Paul J. Olson Wildife Area

Paul J. Olson Wildlife Area is a 2,995 acre property of scattered parcels located in western Portage and eastern Wood Counties. Parcels range from 40 to 860 contiguous acres in size. The property consists of non-native, cool-season grassland and shrub-carr. The landscape is flat and mostly agricultural, but there are scattered sedge meadows, old fields, swamps and woodlands.

The second-largest population of Greater Prairie-chicken in the state is found within Paul Olson Wildlife Area. This is also a great place to find sedge wrens, clay-colored, savannah, and vesper sparrows. While driving the many roads in the Area, visitors may see northern harriers hunting over meadows. This Area has been formally designated as an Important Bird Area of the State of Wisconsin.

Historically, this area was a northern mesic forest. In the late 1800s, timber was logged to open up land for agriculture, which remains the dominant land use. Paul J. Olson, father of the Dane County Conservation League, helped generate interest and funds in the 1970s to purchase land to preserve grassland habitat for the Greater Prairie-chicken. Today, land continues to be purchased by the State of Wisconsin and managed for grassland for prairie chickens and other grassland-dependent species.

Sources: WDNR, and Great Wisconsin Birding Trail Guide