Waukesha County Land Conservancy

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Waukesha County Land Conservancy

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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.

05/11/2026

Sometimes, you don't need to see the animal to know it's there. These deep, vertically arranged holes are the unmistakable handiwork of the Pileated Woodpecker, North America's largest woodpecker. Nearly the size of a crow, pileated woodpeckers are easy to recognize by their bold black-and-white plumage, striking red crest, loud calls - and the distinctive holes they leave behind.

These powerful birds excavate deep into trees in search of carpenter ants, their favorite food, along with beetle larvae and other insects. Their feeding holes can extend a foot or more into the wood, exposing entire insect hotels beneath the surface.

The cavities pileated woodpeckers create are valuable to far more than just the birds themselves. Their feeding excavations, along with the even larger cavities they carve out for nesting, can provide shelter and roosting sites for other woodland wildlife, including bats and other cavity-nesting birds. By creating these holes, pileated woodpeckers are an important part of the natural cycle of a healthy woodland.

03/11/2026

Braden Hocking, one of the owners of North Pillar Brewing Co, has found plenty of ways to put his love for the outdoors into action - and has been chosen as this month's VEP (Very Environmental Person)! From opening the brewery's doors for WCLC educational programs to featuring specialty beers that donate a portion of sales to our nonprofit, Braden continues to find ways to support local conservation. He has also helped make our Annual Christmas Tree Harvest even more successful by hosting a give-back during the event, with a percentage of sales going toward our conservation work.

What makes Braden such a great partner is his willingness to get creative and find new ways to bring people together around conservation. Whether he's helping raise funds, making space for environmental education, or jumping in at a community event, he continues to find ways to support the natural places that make this area worth calling home. His support has helped WCLC reach new people and create more opportunities to share the importance of caring for our local natural areas.

We're lucky to have Braden in our corner, and we can't wait to have him back at this year's Christmas Tree Harvest! If you see him there, be sure to stop by, say hello, and thank him for being a part of local conservation!

02/11/2026

A garter snake’s three longitudinal stripes do more than make it recognizable as one of our most common snake species. They serve as a clever defense against predators through motion confusion, habitat blending, and optical illusions.

When a garter snake slithers away, its long, contrasting stripes can create motion confusion, making it difficult for predators to track its direction and speed. Without a clear visual reference, it's harder to tell where the snake begins and ends or how quickly it's moving. These stripes can also create an optical illusion when the snake moves, making its body appear to blur and further confusing predators.

When it's not moving, those same stripes help with habitat blending. The three light lines running along its body mimic the parallel blades of grass, plant stems, and reeds, helping the snake disappear into surrounding vegetation.

31/10/2026

This Halloween, the real fright isn't what lurks in the shadows. It's what we stand to lose when our natural places disappear.

No tricks, just a little reminder that the prairies, woodlands, wetlands, and wildlife we love are worth protecting. The future of Wisconsin's native ecosystems is something we all have a stake in.

Happy Halloween from Waukesha County Land Conservancy!

29/10/2026

False boneset may look like oversized dandelion puffs when it goes to seed, but this native wildflower is no w**d! It’s a valuable part of our native prairie plant communities, supporting butterflies and moths while bringing some impressive benefits to the soil beneath our feet.

Those fluffy white seed heads help disperse seeds on the wind, but the real powerhouse is underground. False boneset develops a taproot that can reach 10 to 15 feet deep or more, allowing it to tolerate drought and help stabilize dry, rocky soils, like those found on this hillside at our Eagle Centre Prairie Preserve. Its bitter foliage also makes it less appealing to grazing animals, which is why it can become more abundant in pastures. It may look like a w**d, but false boneset is a plant worth appreciating!

27/10/2026

Our Davis Nature Preserve is getting a beautiful new place for our community to learn about our local ecosystems, thanks to Leila and her Eagle Scout Service Project through Scouting America!

