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Cover Design hy Jeffrey Homar

Title Page Design hy Gail Mitchem

School of Fine Arts

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

m*sAmoiis OF the

WISCOMI ACADEMY

OF SCIEn, ARTS

AAD LETTERS

LIU — 1964

Editor

GOODWIN F. BERQUIST,

EDITORIAL POLICY

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TRMSiimS OF TUE

mm\m academy

Established 1870

Volume LIII

THE SCIENTIST AND THE MODERN WORLD 1

Aaron J, Ihde

Professor of Chemistry

. University of Wisconsin-Madison

JENS JENSEN-^CONSERVER OF NATURE 9

AND OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT

Harriet M. Sweetland

Department of English

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

I

THE FISHES OF PEWAUKEE LAKE 19

George C. Becker

Professor of Biology

Wisconsin State University-Stevens Point

THE FISHES OF LAKES POYGAN AND WINNEBAGO 29

George C. Becker

Professor of Biology

Wisconsin State University-Stevens Point

DIE FREIEN GEMEINDEN IN WISCONSIN 53

- ■ Berenice Cooper

Profesor Emeritus, Department of English

Wisconsin State University- — Superior

THE EFFECTS OF FIRE ON THE VEGETATIONAL 67

COMPOSITION OF BRACKEN GRASSLANDS

Richard J. Vogl

Assistant Professor of Botany

Los Angeles State College

AN EVALUATION OF WATERFOWL REGULATIONS 83

AND LOCAL HARVESTS IN WISCONSIN

James C. Bartonek, Joseph L. Hickey, and Lloyd B. Keith

Department of Wildlife Management

University of Wisconsin-Madison

YELLOW BASS IN WISCONSIN 109

William T. Helm

Assistant Professor of Wildlife Resources

Utah State University

127

UWM AND THE PEACE CORPS; PARTNERSHIP

IN INNOVATION

Carol Edler Baumann

Assistant Professor of Political Science

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

CHARACTERISTICS AND GENESIS OF SOME ORGANIC 149

SOIL HORIZONS AS DETERMINED BY MORPHOLOGICAL

STUDIES AND CHEMICAL ANALYSES

John E. Langton and Gerhard B. Lee

Department of Soils and Soil Survey Division

University of Wisconsin-Madison

A SENSITIVE FLUORESCENT INDICATOR FOR IDENTIFYING 159

AND DETERMINING THE CONCENTRATION OF THE

ALUMINUM ION IN MINERALS AND SOILS

John G. Surak, Robert A. Starshak and Daniel T. Haworth

Department of Chemistry

Marquette University

POTHOLES AND ASSOCIATED GRAVEL

OF DEVILS LAKE STATE PARK

165

Robert F. Black

Professor of Geology

University of Wisconsin-Madison

NOTES ON WISCONSIN PARASITIC FUNGI. XXX

H. C. Greene

Department of Botany

University of Wisconsin-Madison

177

NOTES ON WISCONSIN PARASITIC FUNGI. XXXI

H. C. Greene

Department of Botany

University of Wisconsin-Madison

197

PRELIMINARY REPORTS ON THE FLORA OF WISCONSIN.

NO. 51. SALICACEAE. THE GENUS SALJX — THE WILLOWS

217

George W, Argus

University of Saskatchewan

Saskatoon, Canada

PRELIMINARY REPORTS ON THE FLORA OF WISCONSIN.

NO. 52. GENTIANA HYBRIDS IN WISCONSIN

273

James S. Pringle

Royal Botanical Gardens

Hamilton, Ontario

DR. AARON J. IHDE

43rd President of the

WISCONSIN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, ARTS AND LETTERS

THE SCIENTIST AND THE MODERN WORLD

Aaron J. Ihde'^

Although human beings have been concerned about scientific

matters since they mastered fire in paleolithic times, it has only

been in the past century that scientific discoveries have rapidly and

profoundly changed their way of life. In fact, modern science is

the product of barely four centuries of activity. The year 1543 may

be looked upon as the beginning of the modern scientific revolution.

It was in that year that two of the great books in the history of

science were published: De revolutionibus orhium coelestium (Con¬

cerning the revolutions of the heavenly bodies) by the Polish cleric

Nicolaus Copernicus and De humani corporis fabrica (Concerning

the structure of the human body) by the Belgian physician Andreas

Vesalius. In the four centuries since their day we have seen many

changes of fashion in science but it is interesting to point out that

we have now returned to first interests — the most vigorous fields

of mid-twentieth century science, like those of the sixteenth, deal

with space and life.

In examining the role of the scientist in the modern world it is

best to clarify the characteristics of both before proceeding further.

Reading, observation, and reflection cause me to believe that scien¬

tists have certain common attributes. They are curious, especially

with respect to the nature of nature. They are intelligent. They are

enthusiastic. They are dedicated in their pursuit of understanding,

frequently to the point of ignoring everything else in the world

about them. They have faith that the universe is orderly. Except

for these common characteristics, scientists vary tremendously.

Some are thinkers, others are doers; occasionally the two charac¬

teristics are found in the same person. Some are innovators who

see the important interrelationships betv\^een apparently dissimilar

areas ; others are cream-skimmers who seldom introduce new inno¬

vations but quickly recognize significant problems once they have

been opened and exploit them enthusiastically before turning to a

newer problem of significance. Finally, there are the clean-up men,

persons of limited imagination who have the patience and consci¬

entiousness to carry on after the glamor of the problem has passed.

Fortunately, all three types are able to make important contri¬

butions.

* The author is Professor of Chemistry and the History of Science and Chairman,

Department of Integrated Studies University of Wisconsin-Madison.

1

2 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Now, if we turn to the characteristics of the modern world, we

observe a shrinking globe which is potentially affluent and is filled

with a multiplicity of misunderstanding . I shall not further belabor

the shrinking globe. Joel Carl Welty, in his address as retiring

president of the Academy two years ago, stated, ‘Technological

science has made it possible for man to circle the globe, not only

in 80 days but in 80 minutes, and it promises soon to broaden his

horizons to include other planets”.^ For those of us who have lived

a significant part of our lives in the twentieth century there is little

need to add more.

My characterization of the modern world as potentially affluent

may be criticized, particularly in a period when the President

makes elimination of poverty an important goal of his presidency.

I do not deny that poverty exists. Starvation is a way of life in

many parts of the world and we are not without it in the United

States. However, the fact that as shrewd a politician as Lyndon B.

Johnson is eager to make elimination of poverty the keynote of his

presidency demonstrates, I think, that we are a society with the

potential for affluence. This potential certainly exists in various

parts of Europe and could, with wise nurture, be extended to the

rest of the globe.

This potential for widespread affluence derives largely from the

modern capacity for innovation, both economic and technological.

The willingness to accept change leads naturally to the idea of

progress, a concept which was unrecognized throughout much of

human history.^ Thus, it has been only in very recent centuries that

such economic innovations as adequate capitalization, extensive

division of labor, and mass production have become significant.

Concurrently, technological innovations have led to the utilization,

in prodigious quantities, of power from fossil fuels, and to auto¬

mation.

The application of scientific knowledge to technological innova¬

tion is a development of the past century. Before 1864 technology

contributed much more to science than science did to technology.

The modern age of applied science may be considered to have had

its origins with the synthetic dye industry and the electrical indus¬

try. The slow utilization of basic knowledge of chemistry and phys¬

ics which stimulated the growth of these industries served as

models for present day scientific technology. Today no major pro¬

ducer of goods questions the utility of a control and developmental

laboratory and many progressive companies are recognizing the

1 J. C. Welty, “Knowledge and the Law of Diminishing- Returns,” Transactions of

the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, 51:7 (1962).

2 Cf. J. B. Bury’s The Idea of Progress: An Inquiry into its Origin and Growth (Lon¬

don: Macmillan, 1920).

1964]

Ihde — The Scientist and the Modern World

3

importance of supporting basic research. The rapidity with which

basic knowledge is applied today causes many farsighted industrial¬

ists and scientists to fear that applied science is outstripping the

capacity of fundamental science to supply new basic discoveries.

My third characteristic of the modern world is multiplicity of

misunderstanding. The spread of knowledge to remote parts of the

globe has been a consequence of technological innovations which

make rapid communication possible. Non- Western people are learn¬

ing about those principles held dear in the Western world; free¬

dom, justice, the dignity of the individual, and equality of oppor¬

tunity. While our practice of these principles frequently leaves

much to be desired, the existence of such concepts comes as a sur¬

prise in many parts of the world. Hence, knowledge of such

concepts further intensifies the existing dissatisfaction with the

status quo.

The same communications media which spread knowledge of

these concepts also bring promises of easy relief. I have already

pointed out that scientists all believe in a concept of order. In the

politico-social-economic realm there is also belief in order — but the

members of different schools each have their own concept of order.

The world is therefore faced with concepts of order, with the

devotees of each concept being convinced that their own brands

of socialism, communism, capitalism, nationalism, colonialism,

industrialism, tribalism, or internationalism are without blemish.

Is it any wonder that the impact of these various concepts of social

order on semi-literate peoples leads to the present multiplicity of

misunderstanding ?

The confusion of the contemporary social revolution is com¬

pounded by the impact of modern science, with its ability to effect

massive changes. As examples we need only look at the results of

electrical innovation: generators and motors, transmission of elec¬

tromagnetic signals through space, transistorized circuits capable

of accepting, storing, and manipulating information. Or we may

examine the results of agricultural innovation where the applica¬

tion of fertilizers, agricultural chemicals, and knowledge of genetic

principles has increased productivity enormously. In the field of

medicine the recognition of the germ theory of disease stimulated

the development of immunological practices and ultimately led to the

rise of chemotherapy with its sulfa drugs, antibiotics, and steroids.

Study of the atom led, on the one hand to nuclear weapons, on the

other to nuclear power and isotopes for use in science, medicine,

agriculture, and industry.

It is easy, in a society where the products of science are so read¬

ily apparent, to conclude that more science will settle our remaining

problems. However, we must beware of simple answers. There is

4 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [VoL 53

an unexpected deceptiveness in the application of science. While

nuclear weapons may quickly and inexpensively destroy our ene¬

mies, they can also destroy us with the radioactive fallout produced.

While chemical insecticides can hold in check the insect enemies

of the forester, gardener and farmer, they can also contaminate the

countryside and cause damage to innocent insects, fish, birds, and

mammals. While synthetic detergents can make wash whiter with

less human effort, they can also evade normal microbiological break¬

down and pollute our surface and ground waters. While wonder

drugs can save the lives of babies, they can thereby add to the

numbers of individuals living in a state of chronic malnutrition if

not outright starvation.

A great deal of heat and some thought has gone into the problem

of control of scientific applications in the best interest of the public.

Unfortunately, most socio-scientific problems are not easily re¬

solved in a manner which leaves everyone happy. Frequently, avail¬

able facts present a one-sided picture. This is particularly true

when there are financial interests involved, as there usually are.

One side of the picture frequently is adequately presented, the

other not.

Since my own field of interest and competence lies in the realm

of food and drug control, I would like to draw my examples from

that area. One might equally well look at the regulation of nuclear

energy, conservation of natural resources, prevention of pollution

of air and water, regulation of cigarette advertising and sales, or

the control of the mushrooming population.

The history of food and drug regulation may be characterized by '

a term heard so often during the early days of the second World

War, “Too little and too late.'’

The American food industry grew to sizeable proportions in the

decades immediately following the Civil war. Meat packing, can¬

ning, and the dairy industries had all reached sizeable proportions

by 1900. The American propensity for self-medication meant that

the drug industry was also a profitable one. Despite the lack of

sanitation, the prevalence of adulteration and misbranding, and

the widespread tendency toward misleading advertising, there was

no federal food and drug legislation, except for very limited laws

designed to benefit special producer interests. Need for general leg¬

islation was apparent by 1880 when Harvey W. Wiley became chief

of the Bureau of Chemistry in the United States Department of Ag¬

riculture. Although remedial legislation was introduced in every

session of Congress over a 25-year period, it was impossible to se¬

cure passage before 1906. Even then, passage would probably have

failed had it not been for the demand for meat inspection created

by publication of Upton Sinclair’s book, The Jungle. Although the

1964]

Ihde — The Scientist and the Modern World

5

book was a novel dealing with the misfortunes of a slaughterhouse

worker, the colorful descriptions of conditions in the packing in¬

dustry led nauseated readers to clamor for reform. Investigations

by government committees revealed that enough of the suspicions

were true to justify reform and Congress was unable to resist the

demand for a Meat Inspection Act. The momentum created for meat

inspection swept the Food and Drug Act, commonly known as the

Wiley Act, through at the same time.

Wiley’s intention to fairly but firmly enforce the Food and Drug

Act was frustrated from the beginning and he resigned from his

post in 1912. His successors conscientiously attempted to cope with

the problem of regulating two rapidly growing industries, but found

themselves steadily losing ground. Up to 1930 there were no sub¬

stantial changes in the law despite the fact that changes in the

industries were creating many new regulatory problems, some of

them brought on by scientific developments.

The first major attempt to overhaul the act of 1906 was made

in 1933 when the Tugwell Bill was introduced. This was fought

vigorously by lobbyists for the food and drug industries and less

stringent bills were substituted. The Copeland Bill (named after

the sponsoring Senator) was finally passed in 1938 — but only after

tragedy had occurred from the sale of “Elixir of Sulfanilamide.”

This product came on the market shortly after the effectiveness of

sulfanilamide had been demonstrated. Its producer, seeking for a

way to cut costs, introduced diethylene glycol as a solvent. It

served very well for this purpose but very soon after it appeared

on the market in the South, patients became violently ill and some

of them died. Before all bottles of the product could be removed

from the market, 107 persons were dead. The company’s chemist

became the 108th death when he committed suicide. It had never

occurred to him or his employer that diethylene glycol might be

toxic or that the producer had a moral obligation to look into such

matters. Ironically, the only action the Food and Drug Administra¬

tion could take under the existing Wiley Act was to seize the

product for misbranding. The word “elixir” requires the use of

alcohol as a solvent. The provisions of the Copeland Act would have

prevented these needless deaths. It was passed too late! In fact,

had the deaths not occurred it perhaps would not have passed for

several more years.

The Copeland Act was reasonably adequate to deal with the

major abuses prevailing in 1938 but the nature of the industries

changed rapidly during World War II. The introduction of DDT

was followed by other organic insecticides. Concurrently, the use

of new preservatives, flavors, emulsifiers, hydrating agents, and

other chemical “improvers” grew to major proportions. The powers

6 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

of the Act and the appropriations for its administration proved too

little for realistic regulation.

It is frequently alleged by apologists for the food industry that

there has never been a recorded case of illness attributable to the

use of chemical additives. These apologists are ignorant of or choose

to ignore the vitamin deficiencies caused by use of mineral oil in low

calorie foods, or the upsets caused by the substitution of lithium

chloride in low sodium foods. They ignore the fact that, since 1945,

such chemicals as dulcin (a sweetener), coumarin (a vanilla sub¬

stitute), mono-chloracetic acid (a preservative), Agene (a flour

bleaching agent), and at least six certified food colors have been

withdrawn from the market.

Although Congressman John Delaney initiated hearings on the

safety of food additives in 1950, it was not until 1954 that the Miller

Amendment was passed to give the Food and Drug Administration

realistic control of pesticides in foods. The Chemical Additives

Amendment was only passed in 1958.

Despite the fact that the late Senator Estes Kefauver initiated

hearings into the nature of operations in the drug industry in 1959,

remedial legislation was not passed until autumn in 1962. Two

months before passage, Kefauver’s bill was doomed to a quiet death.

However, the role of thalidomide in causing malformation of un¬

born infants became apparent just as that moment. Again, tragedy

was necessary to bring about legislation to protect the public.

The history of food and drug legislation has been one of too little

and too late. I am sure that a review of many other socio-scientific ■

problems would reveal a similar history. I am particularly bothered

to find the majority of scientists quite indifferent to these problems,

or frequently aligned with the forces advising no action.

We come then to the question, ‘‘What is the responsibility of the

scientist to the modern world in which he lives?” There are some

who answer, “He has no responsibility other than to be a competent

scientist,” meaning that he need be only a competent searcher into

the nature of nature who publishes his findings at the earliest op¬

portunity. They argue that it is not possible for the investigator to

foresee the use which will be made of his discoveries, therefore his

only responsibility is to discover. I take issue with this position,

feeling that scientists are also members of the human race and have

a responsibility for the preservation and extension of civilization.

Their high level of education and their generally favorable position

in the economic system places them among the fortunate group

which is in a position to exert a disproportionately large influence

in formulating public opinion.

The scientist seeking to apply a new development has a responsi¬

bility to anticipate over-all effects, not merely the favorable effects.

1964]

Ihde — The Scientist and the Modern World

7

While it is not always possible to foresee all possible implications,

a sincere effort can be expected.

There is a further obligation to make his understanding avail¬

able. The responsible scientist, because he has command of special¬

ized and unique information, has the obligation not only to serve

on governmental agencies when requested, but to speak out on is¬

sues of public importance when he can shed light on the problem.

Many intelligent persons excuse themselves from participation in

public debate on the grounds that human beings are dominated by

animal instincts and changes in ethical values are therefore not pos¬

sible. I remind them that history reveals important changes in ethi¬

cal values, at least in the Western world. We no longer practice in¬

fanticide nor abandonment of the aged. Human sacrifice was given

up centuries ago. We have not burned any witches for two cen¬

turies. Slavery was outlawed in this country a century ago and,

while it is still practiced in certain parts of the world, it keeps los¬

ing ground. Certainly there is still much to be desired in our treat¬

ment of fellow human beings but we have been making progress.

In view of the potential affluence of the world and of the inevit¬

able increase in leisure time, can we not continue our progress to¬

ward greater freedom (with, of course, recognition of its attendant

responsibilities), and greater understanding, and greater compas¬

sion for the less fortunate? We must continue to recognize our

major problems, the spreading of education and opportunity, the

wise use of our natural resources and our scientific resources, the

control of population growth, and the abandonment of war as a

tool of international policy. These are not small responsibilities and

at times they appear hopeless but civilization is based upon the

leadership of a small minority with a firm commitment toward de¬

sirable change.

I have always been thankful that the founders of our Academy

had the foresight to accept the fact that science is not a monolith.

They understood that it could serve society best if it joined hands

with the arts and letters. This has not always been remembered by

later generations. One of our obligations in this generation is to

see that the Academy restores proper balance between the respec¬

tive disciplines. We must further see that the Academy serves as

a forum for discussion of the problems of Wisconsin, even when

these problems transcend the borders of the State. Moreover, we

must be eager to move into action toward the solution of these prob¬

lems. If we carry on in this manner, such founders as Increase

Lapham, John Hoyt, T. C. Chamberlain, Lyman Draper, A. L.

Chapin, and Ronald Irving would be proud to have us as

descendants. ^

JENS JENSEN— CONSERVER OF NATURE

AND OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT

Harriet M. Sweetland^

On the western bluffs of Door County, accentuated by pine and

cedar, stands The Clearing — ^a unique, informal, cultural center,

offering varied courses which change weekly. In nearby Ellison Bay

a village school, unusual in America because of its natural setting

in a growth of white pine, epitomizes the philosophy of a famous

landscape architect's “school in a park" theory. In Racine, Wiscon¬

sin, that “little Denmark of America," a city park system, beautiful

because of its natural winding lay-out, stretches invitingly to the

wayfarer — heritage of its Danish-American planner. At Madison,

Wisconsin, Children's Glen offers a delightful nature-retreat for

the adventurous spirit of the playful young. Farther south, in the

West Chicago park system, fatigued city-dwellers may find quiet

spots of greenery in the confines of Columbus, Garfield and Hum¬

boldt Parks; and ringing the territory of Greater Chicago, along

the waterways of the Des Plaines, Sac and Calumet Rivers, that

same urbanite may discover a chain of wooded tracts, offering a

country-like environment and known as the Cook County Forest

Preserves. Circling the state of Illinois, particularly along the Mis¬

sissippi, Rock River, and tributaries of the Ohio, there stretches a

similar chain of state parks, instigated into being by a compara¬

tively new organization — “Friends of Our Native Landscape." In

central Illinois, at Springfield, the Lincoln Memorial Garden spreads

out in the open-hearted, prairie-like candor, befitting the liberal

spirit of the Great Emancipator for whom it is named. In the neigh¬

boring state of Indiana, a seven-hundred acre tract of dune land

has been saved for posterity to serve as a natural text-book for the

science-minded.^

* Miss Sweetland is an instructor in the Department of English, the University of

Wisconsin-Milwaukee. This paper was read at the ninety-fourth Annual Meeting of

the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters.

1 Because the private papers of Jensen were destroyed in a fire at The Clearing in

the late 1930’s, the researcher must rely largely on fugitive, secondary sources; but

fortunately Miss Mertha Fulkerson, Jensen’s private secretary for over two decades,

is still available for information. Reference materials used for the factual, biographi¬

cal data in this article were obtained from the following sources: Mertha Fulkerson,

“Jens Jensen, Friend of Our Native Landscape,” The Peninsula (June 1958), pp, 7-10;

Mertha Fulkerson, Letter to author of this paper of April 12, 1964 ; interview held

with Miss Fulkerson at The Clearing, April 25, 1964 ; Clifford Butcher, “Jens Jensen

Renews War on City,” Milwaukee Journal, June 9, 1935, II: 5; obituary articles in

Madison Capital Times, October 1, 1951, pp. 1 and 3 ; Milwaukee Journal, October 1,

1951, pp. 1 and 2 ; Chicago Tribune, October 2, 1951, p. 20 ; and WHO WAS WHO IN

AMERICA (Chicago, 1961), p. 448.

9

10 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

What have all these separate spots in common? What is their

connecting link? In one way or another they represent either the

creativity or the civic activity of a remarkable Danish- American

landscape architect — who, up to his death in his ninety-first year,

sought to preserve for his fellow Americans little retreats of nat¬

ural greenery, where fatigued mankind could find moments for

peace of mind and refreshment of spirit.

Although Jens Jensen grew up on the sea-tossed, history-drenched

coastland of Denmark, receiving his training in landscape design

at the agricultural college at Jutland, like many fellow Europeans

who found the Continental political scene not to their liking, he fled

to America— arriving in New York City in his early twenties with

the proverbial ‘‘dime in his pocket.” After brief farming jobs in

Florida and Iowa, Jensen came to Chicago, starting up the ladder of

the Chicago park system in a landscaping career which brought him

national fame and caused him later to be titled “Dean of American

Landscape Architects.”

His rise to professional success parallels the typical progress of

many a nineteenth-century American immigrant: Starting as a

common laborer in Chicago’s Washington Park, he soon won atten¬

tion from the neighboring citizenry by his creation of a little wild

flower garden in the heart of the city.^ From there he worked his

way up to become, in turn, head gardener at Garfield Park (whose

world-renowned conservatory came into being largely as the result

of his planning) ; foreman of Union Park; foreman of Humboldt

Park — at the time Chicago’s largest park; and finally, general

superintendent and landscape architect for the Greater West Park

system of Chicago, a position he held until 1920.^

In his Chicago park landscaping experimentations, Jensen is

chiefly noted for his work at Columbus Park, which still exists to¬

day practically as it was created, relatively untouched by the polit¬

ical manipulators influential in most cities. Its open, sky-loving

lagoon, with plantings of native hawthorn and crab-apple, stretches

out restfully — exemplifying most concretely Jensen’s philosophy of

natural landscaping.^

2 Leonard Eaton, “Jens Jensen and the Chicago School,” Pi'ogressive Architecture

(December 1960), p. 145.

^Mertha Fulkerson, “Jens Jensen, Friend of Our Native Landscape,” pp. 9—10; Wil¬

liam Golden, History of Columhus Park (five-page typescript, signed by author, on

file at the Chicago Historical Society) ; Chicago Bureau of Public Efficiency, Park

Government of Chicago, No. 15 (Chicago, 1911), p. 8; West Chicago Park Commis¬

sion, Recreation Centers ... of the West Chicago Park Commission (Chicago, 1919),

pp. 9-10; West Park Commission, Catalog Guide to Garfield Park (Chicago, 1924),

Introduction ; Eaton, op. cit., p, 145.

^ Jens Jensen, Siftings, A Major Part of The Clearing, and Collected Writings (Chi¬

cago, 1956), pp. 75-9 and 97 ; and Mertha Fulkerson, Letter to Author, April 12, 1964,

p. 1.

1964] Sweetland — Jens Jensen, Conserver of Nature 11

For Jensen represented something new in the field* of park plan¬

ning, promulgating a novel, unconventional approach in landscape

architecture : At a time when the Continental style of formal, geo¬

metric landscaping was very prevalent in public parks and private

estates — influenced strongly in this direction by the Chicago World’s

Fair exhibits of 1 893-— Jensen advocated a type of design more

closely resembling the English country park: informal, non-geo¬

metric, patterned after Nature’s curving byways and making use of

native plant materials. He used trees and flowers particularly in¬

digenous to the region, rather than exotic, foreign plantings. His

motif for this new type of landscaping he obtained by a careful

study of the Illinois prairie country which his immigrant eyes had

seen stretching all around him on his arrival in the Midwest. For

Jensen came to love the prairie even more than he had loved his

native sea-scape of Denmark. And the more he studied the prairie,

the more he became convinced that the public and private grounds

he was landscaping should contain only plants indigenous to that

landscape; so he tried to recapture in his parkways the '‘feel of

the prairie” as it must have appealed to the early settlers-— using

native wild phlox, blazing star, purple wild flag, swamp rose mal¬

low, flowering shad, wild crab and hawthorne, beech, white oak,

birch, sugar maple, and other trees belonging naturally to the re¬

gion in which he was working.^ In fact, Wilhelm Miller, Professor

of Horticulture at the University of Illinois, cited Jensen as the

pioneer in this form of landscape design, noting that Jensen was

“probably the first designer who consciously took the prairie as his

leading motive.”®

But in utilizing these native materials, Jensen felt he must al¬

ways consciously take into consideration the personality of the

plant, the personality of the landscape, and the personality of the

owner of the estate on which he was working. Moreover, landscape

architecture, as he once noted, was one of the most difficult of the

fine arts because the designer was working with living, changing

material. So he must consider not just how a certain tree looks now,

but “must see the tree in its full beauty hundreds of years hence,”

when it would have grown up to take in more of the sky line.'^

Living at a time in Chicago when there was a great interest in

“freedom of form” — a governing member of Chicago’s Art Insti¬

tute Board, and active in the Cliff Dwellers and other art groups

— Jensen reflected in his landscaping that same “freedom of form”

® Wilhelm Miller, “The Prairie Spirit in Landscape Gardening,” Circular 18^ of Illi¬

nois Agricultural Station (November 1915), pp. 2-4 ; Jensen, Siftings, pp. 20, 30-1,

35-6, 41-2, 61-3, 66-7, 77-8, 91-6 ; Eaton, pp. 145-6, 147, 149 ; Handbook of Chicago

Parks, (Chicago, 1934), pp. 20-1.

® Wilhelm Miller, “The Prairie Spirit,” pp. 2-3

7 Jensen, Siftings, p. 19.

12 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

which was to be found in the creative work of some of his Chicago

artist-friends in other fields: Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd

Wright in the field of architecture; Carl Sandburg, Edgar Lee

Masters, and Vachel Lindsay in poetry; and Lorado Taft in

sculpturing.^

Speaking of Jensen’s creations — both in private and public gar¬

dening projects — Leonard Eaton, professor of architecture at the

University of Michigan, appraises Jensen as —

perhaps America’s greatest landscape architect. In addition to being a

superb artist in his own field, Jensen was native in Chicago at a time

when the artists of that city were in an extremely active phase and

his career shows a remarkable interaction between the arts of archi¬

tecture and landscape design. . . . Jensen was a major American artist,

one of the most distinguished this country has produced. His design

concepts were as original and daring as anything developed by the

Chicago School in architecture and with that school he had an intimate

connection. Perhaps the central trend of the movement was the belief

that the region had a cultural identity distinct from that of the rest of

the nation. . . . The achievement of Jens Jensen must, then, be under¬

stood in relation to the work of his contemporaries. In his best moments

none of them surpassed him.®

Believing that “form must follow function” and that “happiness

and full self-expression can only be found by spreading one’s roots

in the soil,”^^ Jensen sought means by which the city-dweller could

be emancipated from the urban bee-hive for at least short moments

of respite — by furnishing him with natural woodland retreats in

the heart of the great city or on the outskirts of that great city.^^

For Jensen’s civic service did not stop with the West Chicago

Park system. Loving the wide open prairie stretches with their na¬

tive vegetation, Jensen noted the burgeoning out of Chicago in three

directions and realized, foresightedly, that this native landscape

would soon be swallowed up by city real estate developments unless

steps were taken to preserve it. So, while still serving as the super¬

intendent of the Chicago West Park system, he spent many Sun¬

days surveying the areas along the Des Plaines, Sac and Calumet

rivers, with the happy result that he soon forcefully advocated

8 Eaton, pp. 145-50; Fulkerson, letter to author, p. 1; “Upbuilders of Chicago, ” Chi¬

cago Magazine, 2:601 (September 1911) ; Madison Capital Times, October 1, 1951, p. 3.

8 Eaton, p. 150.

Milwaukee Journal, October 1, 1951, p. 1.

Jens Jensen, Greater West Park System (Chicago, 1919), pp. 13-4, 20, 38-9; Jen¬

sen, Siftings, pp. 80-88 ; 120-1 ; Clifford Butcher, “Jens Jensen Renews War on City,”

Milwaukee Journal, June 9, 1935. Note, too, Mertha Fulkerson’s quotation of Jensen’s

comment in her Peninsula article (June 1958), p. 8: “Mass education, mass production

and mass thinking is levelling the world into a monotonous sameness and totalitarian¬

ism is the result. Now we are in a struggle to prove whether the individual is of any

consequence or not. At such times the little violet along the trail can lead the way

to sound reasoning and proper respect for individual effort. Lessons in the soil give

the key to wholesome growth,”

1964] Sweetland—J ens Jensen, Conserver of Nature

13

setting aside certain wooded areas—later to be known as the For¬

est Preserves of Cook County, To bring these Forest Preserves into

being necessitated strong political action, but the genial Danish-

American was skillful in finding backing among Chicago's wealthy

residents as well as its average citizenry. Although it took both

city and county action and the passage of an entirely new law to

enable the county to hold land for the purposes Jensen recom¬

mended, eventually Cook County was empowered to purchase all

the lands Jensen had advocated Even a casual glance at a map

of the Greater Chicago area today will show just how wide-reach¬

ing and numerous are these county tracts-— peaceful sanctuaries

where today's citizenry may find retreat reminiscent of the land

our Midwest pioneers remembered. According to one noted Mid¬

west architect and city planner, these Preserves are unique in

being “still the largest wilderness area contiguous in any major

American city."^^

But Jensen's civic-mindedness extended beyond the boundaries

of Greater Chicago and Cook County. When that conservation-

minded organization, Friends of Our Native Landscape, was formed

in 1913, Jensen was its leading spirit and served as its first presi¬

dent-— continuing in that office for over twenty years. During the

first decade of its existence, the organization chose for its special

project concerted action to save certain portions of natural beauty

in Illinois for state parks. Their recommendations were published

in a brochure entitled Proposed Park Areas In The State of Illinois,

with Jensen serving as editor and chairman of the publication, as

well as chief instigator to action. As he argued in the foreword :

Practically all the lands mentioned in this report are of little or no

agricultural value. They bring to us more of the spiritual side than the

material. They represent Illinois as the white man found it — a different

world from the man-made one. , . . They offer refuge for native wild

life and a place of escape for a while at least from the grind and care

of daily life,^^

So today, largely because Jensen and his colleagues worked dili¬

gently through different community groups for their preservation,

Illinois boasts such state parks as the Savanna Headlands of the

The legislation concerning the formation of Cook County Forest Preserves was

quite involved. Sources that clarify the matter are the following: Cook County Outer

Belt Park Commission, Forest Preserves (Chicago, 1905), pp. 3-31; John B. Morrill,

“Forest Preserve District of Cook County, Illinois,” Landscape Architecture, 38:139-

44 (July 1948) ; Daniel Burnham, Planning the Region of Chicago (Chicago, 1956),

pp. 134-57; Harvey M. Karlin, Governments of Chicago (Chicago, 1958), pp. 271-83;

John C. Bollens, Special District Governments in the United States (Berkeley, Univer¬

sity of California, 1958), pp. 132-8; Leonard Eaton, p. 146; and Mertha Fulkerson,

Letter to author, p. 2.

Eaton, p. 164, (Present acreage is 62,000 acres, according to recent article in the

Christian Science Monitor, May 4, 1964, 11:2.)

1* Friends of Our Native Landscape, Proposeed Park Areas in the State of Illinois,

(Chicago, 1921), foreword by Jensen, chairman and editor.

14 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [VoL 53

Mississippi, Starved Rock State Park, the Apple River Canyon, and

Ogle County White Pine Forest — the only native white pine forest

in the stated^ Of the twenty tracts recommended for preservation,

only two failed to materialize. Of those which did become actualities,

dearest probably to Jensen’s heart was that inter-state section be¬

tween Illinois and Iowa, encompassing the Mississippi Palisades

and known as the Savanna Headlands. Jensen himself wrote the

sections of the report advocating their salvation, noting —

On these ancient cliffs of pre-historic time botanical and geological

science, together with the early history of Illinois, vie with each other

in importance of interest. The deep ravines are filled with forests of

ferns and the crags and talus formations are full of interesting plants

not found in the adjacent prairie country. . . .

The views from the Palisades up and down the Mississippi are both

dramatic and inspiring. It is here that we of Mid-America may feel the

greatness of the praire country to the fullest. . .

It is well to consider the significance of our heritage of river and

stream and prairie. ... I have often thought what it would mean if

every boy and girl, and the grownups as well from farm and city,

would come to these bluffs to get a greater outlook of the world. If only

once a year they could sit down on the edge of a steep cliff and watch

the currents flow by. ... In this way our Mid-American rivers become

the highway of our thoughts.^®

That people can now experience this quiet pleasure from the Mis¬

sissippi Palisades is largely due to the efforts of Jensen and his

colleagues.

And the same civic-minded zeal which brought into being these

eighteen Illinois State Parks — just as it had earlier instigated the

West Chicago parkways and the Cook County Forest Preserves —

aided also the neighboring state of Indiana: For it was Jensen who

took a committee of Indiana officials (including the director of the

Indiana State Parks, the governor of the state, and several state

legislators) to the Dunes area, spurred them to climb one of the

highest dunes, and pointed out from its top the area which should

be included in an Indiana Dunes State Park. As Miss Mertha Ful¬

kerson, Jensen’s secretary for many years, notes —

The importance of the Indiana Dunes to Jens Jensen was that here

was the meeting ground of plants from as far north as Hudson Bay

and as far south as the swamps of Florida. , . . Jensen’s hope was to

make this a natural textbook for the scientist . . . the botanist, the

naturalist and the ecologist.^'’

Letters from Jensen to E. J. Parker, written March 24, 1911 and March 25, 1911,

proposing- plan for legislative action. (On file at Chicago Historical Society Library)

Jensen, “Savanna Headlands” and “Preservation of Our River Courses and Their

Natural Setting,” in Friends of our Native Landscape, Proposed Park Areas, n, p.

1“^ Mertha Fulkerson, Letter to author, April 12, 1964, p. 2.

1964] Sweetland — Jens Jensen, Conserver of Nature 15

Although Jensen recommended purchase of all land from Ches¬

terton, Indiana, to Fremont— some 3,000 acres for the Dunes area

— and although the governor and State Director of Parks were in

agreement, some of the legislators favored a smaller purchase. As

a result, Indiana today has a Dunes park of some 700 acres, when

she might so easily have had more.

During the latter part of Jensen’s life — in fact, after his six¬

tieth year — when the political machinery of Big Bill Thompson

altered the Chicago scene, Jensen ended his long career as land¬

scape designer for the city’s park system and entered private prac¬

tice entirely — planning the estates of such wealthy Midwesterners

as Ogden Armour, Julius Rosen wald, Henry and Edsel Ford. But

these private estates, like his public parks, bore evidence, too, of

his original philosophy of landscape architecture. Always he stud¬

ied the terrain, the plants native to the area, and his patron, and

then sought to bring about a happy compatability of spirit of the

three: For one person of nervous, high-strung temperament, who

lived a life of tension in his work, Jensen planned a quiet retreat,

with an open expanse facing the Western sunset, where the very

landscape would suggest peace. For another patron, whose house

was built in the horizontal planes of the Japanese influence, Jen¬

sen used native crab-apple as a compatible planning to carry out

the horizontal lines.^^

Then, after some years of landscaping for private individuals,

Jensen established residence in Door County, Wisconsin — becom¬

ing, as usual, one of its most public-spirited citizens during the last

sixteen years of his life. On a 120-acre plot of naturally timbered

landscape, he built from native stone, and utilizing the crafts of

native workmen, that unique, informal cultural center known as

“The Clearing” — so titling it because he felt that “one must have a

clearing to appreciate the forest.”^^ Patterned somewhat after the

Scandinavian folk schools. The Clearing was conceived to draw to¬

gether craftsmen and creative artists of kindred outlook and in¬

spiration— the landscape architect, the painter, the dancer, the

artisan in wood, metal and stone. Since Jensen’s death in 1951, Miss

Mertha Fulkerson, his former secretary, and the Wisconsin Farm

Bureau have continued the spirit of The Clearing with their sum¬

mer cultural offerings which vary weekly : native geology, regional

ecology, courses in modern drama and art, poetry, philosophy, and

similar selections. In the beginning years. The Clearing also fre¬

quently served, during winter, as a craft-center for year-around

residents of Door County — who took weaving, wood-carving, or

Jensen, Siftings, pp. 67-9 and Eaton, op. cit., p. 149.

Milwaukee Journal, October 1, 1951, p. 1.

16 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

homecrafts; for both Jensen and Miss Fulkerson believed strongly

in community service.^^

Although The Clearing was Jensen’s chief interest during these

latter years of his life, the genial Dane also found time for his

usual civic contributions : He served on the Door County Park

Board for five years, and it is largely because of his foresight that

community park tracts were bought at Door Bluff, Ellison Bay

Bluff and Sugar Creek, as well as additional land at Cave Point. In

fact. Door County pioneered in the United States in the forming of

township parks.^i The Ellison Bay School also reflects his philoso¬

phy of a ‘'school in a park setting”, for the village bought land

adjoining the school and Jensen also gave them a plot of white pine

woodland, so today Ellison Bay school children may spread out in

a woodland setting for their recess activities, or hold outdoor classes

around their Council Ring in the spring and the falL^^ During

these latter years, too, Jensen was one of the active promulgators —

together with Albert Fuller, Emma Toft, and others — for the crea¬

tion of The Ridges Sanctuary, near Bailey’s Harbor, where rare

swamp plants may be found in the wetlands formed by the retreat¬

ing beaches of Lake Michigan. Here shy orchids, maiden hair fern,

and a variety of swamp vegetation, have been preserved in their

native habitat from the ruthless fingers of mankind.

Although Jensen is probably best known for his civic activities,

yet it must not be forgotten that underlying his public service, and

guiding the direction which it took, was Jensen’s 'philosophy of the

land. Loving the prairies, he found in them not only the motif for

his own landscaping but also his deep-rooted belief in conservation.

He felt there was something so precious in the native landscape, he

wanted to save it for posterity. As Mertha Fulkerson summarizes

his philosophy:

There was great thought given to tenderness expressed in a field of our

native flowers, to strength expressed in mighty oaks, to humility ex¬

pressed in violets, to peace expressed in the long shadows coming over

the land from surrounding woodlands at the end of the day, of the

daringness of pine and cedar clinging on the edge of a rocky cliff facing

the elements. These were the motives of his work.^^

Indeed, one might say that Jensen’s public-service endeavors, such

as the formation of the Cook County Forest Preserves and the

State Parks of Illinois, are merely outward manifestations of that

20 Mary Ellen Gothberg', “The Clearing — from Vision, a Reality,” The Peninsula

(June 1958), pp. 11-12 ; Jensen, Siftings, p. 30 ; Clifford Butcher, op. cit., p. 8 ; Madison

Capital Times, October 1, 1951, pp. 1 and 3,

21 Author’s conversation with Mertha Fulkerson at The Clearing, April 25, 1964.

22 For Jensen’s theory of school settings, see “Neighborhood Centers,” pp. 45-51 in

his Greater West Park System and pp. 84-5 of his Siftings.

22 Mertha Fulkerson, Letter to author, April 12, 1964, p. 2.

1964] Sweetland—J ens Jensen, Conserver of Nature

17

inner philosophy which drove him for most of his ninety-one years :

his belief that the native spots of greenery must be cherished and

preserved for refreshment of man’s soul.

True, national acclaim came to Jensen for his public-spirited ef¬

forts : the Massachusetts and Minnesota Horticultural Societies gave

him citations for his distinguished work in landscaping; the Uni¬

versity of Wisconsin conferred on him an honorary degree in 1937 ;

he was sought as a consultant in the formation of the Racine park

system here in the Midwest and the Alleghany park system in the

East; and he is accredited with saving Riverside Park in New

York City at a time when commercial interests sought to destroy

it. Theodore Roosevelt also called on Jensen’s talents in helping to

form the first national conservation program.^^

Yet, in pre-occupation with Jensen’s long career of public service,

one must not slight his philosophy as a landscape artist. For, in

the final analysis, the genial Dane was a singular blend of the artist-

philosopher and the public-spirited citizen. And it was the artist-

philosopher who guided the public-spirited citizen into the creation

of those natural retreats of living greenery in Illinois, Wisconsin,

Indiana, and other states of the Union. In a world where such

green retreats are growing increasingly difficult to find, today’s

Americans owe much to Jens Jensen.

