Mississippi Valley Conservancy : People of the Mississippi Valley Conservancy

Mississippi Valley Conservancy is pleased to open up thousands of acres of recreational land to the public. The land protection work of MVC preserves scenic beauty, protects wildlife habitat, and provides opportunities for hiking, cross-country skiing, bird watching, hunting, fishing, biking, and nature photography. We encourage public use, but we ask that MVC’s recreational use policy be followed to ensure that sensitive habitats not be harmed or degraded. When using MVC lands, please also be careful to avoid trespassing on the lands of neighboring property owners.

In 1997, the New Amsterdam Grasslands (NAG) was identified by Craig Thompson, a founder of MVC, as one of the most important areas of conservation, primarily due to the fact that it provides critical nesting habitat for rare grassland birds, like the state threatened Henslow's Sparrow and Bell's Vireo. Northern Engraving Company saved the NAG from the bulldozers a decade ago and now donated more than one million dollars of land value to make this protection effort possible. NAG is 310 acres of all grassland. The size of the site is significant to these rare birds for maintaining viable nesting grounds. In addition to the important wildlife habitat being protected, this property will provide a great outdoor resource for residents and visitors to the Coulee Region. 35 acres will be open to the public all year round, the remaining acres are not open to the public during May, June and July (see map for descriptions).

The Holland Sand Prairie sits atop an expansive Mississippi River Terrace, created about 12,000 years ago during the last ice-age, that stretches nearly 30 miles from south La Crosse to Galesville, WI. Once home to a great expanse of native sand prairie and natural dunes, the La Crosse - Galesville Terrace is now almost completely developed into cities, towns, and farms. The dunes and hollows on the Holland Prairie are the only undisturbed Aeolian (wind-formed) landforms in the entire area.

La Crosse Bluffland Properties

Mississippi Valley Conservancy has a unique partnership with the City of La Crosse in the form of the La Crosse Bluffland Protection Program. The city budgets money to MVC each year, and MVC uses the money to acquire properties within the eight-mile stretch of Mississippi River bluffs overlooking the city. The program provides scenic preservation to ensure that the beauty of the landscape is not destroyed by poorly-planned development. Through this program, MVC carries on the proud tradition of land conservation in the Coulee Region pioneered by Ellen Hixon and other citizens in the early 1900s who purchased Grandad Bluff and Hixon Forest and donated these gems to the city for all residents to enjoy. Through these ongoing efforts, MVC and the city work to enhance the quality of life of all local residents, provide accessible outdoor recreation, and promote our tourism-fueled economy.

Click the thumbnail image below to see a map of MVC-owned properties in the La Crosse blufflands.

Hass Tract

In April 2005, MVC purchased a 118-acre wooded bluff in south La Crosse formerly owned by the Gerald and Edward Hass families. The site includes several globally rare naturally communities, a large spring and spectacular vistas of the City of La Crosse and the Mississippi River.

Click on the link above, for a printable map, and then follow Easter Road in La Crosse up the bluff about two-tenths of a mile, to the public access parking on the right. You'll see Mississippi Valley Conservancy signs on either side of the hiking path. Follow the path to the scenic overlook marked by the star.

Medary Quarry Property

In 2005, Mississippi Valley Conservancy
acquired the 453-acre Medary Quarry property from Mathy Construction Company. About a quarter of the land is old quarry, but the rest has been untouched by quarry operations and includes woods, bluff prairies and spectacular rock outcroppings. This land is home to many threatened and rare plant and animal species.

The quarry property is still undergoing the reclamation process to ensure that erosion is prevented in the quarried areas.
For that reason, MVC has not advertised the land as being open to the public other than through guided hikes and hunting by permission to manage the deer herd. While this is a great piece of property that will provide numerous recreational opportunities for the public for decades to come, it is important to note that there are dangerous, steep cliffs and quarry faces, along with the danger imposed by heavy equipment being used in the reclamation process and other hazards. For those reasons and for the protection of sensitive habitats and to ensure the reclamation process is not interfered with, we ask that members of the public should seek permission from MVC by calling 608.784.3606 before venturing onto any part of the quarry property.

It is also critically important that members of the public not trespass onto private property surrounding the Medary Quarry Property or any of MVC’s lands. If you don’t know whose land you are on, you should not be there. When members of the public trespass on private property adjacent to MVC land, it hurts MVC’s relationships with its neighbors and negatively impacts our ability to conserve more land. Please be respectful of landowner rights and boundaries. See our Recreational Use Policy for more details.

Cassville Bluffs State Natural Area

This 244-acre bluffland farm had served as a nature retreat for the Roe
family for over 50 years. The Cassville Bluffs State Natural Area (CBSNA)was conserved through a joint effort by the Mississippi Valley Conservancy and the Wisconsin DNR.

The CBSNA contains a variety of habitats including upland and
lowland oak-hickory forest as well as the rare savannahs and goat prairies
overlooking the Mississippi River.

Click on the link above for more information, a map, and driving directions.

Sugar Creek Bluff

On the banks of Sugar Creek near the Mississippi River in Crawford County, lies Sugar Creek Bluff, a 110-acre bluffland preserve.

Sugar Creek Bluff was purchased by Mississippi Valley Conservancy in 1999 to permanently protect it from future development. It is open to hunting, fishing, hiking, bird watching and nature enjoyment.

Click the link above for more information, a map, and driving directions.

Fish Creek

74 acres along Fish Creek near the town of Bangor was donated from the TOLD Development Corporation. The land, which benefits from $250,000 of restoration work as part of a wetland mitigation project, contains wet prairies, wetlands and a beautiful trout stream that will be made available to the
public for fishing and hunting.

Click the above link to view a map of the area.

Click here for MVC Hunting & Fishing Fact Sheet



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