course of multiple years.

Ways you can support our mission of improving central Wisconsin grasslands for birds like the greater prairie chicken.

Message us to be added to our winter work day email list.
Help us make more habitat!

Visit our friends with PF to advocate for a stronger farm bill.

https://pheasantsforever.quorum.us/campaign/162416/thanks

Make your annual donation to our habitat fund.
$25 or more we will mail you one of our habitat stamps.

https://cfcwi.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4214

You can also order apparel from our online store
https://www.bonfire.com/store/prairiechickenproject/

**Including a sneak peak of some exciting things we have planned for 2026/27...
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06/05/2026

As we head into our third year with the P*P we wanted to thank and acknowledge the Community Foundation of Central Wisconsin and their executive Jenny Riggenbach for all of their help in making all of our work for the Wisconsin prairie chickens possible.

Community conservation is needed more than ever and with organizations like the community foundation it can also be easier than ever to get something started in your area!

Many friends groups or traditional societies need 7+ people to form a board. With the community foundation model we signed our charter with two people. You don't need a quarom to get started with the good work that needs doing.

Here are some wise words from Jenny who just celebrated her 5th anniversary with the foundation.

You can read more here or find out about a foundation near you.

https://cfcwi.org/jenny-riggenbachs-5-year-anniversary/

"Here is what I know to be true after five years: philanthropy is not a formality. It is not a line item or a year-end obligation. It is an expression of love, for the place you call home, for the people who share it with you, and for the generations who will inherit what we build together."

Who will inherit what we build together? Is the perfect summary of the work we all need to be doing to save our public lands and better help our friends called to the conservation professions.

Habitat work is an all of us act.

You can find our "How to start a grouse project talk" here

https://recorder.google.com/2ae5d78b-0af2-4a4f-9ae4-00043fbac46e

Thank you Nicole Seward for the prairie chicken pic!

05/30/2026

There is a tidal wave of bad news at the state and federal levels for public land and habitat conservation. We wanted to share a few positive recent events to show just how impactful local community conservation efforts are.

Here in Wisconsin the P*P has issued a $3000 private land grant through the Great Lakes Audubon group to help landowners in the Paul J Olson wildlife area grow more prairie chicken food sources within their grassland areas.

We are putting the final details into the updated Prairie Chicken Survey signs which will be distributed within their core range to help the WI DNR learn more about the GPC population.

In other states!

🚨 1,900 acres are now PROTECTED in Clay County Minnesota

The Nature Conservancy and Pheasants Forever have partnered on a major conservation project near Moorhead—protecting prairie and wetlands while reconnecting more than seven miles of habitat in the Red River Valley. Supporting 15 rare, threatened and endangered species.

🚨 Texas just locked 6,409 acres of O'Connor Ranch under the largest RESTORE-funded conservation easement ever.

The Refugio-Goliad Prairie is Texas's largest remaining intact coastal prairie. Attwater's prairie chicken just got 6,409 acres it won't lose.

You need to understand what Attwater's prairie chicken is up against. It's one of the most endangered birds in North America. It's a ground-dwelling grouse that needs open coastal prairie with short grass and scattered shrubs. It needs to see the horizon to feel safe. It needs bare ground to perform its mating dance. The Refugio-Goliad Prairie is the last big patch.

We hope these stories inspire you to get involved with your local groups.

Show up for work days.

Donate.

Hell start your own thing if nothing is nearby.

When politicians are trying to sell what nature is left. Developers trying to squeeze that last bit of extraction profit from a wildlife area, or the podcast talking heads are trying to sell us one more thing we don't need.

It's time to get our hands dirty doing the real work of cultivating our land ethic.

Community conservation is an all of us act.

05/25/2026

A big thank you to Mark Parman for including the P*P in his latest article.

We are humbled to see our grassroots community conservation org included in a writeup about the legacy of Fran hamerstrom and her efforts to save wisconsin grasslands and birds like the greater prairie chicken. Those of us alive today cannot begin to understand what beauty and diversity we lost in our state. Her stories have a way of conveying that wonder and have been a guiding force as we grow the prairie chicken project movement.

On one of our first wanders for training Jango the young bird dog we would stop at the prairie chicken kiosk and read about the remarkable Fran Hamerstrom. From there I would read all of her books, and use her writings often in our awareness and fundraising efforts for the P*p.

