Waukesha County Land Conservancy

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Brookfield, WI
Waukesha County Land Conservancy

A nonprofit land trust with a mission to protect and care for environmentally significant land and water in Waukesha County for future generations.

Established in 1992, we have protected over 3,500 acres of prairies, savannas, woodlands, and wetlands.

06/11/2026

We are incredibly grateful to Good Harvest Market and their customers for making this year's Earth Month fundraiser such a success!

Throughout April, shoppers had the opportunity to round up their purchases to support our nonprofit land trust, and on Earth Day, Good Harvest Market generously donated 5% of shopper purchases to our organization. Together, these efforts raised more than $3,000 to support our mission of protecting and caring for environmentally significant land and water for future generations!

Partnerships like this demonstrate how local businesses can make a lasting impact on conservation. Whether through fundraising campaigns, sponsorships, employee volunteer days, educational events, or other creative collaborations, there are many ways businesses can help protect the natural resources that make our region so special.

Thank you, Good Harvest Market, for investing in local conservation.

06/10/2026

Host plants aren’t always used as a food source - sometimes they provide a home.

This willow was covered in dozens of little green balls called galls. Although they may look like fruits or seeds, they are actually the result of a tiny insect known as the willow gall sawfly.

When a female sawfly lays an egg on a willow leaf, she releases chemicals that stimulate the leaf to grow into a hollow, protective chamber around her developing offspring. The gall serves as a safe nursery where the larva can grow until it is ready to emerge. Despite their unusual appearance, these growths typically cause little to no harm to healthy willow trees.

Many gall-forming insects are highly specialized and can only develop on a particular host plant species. Without the right host plant, they cannot complete their life cycle. For the willow gall sawfly, that host is willow. In this case, the tree provides more than food - it provides shelter and protection for the next generation.

These galls are an extremely important part of the ecosystem. The larvae inside become food for other predatory insects, birds, and other wildlife, helping support a diverse web of life. If you look closely at many native plants, you'll find similar galls, each telling a story of the close connections between plants and insects that often go unnoticed.

06/09/2026

Talk about a birthday surprise!

While conducting a site visit on her birthday yesterday, our Land Management Director, Helen, encountered not one, not two, but three state Special Concern Blanding's turtles!

Blanding's turtles are among Wisconsin's most charismatic reptiles, easily recognized by their bright yellow chin, high-domed shell, and what appears to be a permanent smile that adds to their charm. Unlike many of our aquatic turtles, Blanding's turtles spend a great deal of time traveling over land and their rounded, dome-shaped shell helps protect them from land predators like foxes and coyotes by making it difficult to get a firm grip in their jaws.

Helen was even able to determine that two of the turtles were female and one was male by examining the plastron, or the bottom plate of the shell. Male Blanding's turtles have slightly concave plastrons that help them during mating, while females have a flat underside.

Finding even one Blanding's turtle is always exciting, but finding three is something special. Happy Birthday, Helen!

06/08/2026

Those white spots covering a fawn's coat aren't just adorable - they're an effective survival tool!

During the first few weeks of life, fawns spend much of their time bedded down in tall grass, woodland understories, and other dense vegetation while their mothers forage nearby. Their spotted coats help break up their outline, allowing them to blend into the dappled sunlight and shadows casted on the ground from trees.

To us, standing five or six feet above the ground, a fawn can sometimes be surprisingly easy to spot. But predators like coyotes or foxes view the world from a much lower angle and don't see colors the same way we do. From their perspective, those spots help blur the fawn's outline and make it much harder to distinguish from the surrounding vegetation. Combined with a fawn's instinct to remain perfectly still and its very limited scent, this natural camouflage makes young fawns remarkably difficult for predators to detect.

It's a strategy that has helped white-tailed deer survive for thousands of years. What may look vulnerable and alone to us is often exactly where a fawn is supposed to be.

So if you're lucky enough to encounter a fawn this spring, enjoy the special moment from a respectful distance. Their mothers know where they are and nature has already equipped them with everything they need to stay hidden and safe.

06/07/2026

Yesterday, to celebrate National Trails Day, we hosted our second Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin field trip, continuing a series that brings people directly into the ecosystems we’re working to restore.

We spent time exploring the ecology and history of one of our preserves - looking back at how these landscapes were altered over time by factors like fire suppression and the introduction of invasive species, and how those changes disrupted the natural balance of these ecosystems. Today, our stewardship work is focused on actively reversing those impacts through restoration and management that bring these habitats back toward health and resilience. Participants were able to see that work up close, along with the insects and wildlife already benefiting from these efforts.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us, and to the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin for coordinating field trips across Wisconsin that give people from across the state, country, and even the world the chance to experience the incredible conservation work happening here firsthand. It’s a powerful way to connect people with the land and the organizations caring for it.