Mertha Fulkerson, “Jens Jensen, Friend of Our Native Landscape,” pp. 9—10; Mil-

loaukee Journal, June 20, 1937, p. 3 ; Milwaukee Journal, October 1, 1951, pp. 1 and 2 ;

Madison Capital Times, October 1, 1951, pp. 1 and 3.

THE FISHES OF PEWAUKEE LAKE

George C. Becker*

Pewaukee Lake, only 18 miles west of the city of Milwaukee, is

a fisherman’s Mecca, It has always produced large catches of pam

fish, and fishing for game species is excellent. Its importance from

a recreational standpoint is obvious when we consider that a large

metropolitan city and its suburbs almost reach to the Pewaukee

city limits.

During 1960 and 1961 we collected at 11 stations, capturing a

total of 29 species (Figs. 1 & 2) . Recent literature and other records

disclosed additional species, bringing the total of known species to

35. The 1960-61 survey was made by shoreline seining, using a

4' X 20' minnow seine with square mesh. Approximately 100

yards of shoreline were seined at each station at depths up to three

feet.

Acknowledgments are made to my sons, Kenneth and Dale, who

assisted in the field; to Dr. Reeve M. Bailey, curator of fishes at

the University of Michigan Museums who verified the identification

of Notropis anogenus; to Elmer Hermann and Clifford Brynildson

of the Wisconsin Conservation Department who supplied me with

information from their files; and to Brynildson, (lordon Priegel,

and Vern Hacker, all of the Wisconsin Conservation Department,

who critically read the manuscript and preferred helpful sugges¬

tions.

Pewaukee Lake lies entirely within the county of Waukesha. It

is 4.5 miles long, 1.2 miles in width and 2,502 acres in area. The

basin of the lake is a pre-glacial erosion valley through which the

Lake Michigan glacier moved toward the west. The valley was

blocked at its west end by the stratified drift associated with the

Kettle Moraine.

The western half of the north shore rises to a height of approxi¬

mately 130 feet above the lake level but this is not reached for

nearly a half mile from the lake. The south shore rises to a height

of about 100 feet, but this slope is quite gradual. Much of the east-

* The author of this article is Professor of Biology, Wisconsin State University,

Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

19

20 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Figure 1

Sampling Stati ons

ern shore is low or swampy and the same is true of a small por¬

tion of the west end (McCutchin, 1946). The lake is divided into

two parts. The western half has a known maximum depth of 45

feet, the eastern half has a maximum depth of 10 feet but most of

it is considerably shallower. Much of the eastern end of the lake

becomes choked during late summer with submergent and emer¬

gent aquatics which render boat passage difficult.

The eastern half of the lake owes its existence to the dam at

the city of Pewaukee which holds a head of water of approximately

six feet. Before this dam was installed this part of the lake was a

swamp (Fenneman, 1902). Three small spring-fed streams, two on

the south and one on the north shore (Fig. 1) flow into the lake. A

number of springs discharge into the lake, chiefly along the north

shore. The outlet, Pewaukee Creek, leaves the lake on the far east¬

ern end and flows into the Fox River. The latter, flowing in a south¬

westerly direction, joins with the Illinois River which in turn flows

into the Mississippi River. The bottom of the lake is mostly over-

lain with mud, although exposed sand was found at station 3 and

sand and gravel at stations 8 and 9. On small areas alongside most

piers, shoreline owners had deposited sand over the mud to improve

the water for bathing.

1964]

Becker — The Fishes of Pewaukee Lake

21

22 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Fish Species and Their Distribution

After the scientific name for each species I have indicated the

station (s) on the lake where the species was collected (e.g., Pewau-

kee 6, 7, 8, 9 for the longnose gar) .

1. Longnose gar — Lepisosteus osseus (Linnaeus). Pewaukee 6,

7, 8, 9. Pewaukee Lake apparently affords excellent conditions for

this species. The four specimens which I took from four different

stations were all young-of-the-year. The muddy bottom and densely

rooted vegetation in extensive shallow bays is prime habitat. An

item in the Wisconsin Conservation Bulletin of November, 1937,

states :

Ten thousand pounds of garfish were taken in a single haul by a state

rough fish removal crew operating on Pewaukee Lake. One of the fish

measured four feet, eight inches.

2. Bowfin — Amia calva Linnaeus. Greene (1935) examined the

bowfin from this lake. Fishermen report taking it yearly from the

western end of the lake.

3. White sucker — Catostomus commersoni (Lacepede). Pewau¬

kee 8. We took one specimen, 99 mm. total length.

4. Lake chubsucker — Erimyzon sucetta (Lacepede). Pewaukee

7, 8. McCutchin (1946) recorded the following data on three speci¬

mens from Pewaukee Lake :

At station 8 on Pewaukee Lake I took a young-of-the-year, 34 mm.

in total length and weighing 0.44 gm. On the same date at station

7 I captured a chubsucker 223 mm. in total length which weighed

169.6 gm. Greene (1935) also reported this species from Pewaukee

Lake.

5. Carp — Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus. Pewaukee 3, 4, 11. When

McCutchin made his survey in 1946 he failed to capture this species.

Now the natives report that during the spring many carp spawn

on the extreme western end of the lake. The 13 fish which I cap¬

tured by shoreline seining comprised only 0.2% of the total number

of fish taken.

1964]

Becker— The Fishes of Pewaukee Lake

23

6. Central stoneroller — Campostoma anomalum pullum (Agas¬

siz). McCutchin (1946) listed this species as rare in Pewaukee

Lake.

7. Golden shiner— Notemig onus crysoleucas (Mitchill). Pewau¬

kee 5, 7, 8, This shiner is probably more common in the lake than

the records indicate. McCutchin (1946) took a single individual in

a fyke net. Greene (1935) captured the golden shiner from the

eastern end of the lake.

8. Bluntnose minnow — Pimephales notatus (Rafinesque) . Pe¬

waukee 1 through 11. This species is, next to the yellow perch, the

most common hsh found in Pewaukee Lake, where it made up

21.9% of the total catch. The many items of rock, metal and wood

which are thrown into this heavily used lake apparently furnish

surfaces for egg attachment. McCutchin (1946) reported this min¬

now as abundant in Pewaukee Lake.

9. Spottail shiner— -iVo^ropis hudsonius (Clinton) Pewaukee 4,

5, 6, 8, 9. The spottail appears to be generally dispersed in the

western half of the lake.

10. Common shiner — Notropis cornutus (Mitchill) Pewaukee 8,

9. McCutchin (1946) reported this minnow as abundant in 1946.

The present survey finds this minnow uncommon.

11. Blackchin shiner — Notropis heterodon (Cope). Pewaukee 3,

6, 7. The blackchin was found travelling in schools at station 3. The

bottom there was solid but overlain with a fine silt, and the water

was clear. By contrast, the stations on the west end of the lake

from which this species was captured had a bottom of mud over-

lain with fine organic debris ; the water was highly turbid. Greene

(1935) also reported this species.

12. Pugnose shiner— N otropis anogenus Forbes. Pewaukee 8.

Two individuals were captured on August 3, 1960. This is the first

report of this species from Pewaukee Lake, and, to my knowledge,

the first time that it has been reported anywhere in the state since

Greene (1935) made his survey from 1925 to 1928. The gradual

disappearance of this rare minnow from its rather restricted range

has been reported by Bailey (1959) and Becker (1961), In Pewau¬

kee Lake this species is undoubtedly limited in numbers and range.

It was captured from clear water over a bottom grading from heavy

wave-washed, vegetation-free gravel to dense submergent aquatic

plants over a bottom overlain with mud. Hubbs and Lagler (1958)

state that this species occurs ‘^scatteringly in clear and very weedy

lakes.”

24 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

The following data were taken from the specimens :

*Distance along sagittal line from medial anterior edge of mouth to a line connecting

corners of mouth.

Unusual are the 10 anal rays in Specimen 1. According to Traut-

man (1957), the usual number is 8 (frequently 7). The 38 scales in

the lateral line of the same fish also departs from the expected range

of 34 to 37.

13. Emerald shiner — Notropis atherinoides Rahnesque. Pewau-

kee 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10. Distribution appears to be general in Pewaukee

Lake but it is nowhere abundant.

14. Bigmouth shiner — Notropis dorsalis (Agassiz). Pewaukee 7.

The single specimen was taken over a muddy, heavily-silted bottom.

This contrasts with the sandy bottom in streams over which it is

normally found.

15. Blacknose shiner — Notropis heterolepis (Eigenmann and

Eigenmann). Pewaukee 3, 6, 7. I have encountered this minnow

under many conditions but most frequently over mud or silt-covered

bottoms in lakes and slow-moving streams. In 1946 McCutchin re¬

ported it as abundant. This species, I find, fluctuates greatly in

number from year to year in a given body of water. In Eske Lake

(Portage Co., Wis.) during 1959 this minnow was seen by the

thousands along the southeast shore of the lake and hundreds were

easily captured with a square-yard dip net. The following year the

lake was visited frequently and none were seen in the same area,

but a few were captured in the small creek draining the lake.

16. Black bullhead — Ictalurus melas (Rafinesque) . Greene

(1935) reported this species from the east end of the lake. Mc¬

Cutchin (1946) listed “bullhead’' from Pewaukee Lake but made

no distinction between the species in this genus.

1964]

Becker — The Fishes of Pewaukee Lake

25

17. Yellow bullhead — Ictalurus natalis (LeSueur). Pewaukee 3,

10. Greene (1935) reported this species from Pewaukee Lake.

18. Tadpole madtom — Noturus gyrinus (Mitchill), Pewaukee 3,

10. Greene (1935) captured this species from the east end of Pe¬

waukee Lake and it was here also that I took two specimens during

the 1960-61 survey, I consider it rare in the lake.

19. Grass pickerel- — Esox americanus vermiculatus LeSueur. Pe¬

waukee 2. Greene (1935) captured this species from the east end of

Pewaukee Lake. My specimen was 87 mm. total length.

20. Muskellunge— -E/sox masquinongy Mitchill. Muskellunge were

planted in Pewaukee Lake during 1937, 1939, and 1940 (McCutchin,

1946). From these original plantings occasional catches are still

reported. In 1944 an 181/^ pound fish was reported caught

(Sprecher, 1945). On October 9, 1958, an alleged muskellunge,

weighing 14 pounds 10 ounces and measuring 39 inches in total

length was taken from the east end of the lake by Mrs. W. F. Boyd

of the city of Pewaukee (pers. comm.). I examined a photograph

of this fish ; however, it was impossible to make a firm identification

from it. On the other hand Mrs. Boyd's careful description of the

scalation on the cheeks and opercula lead me to believe that the

record is authentic.

21. Northern pike — Esox lucius Linnaeus. Pewaukee 8. Mc¬

Cutchin (1946) captured the northern pike at all the stations where

he placed fyke nets and the 12 fish so caught constituted 2A% of

the total catch. This species appears to have a general distribution

in the lake. Many northerns, five to ten pounds in weight, are taken

yearly by fishermen.

22. Banded killifish — Fundulus diayhanus (LeSueur). Pewau¬

kee 3, 6. Often found in large and widely roaming schools, this top-

minnow has probably a more general distribution in the lake than

is indicated by the survey.

23. White bass — Roccus chrysops (Rafinesque) . Greene (1935)

reported a record from Pewaukee Lake. I have personally inspected

this species in a fisherman's catch from Pewaukee Lake in Septem¬

ber, 1961. McCutchin (1946) reported a dense population in the

west end of Pewaukee Lake, In fyke nets he captured specimens

from IIV2" to nearly 13%^', weighing up to a pound and a quarter.

Twelve thousand fingerlings were planted in Pewaukee in 1943.

There is no subsequent record of stocking.

24. Yellow perch— Perea flavescens (Mitchill). Pewaukee 1

through 11. The perch is probably the most abundant panfish in

Pewaukee Lake. McCutchin (1946) reported a dense population.

26 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Some fishermen, upon removing the spinous dorsal hn, use it as live

bait for the northern pike.

25. Walleye — Stizostedion vitreum vitreum (Mitchill). Pewau-

kee 7. Greene (1935) recorded a report from Pewaukee Lake. Mc-

Cutchin (1946) fyke-netted ten individuals, three to seven years of

age and from 14 to 23 inches in total length. The largest fish

weighed four pounds and five ounces. He found that these walleyes

were well above the average length-weight and length-age ratio for

Wisconsin walleyes. Millions of walleye fry and thousands of finger-

lings were planted in Pewaukee Lake between 1937 and 1956. Large

specimens of seven to nine pounds are occasionally caught by fish¬

ermen in the vicinity of stations 8 and 9.

26. Central Johnny ddiTt^v—Etheostoma nigrum nigrum (Ra-

finesque). Pewaukee 1, 3 through 11. The general distribution of

this species in Pewaukee Lake is due to man’s efforts to create

suitable swimming areas. In 1946 McCutchin reported this species

as rare. Today it is common. Small patches of gravelled areas, rep¬

resenting many hundreds of tons of gravel, are found in connection

with most piers in the lake. Since only small gravelled areas are

needed by this species, it does very well in such artificially created

habitats.

27. Smallmouth bass — Micropterus dolomieui Lacepede. Greene

(1935) listed a report from Pewaukee Lake. In 1937 seventy adult

smallmouth were stocked in the lake. According to an item in The

Milwaukee Journal of February 25, 1956, a six pound 12-ounce

smallmouth bass was taken from Pewaukee Lake the previous year.

28. Largemouth bass — Micropterus salmoides (Lacepede). Pe¬

waukee 1 through 11. The largemouth bass is commonly found in

Pewaukee Lake and is among the leading game fish caught. Many

of the fish I captured were fingerlings, indicating good reproduc¬

tion. McCutchin (1946) reports the largemouth as common in the

lake. The large weed-filled areas along the shoreline afford favorite

habitat for this species. The largemouth was last stocked in 1953.

29. Green sunfish — Lepomis cyanellus Rafinesque. Pewaukee 2,

10. McCutchin (1946) reported this species as rare in the lake.

30. Bluegill — Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque. Pewaukee 1

through 11. This species was stocked in these waters through 1946.

In the same year McCutchin reported it as abundant. A large share

of the fisherman’s yearly bag consists of the bluegill.

31. Pumpkinseed — Lepomis gibbosus (Linnaeus). Pewaukee 1

through 11. This species has general distribution in the lake and is

common.

1964]

Becker — The Fishes of Pewaukee Lake

27

32. Rock bass — Ambloplites rupestris (Rafinesque) . Pewaukee

8. Greene (1935) listed a report from Pewaukee Lake. McCutchin

(1946) captured seven individuals in the western half of Pewaukee

Lake. Continued eutrophication of this lake will probably keep this

species at extremely low levels.

33. Black crappie — Pomoxis nigromaculatus (LeSueur). Pewau¬

kee 1, 3 through 10. McCutchin (1946) listed this species as com¬

mon. I have found it to be abundant and fishermen make excellent

catches.

34. Brook silverside — Labidesthes sicculus (Cope). Pewaukee 1,

3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11. I consider the brook silverside one of the

most abundant species in the lake. It comprised 16% of the total

catch by number. Numerous tight schools of several hundred young-

of-the-year were swimming within a few feet of the shore and

hundreds would swim or drop through the mesh of the seine be¬

fore they could be counted. It was not unusual to surround two or

three schools in a single haul.

35. Freshwater drum — -Aplodinotus grunniens Rafinesque. Pe¬

waukee 6. At present this species is no problem in Pewaukee Lake.

Occasionally an individual is taken on hook and line.

References

Bailey, Reeve M. 1959. Distribution of the American cyprinid fish Notropis

anogenus. Copeia 2:119-123.

Becker, George C. 1961. Fading fins. Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts & Letters.

50:239-248.

Fenneman, N. M. 1902. On the lakes of southeastern Wisconsin. Wis. Geol.

& Nat. Hist. Surv. Bull. 8:178 pp.

Greene, C. Willard. 1935. Distribution of Wisconsin fishes. Wis. Cons.

Comm., Madison, Wis. 235 pp.

Hubbs, Carl L. and Karl F. Lagler. 1958. Fishes of the Great Lakes region

(revised edit.). Cranbrook Instit. of Sci. Bull. 26:213 pp.

McCutchin, Thayre N, 1946. A biological survey of Pewaukee Lake, Wau¬

kesha Co., Wis. Wis. Cons. Dept., Madison, Wis. Sect, of Fish. Biol.

Invest. Report No. 573. 28 pp. (mimeog.).

Sprecher, G. E. 1945. Wisconsin fishing a la 1944. Wis. Cons. Bull. 10(5-6) :

6.

Trautman, Milton B. 1957. The fishes of Ohio. Ohio State Univ. Press.

683 pp.

I

\

■‘Vair'

THE FISHES OF LAKES POYGAN AND WINNEBAGO

George C. Becker^

Wisconsin’s larger lakes have always been strongly patronized

by fishermen because of their varied hsh life. Two lakes which

have been fished heavily are Lakes Poygan and Winnebago. The

fish life is so varied in these waters that much confusion results as

to what is caught. Although no key for identification is included,

the present study attempts to assess what these waters hold. Con¬

sidered together, these lakes have now (or have had in the recent

past) at least 71 species of fish,

I undertook the survey of the fishes of these lakes in the fall of

1959 and continued during the summers of 1960 through 1963. Not

only did my study show a rich variety of fish, it also indicated

changes in fish distribution which had taken place since C. Willard

Greene (1935) made his report based on the 1925-1928 survey of

Wisconsin lakes and streams. During the intervening three decades,

fish have moved into new areas of the state via natural or man¬

made waterways. They have crossed from one watershed to an¬

other, from one drainage basin to another. Sometimes man inten¬

tionally effected this movement by transferring these fish in min¬

now bucket or tank; some species have managed this on their own.

I have tried, wherever possible, to point out these changes in the

text which follows.

Assisting me in the field were my sons Kenneth and Dale, who

performed their tasks gratis. Had it been otherwise, the survey

would never have been made. I therefore gratefully acknowledge

their help. Also I am indebted to the following for their advice,

open files and assistance: Vern Hacker, Gordon Priegel, John Kep-

pler, Thomas Wirth, all of the Wisconsin Conservation Department.

I wish to thank Vem Hacker, Gordon Priegel, and Thomas Wirth

for their critical reading of the manuscript and their helpful sug¬

gestions. I assume full responsibility for any errors that remain

or inferences which will not stand up under the test of time.

Lakes Poygan and Winnebago lie in the Great Lakes drainage

basin and drain into the Green Bay waters of Lake Michigan. Both

are eutrophic lakes which in late summer present a problem to

* Mr. Becker is Professor of Biology, Wisconsin State University, Stevens Point,

Wisconsin.

29

30 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

shoreline owners. Growths of algae and rooted aquatics make many

shallows, especially in protected bays, undesirable for bathing and

fishing. In late summer, for instance, the public beach at Fond du

Lac on Lake Winnebago is frequently closed because of algal con¬

tamination, and in Lake Poygan large areas of dense aquatics make

boating difficult, if not impossible.

Located in the counties of Waushara and Winnebago in east-

central Wisconsin, Lake Poygan (Fig. 1), covering 10,992 acres

(Wis. Cons. Dept., 1958), is formed by a widening of the Wolf

River which drains the northeastern quarter of the state. Two

other streams of medium size. Pine River and Willow Creek, flow

into the west end of the lake. Poygan, the second largest natural

lake in the State of Wisconsin, is 7.8 miles long and approximately

3.4 miles wide. Much of the north shore between the west end of

Boom Bay and Bergner’s Point is a shallow swamp thickly grown

with emergent vegetation which makes this area unusable for bath¬

ing but important as a waterfowl area. This swamp, included as

lake proper, extends well out into the lake. During the summer of

1961 wild rice (Zizania aquaticd) appeared as a dominant plant in

the shallower waters around the entire lake. Islands of Scirpus sp.

were seen near all shores of the lake. The lake has a maximum

depth of 12 feet but most of the lake is less than 10 feet deep. The

bottom is mostly firm sand ; however, the bottom of the west shore

and parts of the north are overlain with a thick layer of mud. A

small amount of rubble is found along the southwest shoreline.

Lake Winnebago, located in the counties of Winnebago, Calumet

and Fond du Lac in eastcentral Wisconsin, is the largest inland

lake in the state. It is 28.5 miles long at its longest point, 10.5 miles

wide at its widest point and covers 137,708 acres. Its maximum

depth is 21 feet. A natural dam of glacial drift at the north end

of the lake holds the water in the basin. Its water supply which

pours into the lake at the city of Oshkosh comes primarily from

the Wolf and upper Fox rivers. Lake Winnebago is approximately

17 miles downstream from Poygan and drains to the north through

the lower Fox River into Green Bay of Lake Michigan.

The western shores of Lake Winnebago are low, and on the

southern end near Fond du Lac they are marshy. The high cliffs

of the Niagara escarpment arise from the eastern shores. These

cliffs are not due to wave work but to preglacial and glacial erosion

of resistant limestone underlain by weak shale (Martin, 1916), The

bottom along the east shore is mostly heavy gravel, rubble and

boulders. Due to wave action, very little submergent vegetation is

found here and practically no emergent vegetation. At Waverly

Beach on the far north end of the lake the bottom consists of a

1964] Becker— The Fishes of Lakes Poygan and Winnebago 31

32 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters

[Vol. 53 V

series of sandy ridges. The bays on the west side of the lake have ?

bottoms with mud from a few inches to a foot in depth. Where the 1

water is sheltered from wind and wave actions, dense beds of sub-

mergent vegetation appear in late summer. On calm days during

August, shallow and pelagic waters are covered with a heavy scum

of blue-green algae. Occasional points of land jutting out into the

lake have their bottoms swept clear of mud and debris. Here the

shore bottom is generally a firm sand, gravel and/ or rubble.

Origin of Data

The best authority for the record of a species is an actual speci¬

men (e.g., the fish listed in Figs. 2 and 4). Where the specimen

is lacking, I have relied primarily upon the reports of trained biol¬

ogists (e.g.. Figs. 3 and 5). Next, some species are listed on the

authority of commercial fishermen. Lastly a few species are listed

on the basis of newspaper accounts and the word of fishermen.

I have included such species and records only when I felt reasonably

sure of their accuracy.

Fig. 1 gives the stations where I sampled for fish. In Figs. 2 and

4, I have summarized my samplings in Lakes Poygan and Winne¬

bago. At all stations I used a 20' by 4' seine with mesh. The

length of shoreline which was seined at each station varied from

100 to 200 yards. As many habitats as possible were sampled at

a station. These included open water, weed beds, and various bot¬

tom types. Although hauls were made mostly along the shoreline

in water two feet or less in depth, at each station a few hauls

were made in waters up to three-and-one-half feet in depth. On

Lake Poygan, for instance, we sampled around and through beds

of Scirpus sp. which were, in some cases, several hundred feet

from shore. We used here an unorthodox and only partially effec¬

tive seining system which we called the “circle net lift”. In short,

after hauling the seine through a sampling area, the two ends of

the seine were brought together and then a single operator, grasp¬

ing both seine sticks, would quickly back away from the net, pull¬

ing the seine sticks along until the right and left halves of the lead¬

line and the float-line were almost touching one another. Then,

reaching under water, he would gather the doubled-up lead-line

to himself quickly, following this up by gathering in the doubled-up

float-line. The net would then be placed into a tub for releasing

or preserving whatever fish still remained in the bag. The circle

net lift was used primarily with the standard seine. Superior to

it is an especially constructed seine into the middle of which is

sewed a large deep bag. Such a seine is somewhat more effective

Figure 2. Fish Species Taken from Lake Poygan by Shoreline Seining

(George Becker)

1964] Becker — The Fishes of Lakes Poygan and Winnebago 33

34 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Figure 3, Select Surveys Showing Composition of Samples

FROM Lake Poygan

(1) The presence of Lepisosteus oculatus has not as yet been established in Wisconsin

waters.

(2) White sucker, but may include others.

Figure 4. Fish Species Taken from Lake Winnebago by Shoreline Seining

(George Becker)

1964] Becker — The Fishes of Lakes Poygan and Winnebago 35

36 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Figure 5.

Select Surveys Sho'wing Composition of Samples

FROM Lake Winnebago

*Whitc sucker, but may include others.

in capturing fish from open water and I used it in a few collec¬

tions on Lake Poygan. I have preserved examples of all species

of fish for each lake studied. These are stored at Wisconsin State

University in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.

1964] Becker — The Fishes of Lakes Poygan and Winnebago 37

Data on the select surveys from Lake Poygan, which are tabu¬

lated in Fig. 3, are as follows :

Column 1. Vern Hacker/ These data include the first two of three seine

hauls made on the southwest shore, September 29, 1952. Botton, sand.

Water, up to 2.5 feet in depth. 100' x 6' seine with 14" mesh.

Column 2. Thomas Wirth.^ These data include fish taken from the ex¬

treme east end of the lake between January 9 and February 4, 1953,

in two double-end trap nets with 2.5" mesh. Depth of water, 9 to 10

feet.

Column S, W. Berwig & B. J. Rost.^ Trap nets generally of 14 hoops,

size of mesh in pots — 3". Nets were lifted at weekly intervals from

December 22, 1958, to February 12, 1959, and from December 14,

1959, to December 30, 1959. Traps were set well out from shore oppo¬

site stations 6, 7, and 8 (See Fig. 1), in approximately 9 feet of water.

Column 4- Gordon Priegel. A total of 22 hauls were made on August

15, 1961, with a 12-foot bait trawl. This trawl was towed in open

water 6 to 9 feet deep at the end of a 150-foot cable (Priegel, 1962).

Data on the select surveys from Lake Winnebago, which are

tabulated in Fig. 5, are as follows:

Column J. Vern Hacker. These data are for the second haul along the

shoreline of a 100' x 6' seine with 14" mesh. The haul was made on

September 15, 1952, in Asylum Bay which lies five miles north of the

city of Oshkosh.

Column 2, Calumet Harbor & Vern Hacker.^ The data here are a com¬

posite from two studies made by Wisconsin Conservation Department

personnel on Lake Winnebago. The Calumet Harbor rough fish re¬

moval crew inspected a total of 930 trap net sets in open water from

April through November in 1958 and another 690 from April through

November in 1959. Vern Hacker, fishery biologist, tabulated data

from 708 trap net sets in open water from April through November

of 1957 and another 397 from April through November in 1958.

Column 3. Calumet Harbor® & Gordon Priegel. The data here are a com¬

posite from several studies made by the Calumet Harbor rough fish

removal crew and Gordon Priegel, fishery biologist. These studies in¬

clude 16 winter trap net sets inspected from December, 1959, to

March, 1960; 525 open water trap net sets from April to November,

1960; 54 winter net sets from January to February, 1961; 399 open

water trap net sets from April to November, 1961; and 1619 trawl

hauls with a 30-foot trawl during 1961 (Priegel, 1962).

Column 4. Gordon Priegel. Total catch from 187 hauls (five to seven-

minute tows), using a 12-foot bait trawl, from June to November,

1960 (Priegel, 1960).

1 Intra-office memorandum from Vern Hacker to Richard Harris. In Lake Poygan

Pile, Eastcentral Area Hdqts., Wis. Cons. Dept., Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

2 Intra-office memorandum from Tom Wirth to Richard Harris. In Lake Poygan Pile,

Eastcentral Area Hdqts., Wis. Cons. Dept., Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

^ Ledger on rough fish removal from Lake Poygan. On file in Eastcentral Area

Hdqts., Wis. Cons. Dept., Oshkosh, Wis.

^ Intra-ofRce memorandum from Vern Hacker to Richard Harris. In Lake Winne¬

bago Pile, Eastcentral Area Hdqts., Wis. Cons. Dept., Oshkosh, Wis.

® Ledger on rough fish removal from Lake Winnebago. On file in Eastcentral Area

Hdqts., Wis. Cons. Dept., Oshkosh, Wis.

38 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Fish Species and Their Distribution

In the text which follows, after each species' name I have indi¬

cated the name of the lake(s) and station (s) where each was

collected.

1. Silver lamprey- — Ichthyomyzon unicuspis Hubbs & Trautman.

Winnebago, 15. The single adult specimen which I took on August

8, 1960, in a weed-filled bay was 192 mm. long. The lake bottom

at the site of capture was deep, soft mud, I examined another adult,

196 mm. in length, which was taken from Lake Winnebago by a

WCD trawl on September 17, 1959. The site of capture was not

indicated. Priegel (pers. comm.) reported this species as abundant

in Lake Winnebago where as many as 17 lampreys have been taken

off one sturgeon. He also reports this species in the upriver lakes.

2. Chestnut lamprey — Ichthyomyzon castaneus Girard. Wirth

reported taking approximately 20 chestnut lampreys in trap nets

set in Lake Poygan during January and February, 1953 (Fig. 3).

In a personal letter to me (March 5, 1962) he wrote: ‘T recall

having identified both chestnut and silver lampreys in Winnebago

and connecting waters".

3. Lake sturgeon — Acipenser fulvescens Rafinesque. This species

is found commonly in the lakes of the lower Wolf River and in

Lake Winnebago. It spawns in the Wolf River up to the Shawano

dam and in the Fox River up to Princeton. Sturgeon research in

these waters is part of the fisheries program and special efforts

have been made to tag them. A limited spearing season has been

in effect in recent years in which fish 40" or more in length may

be legally taken. The state record sturgeon, speared in Lake Win¬

nebago in 1953, weighed 180 pounds with an estimated age of 82

years.

4. Longnose gar — Lepisosteus osseus (Linnaeus). Poygan 5, 11.

Greene (1935) reported this species from Winnebago. Priegel

(pers. comm.) reported that he has taken the longnose gar in

South Asylum Bay regularly since 1960 and that it spawns in the

bay. In Poygan 148 longnose gar were taken in WCD trap nets

during January and February, 1953.

5. Spotted gar — Lepisosteus oculatus (Winchell). Wirth reported

this species from the east end of Lake Poygan (Fig. 3). Priegel

(pers. comm.) wrote: 'The spotted gar was taken in great num¬

bers in Lake Poygan and Wolf River (mouth of Rat River to

Mills Landing) while boom shocking during the summer, 1962."

Since no actual specimens were available, I sent a colored slide,

furnished by Priegel, to Dr. Reeve M. Bailey, curator of fishes at

1964] Becker — The Fishes of Lakes Poygan and Winnebago 39

the University of Michigan, for verification as to species. Bailey

in a letter dated Nov. 4, 1963, wrote: ''I know of no substantiation

for the occurrence of L. oculatus in Wisconsin, although it would

not be too surprising to have it turn up in eastern or southern

Wisconsin. ... It is clear from the color photo you sent that the

lower specimen is either platostomus or oculatus but I cannot make

a firm determination.’’

On the basis of the above reports this species should be consid¬

ered questionable for these waters until that time when positive

identification of actual specimens is possible.

6. Shortnose gar—Lepisosteus platostomus Rafinesque. Winne¬

bago 23. Greene (1935) reported the shortnose gar from several

stations on the Mississippi River and from Lake Mendota. To my

knowledge my records for Lake Winnebago are the first for this

species in the Great Lakes drainage basin. Data on five of these

specimens, taken on August 28, 1961, are as follows :

In September, 1962, Priegel (1963a) took a specimen from South

Asylum Bay (station 19), Lake Winnebago. It was sent to Dr.

Bailey, who verified the identification.

It seems likely that this species may have entered the upper

Fox River (Great Lakes drainage) and its lakes via the Fox-

Wisconsin canal at Portage, Wisconsin. According to Hubbs and

Lagler (1958) this species on the north of its range prefers open

silty rivers. My specimens were captured in water less than 1.5

feet in depth between large beds of submergent aquatics. The shal¬

lows abutted a jetty extending out into the lake.

7. Bowfin — Amia calva Linnaeus. Two-hundred-and -fifteen

pounds of dogfish were reported taken at the mouth of Willow

Creek (Lake Poygan, station 9) by commercial fishermen during

May, 1947. During the winter of 1958-59 forty pounds were re¬

ported taken by the WCD sturgeon research and rough fish removal

unit on Poygan. On Lake Winnebago the WCD rough fish removal

crew from Calumet Harbor reported taking one bowfin in 1958 and

40 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

another in 1959. Hacker reported shocking about 20 in Asylum

Bay, August 5, 1962, and that he has noted this species every year

since 1952 (pers. comm.).

8. Mooneye — Hiodon tergisus LeSueur. Greene (1935) captured

this species at several places in Lake Winnebago. The WCD rough

fish removal crew working out of Calumet Harbor on Lake Win¬

nebago reported taking 258 mooneye in 1960 and 1,067 in 1961.

Hacker told me in conversation that he has seen many of these fish

among the docks at Oshkosh during summer evenings. This species

is occasionally caught in Lake Poygan and in the Wolf River

upstream from Lake Poygan.

9. Cisco — Coregonus artedii LeSueur. Priegel reported that on

June 5, 1962, a research crew while shoreline seining in Lake Win¬

nebago off Neenah (northwest shore) took a young cisco, 32 mm.

long (pers. comm.) . The fish was identified by Dr. Bailey. Normally

this species is found in only cold water which is considerably deeper

than that of Lake Winnebago. Its presence in Lake Winnebago

must be considered accidental. Hacker (pers. comm.) believes that

this individual originated from the cisco population of Green Lake.

10. Lake trout — Salvelinus namaycush (Walbaum). According

to Hacker (pers. comm.) lake trout are occasionally taken by fisher¬

men. One was caught in Lake Butte des Morts (between Lakes Poy¬

gan and Winnebago) during the spring of 1962. The finclip indi¬

cated that it came from Green Lake. Another, weighing 17 pounds,

was caught in a fyke net in Little Lake Butte des Morts (outlet

of Lake Winnebago) in about 1955. In April, 1962, a lake trout

was reported caught from the upper Fox River at Eureka dam.

Hacker believes that all must have come from Green Lake.

11. Brook trout — Salvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill) . A brook trout

was reported taken from Lake Winnebago early in 1957 by Ray

and Don Tuttle, commercial fishermen. Otis Smith, another com¬

mercial fisherman, reported capturing a brook trout on April 16,

1958, on the north end of the same lake. The waters of Lake Win¬

nebago can hardly be considered brook trout habitat. It is doubtful

if the above migrants were able to survive summer temperatures.

12. Rainbow trout — Salmo gairdneri Richardson. A rainbow

trout, 19" in length, was taken in WCD nets off Brothertown Point

(east side of Lake Winnebago) on June 19, 1958, in 18 to 20 feet

of water. John Keppler, conservation aid, reported to me that a

rainbow was taken in recent years off Hospital Point (north of

Oshkosh) . On August 28, 1963, a 14.6" rainbow was caught off the

Bowen Street dock at the front of the Wis. Cons. Dept, headquaters

in Oshkosh (Priegel, pers. comm.).

1964] Becker — The Fishes of Lakes Poygan and Winnebago 41

13. Brown trout- — Salmo trutta Linnaeus. The following article

appeared in the Wisconsin Conservation Bulletin for September,

1938:

Oshkosh — Samuel Kingsley caught a brown trout in Lake Winnebago

near Island beach, north of the city,

Priegel (pers, comm.) wrote that three brown trout were caught

off Fairy Springs (near station 9) in Lake Winnebago during

August and September, 1962. A resort owner on the west end of

Lake Poygan told me that brown trout are occasionally taken in

early spring from the open water. Undoubtedly such salmon ids

have drifted into Poygan and the lower lakes from streams like

the Pine River (Poygan, station 3) and Willow Creek (Poygan,

station 4).

Conditions in the lakes of the upper Fox River are unsuitable

for trout, and the above records are unusual. It is doubtful if any

spawning takes place in these lakes.

14. White sucker — Catostomus commersoni (Lacepede). Poygan

4, 5, 8, 9, 10; Winnebago 3, 5, 8, 9, 14, 15, 21. This species is com¬

monly taken in Lake Poygan. Hundreds of pounds are removed

yearly by rough fish removal crews. A limited study by Wirth (Fig.

3) revealed the capture of 24 common suckers which represented

0.4% of the catch. I find that this species frequents the deeper

water of the lake. In our shallow-water seining we captured only

12 specimens at five stations on Poygan. On Lake Winnebago com¬

mercial fishermen removed thousands of pounds yearly. The Calu¬

met Harbor (WCD) rough fish removal crew captured 6,553 suckers

from April, 1957, to November, 1959.

15. Northern redhorse-^M'oxosfoma macrolepidotum (LeSueur) .

Poygan 1, 5, 8, 10. This species appears to be the most common

sucker in Lake Poygan. Wirth (Fig. 3) captured 148, representing

3.0% of the total catch. Between December, 1958, and December,

1959, the WCD rough fish removal crew on Lake Poygan removed

1,015 pounds of redhorse against 785 pounds of all other suckers

(mostly Catostomus commersoni and some Minytrema melanops) .

From Lake Winnebago the Calumet Harbor (WCD) rough fish

removal crew captured 452 redhorse between April, 1957, and

November, 1959,

16. Spotted sucker — Minytrema melanops (Refinesque) . Poygan

2. This species has been recorded regularly from Lake Poygan

although it is the least common of the species of suckers present.

Wirth (Fig. 3) took four specimens in his study. I took only one

in 1960. Hacker (Fig. 3) captured 27. Greene (1935) did not cap¬

ture the spotted sucker from Lake Poygan but took it from Willow

42 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Creek, several miles upstream from its mouth at Lake Poygan.

Priegel reported to me that this species is found throughout the

upper Fox River and in the Wolf River up to the Shawano Dam.

He captured this species from South Asylum Bay (station 9) of

Lake Winnebago while boom shocking in September, 1963.

17. Lake chubsucker — Erimyzon sucetta (LacepMe). Priegel

captured a specimen from Boom Bay in Lake Poygan while boom

shocking in the summer of 1962. Greene (1935) reported the lake

chubsucker from Willow Creek several miles upstream from Lake

Poygan. Hacker (pers. comm.) wrote that it is abundant in the

Auroraville Pond on Willow Creek.

18. Quillback — Carpiodes cyprinus (LeSueur). Commercial fish¬

ermen and rough fish removal crews refer to this species as the

‘‘white carp”. A catch of 500 pounds was reported by WCD crews

for April 29, 1947, near Herbst (station 6) on Lake Poygan. On

May 14 of the same year another catch of 100 pounds was made.

From December, 1958 to December, 1959, about 65 pounds of quill¬

back were taken by WCD fishing crews between Herbst and Brett-

schneider (stations 6 and 7). From the records in WCD files which

I have seen it is apparent that this species has decreased in num¬

bers in Lake Poygan and it is taken infrequently at the present

time. In Lake Winnebago Greene (1935) reported this species from

seven different localities. The Calumet Harbor (WCD) rough fish

removal crew captured 5,408 individuals from April, 1957, to

November, 1959. During 1960 up through February, 1961, 1,655

individuals were captured.

19. Buffalofish — Ictiobus sp. Infrequent records of “buffalofish”

appear in the commercial fish reports from Lake Winnebago. Otis

Smith, a commercial fisherman, reported one individual captured

with a trap net in May, 1956, and another with an open water trap

in the fall of 1957. One individual was reported by the WCD rough

fish removal crew in a trap net at Fond du Lac. Richard Harris,

Area Supervisor of fisheries at Oshkosh, told me that the buffalo-

fish is rare in Lake Winnebago. I have not been able to find any

specimens to verify as to species ; however, it seems likely that the

form taken in Lake Winnebago may be the bigmouth buffalo, Icti¬

obus cyprinellus. Nevertheless, all the above is conjecture and must

be considered tentative to the capture and verification of an actual

specimen.

20. Carp — Cyprinus carpio Linnaeus. Poygan 8, 9; Winnebago

11, 12, 13, 15, 18, 22, 23. Priegel stated that carp are abundant in

Lake Poygan and quite common in Lake Winnebago. He cited the

following records for Lake Poygan: April 11, 1961, at Lone Wil¬

low one seine haul 1,200 feet long — 3,000 pounds of carp; April 20,

1964] Becker — The Fishes of Lakes Poygan and Winnebago 43

1961, at Haul over bay, one seine haul 1,200 feet long — 16,000

pounds of carp. For Lake Winnebago : June 27, 1960, at Supple’s

Marsh near Fond du Lac, one seine haul 4,500 feet long~18,400

pounds of carp; June 8, 1961, at Supple’s Marsh, one seine haul

4,500 feet long-— 8,000 pounds of carp (pers. comm,).

21, Central stoneroller-— Campostomo. anomalum pullum (Agas¬

siz). Greene (1935) reported this species from the east shore of

Lake Winnebago. Although considered a stream fish, the stone-

roller commonly seeks water of lower gradient after spawning and

it is possible to encounter this species in lakes near the mouths of

streams from which it has migrated.

22, Longnose dace — -Rhinichthys cataractae (Valenciennes),

Priegel (pers. comm., Dec. 9, 1963) reported seeing this minnow

seined by a minnow dealer in late September, 1960, from the west

shore of Lake Winnebago just south of the mouth of the upper

Fox River.

23, Pugnose minnow — Opsopoeodus emiliae (Hay). Poygan 1,

3, 5. Greene (1935) reported the pugnose as a rare minnow of the

Mississippi drainage. It is generally southern in distribution and is

probably a recent arrival in Wisconsin. My three collections from

the western end of Lake Poygan in 1959 and 1960 are the first

reported from the Great Lakes drainage of the state of Wisconsin.

Priegel reported taking five adult pugnose minnows while shore¬

line seining in Lake Winnebago on June 14, 1962, off the south

side bathing beach at Oshkosh (pers. comm.).