The P*P is a bird hunters attempt at a community land ethic effort. where through our winter work days we show reciprocity for the habitat we love to wander and the birds we love to pursue. With help from landowners, artists, birders, grassland lovers, and other NGOs we have finished two winters of habitat work with many more to come.

I recommend getting yourself a copy of this latest PU magazine and following their latest conservation science group

To further support our work and the continuation of Frans early prairie chicken habitat work donate $20 (or more!) to our habitat link below and we will send you a habitat stamp.

Follow on social media for our 2026/27 work days and newest habitat stamp release.

https://cfcwi.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4214
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Long live the prairie!

05/20/2026

We are big fans of community conservation efforts and these two local stevens point events look to be great opportunities for all ages to get outside and learn more about birds and conservation efforts to save them

Youth bird banding @ Schmeekle is happening this Saturday, May 23rd from 7:00AM to 11:00AM. Space is limited to 10 children (18 and under) each hour. Pre-registration is required for each young participant (ages 2 and under do not need to register). Shifts are arranged in one-hour blocks. Families will need to register each child. Parents do not need to register themselves if bringing a child.

This program encourages youth to attend, but all ages are welcome. If you are an adult who would like to come, you are welcome anytime. For the safety of the birds, this is a weather dependent activity. If there are high winds, storms, or heavy rain, this event may be cancelled.

Register on the events page of our website here: https://www.aldoleopoldaudubon.org/programs

You will be able to RSVP under 7:00-8:00AM, 8:00-9:00AM, or 9:00-10:00AM, or 10:00-11:00AM time slots.
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Join us at the Buena Vista Grasslands to participate and spectate the banding process of American Kestrels on June 13th!

we will join Janet and Amber Eschenbauch of Central Wisconsin Kestrel Research on Saturday, June 13th from 9:00AM-11:00AM as they take us around the grassland to visit several active American Kestrel boxes.

Group participants will have the opportunity to learn about North America's smallest falcon in a hands-on setting. Janet, Amber, and the rest of the volunteers with Central Wisconsin Kestrel Research will be banding the young Kestrels and recording important data like age, s*x, weight, and feather development before safely returning

Meeting location will be the Kiosk located near the intersection of County roads F and W.

You can find the meeting location pin here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/b3w33WMyBBDXo11m9

RSVP and get more info here: https://tinyurl.com/ALAS2026Jun13

05/15/2026

For all our northern Wisconsin prairie enthusiasts, sharp tailed grouse nerds, or public land fans. Check out this weekend community event from our good friends and habitat fund sponsors The Corny Fish Shed
🙏🏽
Water is Life.

We want to be the good.

Put’em together for our inaugural Water Fest! This coincides with Community Clean Up Day.

Saturday, May 16 meet at the Community Center to volunteer to help clean up town and the surrounding area, then come to The Fish Shed for volunteer appreciation, & meet groups supporting ongoing conservation efforts.

Music w/Spring Fed begins at 1:00.

We get this one life. Let’s be the good, let’s do it for Water. We all need it. ✌🏼❤️☀️

05/15/2026

A big thank you to Bound to Happen Books and the McMillan Memorial Library for hosting "The Feather Wars" author James H. McCommons to give us an overview of early North American Bird Conservation and the many characters involved. Without them we would not have what birds and habitat we still have.

We think knowing our conservation legacy is an important part of showing up for modern day conservation at the polls, how we invest our resources, and the time we put into helping with our state grassland habitat management plan.

"The bird crusaders a century ago faced all-too-familiar obstacles: denial of the problem, hostility to government action, and claims from industry that it was doing no harm.

Understanding how Americans faced an earlier bird crisis and hearing their stories of struggle, setback, and victory can give us hope. Their crusade to save birds is a story of perseverance proof that big problems are not insurmountable.

The American landscape today can support billions more birds if we act as our predecessors did: in concert and with urgency. The birds--the most ubiquitous wild creatures in our lives-are sending out a warning we must heed" - JHM

Want to support our habitat work?
Donate $25 or more at our link and we will mail you one of our habitat stamps.

https://cfcwi.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4214

Order your own copy of the book from your local indie bookstore!