Her project includes a thoughtfully and beautifully crafted kiosk, bench, and interpretive sign all-in-one! Leila and her troop have gone above and beyond, putting so much time, skill, and care into creating something that will be part of this preserve for years to come.

Davis Nature Preserve was once largely drained agricultural fields. Today, this 52-acre restoration site along the Mukwonago River is being restored to its native wetland and floodplain ecosystems, creating valuable habitat for native plants and wildlife. Leila’s interpretive sign will help visitors learn about these ecosystems and the animals that depends on them.

We’re so grateful to Leila and her troop for taking on this project and helping share the story of our Davis Nature Preserve with our community. And there’s more to come from this amazing Scout - which we’ll share in Part Two soon!

26/10/2026

We were over the moon to hike with more than 100 people at our Full Moon Hike at our Hartland Marsh Preserve!

With moonlight filtering through the oak canopy and owls calling in the distance, we got to experience the marsh in a whole new way while hikers earned bonus miles toward the Ice Age Trail Alliance’s Mammoth Challenge.

Thank you to everyone who was able to join the Waukesha County Land Conservancy and Ice Age Trail Alliance for the hike! It was wonderful to see so many people enjoying the trails after dark and experiencing the sights and sounds of our Hartland Marsh under the full moon.

25/10/2026

Red-tailed Hawks are named for their signature rusty-red tails, which develop as young birds mature, usually during their first year. But plumage alone can be deceiving. Wisconsin’s largest hawk species is also one of the most variable in appearance, with color morphs ranging from nearly all-white to deep brown and to almost black.

One of the best ways to tell a juvenile from an adult is by looking at its eyes. Juveniles have golden-yellow irises that gradually darken to reddish-brown around 1.5 years of age, regardless of their color morph.

This juvenile hawk sat perfectly still, showing off those beautiful golden eyes and giving us a closer look at a feature that can reveal its age even when its feathers leave us guessing.

22/10/2026

Wildlife are on the move as they prepare for winter, including this blue spotted salamander!

Blue-spotted salamanders are a type of mole salamander, spending much of their lives underground or hidden beneath logs, rocks, and leaf litter. As temperatures drop, they seek out winter shelters below the frost line, often using small mammal burrows and tunnels and spaces deep beneath rocks and tree roots to escape our freezing temperatures.

While blue-spotted salamanders spend much of the year hidden underground, they return to the water in early spring to breed. Females lay their eggs in vernal pools, also called ephemeral ponds, which fill with water in spring and naturally dry up later in the year. These seasonal wetlands are especially important for amphibians because fish prey on their eggs and young. Since the pools dry up each year, fish cannot establish permanent populations, giving salamander eggs and larvae a better chance of survival.

Once the eggs hatch, the young salamanders begin life as aquatic larvae, developing in the water much like frog tadpoles. As they grow, they transform into land-dwelling salamanders and leave the pools to explore the surrounding woods. They seek out cool, damp places beneath logs, rocks, and leaf litter, where they can stay moist and sheltered as they grow into adults.

And now, as fall settles in, the cycle continues as adult salamanders head underground to wait out the winter before returning to the vernal pools next spring.

21/10/2026

What's a better team-building day than getting outside in this beautiful fall weather, collecting native seed, and giving back to nature?

Thank you to the volunteer team from Eaton for joining us in the field for a second time this year! Earlier this spring, the group pulled dozens of pounds of invasive garlic mustard and dame’s rocket. Yesterday, they returned to help collect native seed for our ongoing restoration efforts.

It was a perfect autumn day to step away from the office, enjoy time outdoors as a team, and make a difference for local ecosystems they can continue to visit and watch change over time. They also got to be the first volunteer group to see the new butterfly sculptures, which offered a great opportunity to talk about how habitat restoration supports butterflies and other wildlife.

Thank you to everyone from Eaton for spending the day supporting local conservation!

Address

53008

Telephone

+12628753070

Website

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

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