24, Golden ^hineT—Notemigonus crysoleucas (Mitchill). Poygan

2, 8, 9; Winnebago 8, 15. Although this species appears to be gen¬

erally distributed in Lake Poygan, it is not numerous. Greene

(1935) captured the golden shiner at only one station for each lake.

25, Northern redbelly dace — -Chrosomus eos Cope. Priegel (pers.

comm., Dec. 9, 1963) reported seeing this minnow seined by a min¬

now dealer in late September, 1960, from the west shore of Lake

Winnebago just south of the mouth of the upper Fox River.

26, Bluntnose mmiiOw—-Pimephales notatus (Rafinesque) . Poy¬

gan 2, 4, 8, 9; Winnebago 15, 19, 23. This species, commonly dis¬

tributed throughout the state, is uncommon in Lake Winnebago and

common only in certain shoreline areas of Lake Poygan.

27, Fathead minnow — Pimephales promelas Rafinesque. Winne¬

bago 5. The single individual captured was probably a release from

a fisherman’s minnow pail.

28, Hornyhead Qh\xh~-Hyhopsis higuttata (Kirtland), Poygan 9.

This species is typically a minnow of clear medium-sized streams.

It is seldom taken in lakes or quiet water.

44 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

29. Spottail shiner— iVotropis hudsonius (Clinton). Poygan 1, 2,

5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11; Winnebago 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17,

19, 20, 21. This species is common in Lake Winnebago and abun¬

dant in Lake Poygan. In the latter it was the most common minnow

found. Large schools of young-of-the-year were captured and many

more wriggled through the mesh of the net and were lost. Numeri¬

cally, the spottail was second to the yellow perch (Fig. 2). Adults

of this species are commonly found in the open lake. Greene (1935)

took this species at one station on Lake Poygan and at several

stations on Lake Winnebago.

30. Spotfin shiner — Notropis spilopterus (Cope). Poygan 2, 4, 6,

8, 10, 11 ; Winnebago 6, 13, 16, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23. This species is

of general distribution in the lakes of the Wolf and Fox rivers. It

is commonly found in shallow water, often in the vicinity of piers.

Greene (1935) took this species at one station on Lake Poygan

and at all stations on Lake Winnebago.

31. Common shiner — Notropis cornutus (Mitchill). Poygan 2,

4, 6, 9 ; Winnebago 1, 7, 8, 21, 23. In the present survey this min¬

now was not considered common, although its distribution appears

to be general. It was more frequently found where the water was

clear and the bottom of gravel.

32. Blackchin shiner — Notropis heterodon (Cope). Poygan 4, 8,

9. This minnow was nowhere common in Lake Poygan. At the

stations where I took this minnow, the bottom was of sand or mud,

covered with a fine silt which resulted in heavily roiled waters as

we dragged the seine. Vern Hacker (Fig. 5) estimated that he

captured 50 in Asylum Bay on Lake Winnebago in September,

1952,

33. Blacknose shiner — Notropis heterolepis Eigenmann & Eigen-

mann. Poygan 9. In Central Wisconsin I have taken this species

in small silt-bottom lakes and in small streams with slow to medium

current. In larger lakes, if found at all, it was taken in protected

bays generally on the north side of the lake.

34. Pugnose shiner — Notropis ano genus Forbes. Poygan 9. Two

individuals were captured from this station on Boom Bay on

August 8, 1961. In order to secure an adequate study sample of

this rare minnow I made a return trip to the same area on July 8,

1963, at which time I took 41 individuals. During the 1963 trip the

vegetation in the area was very heavy. There were considerable

stands of bulrush (Scirpus sp.). Submergent vegetation coupled

with heavy growths of filamentous algae (primarily Spirogyra sp.)

made seining difficult. The water was clear. Several springs had

been piped into the bay at that point. The bottom consisted of fine

1964] Becker — The Fishes of Lakes Poygan and Winnebago 45

gravel and sand overlain with a very fine silt. Because of the prob¬

lems encountered with the vegetation we seined primarily the areas

which had been cleared alongside piers for boat passage and swim¬

ming. The pugnose shiners were in these open areas in schools of

a dozen or more fish in water one-and-one half feet or less in depth.

All individuals were taken within thirty feet of shore.

35. Emerald shiner — Notropis atherinoides Rafinesque. Poygan

9, 11 : Winnebago 1 through 17, 19, 21, 22, 23. The emerald shiner

appears to be the most common minnow in Lake Winnebago and

is present in both shallow water and in the open lake. According

to Priegel (1962a) it is the preferred forage fish during the win¬

ter for the walleyes of Lake Winnebago. For the sauger it is, next

to the trout-perch, the most frequently found forage fish in stomach

analyses. Apparently this shiner fluctuates greatly in numbers on

Lake Winnebago. Priegel (1960) found that it decreased by 12.5%

from 1959 to 1960. Also the young-of-the-year averaged 2.1" in

length in October, 1959, but only 1.6" in October, 1960.

36. Bigmouth shiner— Notropis dorsalis (Agassiz) . Poygan 2.

The single individual captured was probably a migrant from one

of the streams opening into the west end of Lake Poygan. Nor¬

mally this species is found in moderate-sized streams over sand

bottom.

37. River shiner— -No fropis blennius (Girard). Winnebago 3, 7,

8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17. This species is commonly distributed

over the northern and eastern shores of Lake Winnebago over

sandy and rocky bottom. Next to the emerald shiner it appears to

be the most common minnow in the lake. According to Hubbs and

Lagler (1958), Lake Winnebago is the only water in the Great

Lakes drainage from which this species is known. It is a common

minnow in the larger waters of the Mississippi River drainage

basin.

38. Sand shiner— Notropis stramineus (Cope). Winnebago 15.

The sand shiner is a common species in medium and large-sized

streams. In Wisconsin it is taken only infrequently in lakes. In

Michigan lakes, Hubbs and Cooper (1936) report the species as

frequenting sandy shoal areas.

39. Black bullhead— I ctalurus melas (Rafinesque) . Winnebago

15, 17, 18, 23. Greene (1935) reported this species from Lake Win¬

nebago. The black bullhead prefers the mud-bottomed and silt-

covered bays found on the west side of Lake Winnebago. Priegel

reported taking this species while seining in Lake Poygan during

the summer of 1962 (pers. comm.) .

46 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

40. Yellow bullhead' — Ictalurus natalis (LeSueur). Poygan 2, 8.

Priegel reported having taken this species often in Lakes Poygan

and Winnebago while seining, trawling or netting (pers. comm.).

41. Brown bullhead — Ictalurus nehulosus (LeSueur). Poygan 8;

Winnebago 23. Greene (1935) had a single record from Lake Win¬

nebago at Oshkosh.

42. Channel csitfis>h— Ictalurus punctatus (Rafinesque) . Poygan

5; Winnebago 10. This species is one of the most common of the

larger fishes in Lake Poygan. In 1953 Wirth (Fig. 3), using 2%"

trap nets captured 3,530 catfish which made up 62.9% of the total

catch. On the same lake other WCD research crews captured 4,100

catfish in the period between December, 1958, and December, 1959

(Fig. 3). On a pound-to-pound basis this was exceeded only by the

fresh- water drum. The channel cat is also common in Lake Winne¬

bago although numerically it is superseded by several species of

game and rough fishes (Fig. 5). The catfish is distributed through¬

out both Poygan and Winnebago and during the day appears to

confine itself to the deeper waters.

43. Flathead catfish — Pylodictis olivaris (Rafinesque). Greene

U935) reported this species only from the Mississippi drainage

of Wisconsin. The records from Lakes Poygan and Winnebago are

the first for the Great Lakes drainage in the State of Wisconsin,

In recent years this species has been taken consistently but in small

numbers from both Lake Winnebago and Lake Poygan (Figs. 3

and 5). From April, 1957, to November, 1959, 13 fiathead catfish

were reported taken in trap nets from Lake Winnebago by commer¬

cial fishermen. Individuals from 20 to 40 pounds in weight are not

uncommon.

44. Tadpole madtom — Noturus gyrinus (Mitchill). Poygan 1, 2,

7, 8, 9, 10; Winnebago 22, 23. This species is rare in Lake Winne¬

bago. In Lake Poygan its distribution is more general but it is still

uncommon.

45. Central mudminnow — -Umbra limi (Kirtland). Poygan 9.

The mudminnow is commonly found in bog lakes and small streams

in Central Wisconsin. It has seldom been taken in large lakes.

46. Northern pike^ — Esox lucius Linnaeus. Poygan 1, 2; Winne¬

bago 5, 18, 22. Greene (1935) reported this species from several

stations on Lake Winnebago. It appears to be more generally dis¬

tributed than my station data indicate.

47. Muskellunge — Esox masquinongy Mitchill. Greene (1935)

recorded a report of muskellunge from Lake Winnebago. Netting

operations on that lake in recent years indicate that a small popu¬

lation is present (Fig. 5). Between April, 1957, and November,

1964] Becker— The Fishes of Lakes Poygan and Winnebago 47

1959, commercial fishermen reported capturing a total of 46 indi¬

viduals from the lake. I was not able to find any reports of this

species from Lake Poygan although conditions there appear to be

favorable for it.

48. Banded kiWifi^h—F undulus diaphanus (LeSueur). Poygan 1,

2, 4, 9, 10. Greene (1935) reported this species from five stations

on Lake Winnebago although none of the recent surveys captured

it there.

49. Burbot-— Lota lota (Linnaeus). Poygan 1, 4; Winnebago 21,

23. Greene (1935) reported this species from four stations on Lake

Winnebago. Priegel wrote that tons of lawyers are taken with nets

from Lake Winnebago during their spawning season (pers. comm.) .

50. Trout-perch— Porcopsts omiscomaycus (Walbaum). Poygan

1; Winnebago 13. Since the trout-perch frequents open water, it

is seldom taken by shoreline seining. In trawl hauls it is commonly

captured, frequently appearing as the most abundant species in

the catch. In Lake Poygan it comprised 53.4% of the catch in 22

trawl hauls (Fig. 3) ; in Winnebago, 62.4% of the catch (Fig. 5).

This small species is a mainstay in the winter diet for both wall¬

eyes and sauger in Lake Winnebago (Priegel, 1962a). Priegel

(1959) observed large numbers of trout-perch which were spawn¬

ing among the rocks along the east shore of Lake Winnebago.

51. White bass— Poccas chrysops (Rafinesque). Poygan 1, 5, 6,

7 ; Winnebago 1, 2, 3, 5 through 13, 16, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23. Greene

(1935) reported this species from many stations on Lake Winne¬

bago. The majority of white bass taken from Poygan and Winne¬

bago by shoreline seining were young-of-the-year. They constituted

a substantial percentage of the catch (Figs. 2 & 4) . Fishermen com¬

plained frequently that Lake Winnebago was over-populated with

this species.

52. Yellow bass— Poecas mississippiensis (Jordan & Eigen-

mann) . Poygan 1, 7, 11 ; Winnebago 1, 2, 3, 5 through 19, 21, 22, 23,

Greene (1935) reported this species from a few stations on the

Mississippi River. Since then, it has been taken from many inland

waters in southern Wisconsin (Helm, 1958). In Lake Winnebago I

found this species as widely distributed as the white bass. The

largest yellow bass on record from Wisconsin waters was taken in a

state fish management trap net from Lake Poygan in January, 1964.

It measured 16.2 inches in length, weighed three pounds two ounces

and was six years old.

53. Yellow perch— Perea flavescens (Mitchell). Poygan 1 through

11; Winnebago 1, 5, 8, 9, 10, 12 through 17, 19 through 23. The

perch is probably the most abundant panfish in Lake Poygan, and

in Winnebago it is second only to the white bass.

48 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

54. Sauger — Stizostedion canadense (Smith) . Hook and line win¬

ter fishing produces sauger in great numbers in Lake Winnebago.

For the same lake, Priegel reported good 1957 and 1959 year classes

but that there is no evidence for successful hatches in 1960, 1961

and 1962 (pers. comm.). Food habits of the sauger in Lake Winne¬

bago are discussed by Priegel (1963b). Greene (1935) reported a

record for Lake Winnebago, but he failed to take any in his own

collections. A single specimen was taken in a trap net in 1953 from

Lake Poygan.

55. Walleye — Stizostedion vitreum vitreum (Mitchill). Poygan

1, 5, 7, 8; Winnebago 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 20, 23. Greene

(1935) took this species in both lakes. The walleye is considered one

of the most important game fishes in Lakes Poygan and Winnebago

where it appears to have general distribution. In the spring of the

year many walleyes from these lakes migrate up the Wolf and Fox

rivers to spawn. After the eggs are hatched, the fry are quickly

carried downstream by the current to the lakes of the lower Wolf

River (Priegel, 1960). Priegel (1963b) has analyzed the fall and

winter food habits of walleyes from Lake Winnebago.

56. River darter — Percina shumardi (Girard). Poygan 11; Win¬

nebago 10, 15, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22. Greene (1935) captured this

species only from the Mississippi drainage in Wisconsin. In addi¬

tion to the Poygan and Winnebago collections, I have taken the

river darter from the lower Waupaca River, two miles downstream

from Weyauwega, Waupaca County. These apparently are the first

records of this species from the Great Lakes drainage in the State

of Wisconsin. The Fox-Wisconsin canal at Portage, Wisconsin,

probably acted as a connective between the two drainage basins.

The spread of this species is similar to that indicated for the rain¬

bow darter (Etheostoma caeruleunv), discussed in a previous paper

(Becker, 1959).

57. Blackside darter — Percina maculata (Girard), Poygan 4.

This darter is taken commonly in medium to large-sized streams.

It is uncommon in lakes.

58. Logperch — Percina caprodes (Rafinesque) . Poygan 1, 4, 5,

6, 7, 8, 10, 11 ; Winnebago 1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 16 through 23. (Ireene

(1935) reported this species from Lakes Winnebago and Poygan.

The logperch is generally distributed throughout the shores of these

lakes where the bottom is of heavy gravel, rubble or boulders. It is

found commonly on the wave-swept shores and seldom in those

areas protected from wind action.

59. Johnny darter — Etheostoma nigrum Rafinesque. Poygan 2,

6 through 11 ; Winnebago 2, 3, 6, 15, 20, 22. Greene (1935) reported

this species from several stations along the eastern shore of Lake

1964] Becker — The Fishes of Lakes Poygan and Winnebago 49

Winnebago. The form taken in this survey was that subspecies

formerly called the scaly Johnny darter (Etheostoma nigrum eu~

lepis)j described by Hubbs and Greene (1935), in which the nape

of the neck, the cheeks and the breast are well-scaled. Recently

Underhill (1936) has presented evidence that it is undesirable to

continue to recognize the scaled form as a subspecies,

60. Iowa ddiXteT— Etheostoma exile (Girard). Poygan 9. This

species is commonly taken from boggy lakes and streams draining

such lakes in Central Wisconsin. Its appearance in a large lake such

as Poygan is unusual.

61. Fantail Etheostoma flabellare Rafinesque. Greene

(1935) recorded this species for Lake Winnebago at the point where

the upper Fox River enters the lake.

62. Smallmouth h^ss—Micropterus dolomieui Lacepede, Winne¬

bago 16, 17, 18. Greene (1935) reported this species from Lake

Winnebago, Several samplings in the deeper waters of Lake Poygan

included the smallmouth (Fig. 3). In Lake Winnebago this species

is found most commonly along the east and northwest shores.

63. Largemouth bass— Micr opt erus salmoides (Lacepede). Poy¬

gan 1, 2, 4 through 11; Winnebago 15, 19. The largemouth bass is

commonly found throughout Lake Poygan where extensive weedy

areas provide excellent habitat for it. Lake Winnebago has sub-

mergent vegetation only in a few mud-bottomed bays on the west

shore. Due to restriction of proper habitat this species is uncom¬

mon in that lake, Hacker reported that he saw about 15 nice large¬

mouth bass in Asylum Bay while shocking on September 5, 1962

(pers. comm.).

64. Pumpkinseed-— Lcpomis gibbosus (Linnaeus), Poygan 1, 2,

3, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10; Winnebago 2, 5, 15, 17, 19, 21, 22, 23. Greene

(1935) reported this species from Poygan and Winnebago. I have

found that the pumpkinseed has a general distribution along the

shores of both lakes. In Lake Winnebago it is more commonly taken

from the bays on the west shore and is rare to uncommon on the

east shore. In Lake Poygan this species is abundant and constitutes

a large part of the panfish population.

65. Bluegill — Lepomis macrochirus Rafinesque. Poygan 1 through

11; Winnebago 1, 3, 4, 5, 10, 12, 13, 15 through 23. Greene (1935)

captured this species from the north end of Lake Winnebago. Al¬

though this species made up almost 12% of all the total number of

fish which I captured from Lake Winnebago, I frequently heard

about the absence or shortage of this species in that lake. Fisher¬

men in some cases doubted the presence of the bluegill in Winne¬

bago until I showed them specimens, Priegel reported that the blue-

50 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

gillj except as a rare specimen, has never entered the Lake Winne¬

bago fishery (pers. comm.) .

66. Rock bass — Amhloplites rupestris (Rafinesque) . Poygan 5,

8, 9; Winnebago 17, 19. Greene (1935) captured this species in

Lakes Poygan and Winnebago. The enrichment of these waters by

effluent and chemical fertilizers will continue to interfere with the

establishment of a strong population of this species. It is doubtful

that the rock bass will ever contribute much to the fisherman’s

catch from these lakes.

67. White crappie — Pomoxis annularis Rafinesque. Winnebago

10. Greene (1935) captured this species from several sites on the

Mississippi River and its tributaries. He took it in the Lake Michi¬

gan drainage only from the Root River in the southeastern corner

of the state. In addition to the single specimen from Lake Winne¬

bago, I made another capture on July 30, 1960, from a feeder stream

to the Grand River in Green Lake County. This stream, lying in

the Lake Michigan drainage basin, is not far from the Fox-Wiscon-

sin canal at Portage. Hacker reported this species as common in

Kingston Pond of the Grand River (pers. comm.) , It appears possi¬

ble, therefore, that the canal at Portage may have acted as a route

whereby this species recently passed from the Mississippi into the

Great Lakes drainage of Eastcentral Wisconsin. Berwig and Rost

(Fig. 3) reported this species from Lake Poygan.

68. Black crappie — Pomoxis nigromaculatus (LeSueur) . Poygan

1, 2, 5 through 10; Winnebago 1, 15, 17 through 23. This species

was captured by Greene (1935) in both lakes. It is abundant and

well distributed in Lake Poygan and common on the western and

southern shores of Lake Winnebago.

69. Freshwater drum — -Aplodinotus grunniens Rafinesque. Poy¬

gan 11; Winnebago 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 17 through 23.

Greene (1935) captured this species at several stations on Lake

Winnebago. Numerically it is the most successful species of large

fish found in that water (Fig. 5). With the 20-foot seine I cap¬

tured several individuals weighing over three pounds. According to

Priegel over 30 million pounds have been removed from Lake Win¬

nebago in the last decade (pers. comm.). More pounds of drum

have been netted from Lake Poygan than any other species of fish

(Fig. 3).

70. Mottled sculpin — Cottus hairdii (Girard). Winnebago 5, 15,

18, 20, 22, 23. This species appears to be generally distributed in

Lake Winnebago. All individuals which I captured were two inches

or less in total length, averaging considerably shorter than those I

have taken in the streams of Central Wisconsin.

1964] Becker — The Fishes of Lakes Poygan and Winnebago 51

71. Brook stickleback — Eucalia inconsians (Kirtland). Priegel

(pers. comm., Dec. 9, 1963) reported seeing this species seined by

a minnow dealer in late September, 1960, from the west shore of

Lake Winnebago just south of the mouth of the Fox River. In

another letter (Dec. 10, 1963) he reported a specimen, 0.9 inches

in length, which he took while shoreline seining off the east shore

of Lake Winnebago on June 20, 1962.

Undoubtedly additional species of fish would be found in these

lakes with more intensive sampling. It is of interest here to con¬

sider a collection of fishes made by Mr. Richard Simpson of Apple-

ton who on April 21, 1962, seined the lowermost portion of a small

creek and its mouth near KerFs Resort on Boom Bay of Lake Poy¬

gan. I examined the collection and aside from some species listed

above I found the northern mimic shiner (Notropis v. volucellus)

and the rosyface shiner (Notropis ruhellus). Mr. Simpson was not

sure whether these species had been taken in the Boom Bay portion

of Lake Poygan or in the stream itself.

Sampling these lakes during the winter would probably produce

several species of minnows and darters which are normally found

only in streams. Ice has in the past rather effectively concealed the

winter distribution of our fish fauna. For instance, we know now

that the creek chub (Semotilus atromaculatus) , which spends the

spring, summer and early fall near the headwaters of a stream, will

migrate downstream and pass the winter in a large river or lake

(Trautman, 1957), As the ice goes out, this species migrates up¬

stream to spawn where it will remain until the following fall. The

longnose dace engages in similar migratory habits. However, a few

individuals may move from the torrential parts of the stream,

where they are normally found from April through November, into

adjacent shallow iced-over pools during the months of January,

February and March (Becker, 1962). Actually the 71 species listed

above are a countdown of the spring and summer forms. An equally

thorough sampling of the fall and winter population of the same

lakes would undoubtedly show a considerably enriched fish fauna.

References

Becker, George C. 1959. Distribution of Central Wisconsin fishes. Trans.

Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts & Letters. 48:65-102.

Becker, George C. 1962, Intra-specific variation in Rhinichthys c. catar-

actae (Valenciennes) and Rhinichthys atratulus meleagris (Agassiz) and

anatomical and ecological studies of Rhinichthys c. cataractae. Ph.D.

Thesis. Univ, of Wisconsin. (Order No. 62-1954) 279 pp. Univ. Microfilms.

Ann Arbor, Mich.

Greene, C, Willard. 1935. Distribution of Wisconsin fishes. Wis. Cons. Comm.,

Madison, Wis. 235 pp.

52 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Helm, William T. 1958. A ‘‘new” fish in Wisconsin. Wis. Cons. Dept., Madison,

Wis. Wis. Cons. Bull. 23(7) : 10-12.

Hubbs, Carl L. and Gerald Cooper. 1936. Minnows of Michigan. Cranbrook

Instit, of Sci. Bull. 8:84 pp.

Hubbs, Carl L. and C. Willard Greene. 1935. Two new subspecies of fishes

from Wisconsin. Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts & Letters. 28:89-101.

Hubbs, Carl L. and Karl F. Lagler. 1958. Fishes of the Great Lakes region

(revised edit.). Cranbrook Instit. of Sci. Bull. 26:213 pp.

Martin, Lawrence. 1916. The physical geography of Wisconsin. Wis. Geol. &

Nat. Hist. Surv. Bull. 36:549 pp.

Priegel, Gordon R. 1959. Winnebago studies — annual progress report for the

period Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1959. Wis. Cons. Dept. Fish Man. Div. Research

Sect. Oshkosh, Wis. 41 pp. (mimeog.).

Priegel, Gordon R, 1960. Winnebago studies— annual progress report for the

period Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1960. Wis. Cons. Dept. Fish Man. Div. Research

Sect. Oshkosh, Wis. 56 pp. (mimeog.).

Priegel, Gordon R. 1962. Winnebago studies — annual progress report for the

period Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 1961. Wis. Cons. Dept. Fish Man. Div. Research

Sect. Oshkosh, Wis. 75 pp. (mimeog.).

Priegel, Gordon R. 1962a. Winnebago winter menu. Wis. Cons. Dept. Madison,

Wis. Wis. Cons. Bull. 27(1) : 20-21.

Priegel, Gordon R. 1963a. Dispersal of the shortnose gar, Lepisosteus plato-

stomusj into the Great Lakes drainage. Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 92(2) :178.

Priegel, Gordon R. 1963b. Food of walleye and sauger in Lake Winnebago,

Wisconsin Trans. Amer. Fish. Soc. 92(3) :312-13.

Trautman, Milton B. 1957. The fishes of Ohio. Ohio State Univ. Press. 683 pp.

Underhill, James C. 1963. Distribution in Minnesota of the subspecies of the

percid fish Etheostoma nigrum and of their intergrades. Amer. Mid. Nat.

70(2) :470-478.

Wisconsin Conservation Department. 1958. Wisconsin lakes. Wis. Cons. Dept

Madison, Wis. Publ. 218-58:35 pp.

DIE FREIEN GEMEINDEN IN WISCONSIN

Berenice Cooper^''

If a tourist of today should wander two blocks from the main

street of Sauk City, Wisconsin, and come upon a large wooden

building standing at the edge of a shaded park, he might be curi¬

ous about the name, Freie Gemeinde, on a small metal plate at the

corner of the building. The old-fashioned bandstand in the center of

the park implies community gatherings in the past. The tall pine

trees suggest daytime picnics over a period of years. Inquiries into

the significance of this building and the surrounding park will re¬

veal that both are the property of the Free Congregation of Sauk

City.^ Park Hall was erected in 1884 by the Freie Gemeinde (since

1937 known as the Free Congregation) of Sauk City, an organiza¬

tion founded there in 1852 by German-American settlers, who

brought with them from their fatherland this free thought move¬

ment (X, pp. 1, 15, 19; XI, pp. 169-72).

Among the German Forty-eighters who settled here and in other

Wisconsin communities were members of Free Congregations

formed in Germany after 1840 (V, pp. 9-10; IX, pp. 673-75).^

From Burlington north to Sheboygan and across the state through

Mayville to Bostwick Valley,^ there were in 1852 thirty similar so¬

cieties of free-thinking Germans (I, December 1862, p. 91). But

today Sauk City and Milwaukee are the only Freien Gemeinden

which are still active.

* Miss Berenice Cooper is Professor Emeritus, Department of English, Wisconsin

State College, Superior.

1 The congregation was organized as the Freie Gemeinde von Sauk County because

many of the members were farmers living near Honey Creek and Merrimac and in

other directions. In 1861 Honey Creek built a hall of their own; in 1863 Merrimac

dedicated their hall. Although there is no longer a congregation at Honey Creek, the

hall is kept in good repair and the cemetery around it is maintained by a cemetery

association, Mrs. Clara Runge says that Merrimac hall was sold to the Merrimac

Gesangverein in 1878 (X, p. 13). The active group is now in Sauk City and is spoken

of as the Free Congregation of Sauk City.

2 The Germans who migrated to the United States after the 1848 Revolution failed,

are usually referred to as the “Forty-eighters.” Often they immigrated to escape politi¬

cal or religious persecution by the victorious reactionary forces. A. E. Zucker is editor

of a book of essays by different historians. The Forty-eighters : Political Refugees of

the German Revolution of 18^8 (New York, 1950).

3 In the passage cited from his reminiscences, Eduard Schroter lists the following

gemeinden as active in 1852 : Burlington, Calumet, Cedarburg, Fond du Lac, German¬

town, Hermann, Howel’s Road, Jefferson, Koskonony, Kilbourn Road, Madison, Mani¬

towoc, Mayville, Mequon River, Milwaukee, New Holstein, Oshkosh, Plymouth, Polk-

town, Racine, Schleisingerville, Sheboygan, Sheboygan Palls, Theresa, Town Rhine,

Two Rivers, Watertown, Waterville, Waukesha, West Bend.

53

54 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

The history of the German Free Congregations (Freien Gemein-

deri)^ in Wisconsin began in Germany in 1840-46/ when both Pro¬

testant and Catholic groups revolted against authoritarianism in

church government and in theological dogma and withdrew from

their orthodox churches to become independent groups (V, pp. 3-5 ;

IX, pp. 672-73). Those members who came to the United States

brought with them the principles of independence of the congrega¬

tion and freedom of thought for the individual which became basic

in the organizations formed in thirty Wisconsin communities.

The story of these independent-thinking societies belongs in the

history of movements which have contributed to intellectual and

religious liberalism in Wisconsin. Evidence of their rational philoso¬

phy and their democratic practices, which will be cited in this

paper, show that nineteenth century science and humanism were

strong influences upon the beliefs of the Freien Gemeinden. Al¬

though they did not unite with the Free Religious Association of the

United States, they extended to them the hand of fellowship and

sent observer-representatives to their conventions (I, March 1869,

pp. 138-43; May 1869, p. 172; September 1870, p. 140).^

The purpose of this research is to discover and organize chrono¬

logically the available information about the Freien Gemeinden in

Wisconsin so that their signiflcance in the cultural history of the

state may be apparent. This paper reports only the beginning of a

continuing effort to discover more facts about the decline of the

Freien Gemeinden in Wisconsin from thirty congregations in 1852

to the two surviving societies of 1964.

Since these Free Congregations are almost forgotten in Wiscon¬

sin, it may be appropriate to begin with some examples of their

distinctive beliefs and practices. The constitutions of the two sur¬

viving societies, the resolutions passed when local congregations

met in national convention to discuss and recommend, but not to

legislate, the free thought magazine. Blatter fiir freies religioses

Lehen, and reports of the national association, are some of the most

useful sources for this information.

Like all Free Congregations in Germany and the United States,

the Wisconsin groups guarded the independence of the congregation

and the individual. The local organization was the highest authority

^ The history of the movement in Germany and the causes of migration to the

United States, written from the point of view of a Forty-eighter, may be found in

Friedrick Schiinemann-Pott’s Die Freie Gemeinde (Philadelphia, 1861).

5 The executive committee of the Bund suggested cooperation between the two

organizations through Bund members joining as individuals the Free Religious Asso¬

ciation and through exchange of publications. The committee wrote to the F.R.A. in

English and included an English tr^inslation of the Bund constitution to show the simi¬

larity of the aims of the two organizations. In May, 1870, Alexander Loos, secretary

of the Bund, attended the Boston meeting of the F.R.A. See Blatter . . . XV :3 (Sep¬

tember 1870) 38-40, for his report.

1964] Cooper— Die Freien Gemeinden in Wisconsin

55

in church government and there were no specific beliefs which every

member must accept. The Sauk City congregation made this state¬

ment in Article II, sections 4 and 5 of its constitution adopted in

1853 :

There shall be no doctrine formally stated and authoritatively pro¬

claimed or laid down, as by a church. We shall endeavor, however, to in¬

stitute a self-sufficient philosophy in keeping with our ideals. We shall not

profess atheism (theoretically), the denial or disbelief in the existence of

a Supreme Being, but rather a practical atheism, namely: living so that

we can interpret our Supreme Being as we desire and hold our own con¬

ception of immortality.

We shall not designate any member to function as a priest or a minister

does in a church. We shall have no specified lecturer or teacher unless the

congregation so decides.

Nowhere in the constitution of Sauk City is there mention of an

authority higher than the congregation.

A national association of congregations, Bund der freien Gemein¬

den von Nordamerika, was formed in 1859, but its constitution

adopted in that year and revised in 1876, protected the local organ¬

izations from domination by a national organization :

Regular conventions are to be held every third year. ... No questions of

principle are to be voted upon, yet the resolutions regarding them may be

discussed and recommended to the further consideration of the single con¬

gregation. The resolutions of the convention regarding external matters of

administration become binding only as soon as a majority of the members

of the Association expressly ratify them. (I, March 1869, p. 140)

The Milwaukee constitution of 1949, section X, states the same

principle of local autonomy :

Affiliation with kindred organizations having the same or similar ideo¬

logical aims as those of our organization can only be accomplished by vote

of members of the Gemeinde. Only the Gemeinde as parent organization is

impowered to elect delegates to such an organization.

Milwaukee has kept in its constitution the principle of freedom

of thought which has guided all Free Congregations since they were

founded in Germany. Section II states the purpose of the Milwau¬

kee Freie Gemeinde:

Conscious of the limitations of the human mind and aware of our de¬

pendence upon the forces known and unknown amid which our brief lives

are spent, we seek nevertheless through education and dissemination of

the truths of science to dispel ignorance and mysticism and destroy super¬

stition, to create a wide and inclusive mental attitude which accepts the

supremacy of human reason.

We endeavor to establish through observation and experience a system

of philosophy wide as the world and embracing all men, which will attempt

to ascertain man’s relation to the universal forces about him, and place

him in harmony with such forces mentally and physically.

56 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Through knowledge of his common origin, his common end, and a real¬

ization of his common needs and tasks, to which we subscribe, men will

eventually be able to make of this earth, which is our home, a place where

ideals may grow, justice prevail, and where the good and true and beauti¬

ful may survive.

The emphasis upon this-worldliness, not other-worldliness, ex¬

pressed in the last paragraph is in harmony with Sauk City’s state¬

ment in its constitution (Article II, section 1) that the organiza¬

tion’s aim is ‘To promote and cultivate the highest possible stand¬

ards of ethics and morals in regard to all individual, social and

business relationships” and with the Bund statement of 1876, “The

highest good is earthly happiness through phyical, mental and

spiritual well-being.”

The most complete statement of belief discovered in this research

is that of the Plymouth Gemeinde (I, May 1870, pp. 173-74). It

begins, “We place reason above revelation,” and it continues in

parallel phrases to contrast the dogma of Christianity with the

principles of Free Thought: for faith they substitute knowledge;

for two worlds, one whose existence is certain; for an autocratic

removed-from-the-universe God, the rule of eternal universal law;

for miracles, natural law; for God’s providence, man’s own provi¬

dence; for predestination, fate; for man torn apart by strife be¬

tween flesh and spirit, unified, harmonious man ; for trust in God,

self-reliance; for humility, consciousness of human dignity; for

abstinence, moderate use of pleasures; for desire for reward, love

of good for its own sake; for heaven in another world, heaven in

this world (in the hearts, homes, societies, and states of mankind) ;

for values in heaven, values here; for inexplicable mysteries, un¬

solved problems; for the Bible, the book of nature and history; for

the pulpit, the speaker’s platform; for the preacher, the speaker;

for supernatural salvation of the soul, natural education of the

spirit and heart; for prescribed rituals, free customs; for the

Christian school, the humanist school.

The platform concludes :

This is our present general rule and plumb line. But there are no ir¬

revocable conclusions of faith. We can make ... in the future better rules

and plumb lines . . . Each age is its own law-giver.

These principles of freedom of thought and democratic procedure

are typical of the contribution which the German Free Congrega¬

tions have made to the growth of rational philosophy and religious

liberalism. But their contribution has received little recognition.

The usual sources of information about Wisconsin history rarely

mention them; only from their own publications and reports, in

the German language, can facts be gathered to form the beginning

of a history of the Freien Gemeinden in Wisconsin.

1964] Cooper — Die Freien Gemeinden in Wisconsin 57

The first Free Congregation of Wisconsin was established at

Painesville, south of Milwaukee. Some German Protestants from

Wittenberg had settled in Oak Creek and Franklin townships. Dis¬

pleased with the strict theology of their Lutheran pastor, they with¬

drew from the church and formed a Free Congregation, which first

met at Buckholtz Tavern where today United States highway 41

meets Wisconsin 100. By 1851 they had incorporated with about 35

members and had been given an acre of land upon which to build

a hall, which was completed in 1852. According to their report to

the Bund in 1876, the membership in the 27 years of their history

had increased to only 37, but their report explained that this seem¬

ing lack of growth was due to the fact that eight or ten families

had moved to Minnesota,^ where they had joined other Free

Thought societies (IV, p. 60).

The activities at Painesville listed in this report included bi¬

weekly lectures at ten o'clock Sunday morning, a gesangverein, the

circulation of Free Thought literature such as the Freidenker (or

the Truthseeker for those who did not read German), and pam¬

phlets by Karl Heinzen. The members lived on farms eight or ten

miles from the hall, but a Sunday school of 15 or 20 members was

maintained.

According to this 1876 report, the first speaker at Painesville was

Herr Rausch (1851-53). His short service was terminated when he

forsook Free Thought and became a Lutheran pastor in Racine.

Robert Glatz, a former Catholic priest in Hanau, Germany, was the

next speaker until his death in 1856. After Glatz' death, Christian

Schroter, a farmer living seven and a half miles from the hall, was

speaker and the writer of the 1876 report.

In the sources examined for this research no more information

about Painesville appears until the Bund report for 1899. After

paying their dues for that year, Painesville withdrew from the

Bund, giving as the reason that 'They had always been alone and in

the future would remain alone" (VII, p. 1). Occasional meetings

were held until about 1905 (II, p. 2) .

The name, Painesville,^ cannot be found on a modern map of

Wisconsin, but it can be located in the Historical Atlas of Wisconsin

(Milwaukee, 1878). The hall built in 1852 has been preserved be¬

cause of the recommendation of Alexander Guth, an architect who

surveyed and appraised historical buildings in Wisconsin in 1955.

Following his recommendation, the Painesville Memorial Associa-

®A number of Free Thinkers from the neighborhood of Milwaukee moved to Carver

County, Minnesota about 1870. From Carver County, some moved on to Otter Tail

County where their Free Thought cemetery, near Vergas, is located,

'^Painesville is not spelled consistently in maps and records. The Historical Atlas of

Wisconsin (Milwaukee, 1878) spells it Paynesville.

58 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

tion was organized and through its work the hall was restored and

a bronze commemorative tablet placed at the right of the door (III,

P. 7),«

Today one may see the simple white colonial hall, 24 by 36 feet,

surrounded by the cemetery and protected by a white fence. Inside

are the original pews and pulpit, and a stove bearing the date 1848.

On the walls, just as described in the 1876 report, are portraits of

Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Humboldt, and Thomas Paine. Un¬

fortunately, the original hand-glazed windows were destroyed by

vandals. The Girl Scouts now meet in the basement, which was

added in 1939 as support for the walls. The Girl Scouts leader, Mrs.

Harvey Davitz, is in charge of the hall.

Not long after Paines ville organized, a Lutheran church in Mil¬

waukee decided to declare its freedom from orthodoxy and invited

Eduard Schroter, a Forty-eighter who had been lecturing in the

East, to come to Milwaukee and organize them as a Free Congrega¬

tion. While he served as speaker in Milwaukee (1851-53), Schroter

established a Free Thought newspaper. The Humanist, and made

missionary journeys lecturing in the state. When in 1853, he ac¬

cepted the invitation to become speaker at Sauk City, he apparently

left a vigorous group in Milwaukee. But soon after his departure,

differences of opinion arose in this gemeinde which resulted in the

group’s disbanding in 1854 (XI, pp. 172-88; I, November 1856,

pp. 78-80). Until 1867 there was no Freie Gemeinde at Milwaukee.

Sauk City is, therefore, the older of the two surviving societies.

The Sauk City Gemeinde under Eduard Schroter as speaker grew

from a few Free Thinkers gathered together by Carl Diirr to a so¬

ciety of 60 members in 1859, with a school and a library. By 1876

their activities included a women’s society, a mixed chorus, and a

theater society. The membership, which at that time included Honey

Creek and Merrimac, has increased to 80 (IV, pp. 61-62; XII, p.

31). Later Bund reports show that membership continued to in¬

crease for the next 64 years: in 1918, 85 members; in 1923, 97; in

1940, 111.

Mrs. Clara Runge, a life-long member at Sauk City, wrote a his¬

tory of the congregation for their 1940 Founders’ Day celebration.

In it she pays tribute to the quality of instruction in Schroter’s

® The inscription on the tablet reads :

The Painesville Memorial

Erected in 1852 as the

“First Free Christian Church

of the town of

Franklin and Oak Creek.”

The chapel has been preserved

in its original condition for

its historical and architectural interest.

October 1939 The Painesville Memorial Association

1964] Cooper — Die Freien Gemeinden in Wisconsin

59

Sunday afternoon classes and in his meetings for older students on

Thursday evenings, “He always introduced the best German poems

and required each pupil to memorize and recite a poem each Sun¬

day/' On Thursday evenings there were discussions of literature

and of passages from the Old Testament. Both Schroter and Fried-

rick Schiinemann-Pott, speaker at Philadelphia and an active na¬

tional leader in the Freien Gemeinden, referred to themselves as

humanists and considered humanism a religion (X, pp. 6-7) .

During the twenty-four years since Mrs, Bunge wrote her his¬

tory, the membership of the Sauk City Congregation has been de¬

creasing. President Ralph Marquardt says that at present the mem¬

bership is about fifty, but that attendance at the monthly meetings

is often only fifteen or twenty. Founders' Day, Thomas Paine’s

birthday, and the Spring Festival are still observed, but the quiet

celebrations of the present are a sharp contrast to the days older

members recall.

Miss Minnie Truckenbrodt, the oldest member of the Congrega¬

tion, remembers that in her girlhood the Spring Festival was an all

day and all night celebration, beginning with a band concert at ten

o’clock Sunday morning and concluding with a dance that lasted

until the early hours of Monday morning.

There was a speaker at eleven Sunday morning. During his lec¬

ture, the good cooks inside the hall were preparing chicken, beef,

potatoes, beans, peas, carrots, lettuce, kraut-salad, and pies. Tables

were filled several times for the noon feast. An afternoon of visit¬

ing and music followed, interrupted by coffee and cake in the din¬

ing room at three, or visits to refreshment stands in the park. At

six o'clock, the women served a substantial supper, not a snack.

About eight o'clock, a dance orchestra began to play in the lecture

room on the main floor. Every one danced : children, young people,

parents, grandparents. The floor was crowded for polkas, waltzes,

and square dances. Downstairs beer was sold to the thirsty dancers.

At midnight came another hot dinner, not a lunch, says Miss

Truckenbrodt,

A large number of the members were farmers. They reasoned

why not finish the night dancing? Why leave after midnight and

get home for very little sleep before five o’clock milking? Why not

dance on and go right to work when they got home? So that is

what they did.

Such gayety was only one of the Gemeinde activities. There were

plays, a gesangverein, declamation and debate programs, concerts,

lectures, and a library of German books.