06/06/2026

What's a host plant? Watch this monarch caterpillar for the answer.

While adult monarch butterflies can visit many different flowers for nectar, their caterpillars have just one food source: milkweed. Monarchs lay their eggs on milkweed because it's the only plant their caterpillars can eat. Without milkweed, there can be no monarch caterpillars - and eventually no monarch butterflies.

This special relationship is what makes milkweed a host plant - a plant that an insect depends on.

Monarchs are one of the most well-known examples, but they're far from the only ones. Thousands of insects rely on specific host plants, with many able to use only a handful of native species, or even just one. From butterflies and moths to beetles and other insects, these plants provide the food their young need to grow and develop.

In short, host plants feed the next generation.

06/05/2026

Find your calm in the prairie this summer.

We're excited to introduce Yoga on the Preserve, a unique opportunity to slow down and reconnect with nature.

Beginning on the summer solstice, June 22, and continuing throughout the summer, Moonflower Yoga will lead each gentle yoga and meditation classes overlooking of our newly restored prairie. Practice among blooming native wildflowers, listen to the sounds of nature, and enjoy sweeping prairie views during the golden hour before sunset.

A portion of every registration supports our ongoing land conservation and habitat restoration efforts.

Space is limited, so reserve your spot today - and stay tuned as additional summer dates are announced!

06/04/2026

To truly appreciate wild ginger, you need to see the world from an ant's perspective.

Most people notice its sweet heart-shaped leaves on the woodland floor, but few ever see the flowers. That's because wild ginger hides them beneath the leaves, tucked close to the ground where only the smallest forest creatures are likely to encounter them.

Wild ginger attracts a very different side of pollinators than the bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds we typically associate with flowers. Its maroon-colored petals resemble decaying flesh and even produce a faint fleshy odor that attracts beetles and other ground-dwelling insects. Drawn in by the scent and the shelter provided by the flower, these insects crawl inside and inadvertently transfer pollen between plants.

From our perspective, the flowers seem hidden. From the perspective of a beetle navigating the leaf litter, however, they are perfectly placed.

06/03/2026

Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but on our preserves, beauty is in the eye of the ecologist.

We're incredibly grateful to this amazing group who joined us yesterday to learn about our local ecology and help tackle a growing conservation challenge: invasive species. Together, we removed over two hundred pounds of Dame's Rocket, the showy purple flower currently lining many roadsides across the Midwest.

While beautiful, Dame's Rocket is a non-native plant introduced from Eurasia as an ornamental garden flower. Unfortunately, it has begun spreading into our oak woodlands, where it outcompetes our native wildflowers, reduce biodiversity, and diminish habitat value for our wildlife. Although pollinators will visit its flowers, Dame's Rocket provides lower-quality nectar as its chemical makeup lacks the specific pollen proteins and amino acids our native pollinators need.

Thank you to everyone who spent their morning with us helping protect these woodlands. Conservation often means looking beyond what is simply beautiful and working to preserve what truly belongs.

06/02/2026

We are excited to celebrate Emily Overmyer as June’s Very Environmental Person (VEP) of the month!

Emily first joined us at one of our turtle programs just two years ago, and in that short time she has become an incredibly important part of WCLC. What began as an interest in local wildlife quickly grew into a deep commitment to conservation and learning everything she could to help protect and restore our natural areas.

Emily is currently a student at Gateway Technical College for landscape design with an emphasis on sustainable and native designs. We cannot wait to see what Emily accomplishes for her community when she graduates!

Emily has dedicated countless hours to work on our preserves, taking part in nearly every volunteer opportunity imaginable. From invasive species removal and habitat restoration to seed collection and hands-on land management, she is always willing to jump in wherever help is needed. She has also gone out of her way to learn new conservation and restoration techniques, including forestry brush cutting and other management methods that are essential to maintaining healthy ecosystems.

Beyond the field work, Emily has also used her professional skills in the printing realm to make a lasting impact on our organization and community outreach efforts. She has helped create signage that brings awareness to our preserves, conservation work, and educational programs - including our WCLC Event signage and the Turtle Crossing sign!

What makes Emily so special is not just the amount of work she does, but the passion and positivity she brings to every project. Conservation is built by people willing to continuously learn, work hard, and care deeply for the natural world, and Emily embodies all of those things.

Thank you, Emily, for the incredible difference you’ve made for WCLC, our preserves, and the wildlife that depends on them. We are so grateful to have you as part of the WCLC family!

Address

Brookfield, WI
53008

Telephone

+12628753070

Website

http://www.waukeshalandconservancy.org/, https://linktr.ee/waukeshacountylandconservancy

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