05/12/2026

Join us this Thursday (May 14th) at the McMillan Public Library @ 6:30pm for fundraising and an evening of storytelling around passenger pigeons, old hunting stories, North American bird conservation and what all of us can be doing today to help with community conservation.

Can't make the event? Donate $20 or more at our link and we will mail you one of our habitat stamps.

https://cfcwi.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=4214
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The Feather Wars
Authors at McMillan

The Feather Wars is an entertaining and expansive work of American history, an incredible story about how disparate characters—progressive politicians, free-thinking society belles, nature writers and artists, bird-loving U.S. presidents, gunmakers, business titans, and brave game wardens—came together to save hundreds of species of birds. Heroes, martyrs, villains, and conflicted do-gooders—the early bird conservation movement had them all. Together they transformed how Americans thought and cared about birds, forever altering the American landscape.

May 14th
@ 6:30 pm
by James H. McCommons
McMillan Library
Fine Arts Center

490 East Grand Ave
Wis. Rapids, 54494
715-422-5136

https://www.facebook.com/share/1HMYzRcJ3n/

05/08/2026

Looking to get outside and get your hands dirty for our public lands this weekend!?

Check out these two awesome events from our friends at the Aldo Leopold Audubon Society and WI bha.

What to bring:
Gloves
Pruners/loppers (if you have them)
Water & weather-appropriate gear
Snacks

Join the Wisconsin Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers for a morning of conservation work and lunch THIS SATURDAY, May 9th from 8AM- 1PM at Goose Lake Wildlife Area.

We'll start the day at 8:00 a.m. removing and spraying for invasive plant species. We will break midday and The Wisconsin BHA Chapter will provide a free lunch for volunteers, then close out the workday with trash removal and parking lot cleanup.

RSVP and Safety Wavier are required if you plan to attend. It will help us plan.

📅 When: May 9, 2026
🕒 Time: 8:00AM- 1:00PM
📍 Where: Goose Lake Wildlife Area, Deerfield, WI

More info below

https://facebook.com/events/s/goose-lake-stewardship-day-may/1586144012448034/

ALAS Stevens Point Work Day
Time & Location
May 09, 2026, 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM

Koziczkowski Park, 3433 Minnesota Ave, Stevens Point, WI 54481, USA

One of the goals of ALAS is to improve our local green spaces - this includes the removal of invasive plants like garlic mustard, so that our native plants can reestablish in these areas.

https://www.aldoleopoldaudubon.org/event-details/garlic-mustard-removal-at-erickson-natural-area-1

*Pic of fighting boomers for attention 😉

05/05/2026

We are excited for our second book reading P*P table event with our friends from Bound to Happen Books books
Come learn about our community conservation efforts and the history of bird conservation in North America.

The McMillan Memorial Library is bringing author James McCommons to town!

The Feather Wars is an entertaining and expansive work of American history, and incredible story about how disparate characters - progressive politicians, free-thinking society belles, nature writers and artists, bird-loving U.S. presidents, gunmakers, business titans, and brave game wards - came together to save hundreds of species of birds. Heroes, martyrs, villains, and conflicted do-gooders - the early bird conservation movement had them all. Together they transformed how Americans thought and cared about birds, forever altering the American landscape.

JAMES MCCOMMONS
James McCommons is a professor emeritus at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan where he taught journalism and nature writing for 20 years.

He is the author of the narrative, non-fiction book: Waiting on a Train: The Embattled Future of Passenger Rail named by The Library Journal as a best nonfiction book of 2009. In 2019, the University of New Mexico Press published Camera Hunter, a biography of George Shiras III, an early 20th century conservationist and pioneer of wildlife photography. His third book, The Feather Wars and Great Crusade to Save America’s Birds was released March 2026 by St. Martin’s Press.

He is a veteran journalist, specializing in ecology, environmental and travel topics. He has written hundreds of general interest magazine articles contributing to Better Homes and Gardens, Audubon, Wildlife Conservation, Organic Gardening, Backpacker, The Oregonian, St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Los Angeles Times, and the New York Times.

You can find out more here.

https://facebook.com/events/s/author-event-the-feather-wars-/1010825334601704/

Prairie Chicken Project Wisconsin

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