A few examples from the subjects of lectures which Mrs. Bunge

has listed show that Sauk City had serious intellectual interests:

Eduard Schroter, “Schiller, His Work and His Death" ; Dr. Herman

60 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Lueders, ‘'Bacteria, Their Relation to Agriculture”; Mrs. Hedwig

Henrich-Wilhelmi, “The Modern Woman of Europe”; Rev. Howard

Udell, “Henrich Ibsen’s Brandt”; Mrs. Mary Church Terrell, “Ne¬

groes and their Rights.” (X, pp. 20-26) .

A further evidence of the intellectual interests of the Sauk City

Congregation is the library, seldom used now, since most of the

books are in German and only the older members read German with

ease. A room off the balcony above the lecture room holds books,

magazines, and pamphlets that contain valuable source material for

a history of the Freien Gemeinden in Wisconsin.®

Since so few of the younger generations use the German lan¬

guage, Sauk City in 1937 adopted English for its meetings and

records and translated its official name to the Free Congregation

of Sauk City. In 1955, the group affiliated with the Unitarian Church

and became the Free Congregation of Sauk City — Unitarian Fel¬

lowship.

The other surviving Gemeinde, Milwaukee, has kept its German

name and uses the German language in its business meetings and

most of its activities, although there is a discussion section con¬

ducted in English. Organized in 1867 with only nine members, the

Milwaukee Gemeinde enrolled 250 members by 1868. By 1876 it had

established a variety of activities : 26 lectures a year with an aver¬

age attendance of 70 or 80; a Sunday school of 150 in which in¬

struction in the catechism of humanism was given; debates, fes¬

tivals, a women’s society, a singing society, a reading section, and

an organization to give assistance to the families of deceased mem¬

bers (II, July 1868, p. 12 ; IV, pp. 63-67) .

Bund reports from 1900 to 1924, on file in the Free Congregation

library of Sauk City, show fluctuations in number of members from

157 to 250. According to Walter Niederfeld, secretary, the present

membership is 129. Although there are no young people’s organiza¬

tions or Sunday school classes, as in the years 1876-1924, the Mil¬

waukee Freie Gemeinde is carrying on a variety of activities.

It rests upon a successful business organization because Jeffer¬

son Hall is a source of considerable income and an assurance of

financial stability. The basement of the large brick building is

leased to the operator of a well-patronized bowling alley. On the

first floor are social rooms with kitchens which are rented every

day between Easter and the middle of June. A bar on this floor

® In the Sauk City Free Congregation library, there is rare material on the history

of the Freien Gemeinden in the United States and in Germany. The Free Thought

magazine, Blatter fiir freies religidses Lehen^ (18 volumes) contains reports from local

gemeinden in the United States and in Europe, the travel-letters written by Schiine-

mann-Pott on his lecture tours through the East and Middle West, and articles about

the principles of the Freien Gemeinden. The nearly complete flies of Bund reports up

to 1924 and over forty thin volumes of sermons preached in Germany to the Free

Congregations 1840-50 are also valuable sources of historical information.

1964] Cooper— Die Freien Gemeinden in Wisconsin 61

brings in more income. On the second floor is an auditorium where

there is a concert nearly every Sunday. Here also are staged dra¬

matic performances which continue a traditional gemeinde activity.

Discussion groups meet once a month, a German and an English

group. The Gesangvereinsektion, which attended the International

Song Festival in Germany in 1962, the Damenchor, and the Frauen-

verein are activities announced in the monthly magazine Voice of

Freedom (carrying as its subtitle the former German name, Das

Freie Wort). Secretary Niederfeld says that the group is much

interested in politics and in all legislation for freedom of the indi¬

vidual citizen.

The advantage of being located in a city with a large German-

American population is one explanation of the survival of the Mil¬

waukee Freie Gemeinde. The ability of its executive board to adapt

the financial organization of the society to meet requirements of

modern tax laws, has made the operation of the hall profitable and

insured Milwaukee against the financial problems which have been

a factor in the disappearance of Gemeinden in so many smaller

communities.

Among the five Wisconsin Gemeinden reporting to the Bund in

1876 were Bostwick Valley and Mayville, both of which became in¬

active early in this century. Neither used the name gemeinde: Bost¬

wick Valley called itself the Freidenker-Verein and Mayville re¬

ported as Der Freie Manner-Verein (IV, pp. 67-68) .

According to its report, Bostwick Valley was founded in 1869 and

had just celebrated its seventh Founders’ Day on June 11. It be¬

longed to the Provincial Verhande von Wisconsin to which it made

a yearly contribution of twenty dollars. On May 8, 1876, it had

joined the Bund with a membership of 33.

Maxmillan Gross, the speaker, reported a library of 15 volumes,

a school of about 12 students meeting three times a week under the

instruction of the speaker, and a gesangverein in the process of

organization. The speaker lectured twice each month. The group

was free from debt, owned its hall, the furnishings, and the lot

The property was valued at $700.00. Yearly contributions from the

members amounted to about $200.00.

Later Bund reports found in the Sauk City library show that in

1914 Bostwick Valley had only 20 members, a library of 29 volumes,

and property valued at $4000.00. Two years later, the president of

the Bund reported that Bostwick Valley had been dissolved on June

25, 1916, because of lack of financial support. He added that a few

members from West Salem and La Crosse had joined the Bund as

individuals.

62 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Inquiries by the writer of this paper in April, 1963, resulted in

locating among the older citizens of West Salem a few persons who

remembered that in their youth the Free Thinkers of Bostwick

Valley were an active group. Some had attended the summer school

conducted by the Free Thinkers in order to study German. Alfred

Hemker, son of the president of the group in its last years, re¬

called lively social affairs; at one of the dances held in the base¬

ment of the hall he had met his wife. The brick hall, mentioned in

Bund reports, is still standing in Bostwick Valley, but it has been

purchased by Barre Mills for use as the town hall.

The last of the five Wisconsin groups reporting at the 1876 con¬

vention was Mayville. According to a letter written by the secre¬

tary, Charles Ruedebusch in 1868, Mayville had been organized in

1863 (II, August 1868, p. 32). The Bund report of 1876 is very

brief, not signed by an officer of the society, and reads as if the

Bund office were speaking. After the statement that Mayville Freie

Mdnner-Verein of Dodge County joined the Bund in 1870 (after it

had been organized several years) and that their principal activity

had been the undertaking of a German school, which had now been

incorporated with the public school, comes the statement that no

specific statistics or other announcements about themselves have

been received “in spite of our requests.” The report concludes, “The

spiritual growth of the members is directed by the lectures of a

traveling speaker” (IV, p. 71).

In The Mayville Story, a booklet issued in 1947 to commemorate

the centennial of the city, a few historical sketches written by May¬

ville citizens mention German organizations but do not connect

them with the Society of Free Men. Mrs. Ottilie Ruedebusch tells of

Die Freie Deutsche Schule, which taught both German and English.

It was built in 1871 because there was no public school, but when

a public school was built in 1876, the German school was discon¬

tinued and the building given to the Turners, who enlarged it and

used it as a social center until 1946 when they sold it to the Masons.

Mrs. Charles Schumann in “A Walk Through Mayville Fifty

Years Ago,” tells of a Frauenverein and a Mdnnerchor, but does not

connect them with a Free Thought group. Mr. John Husting, attor¬

ney at Cedarburg, in a letter of September 13, 1963, says that his

mother, who came to Mayville in 1893 at the age of 14, has no

knowledge of a Free Thought group at that time. “The Turner was

for many years the center of Mayville’s culture : plays, musical af¬

fairs, gymnastic exhibitions. It is not known whether the Free

Thinker group helped or not.”

From the evidence available at present, we can be sure a May¬

ville Freie Mdnner-Verein did exist for a few years after 1870, the

year they joined the Bund, The sale of the schoolhouse might indi-

1964] Cooper — Die Freien Gemeinden in Wisconsin

63

cate their decision to unite with the Turners in the German activ¬

ities of that organization.

In several little communities near Milwaukee, Free Thought

groups at one time were active. In the case of Thiensville, there are

interesting legends reported by a Milwaukee Journal feature writer

(October 13, 1940). According to this story, Thiensville was a

“godless city,” the “Paris of Wisconsin;” the town managed to

keep out churches until 1919 when a Catholic church was finally

established. Older citizens of Thiensville, children of Free Thinkers,

and in some cases Free Thinkers themselves, agreed upon being in¬

terviewed that they had never heard of any active opposition to the

organization of churches. “We just felt we didn’t need churches, and

we wanted to be left alone,” was the way one woman put it.

Paul Seiffert is a retired pharmacist, whose grandfather Baron

von Seiffert came from Saxony in 1845 and hung on the door of his

log cabin the coat of arms given his family in 1716 for their serv¬

ice to the state, Mr. Seiffert was willing to talk about his childhood

in a family of Free Thinkers. When as a young boy he asked his

father’s permission to attend a church Sunday school with one of

his friends, the answer was, “No. When you are twenty-one and old

enough to make your own decisions, you may decide for yourself.”

Although Mr. Seiffert does not remember that any direct instruc¬

tion in principles of Free Thought was given the children in the

home, he does recall the Sunday walks with his maternal grand¬

father Von Barkenhauser, who would take Paul and his sister to

the woods and teach them to recognize different trees and flowers.

He was certain that in his boyhood there was no formally organ¬

ized gemeinde but there were a singing group and informal social

activities for the Free Thinkers, Others interviewed were in defi¬

nite agreement on this point.

When it came to marriages and funerals, the Free Thinkers

never had a minister. A justice of the peace or a leader in the Free

Throught group officiated at marriages. Funerals were non-religious

with one of the Free Thinkers speaking briefly. One man requested

that his friends take a walk in the woods instead of giving him any

funeral ceremony.

A bit of information about Mequon and three other vanished

gemeinden comes in a letter from an unnamed correspondent to the

Blatter fur freies religioses Leben (I, November 1856, pp. 79-80).

He writes that there has been no gemeinde at Milwaukee since

1856, but that there are gemeinden at Kilbourn Road and Cedar-

burg, and the ruins of one at Howel’s Road, and that there is a re¬

port that a gemeinde may be organized at Mequon. This correspond¬

ent concludes that “there is a field here and there in the Milwaukee

64 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [VoL 53

neighborhood, but the spiritual power and the outward means are

entirely lacking/'

Cedarburg, HoweFs Road, Kilbourn Road, and Mequon are among

those communities listed by Schroter in 1862 when he was lament¬

ing the diminishing interest in Free Thought: “Where except on the-

banks of the Wisconsin River in Sauk and Dane Counties is there a

trace of the many victories of enlightenment?" (I, December 1862,

p. 91)

Schroter 's lament over the retreat of the “forces of enlighten¬

ment" was prophetic. Fourteen years later only four Wisconsin

groups reported to the Bund: Painesville, Sauk City, Milwaukee,

Bostwick Valley. As we have seen, the lack of a report from May-

ville was noted by the Bund office. During and after the 1876 Bund

convention, the organization by Karl Heinzen of a Bund der Radi-

kalen disrupted the Bund der Freien Gemeinden und Freidenker-

Verein, and it was not reorganized until 1897 (V, pp. 11-12). In

1900 only Bostwick Valley, Milwaukee, and Sauk City reported,

and Painesville withdrew “to be alone." In 1916 Bostwick Valley

disbanded because of lack of financial support. In succeeding re¬

ports only Milwaukee and Sauk City represent Wisconsin. Today

these two societies go their separate ways. Milwaukee belongs to

the American Rationalist Association; Sauk City is affiliated with

the Unitarians.

A variety of reasons may be logically conjectured for the dimin¬

ished membership of the Freien Gemeinden in Wisconsin : marriage

of children of gemeinden families with children of orthodox fam¬

ilies ; loss of interest in German language and culture by the second

and third generations of German- Americans ; lack of enough lead¬

ership and money to keep the movement alive ; the growing liberal¬

ism in some orthodox churches which gave less ground for objec¬

tion to their principles.

In summary, it may be said that the illustrations of the beliefs

and practices of the Freien Gemeinden in Wisconsin presented in

this paper, show these contributions to the cultural history of

Wisconsin :

1. In a period of conflict between orthodox religion and science,

they were among the first to demand that religion should be in

harmony with the developing scientific knowledge.

2. They believed in the right of the individual to search for truth

wherever he found it whether or not the results agreed with tradi¬

tional beliefs.

3. In their ideal of using new knowledge of nature and man to

make this world a better place for human beings, they were among

the nineteenth century humanists who anticipated the “social gos¬

pel" of the twentieth century churches.

1964] Cooper — Die Freien Gemeinden in Wisconsin

65

4. These men and women were among the earnest intellectuals

of the state for while enduring the hardships of pioneer life, they

took time and energy to nourish the life of the mind by listening to

lectures on philosophy and literature, by establishing libraries, by

organizing groups to perform in drama and in vocal and instru¬

mental music.

In taking stock of its cultural heritage, Wisconsin should recog¬

nize the contribution made by the Freien Gemeinden, Two practical

means of recognition would be the effort to preserve such of their

records as are not already lost and the commemoration by appro¬

priate historical markers of the buildings and communities con¬

nected with their history.^^ The Painesville Memorial is an example

of what should be done for the hall in Bostwick Valley and for all

places where these independent-thinking pioneers gathered to keep

alive the best of the heritage of the Old World culture and to add

to it the new knowledge of the nineteenth century.

References Cited

I. Blatter fur freies religidses Leben (Philadelphia, 1856-70 and San Fran¬

cisco, 1871-74).

II. Fink, Ella Louise. Manuscript in “Painesville” folder at Milwaukee

County Library

III. - . “The Painesville Memorial Chapel,” Historical Messinger, 11:2

(June 1955), 7-9.

IV. Geschichtliche Mittheilungen ilber die Deutschen Freien Gemeinden von

Nord-Amerika (Philadelphia, 1877).

V. Hempel, Max. Was Sind die Freien Gemeinden? (Milwaukee, 1902),

VI. History of Milwaukee County (Writers’ Project, 1944).

VIL Jahresbericht des Bundes der Freien Gemeinden und Freidenker-Vereine

von Nord-Amerika 1 Juli 1899 bis 1 Juli 1900 (Milwaukee, 1900).

VIII. The Mayville Story: One Hundredth Anniversary (Mayville, 1947).

IX. Mirbt, Carl. “Deutsch-Katholicismus,” Encyclopedia of Religion and

Ethics, IV, 673-75.

X. Runge, Clara. The Free Congregation of Sauk County : An Outline His¬

tory from 18i52 to 194.0 (a mimeographed pamphlet).

XL ScHLiCHER, J. J. “Eduard Schroeter the Humanist,” Wisconsin Magazine

of History, XXVIII: 2 (December 1944), pp. 169-83,

XII. ScHiiNEMANN-PoTT, Friedrick. Die Freie GemeindeiEin Zeugniss aus

ihr und ilber sie, an die Denkenden unter ihren Verdchter (Philadel¬

phia, 1861).

“ See unpublished manuscript “A Partial Bibliography of Material on the Freien

Gemeinden in the Library of the Free Congregation of Sauk City,” prepared by Bere¬

nice Cooper, in manuscript department of the Library of the Wisconsin Historical

Society. Milwaukee County has a collection of material on the Freien Gemeinden,

assembled by Theodore Mueller, retired librarian.

THE EFFECTS OF FIRE ON THE VEGETATIONAL

COMPOSITION OF BRACKEN-GRASSLANDS

Richard J. Vogl*

A study of the vegetational composition of bracken-grassland

communities and of changes resulting from fire was undertaken

during the summers of 1959 and 1960.^ Six Conservation Wildlife

Areas in Vilas, Florence, Marinette, and Oconto Counties in north¬

eastern Wisconsin were selected for study (Figure 1). The vegeta¬

tion of these areas is being managed for sharptailed grouse (Pedio-

ecetes phasianellus) by using prescribed burning.

Bracken-grasslands have only recently been recognized as a

major type of grassland in Wisconsin (Curtis 1959). Previously,

little information was available on the composition and origin of

this community. Curtis (1959) stated that bracken-grasslands in

Wisconsin occur on open upland sites north of the tension zone.

These upland openings are generally surrounded by northern pine-

hardwoods or boreal forest. The bracken-grasslands (Figure 2),

however, are usually treeless and dominated by bracken fern

(Pteridium aquilinum).^

There is general agreement that fire is an essential factor in the

initiation of bracken-grasslands (Maissurow 1941, Curtis 1959).

Bracken-grasslands that originated since recent European settle¬

ment are considered the result of logging followed by fire (Schorger

1943, Hamerstrom et al, 1952, Stearns 1961). Before logging and

burning, some areas were covered by thin forests of red pine (Pintts

resinoso)) and scattered white pine (Pinus strobus) (Wilde et al.

1949). Other areas were occupied by more mesic stands of sugar

maple (Acer saccharum;) ^ and associated species or by boreal forest.

Today these areas, known locally as “stump prairies,” are occupied

by bracken-grasslands dotted with stumps.

In an attempt to utilize “stump prairie” openings, the U.S. For¬

est Service and county forest agencies tried to establish pine planta¬

tions on them which subsequently failed (Frome 1962) . This failure

was blamed not only on drought and poor planting techniques, but

* Richard J. Vogl is an Assistant Professor of Botany at Los Angeles State College.

Field work for this study was undertaken as part of the author’s doctoral program

at the University of Wisconsin— Madison.

^ This study was conducted in cooperation with the Wisconsin Conservation Depart¬

ment and was financed in part with Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration funds under

Pittman-Robertson Project Number W-79-R.

^Nomenclature for plant species follows Fernald (1950).

67

68 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [VoL 53

Figure 1. The six Conservation Wildlife Areas selected for study of bracken-

grasslands in northeastern Wisconsin.

also on frost, since some of these areas are depressions or natural

“frost pockets” (Curtis 1959, West 1961) . As a result, some “stump

prairies” have been classified as unfit for reforestation (Stoeckeler

and Limstrom 1942) and are presently being managed for sharp¬

tailed grouse by the Wisconsin Conservation Department.

Sharptailed grouse and their habitat have gradually been fading

from the landscape in northeastern Wisconsin (Lintereur 1959).

Typical sharptail country consisted of large open areas several

thousand acres in size with scattered patches of low brush and

thickets of young forest (Newman 1959) . In an effort to restore the

sharptailed grouse to higher densities, intensive management of

the vegetation was undertaken by the Game Management Division

of the Wisconsin Conservation Department. Twenty wildlife areas

in the state, totaling 116,406 acres, were being managed for sharp-

tails as of 1959 (Newman 1959). Many openings are reverting to

forest as a result of improved fire protection, reforestation and the

abandonment of marginal farms. In these areas, prescribed burn¬

ing is being used as a management tool to recreate openings in the

encroaching second-growth forest (Schorger 1962).

I am indebted to the late Dr. John T. Curtis, University of Wis¬

consin, for his stimulating discussion, encouragement, and guidance

throughout the course of this work.

1964] Vogl — Effects of Fire on Bracken-Grasslands

69

Figure 2. A burned bracken-grassland dominated by bracken fern.

Description of Study Areas

Six areas which contained experimental tracts that had been sub¬

jected to prescribed burning were selected. The Dorothy Dunn Wild¬

life Area is in north-central Vilas County near the headwaters of

the Manitowish River. The terrain consists of a series of rolling to

choppy hills with narrow, steep ridges separating deep ''pockets’’ or

depressions. It is generally open with some timber on the ridges,

mainly white birch (Betula papyrifera) , red pine, jack pine ( Finns

hanksiana), and red maple (Acer rubrum). Old decomposed pine

stumps are found scattered over the ridge slopes and depressions.

The predominant groundlayer vegetation on the ridges and hillsides

is low in form, dominated by poverty grass (Danthonia spicata) ,

orange hawkweed (Hieracium aurantiacum) , and numerous lichens.

Three of the study areas, Spread Eagle Wildlife Area, Deadman

Creek, and Pine Creek are adjacent to each other and are very

similar. They cover 7000 acres in the extreme northeastern part of

Wisconsin in Florence County, west of the Menominee River (the

Michigan- Wisconsin boundary) (Figure 1). The landscape consists

of a series of huge, open, upland basins which contain scattered

70 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53 *

small hills, with adjacent basins separated by steep ridges (Figure f

3). Timber in the form of scattered large red pines, coppiced, open- t;

grown white birches, and red maples occurs only on the separating t.

ridges. Dense stands of jack pine grow on the north-facing slopes f

of the hills. The hills and ridges are covered by bracken fern and J

the low terrain is dominated by slender wheatgrass (Agroyyron |

trachycaulum) , wild chess (Bromus kalmii), rice grass (Oryzopsis ^

asperifolia) , and barren strawberry (Waldsteinia fragarioides) . ,

This area is unique because there are no stumps in the clearings •:

which indicates that the present openings did not support forest I

growth in presettlement times. This agrees with information ob- V,

tained from logging records and long time residents. -

The Dunbar Wildlife Area, an opening of over 1000 acres, is ’ ■

known locally as the '‘Kohler Flats.'’ These level uplands, which ?

contained some stands of red pine, have been logged and cleared ;

since white settlement (Lintereur, personal contact). Now, huge -

pine stumps, large Juneberry (Amelanchier sp.) bushes, and an g

Figure 3. Spread Eagle Wildlife Area, composed of a series of open, upland

basins. Bracken fern covers the ridges along with red pine, jack pine, and

white birch.

1964] Vogl — Effects of Fire on Bracken-Grasslands 71

occasional small tree dot the flats. The ground vegetation is dom¬

inated by slender wheatgrass, poverty grass, and ciliated aster

(Aster ciliolatus). Sand cherry (Prunus pumila) and sweet fern

(Myrica asplenifolia) have the highest shrub frequencies.

The last study area consists of several Wisconsin Conservation

Department management units within Nicolet National Forest. In¬

cluded are several small upland openings, some of which are lo¬

cated in well drained pockets or depressions. The surrounding for¬

est of second-growth northern pine-hardwoods is encroaching upon

the openings which are dotted with old pine stumps. The ground-

layer vegetation is dominated by bracken fern, little bluestem

(Andropogon scoparius), and common goldenrod (Solidago mis-

souriensis) along with large local patches of sweet fern and wild

bergamot (Monarda fistulosa).

Soil samples taken were variable. All of the soils were sandy,

ranging from fine sands and sandy loams to melanized sands. Some

of the grassland soil samples were similar to the surrounding forest

soils. Others had a deeper litter (Ao layer) and a richer organic

horizon (Aj layer) than the adjacent forest soils.

Soils in the Dunbar area were extremely sandy with a poorly

developed Aj. The soils of Spread Eagle and adjacent areas were

melanized sands with a heavy Ao layer and a dark, rich Ai horizon.

Areas within Nicolet National Forest were very rocky; this made it

difficult to install adequate firebreaks for the prescribed burning.

Methods

To determine the effects of fire on the vegetational composition

of bracken-grasslands, 27 stands were selected for survey. The

number of stands sampled was limited by the number of bracken-

grasslands burned.

The criteria used in the selection of each stand are that it be

dominated by bracken-grasslands species (Curtis 1959), be of uni¬

form topography, be at least 25 acres in extent and be an upland

site — one which is well drained and never has standing rain water

on the surface. The unburned areas or controls were free from dis¬

turbance for at least the past 25 years. The adjacent burned stands

were similar to the controls in site, slope, exposure, history, and

vegetational composition, differing only in the treatment of fire.

When two burned stands were similar and in the same immediate

area, only one adjacent control stand was sampled for comparison.

The main purpose of the control burning conducted by the sharp¬

tailed grouse management program of the Wisconsin Conserva¬

tion Department was to try to extend the present grasslands by

reducing the density of the surrounding woodlands and by elimi-

72 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

nating the encroaching trees and shrubs. Firing of the grasslands

was also expected to stimulate sharptailed grouse foods, reduce un¬

desirable species, and to increase bird accessibility to the grasslands

by eliminating accumulated dead growth.

All burning was done in the months of March and April. The 15

burned stands and adjacent control stands were sampled in July

and August of the year of the burn or the year following. All stands,

except three, were subjected to one prescribed fire. Two stands were

control-burned three times and one stand was swept by two wild¬

fires.

Each stand was sampled in the following manner. An area of

uniform vegetation 33 meters square was selected and within this

square the sample was taken by laying out 20 quadrats at random,

each a meter square. The presence of all species in each quadrat

was recorded to obtain the frequency of occurrence of each species.

This frequency was then calculated and expressed as per cent.

Within the 33 meter square study plot all trees, both living and

dead, were recorded by size classes. The number of stems per re¬

sprouted tree was counted. Density and dominance were then de¬

termined for each tree species. In addition, the percentage of cover

or canopy of the trees was estimated visually for each study plot.

A presence list was made of all species found in the stand.

Evaluation of results and the effects of fire is based primarily on

quantitative frequency data since they are more indicative of

changes than is a comparison of presence lists.

Results

The vegetational composition of undisturbed bracken-grasslands

is evident from the list of 21 prevalent species (Table 1). This list

was obtained by calculating the average number of species sampled

(21) in each of the 12 unburned stands. All species were arranged

in a descending order of their average percent frequencies and the

top 21 were selected as prevalents. The average percent frequency

for a species was obtained by totaling its percent frequency in all

stands and dividing the sum by the number of stands sampled. The

prevalents of the burned stands were similarly determined. A total

of 63 species was encountered in the entire sampling.

In the unburned stands the five species with the highest average

frequencies are bracken fern, sweet fern, sweet blueberry (Vac-

cinium angustifolium) , Carex sp., and wintergreen (Gaultheria

procumbens) . Bracken fern and sweet fern are the dominant

species, the first and most widespread dominant being bracken fern.

Six grasses, Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis) , rice grass, false

melic (Schizachne purpurascen^) , wild chess, slender wheatgrass.

1964] Vogl — Effects of Fire on Bracken-Grasslands

73

Table 1. List of 21 Prevalent Species Characterizing the Composition

OF Undisturbed Bracken-Grasslands in Northeastern Wisconsin

and marsh Muhly (Muhlenbergia racemosa) , comprise 29% of the

prevalent species.

Prevalent forbs include common goldenrod, low bindweed (Con¬

volvulus spithameus) , large-leaved aster (Aster macrophyllus) , and

arrow-leaved aster (Aster saggittifolius) . All of these species, ex¬

cept low bindweed which usually grows under the dense canopy of

bracken fern, are known or strongly suspected to be active in anti¬

biotic production (Cottam and Curtis 1951, Curtis 1959).

Prevalents generally associated with forest are wintergreen and

barren strawberry, both achieving maximum presence in northern

dry forest, and bush honeysuckle (Diervilla lonicera), achieving

maximum presence in boreal forest (Curtis 1959). The existence of

forest species in adjacent openings is not uncommon and many

species are found in openings and are able to survive even after the

tree canopy has been removed (Bray 1958) .

Among the shrubs, sweet fern and sweet blueberry are extremely

high in average frequency. Juneberry is scattered throughout the

grasslands and blackberry (Rubus sp.) is common on the ridges.

Subjecting the bracken-grassland to prescribed fire causes some

changes in the prevalent species (Table 2). Species characterizing

the burned stands are sweet blueberry, sweet fern, Carex sp.,

bracken fern, and barren strawberry. The two dominants now are

sweet blueberry and sweet fern.

74 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Table 2. Prevalent Species List for Burned Bracken-Grasslands

The prescribed fires set on each area were variable, ranging from

extremely hot ones to those burning with difficulty or in a spotty

manner. Because of this variation, valid comparisons could not be

made between individual fires, between areas with differing fire

histories or between burns of varying ages even though such fac¬

tors influence community composition. A general and more ade¬

quate comparison was made by summing the results of each species

in all the burns and comparing these results with those of the con¬

trols. That is, the percent frequencies obtained for each species

from all of the burned stands and those obtained from all of the

control stands were totaled and averaged to provide two compara¬

ble average percent frequencies for each species.

The average percent frequency of each control species was com¬

pared to the corresponding frequency in the burns to divide species

into increasers, decreasers, and neutrals, depending upon their re¬

sponse to fire. Increasers were those species with an average fre¬

quency at least 5% greater in the burns than in the controls. If a

species decreased in average frequency 5% or more after burning,

it was considered a decreases Species that differed less than 5%

in average frequency were classified as neutral species. These limits

were set arbitrarily, thus permitting the categorization of gross ob¬

vious fluctuations caused by fire. In order to evaluate these cate¬

gories, a statistical test. Student’s t-test, was applied to each species

1964] Vogl— Effects of Fire on Bracken-Grasslands

75

to see if there was a significant increase or decrease at 95% con¬

fidence limits (Simpson et al, 1950).

Table 3 lists the increasers, decreasers, and neutrals. The major¬

ity of the species fall into the neutral category (76.5%) and the re¬

maining species are classed as decreasers (17.6%) and increasers

(5.9%).

Examination of the average relative frequencies reveals that few

sharp changes occurred after burning. Of the three species classed

as increasers, none changed greatly. Juneberry had the highest in¬

crease (8.0%) since it is a vigorous resprouter after burning.

Table 3. Species Grouped as Increasers, Decreasers, or Neutrals,

Depending Upon Their Response to Fire

Neutrals

76 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Sweet blueberry increased 7.7%, becoming the most prevalent

species after burning. This agrees with the findings of other work¬

ers ( Ahlgren and Ahlgren 1960) .

Among the decreasers, wintergreen showed the greatest reduc¬

tion in frequency ( — 25.8%). This species and large-leaved aster

are most common in northern pine-hardwood and boreal forests

(Curtis 1959) and would not be expected to be adapted to continual

fires. Whorled loosestrife (Lysimachia quadrifolia) , generally

found in the dense shade of bracken fern, is also reduced in fre¬

quency after burning, perhaps as a result of the reduction in fre¬

quency of bracken fern. Other authors have demonstrated that

bracken fern increased in frequency and actually takes over after

burning (McMinn 1951, Martin 1955). This increase occurs in

burned forest areas and is considered a response to the increased

light resulting from a decrease in the tree canopy. In the bracken-

grasslands, however, the tree canopy is only fragmentary and here

the slight decrease in frequency is thought to be a direct response to

fire. The same is'true for bush honeysuckle.

Three of the native grasses listed as decreasers are slender wheat-

grass, wild chess, and rice grass.

Although almost one-fourth of the species were placed into sub¬

jective increaser or decreaser categories, none of the species showed

a statistically significant increase or decrease at the 95% level ex¬

cept the decreaser wintergreen.

Most of the common and characteristic bracken-grassland species

are neutrals. Within the neutral category, the species are sub-di¬

vided into those exhibiting increased frequency and those exhibit¬

ing decreased frequency within the 5% limits. None of these fluc¬

tuations are statistically significant at the 95% level. Twenty-eight

of the species are considered as modal species for Wisconsin

bracken-grasslands by Curtis (1959) since their presence values are

highest in this community. An additional 13% are listed as preva-

lents by Curtis, Shrubs such as hazel (Corylus americana), sweet

fern, sand cherry, rose (Rosa sp.) , blackberry, and willow are listed

among the neutrals. In addition, tree reproduction frequencies are

given. Fifteen percent of the neutrals are grasses and 62% are

forbs, the majority of which are perennials.

Additional species were recorded in the sampling. Six species,

Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Pinus resinosa seedlings, Trientalis bore¬

alis, Senecio pauperculus, Solidago gigantea, and Steironema ciliata,

were present in the control sample but absent after burning. These

species were uncommon in the control sample and were eliminated

by fire from the burned sample.

1964] Vogl — Effects of Fire on Bracken-Grasslands 77

Three other minor species, Chenopodium album, Erigeron cana¬

densis, and Panicum capillare, absent in the controls, were found

invading the burned stands. These are weedy species characteristic

of disturbed sites.

Effects of Fire on Tree Layer

The sampling procedure used in evaluating the timber growing

on the elevated portions of the bracken-grasslands is described in

the Methods,

Estimations of canopy cover revealed that the unburned study

plots had an average canopy of 22.4% which was reduced to an

average cover of 4.3% after burning.

White birch is one of the major tree species. The majority of

birch on unburned sites had coppiced trunks with an average of

two stems per tree and 26 trees per acre. After burning, they root-

resprouted into '‘bush-like’' trees with an average of four stems

per tree and 18 trees per acre. The average basal area per acre

was decreased 90%. Mortality occurred in 31% of all the birch

sampled because they were killed by burning or were decadent prior

to burning and thus unable to resprout.

Hill’s oak (Quercus ellipsoidalis) , quaking aspen (Populus trem-

uloides), and black cherry (Prunus serotina) resprouted after

burning. Hill’s oak maintained 30 trees per acre before and after

burning but had an 82% reduction in average basal area. Mortal¬

ity occurred in 40% of the aspen sampled (reduced from 20 to 12

trees per acre) but the remaining living trees resprouted vigor¬

ously to produce only a 1 % decrease in the average basal area per

acre. Fire lowered the density of black cherry from 12 to 4 indi¬

viduals per acre (66% mortality) with a corresponding 82%

decrease in basal area.

Red maple had also been encroaching on the grasslands but usu¬

ally failed to resprout after burning. It was reduced from 26 to 2

trees per acre (94% mortality) with an 88% decrease in average

basal area.

Red and jack pine did not resprout and individuals of small

diameter were eliminated by fire. However, large open-grown pines

escaped destructive crown fires and survived surface fires with only

slight damage, such as charred trunks, burned lower branches and

basal wounds. Red pine had an 18% reduction in density (from 18

to 15 trees per acre) and a 26% decrease in basal area per acre.

Jack pine was reduced 24% (from 5 to 4 trees per acre) with a

28% decrease in basal area per acre.

78 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

The total average percent mortality for all tree species was

38.2% with a total average percent decrease in average basal area

per acre of 59.2%. These figures were obtained by summing the

averages for each tree species and dividing this sum by the number

of different tree species.

Discussion

The results of this study indicate that burning does not cause

major vegetational changes or modifications since it does not sub¬

stantially alter species composition. The majority of plant frequen¬

cies (76.5%) were unaffected by fire and these species are classed

as neutrals. If this community requires repeated fires for mainte¬

nance, a greater response would be expected when fire is finally

returned after 25 or more years. However, the number of species

that increased is negligible (5.9%) and the number that decreased

is relatively small (17.6%). In addition, none of the fluctuations

of average relative frequency are extreme and only one species

showed a statistically significant difference with burning. Only a

few unimportant species are eliminated by fire or invaded the

burned areas.

Since bracken fern and several grasses decreased in relative fre¬

quency, burning tends to be detrimental to these species. These

dominants would not be expected to dip in frequency following

burning if they are characteristic of a fire-type.

Burning had other effects not measured in the frequency studies.

These include resprouting and early spring plant growth, the pro¬

duction of increased height in grasses and forbs, and the increase

in flower, fruit, and seed stalk production. This was accomplished

by the removal of accumulated mulch and by the fertilizing effect

of the ash (Ehrenreich and Aikman 1963). Even if the vegetation

is not drastically altered in average percent frequency by fire, there

is an increased production of foods utilized by sharptailed grouse

(Grange 1948).

Although bracken-grasslands do not need fire to be maintained,

many of them burn readily when swept by wildfire. Since this com¬

munity is an open grassland with little protective tree canopy,

extremely dry and combustible conditions occur, particularly in

spring and fall. The heavy accumulation of mulch, which typifies

grasslands, provides ideal fuel and the open rolling terrain permits

fires to bum freely. Examples are the recent wildfires near Dunbar

and Commonwealth, Wisconsin. Even though fires have not been

recorded since 1930 (Wisconsin Conservation Department 1930-

1960) for many of these areas, fire-charred stumps, “cat-faced”

trees, coppiced stems, and dense even-aged stands of jack pine in

1964] Vogl — Effects of Fire on Bracken-Grasslands 79

the timber bordering these grasslands are evidence that these areas

not only originated after logging and burning, but were also burned

again. This is by no means universal; some bracken-grasslands

show no signs of burning other than the one initial post-logging

fire.

Bracken-grasslands appear fairly stable (Curtis 1959). However,

this study revealed that shrubs and trees are encroaching on many

areas. Here fire is beneficial in retarding this advance by reducing

the height of the shrubs and by eliminating or reducing the advanc¬

ing deciduous trees to ‘‘bushes.’’ Fire destroyed young reproduction

of jack pine, red pine, and balsam fir (Abies halsamea).

Several theories are proposed to explain how bracken-grasslands

are maintained as open grasslands, even when completely sur¬

rounded by forest. Of importance is the competition between

grasses and tree seedlings, often referred to as “eternal enemies”

by the silviculturist and forest nurseryman. Wilde (1958) for ex¬

ample, points out the importance of thoroughly removing existing

grass sod cover to insure successful establishment of pine plantings.

Since bracken-grassland has a heavy sod formed by grasses, sedges,

and fern, and since sod cover physically impairs the establishment

and early growth of invading tree seedlings, bracken-grassland

sod is considered a significant factor in the maintenance of these

openings.

Another factor having strong influence on invading trees and

resulting successional changes is bracken fern. This species occurs

in solid stands, usually waist to chest high and produces a dense

canopy under which few other species can exist. Occasionally, shade

tolerant plants such as hooked violet and whorled loosestrife con¬

tinue to grow under the fern canopy, but pioneer tree seedlings

cannot successfully compete with the bracken fern. A few species,

like slender wheatgrass, survive by growing above the solid layer

of fern.

In addition, the antibiotic production of bracken-grassland spe¬

cies might contribute to the maintenance of these treeless grass¬

lands, since many are known or suspected of producing antibiotics,

thus inhibiting the growth of species (Curtis 1959) .

Another explanation is the apparent activity of frost in low-

lying areas and depressions as a result of cold air drainage and

accumulation (Stoeckeler 1963). This does not apply to all grass¬

lands since many occur on level plains or rolling uplands such as

the Kohler Flats and adjacent “stump prairies.” However, in areas

containing deep depressions, bracken fern and trees are absent

in these pockets which are dominated only by grasses and sedges.

The explanation for this absence is the cold air drainage and result¬

ing “frost pocket” effect occurring during the growing season.

80 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Bracken fern and tree reproduction are particularly susceptible to

summer frosts. Signs of frost damage and suppressed growth were

observed on trees invading depressions and heavy frosts were

observed on clear nights throughout the summer on several areas.

Even though any one theory might be used to explain the main¬

tenance of bracken-grasslands, in actuality a combination of sev¬

eral of the above factors probably accounts for the relative stability

of this community.

Also of interest is the origin of bracken-grasslands. One of the

areas studied existed prior to white settlement and might be of the

same origin as southern Wisconsin prairies (Curtis 1959). The rest

came into existence after clear-cut logging followed by fire. Often

these post-logging fires were extremely hot due to the accumulated

slash, heavy understory of resprouts, and rapid growth of released

plants. Such hot fires could easily eliminate any remaining trees

and sprouts and completely destroy the existing understory plants

by killing rootstocks and seeds. This would permit an open inva¬

sion of grasses and sedges without competing with species already

established. In addition, since many of these areas developed hard-

pans while under the influence of forest trees, the elimination of

the total vegetation resulted in the appearance of surface waters

during the wet season which were normally removed by stands of

transpiring vegetation. This harsh environment, fluctuating season¬

ally from wet to dry, was best adapted to sedges, grasses, and

finally bracken fern. In areas where logging and fire took place in

boreal forest and northern pine-hardwood types, few tree species

survived since they were either unable to sprout after logging or

were susceptible to fire or both. Thus the tree vegetation was essen¬

tially eliminated, leaving the ‘‘stump prairies’" of today.

Summary and Conclusions

1. The vegetational composition (including prevalent species) of

burned and unburned bracken-grasslands in northeastern Wiscon¬

sin was determined using quantitative frequency data. Stands are

dominated by bracken fern, sweet fern, sweet blueberry, and

Car ex sp.

2. Fire is considered to have little effect on the vegetational com¬

position, since it does not substantially alter species composition.

The majority of species (76.5%) are not changed in average rela¬

tive frequencies and the remaining species (increasers and decreas-

ers) do not show statistically significant fluctuations. The lack of

invaders in the burned stands indicates burning has not modified

environmental conditions or the successional stage.

1964] Vogl— Effects of Fire on Bracken-Grasslands

81

3. Some of the bracken-grasslands are unstable in that there

are trees encroaching on the grasslands. Fire definitely retards the

advance of these trees and will even expand the grassland areas.

Fire reduced the average canopy cover of encroaching trees from

22.4% to 4.3%, produced a total average mortality of 38.2% for

all trees, and resulted in a 59.2% average decrease in basal area

per acre.

4. Fire was observed to have beneficial effects. It stimulated

resprouting and early spring growth, increased height of herba¬

ceous growth, and increased flower, fruit, and seed stalk produc¬

tion because of the removal of the heavy suffocating mulch and the

production of fertilizing ash.

5. Since fire is not usually considered to be important in bracken-

grassland maintenance, other theories are discussed. It is concluded

that several factors operate in combination to maintain these grass¬

lands as treeless openings, the most significant being the inability

of tree reproduction to become readily established in grassland sod

and the inability of trees to become established under the dense,

shade-producing canopy cover of bracken fern.

6. Most of the bracken-grasslands in this study are considered

to have originated from logging followed by intense fires. These

hot fires eliminated the existing vegetation, resulting in increased

surface water, and converted sites to pioneer and unstable types

best suited to sedges, grasses, and ultimately bracken fern.

References Cited

Ahlgren, I. F. and C. E, Ahlgren. 1960. Ecological effects of forest fires.

Botan, Rev. 26 (4) :483-533.,

Bray, J. R. 1958, Climax forest herbs in prairie. Am. Midland Naturalist 58:

434-440.

