How can you restore an 11-acre site? Ask these students

Students Renee McDonald (left) and Tina Wolbers on site in Spring Green.

On campus, it's called "service learning."

Some local residents would prefer to call it "help with restoration planning."

But a group of graduate and undergraduates students at UW-Madison are calling it a great experience.

A dozen students in Botany Professor Joy Zedler's "Adaptive Restoration Lab" are helping restore an 11-acre site in the Prairie View development in Spring Green, WI.

The site was severely flooded for several months in 2008 and the homes were later bought by FEMA.

Last summer, the houses were removed, basements filled and the site was graded, leaving remnant lawns and ornamental trees. The next step is to restore the site.

That's where Zedler's students enter the picture. Local stakeholders turned to Zedler for help -- she agreed, but only if her students were able to develop a plan that involved field experimentation.

A soil core showing the sandy substrate that is typical of the site. It suggests that an oak savanna would be a suitable restoration target.

The students' job is to create a plan for the restoration project, helping sustain the region's species and ecological communities and fit within the constraints of the 11-acre site. The students are also collaborating with the Town Board of Spring Green and looking for potential funding sources for the restoration.

Their goal will be to restore the savanna landscape of the site and support native oak trees and vegetation.

During the semester, the class traveled to Prairie View several times to meet with stakeholders, inspect the site and talk with nearby village residents to learn how they want the site to look.

Zedler's class has consulted the local high school, River Valley High, as well as the Town Board and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. High school students can easily walk to the restoration site and help gather data to track restoration progress.

Two of Zedler's students presented objectives to the Town Board in October and asked for feedback -- an altogether great learning experience for the students and a chance for local residents to be a part of the project.

Spring Green Town Supervisor Dave Radel (green shirt) and Fred Iausly, Chair of the Plan Commission (plaid shirt) meet with students Tyler Tiede, Adam Waite, Andrea Backhrach and Marja Johnston-McIntosh.

The next step for Zedler's students is to present written recommendations to the Town Board in December.