COTTAM, G. and J. T. Curtis. 1951. Antibiotics and plant competition. Bull.

Card. Club Amer. 39(2) :8-ll.

Curtis, J. T. 1959. The vegetation of Wisconsin. Madison, The Univ. of Wis¬

consin Press. 657 pp.

Ehrenreich, j. H. and J. M. Aikman. 1963. An ecological study of the effect

of certain management practices on native prairie in Iowa. Ecol. Mono¬

graphs 33(2) :113-130.

Fernald, M. L. 1950. Gray’s manual of botany. American Book Co., New York.

1632 pp.

Frome, M. 1962. Whose woods these are: the story of the national forests.

Doubleday and Co., Inc. New York. 360 pp.

Grange, W. B. 1948. Wisconsin grouse problems. Wis. Conserv, Dept. Publ.

328A. Madison, Wisconsin. 318 pp.

Hamerstrom, F., F. Hamerstrom and D. E. Matson. 1952. Sharptails into the

shadows? Wis. Conserv. Dept., Wisconsin Wildlife No. 1 Madison, Wiscon¬

sin. 35 pp.

Lintereur, L. j. 1959. Time running out? Wis. Conserv. Bull. 24(8) :26-27.

82 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Maissurow, D. K. 1941. The role of fire in the perpetuation of virg-in forests of

northern Wisconsin. J. Forestry 39(2) :201-207.

Martin, J. L. 1955. Observations on the origin and early development of a

plant community following a forest fire. Forestry Chron. 31(2) : 154-160.

McMinn, R. G. 1951. The vegetation of a burn near Blaney Lake, British

Columbia. Ecology 32:135-140.

Newman, D. E. 1959. Sharptails: a land management problem, Wis. Conserv,

Bull. 24(4) :10-12.

SCHORGER, A. W. 1943. The prairie chicken and sharptailed grouse in early

Wisconsin. Trans. Wisconsin Acad. Sci. 35:1-59.

- . 1962. Wildlife restoration in Wisconsin. Trans. Wisconsin Acad. Sci.

51:21-30.

Simpson, G. G., A. Roe and R. C. Lewontin. 1960, Quantitative zoology. Har-

court. Brace and Co., New York. 440 pp.

Stearns, F. A. 1961. Nicolet National Forest: field laboratory. Picture Journal,

The Milwaukee Journal. May 14:16-24.

Stoeckeler, j. H. 1963. Springtime frost frequency near La Crosse, Wisconsin,

as affected by topographic position, and its relation to potential reforesta¬

tion problems. J. Forestry 61(5) :379-381.

Stoeckeler, J. H. and G. A. Limstrom. 1942. Site classifications for reforesta¬

tion on the national forest of Wisconsin. J. Forestry 40:308-315.

West. A. J. 1961. Cold air drainage in forest openings. Pac. S. W. Forest and

Range Exptl. Sta. Res. Note #180.

Wilde, S. A. 1958, Forest soils. The Ronald Press Co., New York. 537 pp.

Wilde, S. A., F. G. Wilson and D. P. White. 1949. Soils of Wisconsin in re¬

lation to silviculture. Wis. Conserv. Dept, Publ. 525:1-171.

Wisconsin Conservation Department Fire Records. 1930-1960. Northeast area

forest protection fire records. Wausaukee, Wisconsin.

AN EVALUATION OF WATERFOWL REGULATIONS

AND LOCAL HARVESTS IN WISCONSIN

James C. Bartonek, Joseph /. Hickey j and Lloyd B. Keith*

Restrictions on waterfowl hunting have existed in this country

since 1710 (Palmer 1912), but it was not until 1913 that nation¬

wide regulations were set up by the federal government, under the

Migratory Bird Law (Lawyer 1919), Many types of regulations

with various degrees of restriction have been established, but not

all have enjoyed equal success. Bellrose (1944), Van den Akker and

Wilson (1951), and Hickey (1955) have made both local and

nation-wide analyses of changing regulations upon waterfowl har¬

vests. The purposes of the present study are to present an historical

resume of waterfowl regulations up to 1939, and to evaluate the

effects of certain of these regulations on local waterfowl harvests

in Wisconsin.

This and all similar studies of waterfowl harvests and regula¬

tions are subject to limitations imposed by local differences in hunt¬

ing conditions and practices, waterfowl species and populations,

proficiency levels and ethics of hunters, regulations and climatic

conditions. Conclusions and management recommendations derived

from local studies may be applicable only in these areas or others

with similar conditions. On the other hand, state-wide or regional

studies may yield data of limited management significance, as they

tend to give a generalized picture and often ignore important local

problems.

Through the kindness of Chandler and Robert Osborn we have

been able to study the hunting diaries of A. L. Osborn and obtain

information relevant to his hunting methods. These diaries consti¬

tute a 32-year record (1907 and 1909-39) of waterfowl-shooting

events on a small island in Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin. Osborn's

kill and that of his companions, along with varied comments on

the day's hunt, were faithfully recorded for each hunting-day.

Osborn, an ovmer and operator of a sawmill in Oshkosh, bought

the island in 1905. The island was approximately 10-15 yards wide

and 100 yards long, and it lay about a quarter-mile from the main¬

land. According to Chandler Osborn (pers. comm.), the only vaca-

* All three authors are affiliated with the Department of Wildlife Management,

University of Wisconsin-Madison.

83

84 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

tion that he ever knew his father to take was during the duck

season. A. L. Osborn died in the spring of 1940 — a veteran duck-

hunter, 81 years old. His chronicle presents many interesting facets

of human behavior that influence bird harvests, but which are not

readily discerned by such methods as roadside bag-checks or hunt¬

ing-questionnaire surveys.

Osborn kept remarkably complete records on the numbers of

persons hunting and the number of birds bagged (usually by spe¬

cies) at this site. During some seasons he recorded shooting hours,

weather conditions, numbers and kinds of birds seen and shot at

but missed, crippled birds, and remarks pertaining to hunting con¬

ditions in general. In extracting information from the Osborn jour¬

nals, we tabulated and considered all harvest data on the basis of

“party hunting’’ (i.e., assisting other members of the party to fill

their individual bag limits by shooting birds for them) so that the

“prestige” bias (i.e., a hunter over-estimating his kill by including

birds that were shot by his companions) (Cronan 1960) might be

eliminated. These harvest data were then evaluated in terms of

concurrent regulations, certain hypothetical regulations, and the

behavior of the hunter.

We wish to give acknowledgements to Laurence R. Jahn, Rich¬

ard A. Hunt, and Robert A. McCabe for their critical advice in

the preparation of this report and to Smith T. Dillon for his pre¬

liminary assembling of the diary data.

Historic Development of Waterfowl Regulations

During the early 1800’s a great number of states provided no

legal protection for waterfowl. Palmer (1912), in listing the chro¬

nology of game laws in the United States, indicated that the first

waterfowl regulation occurred in 1710, when Massachusetts pro¬

hibited the use of boats or canoes with sails or canoes disguised

with vegetation for hunting waterfowl. In 1832, Virginia prohib¬

ited night-shooting on water and the use of big guns for market

hunting. Rhode Island in 1846, followed by Michigan in 1859, were

the first to prohibit spring-shooting of waterfowl; however, both

states later repealed the law. Palmer also listed these other “firsts” :

1872, Maryland provided “rest days” for waterfowl; 1875, Arkan¬

sas prohibited market hunting; 1887, bag limits were established

in the Dakotas ; and 1904, Louisiana had a 5-year closed season on

wood duck (Aix sponsa) (scientific names obtained from A.O.U.

check-list, 1957).

Wisconsin was among the earliest to pass prohibitive regulations

on waterfowl hunting. In 1860, wood ducks were protected from

December 1 to the first Tuesday in July (Laurence R. Jahn, in litt.).

1964] Bartonek, Hickey and Keith— Waterfowl Regulations 85

Scott (1937) said that in 1870 the wood duck, teal, and mallard

(Anas platyrhynchos) ^ were protected during 7 months of the year

in 11 southern Wisconsin counties; and the sale of these species

was prohibited. According to Lawyer (1919), during this same

year only 6 other states had some form of restrictions on spring¬

shooting. Wisconsin's county restrictions may well have been de¬

signed to protect only those species which were locally common

nesters, because regulations indicate that it was not until 1899

for other species of ducks, and 1913 for geese, that the same protec¬

tion was given.

Among the first Wisconsin regulations to appear were those that

restricted market hunters. In the late 1870's, duck hunting from

steam, sail or sneak boats, and sunken batteries was prohibited in

certain areas, and ducks could not be hunted from 8 PM to 3 AM

(Scott 1937), In 1887, birds could be shot only with a weapon dis¬

charged from the shoulder, and hunting from open-water or sink-

boats was prohibited ; the sale of all waterfowl species was prohib¬

ited in 1903.

Prior to 1913, there was little uniformity among the states re¬

garding the harvest of waterfowl. The first federal regulation gov¬

erning wildlife was the Lacey Act of 1900 which prohibited inter¬

state commerce in birds or game killed in violation of state laws

and controlled the importation and exportation of all birds and

mammals. The Federal Migratory Bird Law of March 4, 1913, au¬

thorized the U.S. Department of Agriculture to set suitable seasons

on migratory game, and the Bureau of Biological Survey was

charged with carrying its provisions into effect. Lawyer (1919)

said that this law proved very imperfect because it was incapable

of enforcement; however, he estimated that fully 95 percent of the

sportsmen abided by this mandate and refrained from hunting dur¬

ing the closed season. On December 8, 1916, the International Bird

Treaty was signed with Great Britain and was implemented by the

Migratory Bird Treaty Act of July 3, 1918, which superseded the

law of 1913. A similar treaty was signed with Mexico in 1936. In

1934, federal law required every waterfowl hunter over 17 years

of age to purchase a $1 duck stamp.

Because it brought some element of uniformity to regulations

throughout North America and provided for their enforcement, the

Migratory Bird Treaty Act was a milestone in waterfowl legisla¬

tion. It forbade the hunting, killing, exporting, importing, trans¬

porting, etc., of any migratory birds that are included in the treaty ;

however, the Secretary of Agriculture was given the authority to

permit hunting under certain conditions for a period not exceeding

31/2 months. Since 1918, under authority of this treaty and act, re¬

strictive regulations have included : ( 1 ) modifications in lengths of

86 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences y Arts and Letters [VoL 53

seasons, bag and possession limits, shooting hours, and the number

of shells in the gun; (2) prohibition of bait, live-decoys, the use of

shotguns with bores greater than 10-gauge, and certain types of

boats; and (3) complete or partial protection for certain species of

waterfowL

Local Waterfowl Harvests in Wisconsin

During 32 seasons Osborn recorded 8,078 ducks, 1,032 coots

(Fulica americand)^ and 11 geese (Branta spp., Chen spp,) that

were bagged by him and his hunting companions. Of the total num¬

ber of ducks bagged, 6,751 (83.6 percent) were identified as to

species (Table 1). We doubt that the “unidentified'' birds were un¬

known to Osborn ; they were probably individuals of common

Table 1. Bag Composition of 6,751 Identified Ducks During 32 Seasons,

1907 AND 1909-39

species which he simply failed to record. He never mentioned shoot¬

ing any unrecognized species, but he did note on several occasions

that he shot a bird “rare" to the Lake Winnebago area. None of

the several species of scaups (Aythya spp.) and mergansers (Mer-

gus spp.) were differentiated by Osborn. Conspicuously low in num¬

bers among the divers in his records is the ring-necked duck

(Aythya collaris) (Table 1) which he most likely included with

scaups. From data on Wisconsin duck harvests presented by Geis

and Carney (1961), we determined that the ring-necked duck and

scaup species were being shot at a ratio of 1.0:2.,1, respectively;

and, therefore, the ring-necked might be expected in greater num¬

bers in Osborn's bag. However, this ratio might be greater today

than during the early 1900's because of increased breeding range

of the ring-necked (Mendall 1958).

1964] Bartonek, Hickey and Keith — Waterfowl Regulations 87

The high percentage, 86 percent, of diving ducks, which includes

mergansers and scoters (Melanitta spp.), reflects the divers' pre¬

ference for the open waters of Lake Winnebago. Four early shoot¬

ing records indicate that divers also comprised an important part

of the waterfowl bag on other southern Wisconsin lakes : 45 percent

on Lake Wingra 1873-96 (Leopold 1937), 66 percent on Lake Dela-

van 1892-99 (Hollister 1920), and 72 percent on Lake Puckaway

in the 1900's (Leopold 1929). From 1921 to 1928, kills consisting of

59 percent divers were made by E. J. Nelson on Green Bay (Leo¬

pold 1931).

State-wide bag surveys indicate that divers make up a much

smaller percentage of the total duck harvest. The Wisconsin Con¬

servation Department's annual game-harvest reports from 1931 to

1939 indicate that divers made up only 29 percent of the total bag

compared to Osborn's 88 percent during the same years. The per¬

centages of the four most important species comprising the state's

bag were the mallard, 36 percent; scaup species, 24 percent; green¬

winged teal (Anas carolinensis) , 9 per cent; and blue-winged teal

(A. discors), 9 percent. Geis and Carney (1961) in a survey of

Wisconsin's 1959 season found the kill to include 29 percent divers.

Their bag composition was very similar to that which we deter¬

mined from Wisconsin Conservation Department's data (1931-39)

with the exceptions of the canvasback (Aythya valisineria) and

redhead (A, americana) which were partially protected in 1959.

Species differences between the Osborn and state-wide bags re¬

spectively can be attributed to lake vs. largely marsh- and jump-

shooting.

We averaged the daily bag for each of the 32 hunting seasons and

then took a composite mean of these 32 averages. These average

daily bags for Osborn and his companions were 4.8 ± 0,5 SE ducks

and 0.7 it 0.1 SE coots per hunter-day. Osborn hunted an aver¬

age of 20.8 db 1.0 SE (32) days per season, and his average sea¬

son's bag was slightly in excess of 100 waterfowl. He was certainly

far more successful than the average Wisconsin hunter. From state¬

wide data for 1934-39 (Wisconsin Conserv. Dept. 1952), we cal¬

culated the average seasonal bag per waterfowl stamp sold and

found it to be 15.1 ± 1.2 SE (6) waterfowl. Voluntary hunters’

reports of this type are generally regarded as being biased too

high (Sondrini 1950).

The average kills of divers and dabblers per hunter-day, exclud¬

ing the unidentified species of ducks, declined erratically from 1909

to 1939 (Fig. 1). There appeared to be a slight rise in average kill

of the divers during the 1920's. Despite reports (U.S. Dept. Agr.

1919, Lawyer 1919, Hornaday 1927) of nation-wide increasing

waterfowl populations after cessation of spring-shooting in 1914,

88 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences^ Arts and Letters [VoL 53

Figure 1. Average kill per hunter-day of diving ducks^ dabbling ducks, and

coots (excluding unidentified species) on Lake Winnebago, 1909-39«

Osborn did not experience any persistent change from the estab-

lished downward kill trend. Nelson (1959) also noted that after

1900, Utah's waterfowl harvest was drastically reduced until a low

was reached during the mid-thirties; but following this both the

harvest and number of hunters ‘‘skyrocketed" until a peak was

reached in 1948-49.

We can only conjecture about certain of the “highs" and “lows"

among the average bags of the divers. The general decreasing trend

is, undoubtedly, a combination of both shrinking bird populations

and bag limits. The low bag of 1918 followed by the exceptionally

high bags of divers and coots in 1919 reflected his reduced hunter-

activity during World War I. Summarizing the 1938 hunt, Osborn

wrote: “So ended [the] season for 1938 the most unsatisfactory

one I [have] ever had. Everybody that hunted diving ducks agreed

they were very scarce." Yet, according to Jahn and Kabat (1955,

p. 3), “The season of 1938, when Wisconsin experienced tremendous

fall rains and the three states to the northwest of us were relatively

‘dry,' still stands as the most successful waterfowl hunting season

1964] Bartonek, Hickey and Keith— Waterfowl Regulations 89

experienced by Wisconsin hunters/' The Wisconsin Conservation

Department (1939) reported harvests of 6 species of dabbling

ducks to increase from 291,642 in 1937 to 1,007,331 in 1938. Dur¬

ing these same 2 years the seasonal bag of scaup and ring-necked

ducks rose from .141,549 to only 179,860. With the slight increase in

scaup and ring-necked ducks over the previous year and with can-

vasback and redheads permitted in the 1938 bag, we would expect

Osborn’s season to have been more successful. We assume his poor

season to reflect local conditions; possibly, the ducks were drawn

away from the larger bodies of water such as Lake Winnebago into

the surrounding wet country which would provide numerous feed¬

ing and resting areas.

Very few geese were shot by Osborn, but all 11 of them were

shot after 1923 and 9 of these after 1931. Laurence R. Jahn (in

litt:)^ says that the establishment of waterfowl refuges by private

individuals during the period of 1923 to 1939, provided local shoot¬

ing opportunities for geese. He suspects that with unmolested up¬

land feeding areas established by private efforts, geese used Lake

Winnebago as a watering and roosting site.

Length of Season

During the 33 years (1907-39) spanned by Osborn’s journal,

there was a general trend toward shorter seasons and later opening

dates (Fig. 2) . From the turn of the century up to 1913, Wisconsin

hunters enjoyed 122-day seasons that opened on September 1 and

closed on December 31. Special 16-day seasons were permitted dur¬

ing the springs of 1903 and 1904. The federal law of 1913 super¬

seded Wisconsin’s liberal laws by restricting seasons to only 85 days

and opening them 1 week later. These regulations persisted until

1917, when for the next 4 years the opening date was set at Sep¬

tember 16 with an 86-day season. This September 16 opening date,

along with a 96-day season beginning in 1921, continued up to and

including 1930.

Low waterfowl populations during the ''duck depression” years

of the 1930’s brought about more stringent regulations. "Rest days”

for waterfowl were established by Wisconsin law on each Wednes¬

day during the 1929-33 seasons; and in 1934, federal regulations

set aside all Mondays and Tuesdays as nonhunting days. The lengths

of the 1929-34 seasons were 96, 96, 31, 61, 61, and 40 days respec¬

tively ; but the "rest days” reduced the actual number of hunting-

days to 82, 82, 27, 52, 53, and 30.

Average daily and seasonal harvests declined with a decrease in

season length (Table 2). Declining waterfowl populations and in¬

creasing hunting restrictions likely preclude any meaningful cor-

90 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Table 2. Average Daily and Seasonal Hunting Success ivith Waterfowl

Seasons of Different Lengths and Daily Bag Limits of Various Sizes

on®- Wednesdays were “rest days” in 1929 and 1930, leaving those two seasons with

ly 95 days of hunting.

^Wednesdays were “rest days,” leaving only 52 days of hunting in 1932 and 53 days

in 1933.

^Mondays and Tuesdays were “rest days,” leaving only 30 days of hunting.

‘^Wednesdays were “rest days,” leaving only 27 days of hunting.

relations in the Osborn data between season length and bird har¬

vest. However, the number of times that Osborn went hunting dur¬

ing a season was probably independent of these variables and was

certainly not significantly correlated (r = —0.18, d.f. = 30) with

the season’s length. Osborn’s hunts per season averaged 20.8 (C.V.

= 28 percent) despite variations in the season’s length from 30 to

122 days which averaged 81.9 (C.V. = 35 percent) days. During

shorter hunting seasons, he simply hunted more frequently during

the fewer days available for waterfowl (Fig. 3), his hunting activ¬

ity increasing during both the weekdays and week-ends — Sundays

in particular (Table 3). This phenomenon may be attributed to

Table 3. Average Number of Hunts per Season on Weekdays, Saturdays,

AND Sundays During Seasons Varying in Length from 30 to 122 Days

^Wednesdays were “rest days” in 1929 and 1930.

^Wednesdays in 1931-33, and Mondays and Tuesdays in 1934 were “rest days.”

1964] Bartonek, Hickey and Keith— Waterfowl Regulations 91

Osborn having more leisure-time during the years of his semi-

retirement (1930 to 1940) when seasons were shortest.

Anderson (1948) found that shortening the season from 45 to

30 days had practically no effect upon the total number of man-

days of hunting on rented and privately owned marshes along

southwestern Lake Erie in Ohio. On the other hand, Atwood (1961)

found that the number of duck stamps sold was significantly corre¬

lated with season length in 13 of the 17 states in the Atlantic Fly¬

way, and he also found a doubtful correlation between the season

length and the number of times hunted. Gale (1954), in a study of

upland-game hunting in Kentucky, concluded that a reduction of

less than 2 weeks in a season of more than 2 months^ duration re¬

duced neither hunting pressure nor total kill.

Bellrose (1944) found that the average daily bag in each of

three Illinois duck clubs was greater during short seasons than

long seasons. He attributed this to fewer “good hunting days” in a

long season. Further, he felt that this phenomenon would be typical

only among the northern states where freeze-up prior to the closing

date would force the majority of the ducks to move south and

thereby cause poorer hunting during the remainder of the season.

Although Bellrose’s explanation seems logical and may well be true,

Osborn’s daily-bag declined during those seasons (i.e., in the

1930’s) which were shorter and ended earlier; this was probably

a result of declining populations and the migration of blue-winged

teal, wood ducks and some local mallards from the area prior to the

season’s opening date. In data presented by Van den Akker and

Wilson (1951), we similarly observe declining average bags ac¬

companying declining season-lengths.

Osborn and other hunters (Anderson 1948) who either own or

rent their shooting areas are seemingly able to find or make time

to pursue their sport. Beyond a certain point, however, shorter sea¬

sons would undoubtedly lower the average number of days that

these sportsmen could hunt. Atwood’s (1961) demonstration of a

reduction in the number of hunters accompanying a decrease in

season-length leads us to speculate as to which segment of the

population stops hunting— -the novice, the expert, or both. If it is

the novice hunter who quits hunting, the reduction in total harvest

would not be expected to be directly proportional to the reduction

in hunting pressure.

Opening and Closing Dates of the Season

We consider the opening and closing dates of a season to be im¬

portant influences upon the distribution of hunting pressure, the

species composition of the bag, and the number of birds harvested ;

and the opening and closing dates are obviously associated with

92 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

and dependent upon the season’s length. The Federal Migratory

Bird Act of 1913 authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to pre¬

scribe and fix closed-seasons on migratory game with ‘'due regard

to the zones of temperature, breeding habits, and times and line of

migratory flight.” The Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 per¬

mitted open-seasons to be set from September 1 to March 10, but

not to exceed 3i/^ months.

In the 32 years under consideration, Wisconsin’s seasons opened

as early as September 1 during 1907-12 and as late as October 21

in 1935. Closing dates varied from December 31 during 1907-12

to October 31 in 1931 (Fig. 2). Both the opening and closing dates

_ I _ 1 _ I _ I _ I _ I _

JAN. I -

1910 1915 1920 1925 1930 1935

Figure 2. Wisconsin waterfowl hunting- seasons and bag limits, 1907-39.

varied considerably during the 1930’s, but the seasons generally ran

from early October to mid-November.

Osborn hunted on 30 out of 32 “opening days” despite consider¬

able variation in their timing. In one year he didn’t hunt until the

7th day of the season; and in the other year, according to the date

in his journal, he hunted one week earlier than the legal opening.

This early hunt may be attributed to an incorrect entry in the

journal.

1964] Bartonek, Hickey and Keith — Waterfowl Regulations 93

During 1907-30, Osborn's last hunt of the season occurred almost

a month earlier than the average legal closing dates. Osborn never

hunted in December, and only 8 times during the last week of No¬

vember, although 24 out of 32 hunting seasons remained open until

November 30 or later. This early cessation of hunting was caused

by Lake Winnebago’s freezing up. From 1931 to 1939, when the

closing dates were much earlier and the seasons shorter, Osborn

hunted on the last day during 6 out of 9 years. Climatic conditions

obviously restricted Osborn’s opportunity to hunt when the sea¬

sons (Fig. 3) extended into late November and December. Atwood

Figure 3. Distribution of hunter-activity by the percentage of

potential hunting days that were actually hunted for three periods

having different season’s length and/or dates of opening and

closing.

94 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

(1961) also considered climatic conditions important. He suggested

that most of the hunting pressure occurred during the first part

of the season in certain northern states, and a more even distribu¬

tion of hunting pressure occurred throughout the season in certain

southern states.

Seasonal Distributions of Waterfowl Harvest and

Hunting Pressure

The seasonal distribution of hunting kill was plotted for the six

most common species appearing in Osborn’s bag (Fig. 4). To elim¬

inate biases resulting from changes in season lengths and numbers

of times hunted within any weekly interval, the average daily kill

per week hunted was expressed as a percentage of the average kill

for all seasons. As a result, we believe that Fig. 4 largely depicts

the periods of species prevalence (i.e., relative abundance and vul¬

nerability) . Bellrose (1944) and Van den Akker and Wilson (1951)

showed that the percentages of certain species of waterfowl com¬

prising the bag are found in different proportions from those found

in the local population. In comparing waterfowl populations and

bags in the Illinois River Valley, Bellrose (1944) found that species

such as the shoveler (Spatula clypeata) , gadwall (Anas strepera),

and green-winged teal were much more vulnerable than the mallard

and black duck fA. rubripes). While mallards and black ducks con¬

sistently comprised 84-94 percent of the Illinois population, they

constituted only 59-75 percent of the bag. Lesser scaup (Ay thy a

affinis) also proved much less vulnerable than canvasback, ruddy

duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) , and ring-necked duck. Van den Akker

and Wilson (1951) said that in the Bear River Refuge, Utah, snow

geese ( Chen hyperborea) favor areas not open to hunting and that

deep-water ducks are less accessible to most hunters ; whereas, the

shovelers are probably more vulnerable and less wary.

Dabbling ducks and coots followed somewhat similar patterns of

harvest on Lake Winnebago, being most frequently shot during the

first part of early seasons. Fig, 4 suggests that, if hunting had been

distributed evenly throughout the season, 73 percent of the blue¬

winged teal and 50 percent of the mallards would have been taken

by Osborn within the period of September 1-15. Perhaps the high

kill of blue-winged teal and mallards in the early years of Osborn’s

hunting reflects two factors: (1) the earlier opening of the shoot¬

ing season, and (2) the larger numbers of locally raised and/or

migrant teal and mallards that were present in those years.

The redhead was the first diver to appear in Osborn’s bag. Even

though it reached a peak of prevalence in the bag during the second

week of September, it could still be taken throughout the entire sea¬

son. The canvasback first appeared in the bag during the last week

1964] Bartonek, Hickey and Keith—Waterfowl Regulations 95

Figure 4. Seasonal distribution of six species of waterfowl bagged

on Lake Winnebago, 1907 and 1909-39.

of September, but it was not until the following week that it was

bagged in any appreciable numbers. Again, if hunting pressure had

been distributed evenly, over half of the redheads (57 percent) and

canvasback (70 percent) would have been bagged by October 1-7

and 16-23, respectively. The canvasback's rather sudden upsurge

in the bag, beginning in the first week of October, apparently gave

rise to Elliot’s (1898:149) assertion regarding Puckaway Lake

that the ‘'Canvas Backs and Red Heads would always make their

96 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

appearance on the 10th of October"’ and '‘no matter what the

weather may have been up to that time, and even if the season had

been unusually cold, these birds did not appear before the 10th.”

DeGraff, et al. (1961) showed that of 31 canvasbacks banded in

New York and killed later in Wisconsin, about 45 percent were shot

during the last week of October.

The last divers to appear in the bag in numbers were scaups and

mergansers. Scaups were shot throughout October and in Novem¬

ber until freeze-up. The mergansers usually made a sudden appear¬

ance in mid-October. Sixty percent of the scaup and 51 percent of

the mergansers were harvested by the last week in October.

During 32 seasons, Osborn averaged 4.6 ducks and 0.6 coot per

day (Table 4). With the exception of the last week of November

the average duck bag remained high throughout the season. Sep¬

tember 8-1 5’s exceptionally high bag might be explained by the

small sample size in terms of hunter-days. The average bag of coots

per hunter-day dropped off after the last week of September, but

coots were still being shot up to and including November 16-23.

Table 4. Number of Hunter-Days and Hunting Success by

7-or 8-Day Periods, 1907, 1909-39

* Includes 22 additional coots for which the dates of kill were unknown.

1964] Bartonek, Hickey and Keith — Waterfowl Regulations 97

Geis and Carney (1961), acknowledging probable sampling biases,

present data for Wisconsin’s 1959 season which show steady de¬

clines in the percentages of ducks killed throughout the season.

Using questionnaire surveys and wing collections respectively, these

authors found that the percentages of ducks shot during the first

week (October 7“13) dropped from 27.6 and 52.4 percent to 12.9

and 2.9 percent during the sixth and seventh or last 2 weeks of

the season. Bellrose (1944) reported that the average daily-kill per

hunter on the Duck Island Preserve, Illinois, in 1914-36 also re¬

mained high throughout the season. Van den Akker and Wilson

(1951) likewise noted this phenomenon on the Bear River Refuge

in Utah and attributed it not to the increased bird population but

rather to an increase in vulnerability when the birds concentrated

on localized areas following freezing weather. However, this sus¬

tained high bag might also be due to veteran hunters who, unlike

many novices, do not stop hunting after the first few ''good” days

of the season. This explanation was suggested in a pheasant study

conducted in Utah by Stokes (1955) .

Geis and Carney (1961) found that Wisconsin hunters who shot

21 or more ducks per season had 43 percent divers in their bags

compared to only 18 percent for those who shot fewer than 10 ducks

per season. This might be attributed to the most successful hunters

being those that : ( 1 ) hunt on lakes, thereby obtaining more diving

ducks; (2) hunt more frequently and thereby shoot more ducks

later in the season when divers comprise a greater percentage of

the bag; and/or (3) hunt in both dabbling and diving duck habitat.

The seasonal distribution of hunter-days (Table 4) and days

hunted (Fig. 3) were influenced by changing dates of the season,

lengths of seasons, and weather conditions. In all three periods hav¬

ing seasons with relatively similar lengths and opening dates (1907,

1909-16; 1917-30; 1931-39) (Fig. 3), hunting activity increased

during mid-October and early-November. The noticeable lack of

shooting from mid-September to mid-October coincided with Os¬

born’s annual "chicken” and "partridge” hunting. Osborn’s switch¬

ing his hunting effort from waterfowl to upland game birds after

the season was underway suggests that hunting pressures might be

somewhat reduced by opening at least one other season (e.g.,

grouse, pheasants) concurrently with the waterfowl season. Jahn

(in litt.), in evaluating the effects of such concurrent season open¬

ings in Wisconsin, concluded that: "Opening hunting seasons con¬

currently reduces hunting pressures on upland-game, but not on

waterfowl.”

Bag Limits

Wisconsin established its first waterfowl bag limit in 1903 by

permitting a bag of 15 ducks during the special spring season ; no

98 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

limits were imposed on the hunters during the fall season. In the

1905 and 1906 fall season, bag limits were 30 ducks or geese; and

from 1907 to ,1910, the limit was 25 ducks and coots, and 10 geese.

Wisconsin’s daily bag limit for ducks and coots in aggregate

dropped from 25 to 15, 12, and 10 during the period 1907-38 (Fig.

2). Although federal regulations permitted daily bags of 25 coots

during the 1918-34 and 1937-39 seasons and 15 in 1935 and 1936,

Wisconsin did not permit the large coot bags until 1939 ; the coots

were included in the “duck” bag limit. In Wisconsin a possession

limit equal to the daily bag limit existed up to 1938 when it was in¬

creased to twice that of the bag limit. This larger possession limit

was permissible through federal regulations since 1930.

By superimposing certain hypothetical daily bag limits upon Os¬

born’s actual hunting kill, we attempted to appraise the effect that

such restrictions would have had upon his total waterfowl harvest

600-

§ 500 H

c/)

<

UJ

(/)

O 400

S

h-

z

ID

300-

J 200

<

O 100

0-

ACTUAL BAG LIMIT

ACTUAL KILL

-THEORETICAL KILL

1910

T

1915

1920

1925

1930

T

1935

Figure 5. Total duck kill for each hunting season and theoretical harvests

when hypothetical bag limits of 10, 4, and 2 birds per day were assumed,

1909-39.

1964] Bartonek, Hickey and Keith— -Waterfowl Regulations 99

(Fig. 5). To the best of our knowledge, Osborn’s group hunted as

a party and thought in terms of a party hsig limit. Thus, in our anal¬

yses we have considered only the influence of decreased bag limits

on the allowable daily take for the entire party.

Because of the 16-bird bag existing from 1911 through 1932, this

period was used to measure the effect of a theoretical reduction in

bag limits upon the reduction in harvest. During this period Os¬

born’s average bag was 4,5 ± 0.4 SE (22) ducks per day — ^only 30

percent of the legal limit. A hypothetical reduction in bag limits to

10 birds had proportionately less effect upon the reduction of duck

kill than did either the 4- or 2-bird limits (Fig. 6). A 33 percent

BAG LIMIT

Figure 6. Effects of theoretical bag limits on the duck harvest

when actual bag limits were 15 birds (1911-32).

reduction in the bag from 15 to 10 birds per day would have reduced

the kill only 8db 4 (22) percent (95 percent level), A 73 percent

bag reduction to 4 birds would have caused a reduction of 35 ±: 7

(22) percent in the actual kill; and an 87 percent reduction to 2

birds per day would have reduced the harvest by 60 ± 5 (22) per¬

cent. This pattern may reflect the difficulty for even an experienced

hunter such as Osborn to procure a large bag on Lake Winnebago;

100 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

or it may reflect the fact that Osborn frequently hunted only half a

day. Bellrose (1944) found an increasingly greater influence on the

daily bag as the bag limit was decreased from 15 to 10 birds per

day. He says that the bag limit effectively restricts the individual

kill of the better hunters at the best Illinois clubs. Van den Akker

and Wilson (1951) conclude that bag limits are effective only in re¬

lation to the ability and honesty of the hunters and the density of

the duck populations. We conjecture that a season bag limit in addi¬

tion to the existing daily limit could, at least in theory, reduce the

total harvest by restricting primarily the more successful hunters.

If a reduction in the bag limit does not prompt an increase in the

number of hunter-days, then during years of high kill — -a reflection

of either bird populations, vulnerability or local concentrations—

smaller bag limits could appreciably reduce the kill. Van den Akker

and Wilson (1951) state that bag limits affect bag averages little

when set above a certain point. In examining records of the Duck

Island Preserve in Illinois, Bellrose (1944) found little difference

in the kill per shooter-day from 1885 when bags were unrestricted

to the early 1930’s with bag limits of 15 birds. Reductions in bag

limits lowered band recovery rates for canvasback throughout the

nation (Geis, 1959) ; they also reduced duck harvests on Lake Erie

in Ohio, and caused the hunters to shoot selectively the larger ducks

such as mallards and pintails (Anas acuta) (Anderson 1948).

Osborn’s journal contained many “truths” that few hunters are

willing to acknowledge on mail questionnaires. His parties appar¬

ently exceeded their legal bag limits on 30 (= 4 percent) out of

667 days hunted during the 32 years. Twelve of the excessive limits

were attained when coots were included as part of the duck bag as

then prescribed by Wisconsin law. These same 12 days, however,

would not have been violations under federal regulations because

there was a federal bag limit on coots that was separate from that

for ducks. On the remaining 18 days in which their bagged ducks

exceeded both state and federal limits, Osborn’s parties shot 774

out of a permissible 505 ducks, or 153 percent of their legal bag.

Osborn not only identified the harvested waterfowl as to species

but frequently into the two categories of “good ducks” and “mer¬

gansers, ruddys, and hens [coots].” He never included the mer¬

gansers within his totals of “ducks killed,” but he does mention

“giving away” and “keeping” both mergansers and coots. Chandler

Osborn (pers. comm.) said that none of the coots and mergansers

were wasted, because if they were not eaten by the Osborn family

they were given to their hired-man who had a large family that

could always use the meat. From 1924 to 1937 A. L. Osborn gave

as gifts to his guests 61 percent of the “good ducks” bagged.

1964] Bartonek, Hickey and Keith — Waterfowl Regulations 101

Other sources indicate that not all species of waterfowl shot end

up as table fare, Hochbaum (1955) observes that in Canada, when

bird populations are high and bag limits relatively low, it is a com¬

mon practice to discard teal and shovelers and replace these with

mallards and canvasbacks. Hawkins (Kiel and Hawkins, 1953) re¬

ported large numbers of unretrieved coots which he assumed to

have been mistakenly shot for ducks. Osborn gave no indication

that any of his birds were wantonly wasted.

Partial and Complete Protection of Certain Species

Wisconsin's regulations have given preferential protection to cer¬

tain species of waterfowl since 1860 when wood ducks were pro¬

tected between December and July. In 1870 the spring shooting of

mallards, teals, and wood ducks was locally prohibited. Except for

1871, these three species were protected by county or state laws up

to 1913 when federal law ended spring shooting. Swans were pro¬

tected in 1897.

From 1915 through 1941, the wood duck was completely pro¬

tected. During 25 of these seasons, 1915-34, Osborn recorded kill¬

ing only 2 wood ducks while during the 7 preceding seasons he shot

21. Thirteen of these 21 wood ducks were shot after September 24,

suggesting that they were potentially available during the years

of protection. On October 1, 1939, after illegally shooting one of

the birds he wrote “[The] Wood duck was an accident and a very

hard shot." From 1932 to 1937 the bufflehead (Bucephala cd-

heola) and ruddy duck were given full protection, but during this

time Osborn bagged 19 of the former and 2 of the latter.

The aggregate bag limits during 1932, 1933, and 1934 were 10,

8, and 5 respectively for canvasback, redhead, ring-necked, scaups,

teals, gadwall and shovelers, with total limits of 15, 12, and 12

ducks, respectively, of any other species. During 1938 and 1939

there were 10-bird limits, of which not more than 3 in aggregate,

of canvasback, redhead, bufflehead and ruddy duck were permitted.

Despite these somewhat confusing regulations, Osborn violated

them only twice during 134 days of hunting in the above five sea¬

sons. One violation occurred when 3 men killed 26 scaups — 2 more

than permitted. On another occasion, Osborn shot 1 redhead and 8

scaups when he was permitted only 8 of those species in aggregate.

In addition to these 2 violations Osborn recorded that 3 of his guests

killed 37 scaup and 14 canvasback — 21 in excess of the aggregate

limit.

102 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

In addition to the seasons of variable bags, the canvasback and

redhead received complete protection during 1936 and 1937. Such

protection, however, did not reduce their kill (Table 5). Geis and

Carney (1961) found Wisconsin’s 1959 bag to consist of 1.0 per¬

cent canvasback and 0.9 percent redhead when only one of each

was permitted in the bag. Our calculations of Wisconsin bag compo¬

sition from the Wisconsin Conservation Department’s annual har¬

vest reports from 1931 to 1939 found the canvasback and redhead

to comprise 4 and 2 percent of the bags respectively even though

the reports for 1936 and 1937 merely indicated “closed season”

Table 5. Harvest of Canvasback and Redhead During Seasons with and

WITHOUT Special Protective Regulations, 1931-39

under the numbers of each species shot. Bellrose (1944) found that

the hunting pressure in Illinois apparently did not lessen on the

canvasback and ruddy duck during 3 years of restricted bags. He

noted further that even when given complete protection, the wood

duck had first-season band returns of 3.4 percent in comparison to

2.3 percent from states that permitted 1 in possession. During the

subsequent year when all states had a 1-wood duck limit, total re¬

turns were only 5.4 percent.

Wisconsin prohibited the shooting of coots during the 1935 and

1936 seasons. During these two seasons Osborn recorded killing 15

and 18 coots respectively.

1964] Bartonek, Hickey and Keith — Waterfowl Regulations 103

I Of the 9,121 waterfowl killed by Osborn and his associates, 269

I (=r 2.9 percent) were in excess of bag limits and 122 (— 1.3 per-

! cent) were protected; or, apparently 391 (;= 4.3 percent) of the

birds killed during the 32 years of records were in violation of

' regulations.

' Van den Akker and Wilson (1951) recognized the inability of the

majority of hunters to identify species, and questioned whether leg¬

islative protection of a species that was infrequently taken in the

bag could materially affect its rate of harvest. Anderson (1948),

nevertheless, reported that certain experienced individuals hunting

on privately owned marshes along Lake Erie could identify ducks

sufficiently well, and would selectively shoot birds by size, species,

and sex during seasons having small bag limits.

We suggest that these endangered species might be better pro¬

tected through regulation-zoning in time and place — but without

any special restrictions on the duck species. In zones where endan¬

gered species constitute an appreciable percentage of the bag, the

season could be closed entirely or adjusted to miss peaks of migra¬

tion. Where these species constitute minor percentages of the bag,

more liberal seasons could be permitted,

Three-Shell Limit

Objections to repeating guns made by Cottam (1935) were that

in the hands of a good shooter they facilitated large kills, while in

the hands of a poor shooter they increased crippling losses. Eather

than prohibit the use of repeating shotguns, federal regulations in

1935 limited the number of shells in a shotgun to three.

Obsorn was apparently aware of this new regulation because on

October 21, 1935, he wrote: ''Jack could shoot only 3 times (under

the law) . He killed two . , , and one got away.’’ In 308 hunter-days

during the 5 years prior to the 3-shell limit, Osborn and his asso¬

ciates reportedly crippled 23 birds, and in 441 hunter-days during

the 5 years following the regulation 29 cripples were allegedly lost.

There was no significant difference between rates of crippling in

the 5 years before and after the regulation. During 24 seasons, Os¬

born recorded just 1 bird lost per 50 bagged. This crippling ratio

is much lower than those found in most reports of crippling losses.

Bellrose (1953) summarized the findings of many research workers

and determined the minimum average crippling loss for these stud¬

ies to be 22.5 percent. Osborn’s exceedingly low crippling rate sug¬

gests that he may have failed to record all lost birds.

104 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Decoys

In a survey of game in the north-central states, Leopold (1931)

indicated that heavy baiting and large numbers of live decoys were

used on overflows, river sloughs, marshland, and cornfields for the

best mixed-species shooting. Bluebill (scaup) shooting was done

primarily on deeper waters where only wooden blocks were used.

In spite of the unrestricted use of live decoys in nearby Illinois

as late as 1932 (Bellrose 1944), Wisconsin limited their use to 25

per person as early as 1905. This state regulation lasted until 1921,

when the number of decoys was increased to 50 per person, but of

this number, no more than 5 could be live. The first federal regula¬

tion on the use of live decoys limited their number to 25 during the

seasons of 1932-34, and in 1935 federal regulations brought an end

to this practice.

Live decoys, or ''squawkers” as Osborn occasionally called them,

were used by him from at least 1911 to 1917. In subsequent years

there were no further remarks found in his journal concerning

their use. The number of decoys was probably small because he

once mentioned that 3 live decoys were put in among the balsawood

decoys. He never indicated that bait was used.

Comparisons of the numbers of dabbling ducks in the bag, ex¬

pressed as percentages, show very significant differences between

the period of live decoy use (1913-17) and two periods of nonuse

(1918-22 and 1935-39) : these percentages are 15, 9, and 10 per¬

cent, respectively. These differences, however, are believed to re¬

flect the date of season opening rather than the use of live decoys.

The 1913-18 period had 4 out of 5 seasons that were 9 days earlier

than the 1918-22 seasons and from 3 to 6 weeks earlier than the

1935-39 seasons. By disregarding the kill during the first 9 days

(September 7-15) of 4 seasons during the 1913-18 period the per¬

centage of dabblers in the bag dropped from 15 to 9 percent. When

this adjusted bag for 1913-18 is used, no significant differences are

found among the three periods. Bellrose (1944) in comparing two

seasons of similar length and dates on the Illinois River valley found

that mallards comprised 84 percent of the bag during the preregu¬

lation year of 1933, and only 64 percent during the postregulation

year of 1941. Because the ban on baiting and live decoys came at the

same time, Bellrose was unable to evaluate each regulation inde¬

pendent of the other factor. Osborn's data suggest that small num¬

bers of live decoys did not increase the kill of dabbling ducks on

Lake Winnebago.

1964] Bartonek, Hickey and Keith— Waterfowl Regulations 105

Conclusions

We regard hunters^ diaries as tending to report the bags of the

more successful members of the hunting community. With this bias

in mind and with awareness that the Osborn diary is probably rep¬

resentative of only the larger-lake conditions of eastern Wisconsin,

we draw the following general conclusions :

1. During the period of this study, hunting pressure by Osborn

was not reduced by reduction in season lengths to 30 days. This

finding may be influenced by the fact that the shorter hunting sea¬

sons occurred in those years when he had retired from business and

may have had more opportunity to go hunting,

2. Opening and closing dates importantly affected the species

composition of Osborn's seasonal bag, in this locality,

3. Concurrent upland-game and waterfowl seasons certainly af¬

fected the distribution of Osborn’s hunting effort.

4. The termination of hunting in the present study by freezing

weather (and not regulations) in 25 out of 32 years was typical of

waterfowl hunting in other parts of the northern states.

5. On the basis of waterfowl harvests at this one site from 1911

through 1932 when bag limits were 15 per day, reductions of bag

limits to 6 would have only a slight effect (less than 25 percent

reduction) on the numbers of waterfowl shot each year. A 50 per¬

cent reduction could not be achieved until the bag limit was reduced

to 2.

6. Closed hunting seasons on endangered species of ducks be¬

tween 1907 and 1939 appeared to have little effect on the harvest

of such species as the canvasback and redhead, but they appeared to

reduce the harvest of wood duck. Special restrictions involving the

identification of species also had little effect.

7. In this relatively open-water locality, the use of live decoys

did not increase the bag of dabbling ducks.

Summary

This study presents a resume of waterfowl regulations and evalu¬

ates their influence upon the harvesting of 8,078 ducks, 11 geese,

and 1,032 coots on Lake Winnebago, Wisconsin, by A. L. Osborn

and his friends from 1907 to 1939. The 86-percent representation of

diving ducks in this bag was also typical of other Wisconsin lakes

but was much higher than state-wide bag averages. The effects of

decreasing waterfowl populations and more stringent hunting reg¬

ulations were evident in the declining trend of average daily bags

from 1909 to 1939. Reductions in season-lengths from 123 to 30

days had no significant effect upon the number of days Osborn spent

hunting. Lake Winnebago’s freezing frequently ended duck shoot-

106 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences^ Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

ing more than a month before the legal closing date. From mid-

September to mid-October, hunting activity was diverted from

waterfowl to upland game birds. The seasonal distributions of

waterfowl species in the bag show that blue-winged teals, mallards,

coots, and redheads were most frequently taken in September; can-

vasbacks, scaups, and mergansers reached their peaks of prevalence

in mid-October and November; and the geese were shot in October.

Weekly averages of the daily-bag remained high from September 1

to November 23, Hypothetical bag limits of 10, 4 and 2 ducks per

day were applied to the data for birds harvested under a 15-bird

limit; these limits reduced the harvests 8, 35 and 60 percent, re¬

spectively. Of the 9,121 waterfowl killed by Osborn and his com¬

panions, 269 (“ 2.9 percent) were in excess of bag limits and

122 (= 1.3 percent) were protected. Regulations did not effec¬

tively prohibit or limit the numbers of canvasback, redhead, buf-

flehead and ruddy duck bagged; but they appeared to be effective

in the case of the wood duck. Reported crippling losses were only 1

bird per 50 bagged; the 3-shell law did not change the crippling

losses for these hunters. The use of live-decoys did not increase the

percentages of dabbling ducks in the bag.

References Cited

American Ornithologists’ Union. 1957. Check-list of North American birds. The

Lord Baltimore Press, Baltimore, Maryland, 691 pp.

Anderson, J. M. 1948. Some effects of current regulations upon duck shooting

along southeastern Lake Erie. Paper presented at 10th Midwest Wildl.

Conf. 3 pp. (mimeo.).

Atwood, E. L. 1961. Relation of season length to hunting kill in the Atlantic

Flyway/preliminary report. U. S. Dept. Int. Fish and Wildl. Serv., Bur.

Sport Fisheries and Wildl., Washington. 8 pp. (mineo.).

Bellrose, F. C., Jr. 1944. Duck populations and kill/An evaluation of some

waterfowl regulations in Illinois. Illinois Nat, Hist. Survey Bull. 23(2):

327-372.

- . 1953. A preliminary evaluation of cripple losses in waterfowl. Trans.

N. Am. Wildl. Conf. 18:337-360.

COTTAM, C. 1935, Waterfowl problems clarified by study of gunning practices,

pp. 329-330. In U.S. Dept. Agr. Yearbook of Agriculture, 1935. U.S. Govt.

Printing Office, Washington.

Cronan, J, M. [I960]. Prestige and memory bias in hunter kill surveys. Rhode

Island Div. Fish and Game, Providence. 7 pp. (mimeo.),

DeGraff, L. W., D. D. Foley, and D. Benson. 1961. Distribution and mortality

of canvasbacks banded in New York. New York Fish and Game J. 8(2) :

69-87.

Elliot, D, G. 1898. The wild fowl of the United States and British possessions

or the swan, geese, ducks, and mergansers of North America. Francis P.

Harper, New York. 316 pp.

Gale, L. R. 1954. The effects of season changes on hunting effort and game

kill. Paper presented at the 8th Ann. Meeting SE Assoc. Game and Fish

Commissioners. 13 pp. (mimeo.).

1964] Bartonek, Hickey and Keith— Waterfowl Regulations 107

Geis, a. D. 1959. Annual and shooting mortality estimates for the canvasback.

J. Wildl. Mgmt. 23(3) :253-261.

- , and S. M. Carney. 1961. Results of duck- wing collection in the Missis¬

sippi flyway. U.S. Dept. Int. Fish and Wildl. Serv., Bur. Sport Fisheries

and Wildl., Spec. Sci. Kept.: Wildl. 54. 120 pp.

Hickey, J. J. 1955. Is there scientific basis for flyway management? Trans. N,

Am. Wildl. Conf. 20:126-150.

Hochbaum, H. a. 1955. Travels and traditions of waterfowl. Univ. of Minne¬

sota Press, Minneapolis. 301 pp.

Hollister, N. 1920. Relative abundance of wild ducks at Delavan, Wisconsin,

Auk 37(3) :367-371.

Hornaday, W. T. 1927. Hornaday’s American natural history. Chas. Scribner’s

Sons, New York. 449 pp.

JAHN, L., and C. Rabat. 1955, Comments regarding zoning Wisconsin for the

waterfowl hunting season. Wisconsin Conserv. Dept., Madison. A paper

presented at the Mississippi Flyway Council. 6 pp. (mimeo.),

Kiel, W. H., Jr., and A. S. Hawkins. 1953. Status of the coot in the Missis¬

sippi flyway, Trans. N. Am. Wildl. Conf, 18:311-322.

Lawyer, G. A. 1919. Federal protection of migratory birds, pp. 303-316. In

U.S. Dept. Agr. Yearbook of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1918.

U.S, Govt. Printing Office, Washington.

Leopold, A, 1929. Report on a game survey of Wisconsin. Unpublished MS

submitted to the Game Restoration Com., Sporting Arms and Ammunitions

Mfg. Inst. [Filed in Library, Dept. Wildl, Mgmt., Univ. Wisconsin, Madi¬

son.] 167 pp, (typewritten).

- . 1931. Report on a game survey of the North Central States. Sporting

Arms and Ammunition Mfg. Inst., Madison, Wisconsin. 299 pp,

- . 1937. The Chase Journal: an early record of Wisconsin wildlife. Trans.

Wisconsin Acad. Sci, 30:69-76,

Mendall, Howard L. 1958. The ring-necked duck in the northeast. Univ. Press,

Orono, Maine. 317 pp.

Nelson, N. F. 1959. A history of waterfowl hunting in Utah. Proc. Ann. Conf.

Western Assoc. State Game and Fish Commissioners 39:233-236.

Palmer, T. S. 1912. Chronology and index of the more important events in

American game protection / 1776-1911, U.S, Dept. Agr. Biol. Surv. Bull.

41. 62 pp.

Scott, Walter E. 1937, Conservation history. Wisconsin Conserv. Bull. 2(3) :

10-15, (4):14-30, (5) :23-30, (6) : 27-37,

SONDRINI, W, J. 1950. Estimating game from licensee reports. Connecticut

State Board of Fisheries and Game P~R Project 7-R, Hartford. 50 pp.

Stokes, A, W. 1955, Patterns of pheasant harvest in Utah. Proc. Utah Acad.

Sci. 32:51-58.

U. S. Department of Agriculture. 1919. Annual reports of the Department

of Agriculture for the year ended, June 30, 1918. U. S. Govt. Printing

Office, Washington. 520 pp.

Van den Akker, J. B., and V. T. Wilson. 1951. Public hunting on the Bear

River Migratory Bird Refuge, Utah. J, Wildl. Mgmt. 15(4) :367-381,

Wisconsin Conservation Department. 1939. Comparative tabulations 1937 and

1938 / game census returns. Wisconsin Conserv. Bull. 4(6) :27.

— - . 1952. Wisconsin game kill and license sales charts. Game Mgmt, Div.,

Madison. 20 pp, (mimeo,).

■N ;■

YELLOW BASS IN WISCONSIN'

William T. Helm*

The yellow bass (Roccm mississippiemis (Jordan and Eigen-

mann) ) is a recent addition to the fish populations in Wisconsin

waters. It is native to the Mississippi River system^ but not to the

Great Lakes drainage. Recent collections have disclosed its pres¬

ence in various streams and lakes of the Great Lakes drainage.

Forbes and Richardson (1920) reported it to be a southern fish^

extending northward in the Mississippi River Valley as far as St.

Louis, C. Willard Greene (1935) recorded it at two locations on

the Mississippi River in Crawford County, Wisconsin. Oliver Gibbs,

Jr. (Carlander, 1954) reported catching yellow bass in Lake Pepin

during the 1860's. Recent collections (WCD Lake Survey Reports)

in the Mississippi River have shown yellow bass to be common as

far north as LaCrosse and Trempealeau Counties, and to be pre¬

sent as far north as Lake Pepin. Currently, it is known to be in 22

lakes or ponds in six river systems within the state of Wisconsin,

exclusive of the Mississippi River itself. In addition, the yellow bass

was also present in Lake Mason until the entire fish population was

removed in 1955, Lakes and streams from which specimens have

been obtained or from which yellow bass have been reported by

reliable sources are recorded in Figure 1.

Specimens or reliable reports were obtained from lake survey and

rough fish control activities of the Wisconsin Conservation Depart¬

ment, and from two research projects at the University of Wis¬

consin Hydrobiology Laboratory. The reports of the rough fish con¬

trol section were available in a continuous series since 1936, Un¬

fortunately, many fish were not identified with enough reliability to

permit appraisal of their early distribution, Bass, crappies, sunfish,

and white bass apparently constituted catch-all categories. In some

reports yellow bass were excluded because 'They were not very

abundant/'

All available evidence on the introduction or expansion of yellow

bass into Wisconsin waters is circumstantial, but the following ex¬

planation appears most tenable. The Wisconsin Conservation De-

1 Much of this material was presented in a Ph.D. thesis entitled “Some notes on the

ecolog-y of panfish in Lake Wingra with special reference to the yellow bass (Univer¬

sity of Wisconsin-Madison).” Sincere appreciation is expressed to the Wisconsin Con¬

servation Department for providing funds for this research,

* William T. Helm is Assistant Professor of Wildlife Resources, Utah State Uni¬

versity.

109

110 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

partment, similar departments of other states bordering the Missis¬

sippi River, and the Federal Government undertook extensive “fish

rescue’' work in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. This involved the

salvage of fish stranded in shallow sloughs when the Mississippi

River receded, and the subsequent release of these fish back into the

river itself or the stocking of some of them into various lakes. At¬

tempts to determine which species of fish were introduced into vari¬

ous lakes by this procedure have been almost entirely futile. Trans¬

ferred fish were usually recorded as bass, panfish, etc., without fur¬

ther identification (WCD planting receipts). Some of the collec¬

tions containing fish designated as “panfish” or “bass” were ob¬

tained from areas in the Mississippi River where yellow bass had

been previously reported (Fig. 1). Since southwestern Wisconsin

7- Swan

8- Buffalo

9- Puckaway

10- Winneconne

1 1- Poygan

iZ' Big Butte Des Morts

13* Winnebago

14- Kingston Mill Pond

15- Kaukauna Fishing Pond

16- Fifteen

17- Random

18* Bernice Mill Pond

19* Sheboygan Fishing Pond

ZQ- Long

21- Chilton Fishing Pond

yellow bass collected prior to 1935

sites of fish rescue work during late

I930*s or early 1940*8

yellow bass collected subsequent to 1940

0 probable initial introduction

0 yellow bass stocked in 1956 or 1957

1964]

Helm — Yellow Bass in Wisconsin

111

is on the northern edge of its distribution as reported by Greene,

the yellow bass was probably rather scarce in areas where Wiscon¬

sin salvage crews were working. Carlander lists three stations in

Wisconsin (LaCrosse, Lynxville, and Genoa) at which U.S. Bureau

of Fisheries crews operated during the 1930’s, and one (Cassville)

at which Wisconsin crews worked during 1940. Thus, while yellow

bass could have been captured during salvage operations, probably

only a small percentage of the catches would contain yellow bass,

and it now logically would occur in only a fraction of the lakes

stocked with salvaged fish.

The known distribution of yellow bass further substantiates the

above explanation. If the yellow bass had entered the Madison

chain of lakes from the south via the Rock River, it would have

appeared first in the lowest lake in the chain. Lake Kegonsa (Fig.

to Mississippi R-

112 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

2), At present this species has not been reported in either Lake

Kegonsa or Lake Koshkonong, where in all probability it should

have appeared had the Rock River been the route of introduction.

For the above reasons it is not possible to determine the precise

time and location of introductions of yellow bass into Wisconsin

waters. Based upon present distribution, WCD records, and com¬

ments of WCD personnel, it appears that yellow bass were intro¬

duced at perhaps six points as a result of the stocking of rescued

fish: Lakes Tomah and Delton in the Wisconsin River system; Lake

Wingra in the Rock River system; and Lakes Mason, Buffalo,

and/or Puckaway, and the Fox River at Omro in the Fox River

system.

No appreciable spread of yellow bass seems to have occurred

from the two lakes in the Wisconsin River system. The Fox River

system, however, has been almost completely infiltrated. It is diffi¬

cult to determine if this is a result of extensive movement or

whether it represents many points of introduction within the river

system. Perhaps the most easily interpreted movement has occurred

in the Rock River system in Dane County. The yellow bass was ap¬

parently introduced into Lake Wingra during the 1930’s. Transfer

records of rescued fish state that “bass, bullheads, and sunfish”

were stocked. Records of rough fish removal in 1936 do not mention

yellow bass. Lake Wingra was not seined again until 1944, at which

time the yellow bass was very abundant. Dr. John Black catalogued

the captured fish and estimated the numbers of each species during

the seining in 1944. Prior to his work, little time was expended on

careful identification of species, and yellow bass could easily have

been present.

Yellow bass evidently moved either across the dam or through

the locks from Lake Wingra and downstream to Lake Monona

where it was first reported by a contract fisherman in 1953 (Fig.

2). Since then it has become abundant enough to sustain a limited

sport fishery. At about the same time, yellow bass also appeared in

the rough fish control seines in Lake Waubesa, downstream from

Lake Monona, although it was never mentioned in the seining re¬

ports. Another report indicates that a few were caught by hook and

line during this period. The yellow bass has never become abundant

in Lake Waubesa and has not appeared downstream in Lake

Kegonsa.

Upstream movement from Lake Monona to Lake Mendota was

difficult, since the fish had either to swim up through very fast,

shallow water or pass through a set of locks. One of these routes

was apparently negotiated successfully as early as the spring of 1957

when one yellow bass was captured in a fyke net in Lake Mendota.

1964]

Helm— Yellow Bass in Wisconsin

113

In 1960, 1961, and 1962, numerous yellow bass were captured in

nets on the eastern shore of Lake Mendota.

Several other Wisconsin river systems also contain yellow bass,

either as a result of the stocking of rescued fish or because of the

stocking of children's fishing ponds in 1956 and 1957.

The extensive distribution of yellow bass in the Fox River sys¬

tem, the slow rate of dispersal in the Rock River system and lack

of such movement in the Wisconsin River system appear to be so in¬

consistent that no general statement can be made regarding the

ability of the yellow bass to disperse throughout various types of

river systems.

Food

A knowledge of the food and feeding habits of a fish, such as the

yellow bass, can help delineate its basic ecology. Reports published

in the early 1900's from Mississippi and Illinois were rather brief.

Burnham (1910) stated that the young feed on air and water in¬

sects, Crustacea, insect larvae, and small fish; and that adults con¬

sume air and water insects, crawfish, Crustacea, frogs, mollusca,

small fish, tadpoles, worms, etc. Forbes and Richardson (1920) re¬

ported that the yellow bass is insectivorous and that the adults feed

on aquatic larvae, small crustaceans, and terrestrial insects. The re¬

ports indicated that fish are a minor item in the diet. More recent

reports from Iowa (Kutkuhn, 1955) presented a considerably dif¬

ferent picture. There the young feed on plankton crustaceans and

minute immature insects, while the adults eat fish {70% as fre¬

quency of occurrence) and to a lesser extent plankton, insects, etc.

A number of collecting devices were used by the author to obtain

samples of fish from Lake Wingra between 1953 and 1957. During

the first two years seines, gill nets, angling, and fyke nets were em¬

ployed; later, bottom trawls were added. Passive devices such as

gill nets and fyke nets collected fewer fish per unit of time than

active devices such as seines and trawls.

Identification of recently consumed food organisms can often be

quite precise, but such careful itemization can be extended to in¬

clude the entire contents of the stomach only with great difficulty.

The food categories utilized must be broad enough, therefore, that

classification of small fragments of resistant material is possible. In

this study 26 categories of food organisms were recorded; the 11

most often encountered are listed in Table 1. Each stomach from

the 1953-54 collections was examined individually while the con¬

tents of several stomachs from the 1956 samples were lumped to¬

gether for examination.

114 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Food organisms in six categories (Table 1) were the most im¬

portant during both study periods. Fish remains and scales in the

1953-54 samples were recorded as separate items; in 1956 they

were lumped together as fish remains. Two categories had been

established in 1953-54 because the presence of intact, undigested

scales without any sign of other fish remains indicated that the yel¬

low bass had picked up a scale or scales along with other small food,

and probably had not consumed an entire fish.

Table 1. Frequency of Occurrence (in per cent) of Various Food

Organisims in the Stomachs of Lake Wingra Yellow Bass

Cladocera .

Copepoda . .

Chironomidae

larvae .

pupae .

Chaoborinae. . .

Fish .

Remains only

Scales only . .

Ephemeroptera .

Hydracarina . . .

Corixidae .

Ostracoda .

The possibility always exists in analyses of frequency of occur¬

rence that some organisms may be present in a large percentage of

the stomachs but never in large numbers. Such organisms then

appear to be more important as food items than they actually are.

Data were analysed to eliminate this error, and only food items

present in more than trace amounts were included. The term trace

amounts designates ten or fewer individuals of the very small or¬

ganisms such as ostracods. Results (Table 1) are in general agree¬

ment with the standard frequency values. The food categories of

major importance in both study periods were Cladocera, Copepoda,

Chironomidae (larvae and pupae), Chaoborinae, and fish remains.

Collections of yellow bass from two lakes in east-central Wiscon¬

sin, Random Lake in Sheboygan County and Lake Winnebago in

Winnebago County, and two in southwestern Wisconsin, Gremore

Lake and Horseshoe Lake in Crawford County, were made by the

1964]

Helm— Yellow Bass in Wisconsin

115

Wisconsin Conservation Department during 1956 and 1957 (Table

2). All of these fish were captured in seines. Unfortunately, the

sample of fish from Gremore and Horseshoe Lakes was small, and

the percentage values are probably unreliable. The food items, how¬

ever, are of decided interest, especially since Gremore and Horse¬

shoe Lakes are backwater sloughs of the Mississippi River while

the others are inland lakes.

In general, analysis of the food organisms consumed by the yel¬

low bass collected throughout the state indicates that plankton and

chironomids are of major importance while other littoral or bot¬

tom forms and fish are less important.

Table 2. Frequency of Occurrence (in per cent) of Various Food

Organisms in the Stomachs of Yellow Bass from

Three Wisconsin Lakes

Although the food items of greatest importance did not vary ap-

pieciably, the number of food categories represented was influenced

by the methods used to collect the fish. This influence of the collect¬

ing method is evident if the numbers of food categories found in

the stomachs of fish collected by the various methods are tabulated

(Table 3). A wider variety of foods was found in the stomachs of

fish collected by gill net and seine than in those collected by fyke

net, trawl, and angling. Water depth and proximity to shore were

not common denominators for the differences, nor were passive

and active collecting devices.

Records were kept of the number of categories represented in

the stomachs of small, medium and large fish. No significant differ¬

ences were noted. Data obtained on the number of categories rep¬

resented in fish collected in daylight and darkness also indicated

no difference. Whenever one category was definitely dominant by

116 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

volume in any stomach, this fact was noted. Only representatives

of the first four categories (Table 1) were consistently dominant.

It is not possible to state which of the first four groups was most

frequently dominant in view of the results of the time-of -feeding

study reported under feeding habits, as a predominance of daytime

or nighttime samples could distort the results.

Feeding Habits

Numbers of yellow bass collected from Lake Wingra with seines

during 1954 and the early summer of 1955 varied with time of day.

More fish were captured per seine haul between sunset and sunrise

than during daylight. A study of feeding habits was initiated to de¬

termine whether the difference was correlated with increased feed¬

ing activity during some particular period of the day.

Table 3. Number of Food Categories Eepresented in the Stomachs of

Yellow Bass Collected from Lake Wingra by Various Methods

Yellow bass were collected by seining at approximately hourly

intervals, ranging from late afternoon until after sunrise the next

morning on two occasions during the summer of 1955. One of the

problems encountered was inability to catch sufficient numbers of

fish each time the seine was drawn at a given place. Apparently the

interval of one hour between hauls was too short to permit adequate

numbers of fish to re-enter the seined area. The small samples

caused great variation in the results of stomach analyses. A con¬

ventional shrimp-testing otter trawl was being used at the same

time to collect fish for growth studies and this appeared to be a

suitable substitute. Fish were collected on five occasions during

1956, and all these collections were made with an electrified version

of the otter trawl. The collections were made over a total elapsed

time of 55 hours.

As soon as possible after collection, usually within a few minutes,

the entire stomach and intestine were removed from the fish and

preserved in 70% alcohol. Stomachs were opened in the laboratory

and all the food was removed. The actual volume of material pres¬

ent was estimated as percent of fullness of the stomach. Stomachs

1964]

Helm— Yellow Bass in Wisconsin

117

were rated as being entirely empty, less than one-quarter full, one-

quarter, one-half, or completely full. Numerical values of 0, 0.1,

0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 were assigned to the above ratings. A value given

to each collection of fish was computed by determining the average

degree of fullness for the entire collection.

Data from 316 fish captured during July and August 1955, are

presented (Fig. 3). The July collections indicate a definite period¬

icity in feeding. Rather than feeding throughout the night, these

fish apparently fed shortly after dark and again at daylight. August

samples are not as easily analysed since some of the collections con¬

tained less than 10 fish and therefore have rather wide confidence

limits. There is no well defined trend in the graph of August sam¬

ples, and thus no definite conclusions can be drawn regarding pe¬

riodicity of feeding.

During 1956, collections were made with a trawl at approxi¬

mately 1-hour intervals extending over 8-hour periods on August 6,

8, 13, and 16, and over a 24-hour period on August 19 and 20. Stom¬

ach contents of 704 fish were evaluated as in 1955. The evidence did

not indicate any prime feeding periods during which the majority

of the fish feed.

In addition to estimating the degree of fullness of the stomachs

an examination was made of stomach contents to assess the rela¬

tive importance of different organisms at various times in a 24-

hour period. A striking variation with respect to time of collection

in the kinds of organisms present in greatest abundance was found

(Fig, 4), although, as previously noted, the numbers of food cate-

plankton dominant Aug- 6,8,13,16 values estimated

chironomids dominant Aug- 19,20 values calculated

118 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Comparative Units

0400 0600 0800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 2200 2400 0200 0400

1964]

Helm— Yellow Bass in Wisconsin

119

gories represented did not change. Either chironomid larvae or

plankton crustaceans were the dominant organisms in most stom¬

achs. A plankton-chironomid (P/C) ratio was calculated for each

collection of fish. This ratio was determined by assigning a value

to either P or C, whichever was the dominant organism in any one

fish stomach, and adding the P’s and C’s separately for each col¬

lection to obtain a pair of values for that collection. The values as¬

signed were based on the degree of fullness of the stomach attributa¬

ble to the organism concerned : 1 if the stomach were % full ; 2 if it

were % full ; 4 if it were I/2 full, etc. Thus if eight of 14 stomachs

in a collection were full of chironomids with only traces of

plankton ,and two stomachs were % full of plankton, a P/C ratio of

2/16 or 8 C would be obtained. Points on the graph marked with a

vertical line represent very small samples (six fish or fewer). It is

apparent that, with few exceptions, chironomids were dominant in

stomachs collected at night and plankton was most important dur¬

ing daytime.

Growth

Age-group 0 (young-of-the-year) fish were collected in Lake

Wingra during the summers of 1954, 1955, and 1956, and on one

occasion in 1957. Growth rates of these fish compared favorably

(Fig. 5) with fish of the same age from Clear Lake, Iowa (Car-

lander et al., 1952). Iowa data from 1948 and 1950 illustrated good

and poor growth. It is not possible to make any statement regard¬

ing the relative strengths of year-classes in Lake Wingra; each

year of the study the hatch was sufficiently successful that large

numbers were readily seined. Growth remained good through Sep¬

tember, slowing down sometime in October each year of the study

(Figs 5 and 6).

Determination of growth rates of older fish in Lake Wingra was

complicated by a serious mortality of older panfish, including yel¬

low bass, which occurred in July 1954. Collections of yellow bass

taken periodically during the summer of 1954 indicated that after

July very few fish older than age-group III were present, although

nearly all specimens collected in July were older fish.

Examination of scale samples collected during 1954 revealed that

only a small fraction of the yellow bass had laid down an annulus

that year. Collections had been made at such short intervals in 1954

and 1955 that the growth of yellow bass throughout summer could

be plotted, and age-groups could be identified in this fashion (Fig.

6). Growth of fish for 1954 and part of 1955 was easily determined

by this method, but by 1956 and 1957 the length interval between

120 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [VoL 53

age-groups became very small. This twofold complication of lack

of annulus formation and small differences in length between age

groups thus prevents any meaningful presentation of growth data.

Bathymetric Distribution and Movements

Preliminary studies on the distribution of yellow bass in shallow

water indicated that: (1) they were found in areas with few ob¬

structions, i.e. outside of beds of vegetation rather than within;

(2) they were found along nearly all types of shoreline as long as

there was sufficient open water, but were difficult to seine on a

stony bottom; (3) they were found in the area of a swimming

beach, where they were very readily seined; and (4) they were

generally far more abundant in shallow water during darkness

than during daylight.

1964]

Helm — Yellow Bass in Wisconsin

121

1955

Sept 29

Aug- 29-30

Jl

Aug- 18

.jJk<

July 22

July 7

June 2

5 0 70

JU

90

no

y. .1

1

iL

.ii

..■iid .

130

150 I7C

Total Length in Millimeters

Part of the yellow bass population moved into shallow water at

dusk but did not travel laterally to any extent. Seining and removal

of fish from an area at 1-hour intervals during the night produced

moderate numbers of fish the first few hauls, but very few there¬

after. Single collections at various times on different nights showed

that yellow bass remained in the beach area all night. Bottom trawl¬

ing in the center of the lake at approximately 1-hour intervals over

varying periods of time up to 24 hours revealed that yellow bass

were present at all times. Numbers caught during darkness by this

method exceeded those caught during daylight by a three to two

ratio.

122 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Age-group 0 yellow bass displayed a pattern of diurnal move¬

ment. Large numbers were captured with seines in shallow water at

night, but very few were ever captured in the same areas during

daylight. Bottom trawling during daylight produced many of this

age-group, but trawling at night seldom produced any. This move¬

ment from deep water during daylight to shallow water at night

began to change to adult behavior patterns during June of the sec¬

ond year of life at water temperatures of 20° C or more.

Limited information was obtained on the bathymetric distribu¬

tion of yellow bass in Lake Wingra. A 16-foot shrimp-trawl was

rigged to operate as a surface or midwater trawl in addition to its

normal use as a bottom trawl (Massmann, Ladd, and McCutcheon,

1952). When used as a surface or midwater trawl, the size of the

net opening was 3 feet vertically and 10 feet horizontally. Both di¬

mensions were reduced slightly when the net was operated as a bot¬

tom trawl. The surface trawl under tow travelled with the cork

line just beneath the surface of the lake, while the cork line of the

midwater trawl travelled about 3 feet beneath the surface. Lake

Wingra, throughout most of the deep water area, averages about 9

feet in depth; therefore, the multi-level trawling at three depths

effectively sliced the lake into three nearly distinct layers.

Nearly all multi-level trawling was done during daylight hours,

thus any changes in spatial distribution of yellow bass due to

changes in light intensity, etc., have not been explored thoroughly.

Seven trials of this type of trawling were made ; three in 1956, two

in 1957, and two in 1958 (Fig. 7). One trial each in 1956 and 1957

included only surface and midwater hauls. One trial in 1958 was

made during darkness. Yellow bass, with only one exception, were

never caught in large numbers by surface or midwater hauls. The

exception was on a dark, rainy day when light conditions were ap¬

proximately the same as after sundown on a clear or partly cloudy

day. Apparently the bottom layer on the lake was the preferred hab¬

itat during daylight hours when light intensities were high. Some

individuals apparently tend to move up into the middle depths and

even to the surface under low light intensities. This is not a mass

movement, however, since periodic bottom trawling did not reveal

any major decrease in numbers of yellow bass available for capture

during a 24-hour period.

Daylight catches varied greatly in October and November during

the 3 years. Reproduction could account for some increase from

1956 to 1958. More than one-half of the bottom haul in October 1957

was composed of young-of-the-year, indicating good survival of that

year-class, but the tremendous catch of 1958 remains unexplained.

Number of Yellow Bass Caught per 10-Minute Haul

1964]

Helm — Yellow Bass in Wisconsin 123

140-

120-

80 -

- Surface

m

i

— Midwater

— Botto m

— Young - of- Yea r

— Other

Daylight

60 -

40 -

Oct- 17 Oct 19 Nov 2 July 16 Oct 16

1956 1957

Night

512

m

October 24

1958

The large numbers captured in the bottom trawl at night on Octo¬

ber 24, 1958, probably reflected a reaction to decreasing lake tem¬

peratures.

Catches of yellow bass in the bottom trawl, as previously stated,

were larger at night than during daylight by a three to two ratio.

The apparent conflict with the vertical diurnal migration mentioned

above can be logically explained. Behavior of yellow bass in seines

was observed on numerous occasions. In every case the flsh oriented

toward the seine but avoided contact with it. If the lead-line was

raised from the bottom when passing over an obstruction, the yel¬

low bass in that vicinity darted through the hole and escaped. Such

behavior indicates a strong reliance on vision. Light intensities at

the bottom of Lake Wingra during daylight probably are sufficient

to allow some yellow bass to escape the trawl. Trawling at night,

however, could be expected to result in a greater rate of capture.

Apparently the density of fish was not reduced sufficiently by ver¬

tical migration to offset the increased efficiency of the net at night.

Although some adult yellow bass were captured by seine in shal¬

low water at night shortly after the ice melted in spring, daylight

124 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

seining was seldom successful until the water had warmed up to

nearly 15° C. Age-group I hsh, hatched the previous year, were

first captured in seines in the shallows at night when surface water

temperatures ranged from 16 to 20° C, and during daylight when

surface temperatures exceeded 20° C.

Yellow bass of all ages were present, although in reduced num¬

bers, in shallow water in fall when water temperatures were some¬

what below 10° C, but none were captured when temperatures

reached 4° C. Bottom trawling in late October, when water temper¬

atures were less than 10° C, was far more successful than when the

water was warmer. Apparently the fish form fall or cold-water

aggregations in deeper water. This aversion to very shallow areas

during the cold water season was not always apparent, however;

yellow bass were caught by hook and line through the ice in water

less than 4 feet deep on many occasions during the winter.

Summary

Yellow bass had been collected at two locations in the Mississippi

River in Crawford County in southwestern Wisconsin prior to 1935.

By 1958 specimens had been collected or reliably reported from 22

lakes or ponds in six river systems within the State, in addition to

the Mississippi River. Most of the expansion within the State ap¬

pears to be the result of transferring fish from the Mississippi

River, while the remainder is due to the stocking of children’s fish¬

ing ponds. As a result of these stocking activities, the range of the

yellow bass has been extended from the Mississippi drainage into

the Great Lakes drainage.

Early reports on foods of yellow bass indicated a reliance on in¬

vertebrates, while some recent publications report greater utiliza¬

tion of fish. Invertebrates were the principal food item in the stom¬

achs of yellow bass collected from five Wisconsin lakes. It was noted

that method of capture influenced the number of food categories

represented in yellow bass stomachs.

Collections made at various times of the day and night and in dif¬

ferent areas of Lake Wingra indicated that yellow bass captured

away from shore fed continuously, but evidence was inconclusive

concerning those captured in shallow water. A diurnal fluctuation

in kinds of food organisms consumed was evident in fish captured

in a bottom trawl in the center of the lake.

Growth rates of age-group 0 yellow bass compared favorably

with the growth of similar aged fish in an Iowa lake. Older fish

grew so slowly that many of them did not produce an annulus, and

neither annulus enumeration nor length-frequency analysis could

be used to study growth.

1964]

Helm — Yellow Bass in Wisconsin

125

Trawling for fish on the surface, at midwater depths, and on the

bottom revealed that yellow bass were most abundant near bottom.

There was some diurnal movement of adult yellow bass, and an

almost complete movement of age-group 0 fish to shore during

darkness.

References Cited

Bailey, R. M. 1956. A revised list of the fishes of Iowa, with keys for identi¬

fication, in Harlan, J. R., and E. B. Speaker, Iowa fish and fishing. Third

edition. State of Iowa. pp. 1-377.

Burnham, C. W. 1910. Notes on the yellow bass. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 39:

103-108.

Carlander, H, B. 1954. A history of fish and fishing in the Upper Mississippi

River. Upper Mississippi River Conservation Committee, pp. 1-96,

Carlander, K. D., W. M. Lewis, C. E. Ruhr, and R. E. Cleary. 1952. Abun¬

dance, growth and condition of yellow bass, Morone interrupta Gill, in

Clear Lake, Iowa, 1941 to 1951. Trans. Am. Fish. Soc. 82:91-103.

Forbes, S. A. and R. E. Richardson. 1920. The fishes of Illinois, Second edi¬

tion. Ill. Nat. Hist. Survey 3:1-357.

Greene, C. W. 1935. The distribution of Wisconsin fishes. State of Wisconsin

Conservation Commission. Madison, pp. 1-235.

Hubbs, C. L. and K. F. Lagler. 1949. Fishes of the Great Lakes Region. Cran-

brook Inst, of Sci., Bull. No. 26. pp. 1-186.

Kutkuhn, J. H. 1955. Food and feeding habits of some fishes in a dredged

Iowa lake. Proc. Iowa Acad. Sci. 62:576-588.

Massmann, W, H., E. C. Ladd, and H. N. McCutcheon. 1952. A surface

trawl for sampling young fishes in tidal rivers. Trans. N. Am. Wildlife

Conf. 17:386-392.

Neess, j. C., W. T. Helm, and C. W. Threinen, 1957. Some vital statistics

in a heavily exploited population of carp. Jour. Wildl. Mgt. 21(3) :279-

292.

Noland, W. E. 1951. The hydrography, fish and turtle population of Lake

Wingra. Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci., Arts and Letters. 40(2):5-58,

Wisconsin Conservation Department. Contract fishing inspectors reports.

- . Lake survey reports and other investigational memoranda.

- . Original planting receipts, transmittal receipts and annual summaries

of fish transfers and stocking.

— - . Supervising wardens monthly summaries.

/

UWM AND THE PEACE CORPS: PARTNERSHIP

IN INNOVATION

Carol Edler Baumann:^

When the first Peace Corps training project at The University of

Wisconsin-Milwaukee commenced in January of 1963, it ushered in

a new dimension to the international studies of the University

which even now has not reached its full expanse. In two years, The

University of Wisconsin has served as the locale for fourteen proj¬

ects and for the training of over 600 Volunteers for Latin America,

Asia, and Africa.^ During this time UWM has become one of four

permanent year-round Peace Corps Training Centers in the coun¬

try ; it has granted not only fellowships, assistantships, and tuition

scholarships to returning Volunteers, but also up to twelve under¬

graduate credits in relevant disciplines ; finally, it has incorporated

into the international relations field a special sequence of courses

closely geared to Peace Corps service. This, indeed, could well be

only the first step toward a comprehensive and continuing relation¬

ship which might yet develop to embrace Peace Corps studies and

service as an even more integral part of both the undergraduate

and the graduate curriculum.

The Beginning

Following discussions in Washington, D. C., between Provost J.

Martin Klotsche of The University of Wisconsin^Milwaukee and

Peace Corps officials, a Special Committee on International Pro¬

grams^ met at UWM on February 28, 1963, to discuss the possibility

of a Peace Corps training project in Milwaukee, The committee

agreed that UWM involvement in such a project could be an appro¬

priate and beneficial undertaking for the University, that Latin

America presented itself as a geographical area in which the Uni¬

versity was best prepared to develop such a program, and that the

project would be strengthened if, added to UWM resources, the

resources of the total University and other educational institutions

* Dr. Baumann is Assistant Professor of Political Science and Director of the Insti¬

tute of World Affairs, The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and University Exten¬

sion Division.

^UWM alone has hosted a total of thirteen Peace Corps projects with over 550

Volunteers.

2 Professors Frank M. Himmelmann, Henry W. Hoge, and Donald R. Shea.

127

128 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

in the Milwaukee area could also be utilized. This kind of coopera¬

tive approach has been followed throughout all of the Peace Corps

training programs at the University.

On April 18th, Mr. Lawrence Dennis, Associate Director for

Peace Corps Volunteers, visited Milwaukee and met with a number

of Milwaukee area university and college representatives at The

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. At the meeting. Dr. Fred

Harvey Harrington, then Vice-President, expressed the interest of

The University of Wisconsin as a whole in cooperating with vari¬

ous Wisconsin institutions in developing programs for Peace Corps

training. Although centered on the Milwaukee campus, all Univer¬

sity of Wisconsin Peace Corps training has since borne this marked

characteristic of total University support by faculty and adminis¬

tration alike. The following month, Mr. Joseph F. Kauffman, Direc¬

tor of Peace Corps Training, sent an invitation to Dr. Donald R.

Shea of The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to attend a Peace

Corps Training Conference in Washington. In early June, Dr. Shea

attended the Washington meeting on behalf of the University, and

conversations there led to a subsequent statement by Mr. Dennis

that it appeared likely that a program for UWM would develop

sometime later that year. To clarify and formalize this somewhat

indefinite commitment was the major remaining task before actual

negotiations on a training contract could begin. That UWM was

ready to move ahead quickly in this direction was made clear to

both the Director of Training and the Associate Director for Peace

Corps Volunteers.

Before mid-July, UWM officials had received a preliminary state¬

ment on a specific Peace Corps project for the development of sav¬

ings and loan operations in Peru. Although the details were yet

to come and a contract would still have to be negotiated, the Uni¬

versity administration was ready to get the project nailed down.

Latin America was regarded as the overseas area in which the

University had the greatest academic competency, and the technical

studies prescribed (savings and loan) would provide the Univer¬

sity with the opportunity to draw on community resources in such

essential areas as banking, business, and labor. By October, contract

negotiations were under way, and the development of a successful

project seemed assured by the endorsement of the administration

and by the enthusiasm of the key faculty people involved both in

Milwaukee and in Madison. The Peru Savings and Loan Project

began as the first UWM Peace Corps Training Program on Janu¬

ary 10, 1963. The next section will examine in more detail what

that and subsequent programs entailed and how they led to the

creation of year-round Peace Corps Training Center on the UWM

campus.

1964] Baumann — UWM and the Peace Corps 129

Training Programs and the Peace Corps Center

Including the initial Peru Savings and Loan Project (January

10-March 23, 1963), The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee un¬

dertook and completed thirteen Peace Corps training programs

through December of 1964, These included projects for seven differ¬

ent countries on three continents with a total of over 550 trainees.

The Volunteers were trained in such disparate skills as Community

Development, Math/Science Teaching, 4-H, Credit Union Develop¬

ment, Rural Cooperatives, School Lunch Programs, Auto Mechan¬

ics, Nursing Education, and English as a Foreign Language— and

the list is not complete.'"^ Of those trainees entering the first eight

projects, approximately 78.3% successfully completed their train¬

ing program and graduated as full-fledged Volunteers.

One of the outstanding characteristics of the training programs

is their diversity — in the areas of knowledge and technical skills

included, in the sources and talents of administrative and training

staff utilized, and in the background of the trainees themselves. In

addition to the technical studies referred to above, the trainees

study in depth the country and region to which they are assigned

and so familiarize themselves with the language and customs of its

people as to almost ‘Teel at home’’ when they finally arrive at their

Peace Corps destination. According to the Peace Corps Training

Division, the aim of Area Studies is to provide the trainees with

both knowledge of and respect for the culture, traditions, and sen¬

sitivities of the nationals with whom they will live and work. The

training program also includes an American Studies, World Affairs,

and Communism component designed to nurture an understanding

of the United States and its heritage as well as some conception of

the foundations and problems of international relations today.

Diversity is also reflected in the backgrounds and disciplines of

the training staff and faculty. In all of the UWM projects to date

full use has been made of the “total” University resources so often

referred to in the early negotiations. In the first seven projects, for

example. The University of Wisconsin in Madison was represented

fifty-two times— second only to UWM in the number of faculty

members included.^ In the same seven projects a total of forty-

seven different institutions were represented, almost half of them

two or more times. Among these were colleges and universities from

all over the country as well as from foreign states. The faculty rep¬

resentation from the University (Madison and Milwaukee) in¬

cluded thirty-two disciplines and departments. This broad, inter¬

disciplinary approach, though dictated by the project format and

® See Appendix A for a complete list of all UWM projects (to date), with relevant

technical studies, dates, number of trainees, and dropouts.

^ UWM was represented 166 times in the first seven projects.

130 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [VoL 58

facilitated by a fairly specific goal, was in itself an innovation for

faculties more accustomed to the departmental rather than the in¬

terdepartmental viewpoint.

Finally, the trainees themselves have contributed a cosmopolitan

air to a campus less characterized in its international learnings by

the composition of its student body than by its academic interests

and expanding international curriculum. Again using the first seven

projects for computation purposes, the following figures emerge:

The trainees came from thirty-eight different states, the District

of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Burma, and Germany.^ Sixty-nine per

cent had finished sixteen grades of schooling and had received their

B.A. degrees. Another 4.8 per cent had received M.A. degrees, and

there were three (1.4 per cent) LL.B. degrees. As a group, the

trainees had obtained degrees from ninety-six different schools. The

age variation extended from 18 to 65, but over 54 per cent were

22 to 24, and another 23 per cent fell between the ages of 20 and 26.

Diversity has thus characterized the trainees more in geographical

representation than in educational background or in age.

As for the training programs per se, the general format and the

rudimentary elements of each are similar. The number of trainees

and the number of weeks may vary, although on a national basis

most projects now take approximately ten to twelve weeks and tend

to average seventy-five trainees per project.^’ The program break¬

down in subiects covered and time allocated has also become fairly

standardized. In the more recent twelve-week programs at UWM,

the total of 720 training hours (60-hour weeks of 10 hours per day)

is divided in general as follows : '

Language _ 310 hours

Technical Studies _ 143 hours

Area Studies _ 100 hours

American Studies, World Affairs, and Communism _ 55 hours

Physical Training and Recreation _ 70 hours

Health _ 30 hours

Peace Corps Orientation _ 12 hours

Total _ 720 hours

The predominant position afforded to language, technical studies

and area studies simply reflects the primary emphasis placed upon

the tasks to be done and the linguistic facility so necessary to ac¬

complish them. An understanding of the history and culture, politi-

° New York (26), California (24), Illinois (18), Pennsylvania (14), and Wisconsin

(12), as listed, had the highest number of trainees.

6 American Council on Education, Special RejJort on Federal Programs (Volume 1,

No. 8 — August, 1963), p. 2.

Outside of a slightly greater emphasis on language, technical, and area studies, the

ITWM program compares closely with the general pattern for Peace Corps programs

throughout the county. See Ihid., pp. 2-3.

1964] Baumann — UWM and the Peace Corps 131

cal and economic systems, and the needs and aspirations of the peo¬

ple living in the area is also considered essential to the job at hand.

Hence, area studies are correspondingly emphasized.

In Milwaukee, there have been three major developments in the

content of the training programs during the initial two-year period.

First, in the area of technical studies, there was a noticeable switch

during and after the eighth project from a primarily lecture ap¬

proach toward technical studies to an emphasis on practical, “in-

the-field'’ training. Field practitioners involved in similar or closely

related work, whether it was nursing, public health, or community

development, were heavily utilized in the technical training seg¬

ment of the program. Moreover, the trainees themselves were taken

on relevant field trips where they not only gained practical experi¬

ence in the work ahead of them, but also had the opportunity to

apply the knowledge they had accumulated in the more formal

phases of their training. According to Center personnel, this also

afforded them both relief and release from the pressures of intensi¬

fied training by allowing them to “get their hands dirty.”

In addition to this new emphasis on field training, the more re¬

cent projects at UWM have included a sizable segment of “com¬

munications theory” within the technical studies field. Since the

Brazil RCA project (spring, 1964), communications theory has

constituted approximately fifteen hours of the total technical

studies time allocation. Recognizing the language problem as of key

significance in a cross-cultural situation, the communications sec¬

tion was obviously designed to supplement language training by

alerting the trainees to the ambiguous nature of full and clear

communications. The UWM program is not unique in including

this, but it does emphasize the fact that total communication is

more than language; that it not only requires facility with the

language itself but also must take cognizance of such factors as

source credibility, nonverbal communication, the impact of com¬

munication on group change, and the possibilities and limitations

of the mass meda in communications.

A second development, related more to organization and adminis¬

tration than to content, and yet affecting the later, was the gradual

combination of the American Studies, World Affairs, and Commun¬

ism sections of the training program.^ In the first four projects all

three were treated as separate segments with little, if any, rela¬

tionship between them. They were co-ordinated by different profes¬

sors and were scheduled separately, again, with little relation to one

another. By the time of the fifth and sixth projects (Ecuador 6 and

Brazil 6) , however. World Affairs and Communism had been com-

® See Syllabi of all UWM Peace Corps Training- Projects, The University of Wiscon-

sin-Milwaukee.

132 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

bined as an integral unit. American Studies remained a separate

entity, but both units (American Studies as one and World Affairs

and Communism as the other) were coordinated by the same per¬

son. In the seventh project (India 5a) all three were combined as

the ASWAC (American Studies, World Affairs, Communism) sec¬

tion of the training program, and this format has since been fol¬

lowed. In the combined approach, an attempt has been made to re¬

late the various political, economic, and social aspects of American

society and its institutions both to the world scene and to the ideo¬

logical and practical accoutrements of international Communism.

Although closer integration could probably still be effected, the

three topics have emerged as a more cohesive and meaningful unit.

The third change in the UWM projects resulted from the matura¬

tion of the entire Peace Corps program. With the advent of return¬

ing Peace Corps Volunteers, the opportunity arose to utilize their

experience and personal insights in the training of future Volun¬

teers. In addition to their value as adjuncts of the Peace Corps

Center,^ the returning Volunteers became invaluable participants

in the orientation segments of the training program. Peace Corps

Orientation is the only portion of a training program which is ad¬

ministered by Peace Corps, Washington, and carried out by Peace

Corps personnel. Since the India 5a project (Sept.-Dee., 1963) in

Milwaukee, returned PCVs have been utilized for at least six hours

of the twelve-hour orientation sections. From their own personal

experiences, they have been able to prepare the trainees for the

actual living conditions they will face and the concrete situations

with which they will have to deal. This has provided the trainees

with a much more realistic picture of Peace Corps service and has

thus given a more practical bent to their total training.

As salutary as all of these developments have been for specific

segments of the projects, the total training program at UWM has

probably benefited most from the creation of a permanent year-

round Training Center. The first official proposal indicating the

University's interest in the establishment of such a center was

made by President Harrington of The University of Wisconsin to

Mr. Sargent Shriver, Director of the Peace Corps, when he indi¬

cated that the University was prepared to make a long-term com¬

mitment to train Peace Corps Volunteers on a year-round basis for

any country and in any specialty for which it had available re¬

sources. The University was convinced, however, that the most

efficient and effective way to undertake such training programs

would be under a long-term contract arrangement so that it could

build Peace Corps training into the regular teaching loads of key

» See below, p. 135.

1964]

Baumann — UWM and the Peace Corps

133

faculty members. President Harrington therefore proposed^^ that

negotiations begin on a contract to set up such a Training Center

on the Milwaukee campus. The resources of the entire University

would be available to staff the training programs, and some specific

projects might still be based in Madison.

Negotiations followed. The rationale for a year-round center was

evident not only to the University, but to the Peace Corps as well.

Of all the various criticisms of Peace Corps programs which had

been made during its first two years of operation, the most persist¬

ent, especially among universities, was the lack of lead-time for

specific projects and the consequent necessity for ‘'crash programs.''

This problem, it was suggested, could be at least ameliorated by

setting up programs on a continuing basis^^ and thereby developing

a permanent and experienced staff and faculty.

In assessing the year-round program in New Mexico in 1963,

Rogers B. Finch, Chief of the Peace Corps Division of University

Relations, wrote that such a program makes it possible for the uni¬

verity to commit appropriate facilities and staff to a project in ad¬

vance and to make more efficient use of scarce foreign area and

language specialists. He also indicated the Peace Corps self-interest

in this when he pointed to the fact that a year-round program en¬

sures a steady flow of trained Volunteers.

Following a series of meetings and correspondence on the matter,

a year contract was signed between The University of Wisconsin-

Milwaukee and the Peace Corps for the period of August, 1963, to

August, 1964. This in itself established UWM as a Peace Corps

Training Center although both staff and facilities were at a bare

minimum. The primary objectives before the Center were thus

twofold: first, the search for additional personnel and expanded

facilities and, second, the utilization of a permanent staff and ad¬

ministrative organization to better facilitate the preparation and

implementation of future projects. By the end of the year an apart¬

ment building on the Kenwood campus had been purchased for

housing trainees, and by the following summer an expanded staff

was in full-scale and continuous operation.

The Center's organization has been functionally determined by

its principal tasks: Training, Selection, and Returned Volunteer

Counseling and Support, all serviced by a central administrative

10 March 20, 1963.

11 Roy P. Fairfield, “The Peace Corps and the University,” in The Journal of Higher

Education (Volume XXXV, No. 4— April, 1964), p. 197.

1^ Rogers B. Finch, “The Peace Corps and Higher Education — Two Years of Partner¬

ship,” in Higher Education (Volume XIX, No. 8 — June, 1963), p. 5.

1® The staff then consisted of Dr. Shea as Director, one administrative assistant, and

a secretary.

1* In terms of both budget and staff, the Peace Corps Center has become one of the

larger operations on the UWM campus.

134 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

structure. Dr. Shea continued as Director but added an adminis¬

trative assistant for overall Center activities. For training pur¬

poses, a separate project director plus his own secretary is now

assigned to each project. Thus, even if two projects are running

simultaneously, each automatically has its own director and secre¬

tarial support. Moreover, a permanent training director was ap¬

pointed in January, ,1964, to provide continuity from one training

project to another, at least for the Latin American area. The crea¬

tion of this latter position along with the Center itself has added

that built-in “infrastructure’^ so essential to the efficient organiza¬

tion and running of new and different projects, otherwise largely

serviced by turn-over personnel.

In the area of selection, the UWM Center currently has on its

staff a full-time Field Assessment Officer for all projects, an assist¬

ant FAO, the assistance of the Director of Psychological and Coun¬

seling Services, and a half-time secretary, in addition to the psy¬

chologists assigned to each project. Although selection procedures

are centrally directed from Peace Corps, Washington, and the

Washington Selection Officer makes the final selections, the deci¬

sions themselves correlate closely with the midterm and final evalu¬

ations of the Selection Board. The three regularly attending mem¬

bers of the board for any program are the Project Director, the

Field Assessment Officer and the Selection Officer, although others

periodically attend.^^

Selection, however, is based not only on the midterm and final

evaluations by the Selection Board, but also on the day-to-day as¬

sessments by those most intimately connected with the trainees dur¬

ing their training period. Training itself is utilized as part of the

selection process, and prospective Volunteers are “selected out” at

any phase either before or during the training period. Before train¬

ing, selection operates on both a “selection in” and a “selection

out” procedure; that is, selection in takes place when the prospec¬

tive Volunteers fill out the application forms, take the required

examinations, and refuse or accept assignments offered. Selection

out, on the other hand, takes place through the investigation of ap¬

plicants, the evaluation of applications made and tests taken, and

the ultimate rejection of original applicants accepted.

In a special report on the Peace Corps, published in 1963, the

American Council on Education estimated that in order to send

one qualified volunteer overseas, the Peace Corps has needed as

many as eight applicants. Considering eligibility only, the report

continued, “. . . approximately one out of four applicants are ac¬

cepted for training. But not all of those invited accept, and the

^For example, the psychologists on the project, a P. C. Program Development

Officer, Field Representative, or Deputy Field Representative, if in the area.

1964] Baumann — JJWM and the Peace Corps 135

proportion of refusals, while decreasing, has been as high as 50

per cent/’^^ Once an assignment has been offered and accepted,

however, selection does not end. If anything, it then begins in earn¬

est. Training, itself, supposedly gives the final insight into an appli¬

cant's suitability for Peace Corps service, and about 20% of the

trainees entering a training program are ultimately “selected out”

for one reason or another during the training period. This pro¬

cedure has resulted in the relatively high quality and low attrition

rate of Peace Corps Volunteers on the job. The University of Wis-

consin-Milwaukee has generally accepted the rigors of a strenuous

training program as a necessary prelude to successful service over¬

seas.

Returning to the administration of the Center itself, for its day-

to-day operations, there is a full-time administrative assistant, one

full-time project assistant, and two part-time personnel. A small

number of returned PCVs are also employed for assistance in train¬

ing, orientation, and recruitment. In July, 1964, a fourth Center

function was expanded through the appointment of a Director of

Psychological and Counseling Services. In addition to assistance in

evaluation for selection purposes, coordination of Peace Corps re¬

cruitment, and development of Center-Community Relations, the

Director assumed responsibility for the counseling of all returning

PCVs who requested it as well as for the coordination of Volunteer

support at UWM through assistantships, scholarships, and other

stipends. This function developed as a result of the growth of the

Center, the increasing number of returning Volunteers, and the

utilization of UWM as the one Peace Corps Training Center with

responsibility for counseling activities on a national basis.

The establishment of the year-round Center at UWM has made

its impact in several areas, but nowhere as emphatically as in the

way it has allowed that degree of advance planning which has fa¬

cilitated the recruiting of the most appropriate and qualified faculty

and personnel for the projects to be done. Most planning is now

based on the assumption that at least one project will be carried out

per semester and that the programming will be geared as closely as

possible to the university calendar. Other additional projects will

periodically be taken on, however, as well as summer programs.

In addition, UWM as a whole has experienced many of the same

reactions as other institutions involved in Peace Corps training.

The concrete advantages and disadvantages of such training have

been elaborated upon in numerous articles^"^ and are not unique to

UWM. For example, “Institutions which have conducted Peace

American Council on Education, op. cit., p. 10.

See especially Roy P. Fairfield, “The Peace Corps and the University,” in op. cit.

136 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Corps training projects have found the experience to be not only

highly demanding of staff and facilities, but also exciting and re¬

warding, The opportunity to teach international relations, area

studies, country studies, language, American studies, health, tech¬

nical studies, and Communist tactics and techniques to a group of

highly motivated trainees who will shortly be putting to use what

they have learned has proved to be a new and exciting educational

experience for faculty members who have participated in these

programs/’^®

Of even greater relevance, however, to a training center where

new projects are constantly underway and where more and more

faculty become involved in them in one way or another is the re¬

mark that ''The Peace Corps training program requires an inter¬

disciplinary effort far exceeding that called for by even the wildest

'general educationists,’ ” for it brings together on a single team so

many varied and different specialists from numerous disciplines

and parts of the campus. These faculty members have . . gained

new respect for the rich resources of expertise in their school- —

riches that are too frequently overlooked in the day-to-day con¬

centration upon particular areas of specialization. Undoubtedly,

some have found this 'cross-fertilization’ somewhat sinful; most

have found it exciting and productive.”^^

In Milwaukee, moreover, the very creation of an on-going opera¬

tion has had a psychological effect on the thinking of UWM faculty

and the community at large. Whereas earlier projects were con¬

ducted on crash basis with faculty participation based on a com¬

bination of incentives, including experimentation, idealism, and

monetary remuneration, the program has now become firmly estab¬

lished and thereby somehow "respectable.” There is also a growing

recognition of the possibilities of a Peace Corps-University part¬

nership which would encompass not only an incorporation of Peace

Corps training techniques and topics into the regular curriculum,

but also the joint devlopment of the training projects themselves

and of new research proposals,^^

Training as Education

In addition to the generally admitted advantages and disadvant¬

ages of Peace Corps training from the university viewpoint, per¬

haps the greatest significance of the Peace Corps programs at The

^ Rogers B. Finch, “The Peace Corps and Higher Education — Two Years of Partner¬

ship,” in op. cit., p. 4.

Robert W. Iversen, “The Peace Corps — A New Learning Situation,” in The Modern

Language Journal (Volume XLVII, No. 7 — November, 1963), p. 302.

20 The Peace Corps itself expressed its confidence in the quality of training at the

UWM Center and in its long-range potential by a renewal of the initial commitment

with a million dollar contract in April, 1964.

1964]

Baumann — VWM and the Peace Corps

137

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee will be their long-term effect

on the courses and curriculum of that institution. Only a modest

first step was taken in September, 1964, when a general revision of

the interdisciplinary Major in International Relations included as

one option of specialization the study of underdeveloped areas as

of special relevance for Peace Corps aspirants. Events in June and

July of that year foreshadowed an even closer relationship between

the Peace Corps and UWM with far-reaching implications for

course content, the curriculum, and the standard four-year time

sequences.^^

Of related, but more immediate concern, however, was the ques¬

tion of how Peace Corps training compared and contrasted with

regular college classes and whether, in fact, training could validly

be considered as education at all. There were some who obviously

did not think so. Emphasizing the problems of unequal motivation,

background, and potential, one writer argued, “Even when a uni¬

versity creates a diversified program to take these several varia¬

tions into account, it is so intensified as to preclude maximum ab¬

sorption of the lectures and the reading. Surely learning requires

some seasoning time,'’^- Because the question related not only to

educational theory, but also to the practical problem of accredita¬

tion for returning Peace Corps Volunteers, it deserved further con¬

sideration.

In autumn, 1963, a brief study was made by the author in the

general area of Peace Corps Training in World Affairs-^ — a com¬

parative analysis of World Affairs studies in two Peace Corps

Training Projects (Panama/Colombia — Spring, 1963, and India:

Andhra Pradesh — Summer, 1963) and in two UWM International

Relations semester courses (Political Science 375 — Fall, 1962, and

Spring, 1963). The study was designed to determine the relative

equivalents between Peace Corps training in World Affairs and

University courses in International Relations in terms of total hours

taught, subjects included and readings assigned, and attainments

(by examination) reached. It was hoped that the analysis would

provide an objective, though limited, basis both for an evaluation

of Peace Corps academic training (i.e,, area studies, language, and

perhaps technical studies, in addition to ASWAC) according to

University standards and for the possible future accreditation of

returning Peace Corps Volunteers with UWM credits.

At the time of writing-, these plans were yet in the formative stages, but there were

clear indications of novel developments in this direction. See below, pp. 145-148.

^ Roy P. Fairfield, “The Peace Corps and the University,” in op. cit., pp. 199-200.

An opposite viewpoint is expressed by Robert W. Iverson, “The Peace Corps : A New

Learning Situation,” in op. cit., p. 304.

Unpublished report by Dr. Carol Edler Baumann. Pall, 1963.

138 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Although the World Affairs sections of the Peace Corps projects

differed from their International Relations course counterparts in

time allotment, subject range and focus, and instructional technique,

certain “constants’" were provided to facilitate comparison:

1. The conceptual framework and pedagogical approach (from

general to particular, from theoretical abstractions to prac¬

tical problems) were the same.

2. The text assigned for the India: Andhra Pradesh Peace

Corps project was also used as one of the International Re¬

lations course textbooks,

3. The instructor who taught the International Relations

courses also coordinated the Peace Corps sections and lec¬

tured for some of them.

4. The examinations for both were basically the same (essay

and identification) and were graded according to identical

standards.

After an examination of the comparative “contact time” in the

Peace Corps World Affairs studies and in the International Rela¬

tions semester courses, the following conclusion was reached:

‘‘The hours allocated to World Affairs in Peace Corps training comprise

approximately 70% of the time included in an average university 3 credit

semester course. In a straight transfer from time to credits, therefore,

(assuming a comparable level of instruction and substance) a Peace Corps

World Affairs Section, by itself, would be equal to at least 2 credits.

A similar analysis was then made of the course contents as evi¬

denced in lecture topics and text assignments. The following conclu¬

sions emerged :

“The content of the World Affairs Section varied from the semester

courses in International Relations in both range and depth. More topics

were included in the International Relations courses but certain subjects

were examined more fully in the Peace Corps projects. In terms of the

total substance of the two, the Peace Corps training was more highly

concentrated in the sense that a greater quantity of material was cov¬

ered by lecture and by reading in a shorter period of time. Translating

this into credits, the World Affairs Sections would again equal at least

2 credits, or more accurately, approximately 2.5 credits.”^

Finally, some detailed attention was given to the course examina¬

tion results as one indication of “learning.” Obviously, longer range

retention of the subject matter could not be tested; however, reten¬

tion over an extended period of time is not usually tested in the

2W&M., p. 6.

p. 6.

1964]

Baumann — UWM and the Peace Corps

139

United States even in the case of the undergraduate college student.

It is only at the Master’s degree or Ph.D. level that comprehensive

examinations embracing course work offered over a period of years

are given. Hence, the contention that , learning requires some

seasoning time” may or may not be the case, objectively speaking,

but it is no more relevant to Peace Corps training than to regular

academic courses in terms of long-range retention.

With regard to examination results on the immediate subject

matter, however, some controlled testing pointed to roughly parallel

attainments in the Peace Corps sections and in the regular Inter¬

national Relations classes. The examinations for Peace Corps and

those for the University were basically the same in format and in

type of questions, though they necessarily differed in content. In

both cases they were composed by the same person and graded

according to precisely the same standards.

A tabulation of examination grades and relevant percentages

follows

World Affairs Section, Panama/Colombia

Total number of examinations taken . 1 . 48

World Affairs Section, India; Andhra Pradesh

Total number of examinations taken . 38

^Ibid., pp. 4-5.

140 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

International Relations, I Semester, 1962-63

International Relations, II Semester, 1962-63

Total number of examinations taken

24

A.

B.

C.

D

F.

Grades

Number

Percentage

OF Total

3

7

11

3

0

12.5%

29.2%

45.8%

12.5%

0.0%

The greatest variations in grades between the Peace Corps

trainees in World Affairs and the International Relations students

arose in the A and F categories; the percentage of A’s in Peace

Corps training was smaller than that in the International Relations

courses, and the percentage of F’s was greater. In assessing the

significance of this deviation, however, it is essential to recognize

that whereas a majority of these particular Peace Corps trainees

had had little or no college or university experience, the Interna¬

tional Relations students were all of junior or senior standing at

The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The Junior-Senior grade

curve is generally skewed toward the higher grades, while the

Freshman-Sophomore curve is more consistently bell-shaped. The

former would thus reflect the actual grades of the International

Relations students and the latter more closely approximate the

grades of the Peace Corps trainees who, as a group, were more

comparable, academically speaking, to Freshmen-Sophomores than

to Juniors-Seniors. The differentiation in grades, then, could be

more accurately attributed to differences in academic background

than to relative academic attainments.

When the above was then applied to the purposes of the analysis

(an evaluation of Peace Corps training according to University

standards and for the possible accreditation of returning PCVs

141

1964] Baumann — UWM and the Peace Corps

with UWM credits), the following assessments on attainment were

made:

“According to the results of the examinations given, the trainees them¬

selves adequately absorbed and retained the subject matter presented to

them despite the pressures of concentrated training techniques. Although

they achieved fewer high grades than the International Relations students,

the latter were of junior or senior standing and most of them had been

exposed to related material. In class discussions, moreover, the trainees

displayed a higher learning motivation than their student counterparts

as well as a keener interest in fully understanding both the substance and

the significance of the topics examined.”^

From these assessments of time, content, and attainment the

conclusion developed that the academic level of the training was

parallel to that of university classes in comparable subjects

in terms of both contents provided and attainments reached.

Thus, for purposes of university accreditation for Peace Corps

training, it appeared both academically sound and logically consist¬

ent with the service-minded traditions of the University, to recom¬

mend: “1. For a separate World Affairs Section of from 25-30

hours, 2 undergraduate credits could be given. 2. For World Affairs

combined with Communism in a section allocated 40-45 hours, 3

undergraduate credits could be given. 3. For the newly combined

American Studies, World Affairs and Communism Section of from

60-80 hours, 4 or 5 credits would not be excessive. An even more

modest accreditation was ultimately requested of the pertinent col¬

leges at UWM and granted by their faculties.^^

If an argument can thus be made for accreditation in the rela¬

tively small ASWAC portion of the training program, it can equally

be made for the language segment which is the largest single com¬

ponent of a training project. At UWM it comprises about 26 to 27

hours per week or 43% to 45% of the total training time. This is in

addition to meal-time discussions with “informants”®^ and free¬

time conversations among the trainees themselves. At least one-

third of the language training time is spent in the language labora¬

tory where intensive utilization is made of repetitive instructional

methods through taped drills and other exercises. Native inform¬

ants are also used for individual drilling. Although no new tech¬

niques as such are utilized in the UWM language training program,

the well-established methods of oral drill are applied more inten¬

sively; in fact, there are few examples of language training

throughout the country where oral techniques are utilized as much

as in Peace Corps projects.

^Ihid., p. 7.

p. 7.

2® See below, pp. 142-143.

Natives of the country or area for which the trainees are being- trained.

142 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

In terms of comparative language attainments, however, no com¬

parable tests can actually be made because of the different emphases

in training for Peace Corps and in teaching regular college classes.

In the usual college introductory language course, for example,

there are five hours per week — four consist of traditional grammar

and vocabulary and one consists of oral drill. In Peace Corps train¬

ing the emphasis is purely on oral facility and the largest proportion

of the training is geared to the purpose of developing a basic oral

communication in a foreign language. Hence, in the Spanish and

Portuguese programs at UWM, the trainees are so well trained

in the oral components of the language that they achieve as good

as or better grades than the teaching majors in the department

in the MCA Oral Proficiency Test.^^ These factors have led the

language departments most concerned to recommend the granting

of at least eight credits for Peace Corps language training.

Accreditation for returning Peace Corps Volunteers did not pre¬

sent a major problem for UWM. The request itself was a modest

one : twelve undergraduate elective credits to be given for successful

completion of both training and overseas service; eight of these

would be regarded as language equivalents and four in recognition

of training in Area Studies and ASWAC. Those faculty members

involved in the Peace Corps training programs were generally con¬

vinced of the merits of such action, and others were either favorably

inclined or apathetic. Few were opposed.^^ In fact, it was recognized

that accreditation would affect only a small percentage of the Vol¬

unteers, many of whom already had degrees previous to their train¬

ing experience and others who simply were not interested in pur¬

suing further college studies.

On April 7, 1964, the faculty of the College of Letters and Science

of The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee authorized . . grant¬

ing a maximum of twelve undergraduate elective credits for Peace

Corps training and service. Eight of these credits would normally

be given in recognition of language training and four credits for

training in area studies, international relations, communism, and

American institutions.”^^ (Similar motions had already been passed

as endorsements of the idea by the Committee of Advisors for the

Major in International Relations, by the Departments of Political

Science and History, and by others.) Following upon this action

by the College of Letters and Science, the School of Education and

31 These oral tests are designed for language teachers, and their norms are based on

grades achieved by teachers attending the summer teaching institute of the NDEA.

32 Some opposition was based on the argument that such accreditation for Peace

Corps training and service would act as “the thin edge of the wedge” in similar re¬

quests for other less deserving and less academically respectable types of training

and/or service.

S3 Minutes of the meeting of the College of Letters and Science, UWM, April 7, 1964.

1964]

Baumann — JJWM and the Peace Corps

143

the Division of Commerce of UWM adopted similar motions. Thus,

by mid-May of 1964, The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in all

its major divisions had accredited Peace Corps training and service

with twelve elective undergraduate credits. Graduate accreditation

.was to be determined on an individual basis by the departments

concerned.^^

The UWM involvement with the returning Volunteers extended

beyond the granting of college credits for training, however. Their

overseas experience and the unique contributions they could make

to campus life was also recognized by the provision of several

tuition scholarships and a number of graduate teaching assistant-

ships and fellowships. For the academic year 1964-65 the fellow¬

ships and assistantships which were available included : fifteen full

undergraduate and graduate tuition scholarships, two teaching

assistantships in the Peace Corps Training Center, teaching assist¬

antships in the College of Letters and Science, internships in the

School of Social Work, one fellowship in the Department of Urban

Affairs, ten research and teaching assistantships in the School of

Education, and one research assistantship in the Institute of

World Affairs,^^

As of mid- July, 1964, approximately fifty applications and num¬

erous inquiries concerning graduate work had been made to The

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee by returning Peace Corps Vol¬

unteers. In the School of Education alone, twenty-nine applications

were made, of which twenty-seven were eligible for admittance. Of

these, eight teaching assistantships, eight full-tuition scholarships,

and three .waivers of out-of-state tuition were awarded ; two awards

were declined. Three teaching assistantships were awarded in

Social Work and one in Urban Affairs. The departments of Politi¬

cal Science, Psychology, and Botany each awarded one waiver of

tuition, and the Institute of World Affairs appointed a returned

Peace Corps Volunteer as an undergraduate project assistant. The

Peace Corps Center also appointed one full-time and one part-time

PCV as undergraduate assistants.

The Expanding Partnership

As indicated in the preceding sections, The University of Wis¬

consin-Milwaukee has developed a close and expanding relationship

with the Peace Corps in their two years of association. In training,

UWM has become a year-round training center with projects con-

Both the School of Education and the School of Social Work at UWM will consider

Peace Corps training and service in appropriate specialities as the equivalent of re¬

quired field service for graduate credits.

® Dr. Fred Harvey Harrington, “Opportunities for Returning Peace Corps Volunteers

at The University of Wisconsin.” January 31, 1964,

144 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [VoL 53

ducted on a continuing and regularized basis. This has facilitated

advanced planning and coordination for the projects themselves

and has provided sufficient lead time for obtaining the best qualified

lecturers, coordinators, and other specialists. In its policies toward

returning Peace Corps Volunteers, the University has shown both

an interest in their academic aspirations and a recognition of their

unique experience by granting accreditation for completed Peace

Corps training and service as well as by providing various assist-

antships and tuition scholarships for the continuation of academic

studies.

This initial relationship from the viewpoint of UWM has been

based largely on a concept of public service and less on the con¬

crete advantages of self-interest. The long-range benefits to uni¬

versities of Peace Corps training both in terms of faculty expansion

and diversification and in terms of university-wide awareness of

and involvement in international studies and programming are

generally admitted,^^ but less easily defined in concrete ways. Of

growing concern, however, has been the interest at UWM and else¬

where to develop the Peace Corps partnership concept in the areas

of curriculum content and sequence, instructional techniques, and

research activities. These developments would be in addition to the

continuation of specific training projects and service for returning

PCVs.

This widening of the horizons has been based partly on the rec¬

ognition that on a national scale the Peace Corps has now become

an accepted element of American foreign policy and a major instru¬

ment of American service abroad. It has yet to become fully inte¬

grated into the full flow of the American academic mainstream,

however, as an interim career for which the universities must as¬

sume some responsibility. That responsibility is threefold : first, to

prepare eligible and interested students for a period of Peace Corps

service abroad ; secondly, to utilize Peace Corps training and experi¬

ence itself as part of a sequence of courses which will both provide

an academic degree and prepare the interested student for a longer-

range career of international public or private service ; and, thirdly,

to help to reintegrate the returning Volunteer into American

society and to provide him with an opportunity to continue and ex¬

tend his education should he so choose.

The first and third of these tasks have been generally recognized

and partially assumed by American colleges and universities. As

previously indicated. The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee alone

has mounted thirteen projects in which over 550 Volunteers have

been trained. These separate Peace Corps projects have been con¬

ceived of, however, as supplemental to and not part of the regular

s«Roy P. Fairfield, “The Peace Corps and the University,” in op. cit., pp, 190-192.

1964] Baumann — UWM and the Peace Corps 145

academic curriculum of the University. Moreover, until the sum-

mer of 1964 there seemed to be little concerted attempt to inter¬

twine Peace Corps training any more integrally into the curriculum

except for the options provided in the International Relations

Major.^'^

There had, of course, been various discussions and suggestions on

how to improve Peace Corps training in general, and many of them,

both directly and tangentally, impinged upon the question of how

Peace Corps training could, if at all, be more intimately joined

with regular academic course sequences. In early April, ,1964, The

University of Wisconsin and the Peace Corps co-sponsored with The

Johnson Foundation a 'Think session” to critically evaluate the

philosophy, content, and effectiveness of past training programs.

This conference, held at Wingspread outside of Racine, Wisconsin,

included members of the academic community from numerous uni¬

versities, Peace Corps personnel, and representatives of other allied

areas who, because of their experience or interest, might be able to

contribute to it.

The Wingspread "think session” in terms of both participants

and subject matter was clearly geared to training problems, espe¬

cially as they related to University-Peace Corps relations and new

approaches to their development. Out of the conference came sev¬

eral suggestions— -many based on the recognition that training is

probably the key to the ultimate success or failure of the Peace

Corps and that such training must not only be based on University

service but also provide some concrete benefits to the University

in the areas of research and instruction. A subsequent conference

in Oklahoma pointed up many of the same views.

Although at Wingspread many of the conference participants

were agreed on the desirability of establishing some academic se¬

quence of courses designed to prepare students for future Peace

Corps service, there was little consensus as to its format or con¬

tent. Some favored a two-year Junior-Senior program; others, a

more comprehensive and total approach encompassing not only

training, but also recruiting, volunteer support, overseas faculty

and administrative participation, and joint research proposals.

UWM leaned strongly toward the latter view.

Since April, along with The University of Hawaii, The Univer¬

sity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has been in the process of negotiating

just such a "total” partnership, A meeting between Director Shri-

ver of the Peace Corps, President Harrington of The University

of Wisconsin, and President Hamilton of The University of Hawaii

See above, p. 137.

146 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

in July, 1964, culminated in an inf ormal agreement which attempted

to relate the Peace Corps effort more effectively to the entire Uni¬

versity function, including instruction and research as well as

service. Although the details of the agreement have not yet been

worked out, it anticipates new educational sequences for interna¬

tional service, new curricular degree work at both the B.A. and the

M.A. level, and joint research programs.

In their joint news release, the Peace Corps Director and the two

university presidents agreed that . . the full range of university

resources should be applied to educate young men and women for

the peace corps and for participation in other international activ¬

ities.”^^ Despite the lack of specific details, it was clear that the

arrangement would contemplate new undergraduate and graduate

curricula geared not only to Peace Corps training, but to general

international service. Such a course of study would be of value

to any student considering international service — whether with the

United States Government, international organizations, business

concerns, labor unions, religious bodies, or other organizations with

foreign interests. Such a service-oriented concept would of neces¬

sity move the University toward practical or vocational education

to a degree not previously contemplated in any of its foreign or

domestic programs.

In addition to curricula development, the partnership would in¬

volve summer study-service internships in domestic social problems

and applied research by University faculty both in Peace Corps

related subjects and in the general problem areas of international

service. Negotiations were also undertaken to develop a program

of Peace Corps visiting professorships which would be designed to

utilize the overseas experience of top Peace Corps administrators

for University teaching and research programs. For the Peace

Corps, the advantages were obviously tied to the steady stream

of well-trained Volunteers which might be expected to flow from

an on-going program built in to the regular curriculum of an ex¬

panding university. For UWM, the advantages were likewise clear :

the opportunity, through the Peace Corps experiment, to develop

an entirely novel curriculum geared to international service and,

through such an on-going curriculum and the research oppor¬

tunities tied to it, to involve the faculty ever more intimately in the

international programs of the University, Financial support for

the program was expected to come from the Peace Corps, the uni¬

versities concerned, and private foundations.

^ The Milwaukee Journal September 26, 1964.

Peace Corps Projects at UWM

(January, 1963-Deceniber, 1964)

147

1964]

Baumann — UWM and the Peace Corps

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148 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

The possibilities of new course content and sequences especially

geared to Peace Corps training and service have only recently

advanced to the threshold of serious consideration. The same may

be said of University participation in the planning stages as well

as in the training sequences of Peace Corps projects. Finally, the

opportunities for joint Peace Corps-University research projects

appear most fruitful and deserving of further and more detailed

exploration. It is specifically in these areas of project planning,

curriculum development, and cooperative research that the UWM-

Peace Corps relationship may ultimately become a true partnership

in innovation.

CHARACTERISTICS AND GENESIS OF SOME ORGANIC

SOIL HORIZONS AS DETERMINED BY MORPHOLOGICAL

STUDIES AND CHEMICAL ANALYSES'

John E. Langton and Gerhard B. Lee*

Cultivated organic soils in southeastern Wisconsin commonly ex¬

hibit granular, dark-colored, well-decomposed (muck) surface hori¬

zons. Similar horizons have also been observed in uncultivated soils

in which the water table has been lowered by some means. In either

case it appears that aeration of the sedge peat parent material is

a necessary prerequisite to the formation of such layers.

Of particular interest in many organic soils are the granular

muck layers found below the present water table. In some cases

these are surface layers which have been inundated by the failure

of a drainage system or the construction of dikes. In other cases

these horizons are buried beneath less decomposed, oftentimes

very fibrous peat, presumably of more recent origin.

Morphologically the buried muck layers appear to be similar to

contemporary muck surface horizons. It appears therefore that

these are relict horizons formed in an aerobic environment during

an earlier period when they constituted the surface layer of the

peat deposit.

The purpose of the present investigation has been to compare the

characteristics of contemporary surface horizons, of muck texture,

with morphologically similar buried horizons, as an aid to the

identification and classification of such layers, and in order to

elucidate their genesis more fully.

Review of Literature

Soil consisting primarily of organic material is commonly re¬

ferred to as peat or muck, depending upon its degree of decomposi¬

tion (Soil Survey Staff, 1951). Peat is defined as relatively raw

1 Contribution from the Department of Soils and the Soil Survey Division, Wisconsin

Geological and Natural History Survey, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Supported in

part by the Research Committee of the Graduate School from funds supplied by the

Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation. The authors also wish to acknowledge their

use of laboratory facilities made available in part by funds supplied by the National

Science Foundation. Paper read at the 94th annual meeting of the Wisconsin Academy

of Science, Arts, and Letters. Published with the approval of the Director, Wisconsin

Agricultural Experiment Station and the Director of the Wisconsin Geological and

Natural History Survey.

* Mr. Langton is a Research Assistant, Soil Survey Division, Wisconsin Geological

and Natural History Survey. Mr. Lee is Associate Professor of Soils, University of

Wisconsin-Madison.

149

150 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

plant material with easily identifiable plant parts while muck is de¬

scribed as decomposed plant material in which the identification of

plant remains is difficult or impossible by ordinary means.

Soils formed from organic materials are often referred to as

peats or mucks depending on their color, degree of decomposition,

or in some cases, local custom. Among soil scientists these soils have

also been called Organic Soils, Organosols, or Bog Soils. Recently

(Soil Survey Staff, 1960) they have been called Histosols (hist, Gk.,

histos, tissue; sol, L. solum, soil). Histosols are defined as being at

least 12 inches (30 cm.) thick and consisting of at least 30 per cent

organic matter if the mineral component is clay and at least 20 per

cent organic matter if the mineral component is sand.

Soil scientists in Holland, Pons (1960), Van Heuveln, Jongerius

and Pons (1960), and Jongerius and Pons (1962), describe peat

formation as a geogenetic process in which the parent materials of

organic soils are being accumulated. They contrast this process with

the pedologic processes of “ripening” (soil formation) which are

initiated by drainage and aeration of a peat deposit. Ripening in¬

volves both physical disintegration of plant parts and their bio¬

chemical decomposition (moulding) . The latter, according to these

investigators causes the formation of a “distinct” surface horizon

as peat and other material is repeatedly ingested and excreted by

soil fauna. Abundant nutrients, low acidity, adequate moisture, and

aerobic conditions are believed to encourage faunal activity and

accelerate the moulding process. Two kinds of moulded horizons

have been recognized.

One of these, the “moder” horizon, is described as consisting

mostly of fecal excrement from soil fauna such as mites, (Collen-

bala), Diptera and white pot worms (Enchytralidae) . Moder for¬

mation is most common in oligotrophic peats containing very little

clay, having a pH of 5 or higher, and a carbon-nitrogen ratio

greater than 17. It does not, however, involve the intimate binding

of organic particles necessary to form inseparable humus-mineral

complexes as in the case in mull formation, Jongerius (1957) recog¬

nized two kinds of moder, namely a small variety 25-60 u in diame¬

ter (Collenbala, Diptera), and large moder 150-600 u in diameter

(Enchytralidae). Large and small moder, together with fragments

of plant tissue and organic colloids sometimes form large, loosely

aggregated granules called “mull-like moder” by the Dutch workers.

The second moulded horizon is “mull”, described as consisting

mainly of earthworm excrement approximately 2 mm. in diameter

(Enchytrae, and possibly Julidae). Mull formation occurs most

commonly under aerobic conditions in eutrophic or mesotrophic

peats which contain some clay and are near neutral in reaction.

Mull has a carbon-nitrogen ratio of less than 17. The size and shape

1964]

Langton and Lee — Organic Soil Horizons

151

of mull aggregates may be altered by a change in environment, for

example, continued aerobic conditions cause mull aggregates to

coalesce into composites, while prolonged anaerobic conditions may

cause mull aggregates to disperse into small granules.

Materials and Methods

Location of Samples

Samples of present-day surface horizons from cultivated organic

soils were obtained from the University Marsh at Madison, and

from the northern part of the Horicon Marsh in Dodge County.

Buried horizons were sampled in the Eldorado Marsh, Fond du Lac

County, and the Cherokee Marsh, north of Madison. The sample

from Eldorado Marsh was buried by approximately 8 inches of peat.

The Cherokee Marsh sample was obtained at a depth of 38 to

48 inches.

Morphology

Soil horizons were described according to methods given in the

Soil Survey Manual (Soil Survey Staff, 1951). Color designations

are according to the Munsell Color System.^ Depth to ground water

was measured at the time of sampling.

Thin sections were prepared by the method described by Langton

and Lee,^ using Carbonwax 6000, a polyethylene glycol compound

as the impregnating compound. Both a wide-held, low-power stereo¬

scopic microscope, and a petrographic microscope were used to

study the micro-fabric of the various horizons. Photomicrographs

were made with a 35 mm, camera connected to the microscope by a

Micro-Ibso (Lietz Inc.) attachment.

Chemical Analysis

Soil pH was measured with a Beckman Model G pH meter, using

standard electrodes, on held-moist samples that had been saturated

and then allowed to equilibrate for 20 minutes. Ash content was

determined by igniting a small sample (1.5 g,), in a muffle furnace

at 525° C for a period of six hours. Prior to ignition, samples were

dried and ground to pass a 20 mesh sieve, then oven-dried again

at 110° C. Total organic and ammonium nitrogen was determined

by the Kjeldahl method, organic carbon was determined by the pro¬

cedure of Walkley and Black. Both methods are described by Jack-

2 Munsell Color Co., Inc., Baltimore 18, Md.

® Langton, J. E. and Lee, G. B. 1964. Preparation of thin sections from moist organic

soil materials. Manuscript.

152 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [VoL 53

son (1958). Soluble organic matter was determined according to

the procedure described by Dawson,^ using a saturated solution of

sodium pyrophosphate.

Results and Discussion

Macromorphology

Macromorphological characteristics are summarized in Table 1.

All samples were of muck texture and were black in color. Two of

them (Horicon and Eldorado), were reddish in hue (5 YR) as com¬

pared to the more yellow (10 YR) hues of the other 2 samples. The

reason for this difference or its importance, if any, is not known

at the present time. All horizons exhibited granular or subangular

blocky structure; where blocks were present they were weak and

could easily be broken into granules. The Eldorado Marsh sample,

in particular, exhibited strong, primary granularity.

Micromorphology

Primary constituents from both surface samples included a few,

finely disintegrated brown fragments of plant tissue, a few black

fragments consisting of humified plant tissue, opaque mineral parti¬

cles and/or charcoal, and brown amorphous material. Secondary

(faunal) aggregates in the University Marsh sample (See Fig. 1)

included small (20-80 u dia.), and large (150-600 u) moder aggre¬

gates, and dark brown mull (0.5-1. 5 mm.) .

The Horicon Marsh sample showed a similar but even higher

population of secondary aggregates. An estimated 35 per cent (by

volume) of this horizon consisted of moder.

Primary constituents in the buried horizons were similar to those

of the surface layers, consisting of a few, finely disintegrated,

brown fragments of plant tissue, some black fragments, and brown

amorphous material. Secondary aggregates in the Eldorado sample

consisted mainly of moder and mull-like moder, the latter being

especially well-rounded (See Fig. 2). The Cherokee sample con¬

tained proportionately more mull and less moder (See Fig. 3).

Chemical Characteristics

Data shown in Table 2 indicate that all horizons were remark¬

ably similar in most chemical characteristics. All of them were

slightly acid; pH values fell within the range observed in mucky

surface horizons of other organic soils in southern Wisconsin.

^Dawson, J. E. 1960. Personal communication.

Table 1. Macromorphological Characteristics of Surface (Cultivated) and Subsurfaces (Buried) Muck Horizons

1964]

Langton and Lee — Organic Soil Horizons

153

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154 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Figure 1. Small and larger moder

horizon of University Marsh soil

and a single mull aggregate in surface

Figure 2. Mull-like moder aggregates in subsurface (buried) horizon of Eldo¬

rado Marsh soil (XlOO).

1964] Langton and Lee — Organic Soil Horizons 155

Figure 3. Mull and a few moder aggregates in subsurface (buried) horizon

of Cherokee Marsh soil (XlOO).

Organic carbon values for the four samples are equal to approxi¬

mately 65 to 75 per cent of the carbon content in common sedge

peats. Carbon loss due to the metabolic activities of soil fauna has

been used to estimate the extent of moulding and humification

(Waksman and Starky, 1931), Assuming uniform botanical compo¬

sition and no carbonates, carbon content should show an inverse

relationship to degree of humification. On this basis the four hozi-

zons appear to be decomposed to a similar degree.

In Holland, the nitrogen content of moder and mull has been de¬

termined to be approximately 2.4 to 3.0 per cent and 4.0 per cent

respectively (Van Heuveln, Jongerius and Pons, 1960), Nitrogen

content in the samples studied ranged from 2.46 to 3.03 per cent

supporting micromorphological evidence that these soils contain

considerable moder. Carbon-nitrogen ratios of all samples were

less than 17 which is typical of Dutch soils that contain mull.

Considerable ash was found in all samples. Ash/nitrogen ratios

were also high, indicating a high degree of mineralization, additions

of clastic sediments,, or both. Wilde and Hull (1937) found that

certain wood, moss and sedge peats had ash/nitrogen rations of 2.7,

3.4, and 1.6 respectively.

156 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Solubility in sodium pyrophosphate (Na4P207) is a measure of

biochemical decomposition. Relatively undecomposed peat ordinar¬

ily contains less than % per cent organic material soluble in satu¬

rated Na4P207 while muck contains % per cent or more. All of the

samples studied were within the muck range.

Summary and Conclusions

Morphological and chemical characteristics of surface (culti¬

vated) and certain subsurface (buried) muck horizons have been

investigated in the field and laboratory. Field and macromorpholog-

ical studies have shown these horizons to be similar, suggesting that

the buried horizons were relict surface soils. Evidence obtained by

micromorphological studies and chemical analyses lend support to

this hypothesis.

Recent studies in Holland have shown that granular, dark-colored

surface horizons form mainly by faunal activity following drainage

and aeration of a peat deposit. Moder is produced by arthropods

such as mites while mull is formed by earthworms. Mull formation

occurs only under aerobic conditions in certain eutrophic or meso-

trophic peats. Results of the present investigation indicate that

granular muck horizons in southeastern Wisconsin are formed in

a similar manner following drainage by natural or artificial means.

The occurrence of buried muck layers, of the type formed at the

surface under aerobic conditions, suggests a change in hydrologic

conditions subsequent to their formation. Renewed peat formation

may have occurred because of fiooding by beaver dams, or the

clogging of natural drainageways. However, the widespread occur¬

rence of buried surface horizons might also be indicative of climatic

changes during the development of the soil or peat deposits in

which they are formed.

References Cited

1. Jackson, M. L. 1958. Soil Chemical Analysis, Prentice-Hall, Englewood

Cliffs, N. J.

2. JONGERIUS, A. 1957. Morfologishe onderzoekingen over de bodestructuur.

Bodenkundige Studies No. 2. Wageningen, Netherlands.

3. JoNGERius, A. and L. J. Pons. 1962, Einige mikromorphologische bemer-

kungen fiber den vererdungsvorgang im niedeilandischen moor, Zeitschuft

Fur Planzenernahrung Dungung Bodenkunde 97:243-255.

4. Pons, L. J. 1960. Soil genesis and classification of reclaimed peat soils in

connection with initial soil formation. Trans. 7th Intern. Congr. Soil Sci.

4:205-211.

1964]

Langton and Lee — Organic Soil Horizons

157

5. U.S.D.A. Soil Survey Staff. 1951. Soil Survey Manual. Handbook No. 18.

U. S. Govt. Printing Office, Washington, D. C.

6. - . 1960. Soil Classification, A Comprehensive System. 7th Approxi¬

mation. U. S. Govt. Printing Office, Washington, D. C,

7. Van Heuveln, B., A. Jongerius, and L. J. Pons. 1960. Soil formation in

organic soils, Trans. 7th Intern. Congr. Soil Sci. 4:195-204.

8. Waksman, S. a. and R. L. Starkey. 1931. The Soil and The Microbe. John

Wiley and Sons Inc., New York.

9. Wilde, S. A. and H. H. Hull. 1937. Use and function of peat in forest nurs¬

eries. J. Am. Soc. Agron. 29:299-313,

A SENSITIVE FLUORESCENT INDICATOR FOR IDENTIFYING

AND DETERMINING THE CONCENTRATION OF THE

ALUMINUM ION IN MINERALS AND SOILS

John G. Surak, Robert A, Starshak and Daniel T. Haworth^

Since the chemical and physical properties of a soil characterize

the way in which a soil can be used, elemental analysis is resorted

to in order to determine a few of these properties. It is also known

that the clay fraction controls most of the important properties of

a soil. These clay minerals are principally secondary, hydrated

crystalline ferro-aluminum silicates,^’

The ‘‘aluminon” (ammonium salt of aurin tricarboxyllic acid)

method for aluminum determination as standardized by Smith et

aP has been a popular method used in soil chemical analysis. Inter¬

ferences by cations and anions are extensive with the aluminum-

aluminon complex. Jackson® lists these interferences and gives the

precautionary procedures which should be followed to minimize or

to eliminate the effects of these diverse ions.

FeigP lists several reagents which yield reactions with the alum¬

inum ion. All of these reagents, 8-hydroxyquinoline and its deriva¬

tives ; dithiozones ; dithiocarbamate ; thiourea ; EDTA ; morin ; aliza¬

rine and others, have a common feature, namely, that they all are

chelating agents. Our investigation for another complexing agent

which would react in a characteristic manner with the aluminum

ion, led us to study the properties of PAN [l-(2-pyridylazo)-2-

naphthol],

PAN as an analytical reagent has had a rather brief history.

It was first used by Liu^ as a chelating agent for the heavy metals,

Cheng and Bray^ published the characteristics of PAN and several

of its complexes, Flaschka et aP investigated the use of PAN as an

indicator in EDTA titrations. PAN is a brilliant orange compound

whose melting point is 126-7° C. It is insoluble in water but is read¬

ily soluble in organic solvents, such as : alcohols, ketones, benzene,

and carbon tetrachloride. The metallo-complexes formed by PAN

show solubilities similar to that of PAN. Betteridge et aP reported

that the pKa of PAN is 12.3, indicating the PAN is a weak acid.

* All three authors are members of the Department of Chemistry, Marquette Univer¬

sity. This paper was read at the 94th Annual Meeting of the Wisconsin Academy.

Appreciation is expressed to the National Science Foundation for financial assistance.

159

160 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

PAN belongs to the category of aryl azo dyes, the structures of

the complexes formed by divalent and trivalent metal ions with

PAN show the tridentate character of this reagent as a chelating

agent, figure 1. The color of the metallo-PAN chelates is generally

red; however, the color may vary from yellow-orange to pink de¬

pending upon the solvent used to dissolve the chelate precipitate,

Table 1. The aluminum-PAN mixtures exhibit several properties

not shared by the other metallo-PAN chelates. First, as previously

noted by Cheng and Bray^, no reaction is detectable between PAN

and the aluminum ion in an aqueous solution. Secondly, a reddish

solution results when aluminum and PAN are brought together in

an ethanol or an acetone solution. This solution exhibits the prop¬

erty of fluorescence when exposed to ultraviolet radiation. None of

the other metallo-PAN complexes reported, thus far, exhibits a sim¬

ilar property.

Holzbecher^ reported a large number of aromatic compounds

which formed fluorescent complexes exclusively with the aluminum

ion. He observed that each of these reagents had a phenolic hy¬

droxyl group either ortho or para to its aluminum complexing

group. As seen in figure 1, PAN possesses a phenolic hydroxyl

group ortho to its complexing group which is the azo group in the

structure. No other element in the qualitative Group III elements,

other than aluminum, has exhibited this property of fluorescence

with PAN. This property of fluorescence of the aluminum-PAN

complex in ethanol when irradiated with ultra-violet radiation was

the basis of our investigation of using this phenomenon for the de¬

termination of the aluminum ion.

Since aluminum in clays and in mineral colloids occurs primarily

as the secondary hydrated ferro-aluminum silicate, any of the stand¬

ard analytical methods for the separation of the aluminum ion

from the other ions associated with it in the complex may be used.

The precipitate of aluminum hydroxide must be freed of iron and

chromium (III) hydroxides, because iron and chromium (III) ions

form chelates with PAN which tend to quench the fluorescence of

the aluminum-PAN-complex. The purified aluminum hydroxide is

dissolved in 3 M HNO3 and the resulting solution is evaporated just

to dryness. The hydrated aluminum nitrate is permitted

to cool. A qualitative estimation of the concentration of

aluminum ion present is conducted by dissolving one of the repli¬

cate runs in 2 ml. of 95% ethanol. To this solution, 2 drops of 0.1%

(W/V) ethanolic solution of PAN is added. This alcoholic solution

of Al-PAN complex is checked for fluorescence with an ultraviolet

source such as 15T8-BLB black light fluorescent tube. With experi¬

ence one can estimate the AP+ ion concentration to as low as

1964] Surak, Starshak and Haworth — Fluorescent Indicator 161

zz§zzzz:

<<n <<<$

uui2ZNCj<

162 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

PAN

M ll-PAN

Figure 1.

1964] Surak, Starshak and Haworth— Fluorescent Indicator 163

10“^ M. For quantitative determinations, the desiccated aluminum

nitrate unknown should be volumetrically diluted with 95% ethanol.

An aliquot containing about 10“^ M of AP+ ion is pipeted into a

50 ml, volumetric flask. One ml. of a 5 x 10“^ M ethanolic solution

of PAN is added and this combination is volumetrically diluted to

50 ml. with 95% ethanol. The fluorescence is compared in a photo-

fluorometer against standard solutions made by volumetrically di¬

luting one ml. of 5 x 10“^ M of ethanolic PAN and increments of 1

to 4 ml. of 10“® M A1(N03)3 • 9 H2O to 50 ml. with 95% ethanol.

The procedure was used to obtain a calibration curve in the range

of 3 X 10“2 to 12 X 10“^ mg. of aluminum per 50 ml. of solution us¬

ing a Coleman Photofluorometer (Model 12-B with filters No. 12-

222 and 14-212). The A1:PAN ratio does not need to be constant in

the standard solution because only the complex fluoresces and not

the excess PAN. Standard techniques for fluorescent analysis are

followed. These fluorescent techniques should be of sufficient sensi¬

tivity to determine aluminum accumulation levels in leaf tissue,

seedlings, etc. Excellent results were obtained in the detection of

10-6 grams of Al+^ per ml and acceptable results with 27 x 10“^

grams of Al+^ per ml.

164 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

References

1. Betteridge, D., et al. Metal Complexing Properties of 4- (2-Pyridylazo) -

l-Naphthol. Analytical Chemistry 35, p. 729-33 (1963).

2. Cheng, K. L. and R. H. Bray, l-(2-Pyridylazo)”2-naphthol As a Possible

Analytical Reagent. Analytical Chemistry 27 p. 728-5 (1955),

3. Feigl, F. Chemistry of Specific, Selective and Sensitive Reactions, 1954.

4. Flaschka, H. and H. Abdine. Complexometric Microtitration Using PAN

as an Indicator. Chemist Analyst, 45, p. 2-3 (1956).

5. Holzbecher, Z., et al. Asymetric Bicyclic Complex Compounds. Chemicke

Listy 45 p. 656-9 (1952).

6. Jackson, M, L. 1958. Soil Chemical Analysis. Prentice Hall, Inc. Engle¬

wood Cliffs, N. J,

7. Kellog, C. E. Modern Soil Science. American Scientist 36 p. 517-535 (Oct.

1948).

8. Liu, J. Ph.D. Thesis, 1951, University of Illinois.

9. Puri, A. N. 1949, Soils: Their Physics and Chemistry.

10. Yearbook Committee — Soils: The Yearbook of Agriculture 1957 — U.S.D.A.,

U. S. Government Printing Office.

POTHOLES AND ASSOCIATED GRAVEL

OF DEVILS LAKE STATE PARK

Robert F. Black*'

The hundreds of hikers who annually visit the top of the East

Bluff of Devils Lake have a unique opportunity to see a geologic

situation that is exceedingly fascinating in its connotations. For

almost a century the scientific literature has recorded the existence

of potholes and associated rounded, polished, siliceous gravel on the

higher part of the bluff at its very rim near the Devil’s Doorway and

“Shortcut Trail” to the south camp ground (Chamberlin, 1874)

(hg. 1). (NE l^, SE l^, Sec. 24, TUN, R6E and NW l^, SW

Sec. 19, T1,1N, R7E) . (The polished siliceous gravel is not to be con¬

fused with fresh glacial gravel of many igneous and sedimentary

rocks that workers have used on parts of the trail and have brought

at different times to the rim to make concrete.) The potholes are

carved in bedding plane surfaces of the Baraboo quartzite in situ

and in loose blocks of the quartzite that rest irregularly on the bev¬

eled upland surface. Polished chert-rich gravel is associated with

some potholes and has been found in them (Salisbury, 1895, p. 657) .

More than a dozen well developed potholes are known (fig. 2) . They

range from single circular polished depressions a few inches in di¬

ameter and only 1 or 2 inches deep to aggregates of potholes whose

individual components may be as much as 3 feet across and equally

deep. Water-polished surfaces up to several square yards may be

seen along the rim. Striking potholes 6 to 8 inches in diameter and

twice as deep resemble artificially drilled holes as their sides are so

parallel and smooth (fig. 3) . Potholes above the sod are concentrated

in an area 50 yds, along the bluff and 30 yds. northward from the

rim and also in a narrow zone (fig. 4) for 75 ft. vertically below

the rim along the Shortcut Trail ; others are scattered in the woods

to the north of the Shortcut Trail (fig. 2). Buried potholes and

gravel may be more widespread (Salisbury, 1895, p. 655).

Down through the years most writers have attributed the forma¬

tion of the potholes and associated gravels that are unlike any in

the glacial deposits in the valley below to preglacial streams (Creta¬

ceous to Tertiary) that flowed across a continuous upland surface

* The author is Professor of Geolog-y, University of Wisconsin-Madison. This study

was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant GP-2820 and in part by

the Research Committee of the Graduate School from funds supplied by the Wisconsin

Alumni Research Foundation,

165

166 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [VoL 53

Figure 1. Generalized topographic map of East Bluff, Devils Lake State Park.

Modified from U. S. Geological Survey Baraboo Quadrangle. Trails in part

diagrammatic.

at and above the level of the rim (Salisbury, 1895; Alden, 1918, p.

99-102; Trowbridge, 1917, p. 352; Thwaites and Twenhofel, 1921,

p. 296; Thwaites, 1958, p. 149; Andrews, 1958; and Thwaites, 1960,

p. 38), No one seriously has considered them to be glacial, yet to

the writer such an origin seems at least as plausible. It is hoped

that this note will attract attention to these common features and

their odd surroundings. Optimistically they will intrigue others

into looking for additional evidence on their past history.

1964] Black — Potholes of Devils Lake State Park 167

The writer in examining the locality at different times during

the last several years has been struck particularly by the presence

of rounded, water-polished boulders of chert and quartzite (fig. 5)

2 feet and more in diameter associated with the gravels and haphaz¬

ardly lying among angular quartzite blocks without water-polished

surfaces (several are shown by ^'s in fig. 2), by the presence of

potholes in loose boulders that unquestionably have been moved

Figure 2. Sketch of pothole area, East Bluff, Devils Lake State Park.

168 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Figure 3. Small upland-type pothole in loose block. Part of side and base are

missing.

since the potholes were formed (fig. 3), by the considerable vertical

range of potholes on the upland — some being several feet above the

apparent bed of the postulated ancient stream, by the lack of coin¬

cidence of the flow of water with the slope of the ridge (fig. 2), and

by the wide distribution of potholes on the upland but the narrow¬

ness and limited discharge of the small cascade that must have

plunged over the side of the bluff along the route of the Shortcut

Trail. The large chert and quartzite boulders seem identical in com¬

position, surface polish, percussion fractures, and rounding to the

small gravel in the vicinity. A continuous size range from

sand to 2 foot boulders may be seen but has never been

recorded in the literature. The cascade that descended the bluff at

1964]

Black— -Potholes of Devils Lake State Park

169

the Shortcut Trail is too small to correlate with the broad area of

potholes on the upland unless they were cut at different times by a

migrating stream whose course was not controlled by the bedrock

beneath. Alternatively evidence of greater discharge off the upland

elsewhere is not now available. The vertical range of isolated pot¬

holes on the upland suggests rather deep water, but it is difficult

to explain how many potholes could get started where they are now

found. In short the potholes and rounded and angular boulders of the

upland are not in a normal stream channel (fig. 2) although the pot¬

holes on the south-facing slope are.

In February, 1964, while searching the woods north and east of

the pothole locality (fig. 1), a block of quartzite 3 by 3.5 by 4 yds.

(fig. 6) was seen tilted over another smaller block of quartzite. The

large block weighs about 85 tons. It rises conspicuously above the

general level of the rounded summit of the upland and is immedi¬

ately uphill from an area of large joint blocks of quartzite bed¬

rock that have moved down slope enough to create a jumbled chaos

or block-stream. (The erratic is reached by following the fire road

south and east from the north shore (fig. ,1) or by going west and

Figure 4. Cascade-type pothole along the Shortcut Trail.

170 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Figure 5. Rounded, polished quartzite boulder with percussion fractures among

loose angular, unpolished quartzite boulders on the rim of East Bluff. View

east. Highest block of quartzite in background has a pothole on top.

north on the service road at the potholes to that fire road and then

east about 120 yds.) (fig. 2) . Many smaller angular blocks are scat¬

tered over the upland. Hundreds of millions of years ago marine

erosion of the Baraboo Range beveled the dipping strata (Thwaites,

1960, p. 37-38). However, such processes could not leave behind

an isolated fresh, very angular block of quartzite to rise above the

general level nor mix the rounded boulders with the angular blocks.

No apparent outcrop exists above the block that is large enough

to produce it. It does not seem feasible to pluck it out of the smooth

upland and move it by gravity to its resting place. The block has

sharper corners and less weathering effects than quartzite exposed

on the west-facing bluff of Devils Lake. A convenient steep slope

with just such large angular blocks lies immediately below, but how

is an 85-ton block to be moved upslope? Man surely is not to blame.

No conceivable force other than glacial seems possible to explain

1964] Black — -Potholes of Devils Lake State Park 171

its existence. However, all previous researchers except Weidman

(1904, p. 102), whose evidence has been discredited (Trowbridge,

1917, p, 357), have stated unequivocably that the location is out¬

side the limits reached by any glacial ice.

This leaves us on the horns of a dilemma. Obviously we either

lack sufficient information to explain the phenomena or previous

interpretations of existing evidence are incorrect. As the smaller

gravel associated with the potholes is considered the type section of

the East Bluff member of the Windrow Formation (Andrews,

1958) which in turn is correlated widely in the upper Mississippi

Valley with deposits of Cretaceous or Tertiary age (Austin, 1963;

Frye, William, and Glass, 1964) , it behooves us to look more closely

at the criteria that have been used for explaining and dating them.

Many of our concepts of the evolution of the land surface in the

upper Mississippi Valley are at stake.

It is readily apparent to the observer that the small stream that

cascaded down the south face of the East Bluff did not exist on a

peneplained surface. Even with 200 feet of relief on the postulated

peneplain (Trowbridge, 1917, p. 352) boulders over 2 feet in diame¬

ter seem unduly large and such cascades should not exist. Moreover,

Figure 6. Quartzite erratic northeast of pothole area. For location see figure 1.

172 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

the haphazard mixing of rounded and angular boulders is not

normal to a stream valley. Was the stream on the upland the same

one that produced the cascade on the bluff ? They have been so cor¬

related, but this is an assumption that is difficult to prove. If true,

the stream hardly flowed on a peneplained surface. Moreover, how

do we relate the potholes in loose blocks on the upland to those in

the bedrock in situ? It is difficult to have beautiful holes drilled so

symmetrically into a loose block that rises several feet above the

bed of the stream. Why isn’t the block moved during cutting? From

where were the coarse stones obtained for cutting? It would be

easier to have the blocks in situ during cutting and subsequently

moved. This must have occurred to many blocks in which the sides

or bottoms of potholes are missing (fig. 3), and the void is now

partly occupied by a sharp unpolished corner of another block;

others are turned on their sides with no rock adjacent to the void.

Some of the loose blocks with potholes are on the very edge of the

bluff. In figure 5 the most distant block to the right of the

trail has just such a pothole. They are on the highest surfaces and

surely were not cut there by any normal stream flowing on a pene¬

plain, nor have they been moved downslope by gravity to their

resting place. Moreover, it seems difficult to explain the potholes as

having been produced by streams of considerable velocity running

off a higher surface held up by Paleozoic rocks now removed

(Thwaites, 1960, p. 38) or by an ancestral Wisconsin River (Irv¬

ing, 1877, p. 508) without calling for subsequent movement of the

blocks and the mixing of rounded and angular boulders. What

moved them?

Because the potholes are above and outside the marked terminal

moraine of Late Wisconsin (Cary) ice that existed perhaps 13,000

to 16,000 years ago and are in the classical Driftless Area of south¬

west Wisconsin, any thought that glaciers were involved has been

in the past unthinkable. Hence, it was only logical to attempt to

reconstruct substitute situations. These have not been entirely suc¬

cessful. Glaciation of much, if not all, the Driftless Area is called

for by Black (1960) on the basis of a variety of evidence that can¬

not be detailed here. It includes many definite erratics, deposits

stratigraphically up out of place, boulder trains, absence of old

loess and residuum, reconstruction of ice surfaces, etc. Can glacial

action, which directly and indirectly could easily account for the

phenomena we see, be substantiated locally? At least is it

unreasonable ?

The Cary ice left thick coarse deposits up to about 1600 ft. in

elevation in the vicinity of the radio tower (WWCF) about 3.5

miles east-northeast of the potholes, a prominent moraine up to

1450 ft. about 1.5 miles east-northeast, and the well-developed

1964] Black — Potholes of Devils Lake State Park 173

terminal moraine , whose upper surface approaches 1100 ft. in the

valley directly below the potholes. The potholes on the rim are about

1450-1460 ft. in elevation; the large quartzite block northeast is

about 1420 ft. (Note, these elevations are derived by altimeter and

from the new quadrangle maps, Baraboo and North Freedom, which

replace the older Baraboo and Denzer quadrangle maps used by

many earlier workers) .

In continental glaciers or ice sheets that surmount the topog¬

raphy, debris is carried typically in the basal units of the ice and

is moved up in the terminal areas through complex flow that can¬

not be discussed here. Nonetheless, the uppermost ice is invariably

free of debris acquired from its base until such time as down-

wasting removes the clean ice down to the level reached by the

debris. Many situations are known where a particular ridge may be

crossed by an ice sheet without the basal ice reaching the top of

that ridge. The debris at the terminus of a glacier then never re¬

flects the uppermost level attained by clean ice. Hence, it seems

entirely reasonable, though not proved, for clean ice to have stood

on the uplands when the potholes were formed and prior to the main

building of the prominent moraines nearby. If true, such ice would

have access only to the residual materials on that surface. These

need be only the highly siliceous material capable of surviving long

weathering and the local quartzite. However, drilling reveals at

least 8 feet of pebbly, sandy clay beneath the angular blocks of

Baraboo quartzite that cover the surface of the upland. The pebbles

are identical to those at the potholes in the type section of the

Windrow formation and the clays are expandable type — not kaolin

that characterizes the Windrow formation elsewhere.

Siliceous terrace gravels in many places in the Driftless area are

subdivided into two groups (Thwaites, 1928) and the younger cor¬

related with moraine in central Wisconsin that is now considered

about 30,000 years old (Black, 1962) and certainly not older than

the Wisconsin glacial stage (Hole, 1943). However, the actual

material is composed of siliceous metamorphic rocks of Precamb-

rain age and chert residuum with fossils from the Paleozoic dolo¬

mites (Andrews, 1958). They have been thought to have been con¬

centrated initially during the Cretaceous or Tertiary — as far back

as the last 135 million years of geologic time. It seems clear that

many particles are multigenetic or have been worked and reworked

at different times. The big question is when were they last

reworked ?

As it seems possible to have ice over the area, it remains to deter¬

mine when. This cannot now be done. The absence of loess in the

joints in the chaos by the large quartzite block (fig. 6) implies

movement in post-Cary times. The unstable perched blocks in the

174 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [VoL 53

block field also imply youthfulness. Igneous rocks outcropping west

of DeviFs Lake are fractured but not chemically altered as they

would be if exposed to weathering for many millions of years. They

indicate very recent exposure to weathering, possibly by glaciation

which is not older than late Wisconsin. The well- jointed quartzite

along the bluffs of Devils Lake lends itself to movement by frost

action so great antiquity or absence of glaciation cannot neces¬

sarily be ascribed to such nearby features as DeviFs Doorway and

Balance Rock (fig. 1) (Salisbury and Atwood, 1900, p. 65). Fea¬

tures of similar size are known to have been produced in well-

jointed igneous rocks since the Cary glaciation elsewhere (e.g.,

DeviFs Chair, St. Croix River, Martin, 1932, pi. 28). Moreover, an¬

cestral Devils Lake reached the level of the divide between the north

branch of Messenger Creek (on the west side of Devils Lake) and

Skillett Creek at about 1150 feet (Trowbridge, 1917, p. 366). This

is about the elevation of Elephant Rock and the base of many verti¬

cal cliffs. Frost action along the shore likely was intensified at that

time and would help produce some cliff features. If the clean Cary

ice .were not present, the Rockian ice of about 30,000 years ago

surely must have been for it went well beyond the Cary limit every¬

where else in the state.

Were ice to stand over East Bluff and downwaste, the highest

part would be exposed first. Crevasses would open first probably

along the axis of the ridge allowing meltwaters to plunge to the

bottom. Thin slow-moving ice should not have removed all the resi¬

duum or pebbly, sandy clay on the quartzite, and the remainder

would then be subjected to water working. The deposits of clay

with chert and other siliceous materials could again be reworked

in part by the ice and in part by the glacial waters. The odd distri¬

bution horizontally and vertically of potholes on the upland could be

explained readily by such waters flowing off the ice into the crevas¬

ses at various times and places. So too could the movement of blocks

after pothole drilling was completed, the mixing of rounded and

angular blocks, and the irregular distribution of angular blocks of

Baraboo quartzite on the upland, on top of the pebbly sandy clay.

Thus, in summary, the large quartzite block is interpreted as a

glacial erratic that has been moved some yards upslope by clean

ice that merely reworked and mixed old residuum or an ancient

glacial deposit with rounded boulders and angular quartzite blocks

on the upland of East Bluff. A late Wisconsin age is assigned tenta¬

tively to the glaciation mainly because of the absence of loess in

the vicinity. Further it is believed possible that pothole drilling

occurred by glacial waters reworking that pebbly, sandy clay whose

initial concentration according to lithologies and possible other

affinities in the upper Mississippi Valley may have been in Tertiary

1964] Black — Potholes of Devils Lake State Park 175

or Cretaceous times. The coarseness of the rounded boulders and

the wide range horizontally and vertically of the potholes belie the

existence of a peneplain across which a meandering stream flowed.

The mixing of angular quartzite fragments of many sizes with the

well-rounded and polished gravel and boulders must have taken

place after the rounding of much of the gravel. This is considered

possible only by glaciation. Certainly the East Bluff of Devils Lake

is not a good type section for the Windrow Gravel.

References Cited

Alden, William C. 1918. The Quaternary geolog-y of southeastern Wisconsin.

U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 106, 356 p.

Andrews, George W. 1958. Windrow formation of upper Mississippi Valley

region. Jour. Geol. vol. 66, p. 597-624.

Austin, G. S. 1963. Geology of clay deposits. Red Wing area, Goodhue and

Wabasha counties, Minnesota. Minn. Geol. Survey, Rpt. of Investigations

2, 23 p.

Black, Robert F. 1960, ‘‘Driftless area’’ of Wisconsin was glaciated. Geol. Soc.

Amer. Bull. vol. 71, p. 1827.

- . 1962. Pleistocene chronology of Wisconsin. Geol. Soc. Amer. Spec.

Paper 68, p. 137.

Chamberlin, T. C. 1874, On the fluctuation of level of the quartzites of Sauk

and Columbia counties. Wis. Acad. Sci. Trans., vol. 2, p. 133-138.

Frye, John C., H. B. Willman, and H. D. Glass. 1964. Cretaceous deposits

and the Illinoian glacial boundary in western Illinois. Ill. Geol. Survey

Circ. 364, 28 p.

Hole, Francis D. 1943. Correlation of the glacial border drift of north central

Wisconsin. Amer. Jour. Sci., vol. 241, p. 498-516,

Irving, R, D. 1877. Geology of central Wisconsin. Geology of Wisconsin, vol. 2.

p. 408-642.

Martin, Lawrence. 1932. The physical geography of Wisconsin. Wis. Geol.

Survey Bull. 36, 609 p.

Salisbury, R. D. 1895. Pre-glacial gravels on the quartzite range near Bara-

boo, Wisconsin. Jour. Geol., vol. 3, p. 655-667.

Salisbury, R. D. and W. W. Atwood. 1900. The geography of the region about

Devil’s Lake and Dalles of the Wisconsin. Wis. Geo. Survey Bull. 5, 151 p.

Thwaites, F. T. 1928, Pre-Wisconsin terraces of the driftless area of Wis¬

consin. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. vol. 39, p. 621-641.

- . 1958. Land forms of the Baraboo district, Wisconsin. Wis. Acad. Sci.

Trans, vol. 47, p. 137-159,

- . 1960. Evidences of dissected erosion surfaces in the driftless area. Wis. -

Acad. Sci. Trans., vol. 49, p. 17-49.

Thwaites, F, T. and W. H. Twenhofel. 1921. Windrow formation: an upland

gravel formation of the driftless and adjacent areas of the upper Missis¬

sippi Valley. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull., vol. 32, p. 293-314,

Trowbridge, Arthur C. 1917. The history of Devils Lake, Wisconsin. Jour.

Geol., vol. 25, p. 344-372.

Weidman, S. 1904. The Baraboo iron-bearing district of Wisconsin. Wis. Geol.

Survey Bull. 13, 190 p,

NOTES ON WISCONSIN PARASITIC FUNGI. XXX

H. C. Greene

Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Unless indicated otherwise the collections mentioned in this ser¬

ies of notes were made in 1963, in which case the yeah date is in

most instances omitted. Certain records are based on infections

noted on phanerogamic specimens in the University of Wisconsin

Herbarium. Where it has not been feasible to obtain a separate

fungus specimen the record is followed by the designation (U. W.

Phan.) .

General Observations

Mycosphaerella sp., which corresponds quite closely to the de¬

scription of Sphaerella (Mycosphaerella) vivipari Wint. occurring

on Polygonum viviparum L., has been found on living leaves of

Polygonum virginianum L. collected near Leland, Sauk Co., August

24. The very conspicuous orbicular spots are reddish-gray, subzon-

ate, mostly about 2-3 cm. diam., only one or two per leaf. The peri-

thecia are hypophyllous, rather closely gregarious, blackish, sub-

globose, approx. 90-110 p diam. ; asci are short-pedicellate, cylin-

dric to narrowly subclavate, about 42-45 x 8-9 p; ascospores are

hyaline, subfusoid, straight, with median septum, about 12-13 x

4-4.5 /X. In Sphaerella vivipari the asci are said to be 35 x 8-9 y,

the ascospores 12-14 x 3-4 p.

Mycosphaerella sp. is hypophyllous on conspicuous spots on the

leaves of Polygonum coccineum Muhl. var pratincola (Greene)

Stanf. collected at Madison, August 16. The spots are orbicular,

about .5-2 cm. diam., dull purplish below, reddish and sometimes

subzonate above. The perithecia are black, gregarious, subglobose,

approx. 115-135 /x diam., the asci subclavate to cylindric, those ap¬

pearing best matured running about 62-65 x 7. 5-8. 5 /x, the hyaline

ascospores rather broadly subfusoid with one cell somewhat wider

than the other, about 11-12.5 x 3. 8-4. 5 /x. Possibly parasitic. The

leaves of this plant are attractive to certain chewing insects and are

usually well riddled toward the end of the summer, as happened to

these, so that it is difficult to determine how this might influence the

development of fungi on them. This fungus does not seem referable

177

178 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

to any of the several species of Mycosphaerella described as occur¬

ring on Polygonum and Rumex.

Shrubs of Ribes missouriense Nutt, sometimes show a striking

development of ascomycetous fungi on white, bleached areas on the

bark of twigs of the previous year’s growth. Didymosphaeria sp.

occurred in profusion on the twigs of such a shrub observed near

Cross Plains, Dane Co., July 18. The plant seemed vigorous and

not very adversely affected, so the overall degree of parasitism ap¬

peared to be slight. Various cane blights of cultivated currants and

gooseberries have been reported, but that just described does not

seem to be among them.

Dibotryon morbosum (Schw.) Theiss. & Syd., the black knot

of cherry, occurs commonly on Prunus virginiana L. in the Wis¬

consin area, but has been thought to develop only rarely on Prunus

serotina Ehrh. P. virginana is shrubby and at most only a small

tree, whereas P. serotina becomes a large tree, with its first

branches many feet from the ground, so that the only specimens

normally observable for the presence of black-knot are quite young

and, as indicated, only exceptionally are infected. Recently at a lo¬

cation in Sauk Co., following a severe windstorm, the writer exam¬

ined several large trees of Prunus serotina which had been uprooted

and all were liberally festooned with black-knot cankers, so it seems

likely that Dibotryon is not so very rare on black cherry after all.

Rhytisma ilicis-canadensis Schw., collected on leaves of Ilex

verticillata (L.) Gray near Leland, Sauk Co., July 27, has the fruit¬

ing structures filled with vast numbers of hyaline rod-shaped micro-

conidia, approx. 3-5 x 1-1.3 ix, presumably a condition preliminary

to the development of the perfect stage.

PSEUDOPEZIZA, as it occurs on Galium in Wisconsin, has hitherto

been represented only by specimens on leaves. At Madison in Oc¬

tober 1962, however, a specimen was collected which was confined

to the stems of Galium obtusum Bigel. It was immature and showed

no developed apothecia, so it was overwintered out-of-doors until

May 1963 when it was placed in a moist chamber for several days.

At the end of this time a number of the apothecia showed a fully

repand condition and mature asci were present, indicating a means

of overwintering, with infection of the new growth in spring or

early summer. Following J. J. Davis, this has been referred to in

the Wisconsin lists as Pseudopeziza autumnalis (Fckl.) Sacc., but

the name Pseudopeziza repanda (Fr.) Karst, seems currently to be

that accepted by most authors. It has been reported on several spe¬

cies of Galium in Wisconsin. H. H. litis has recently examined our

specimens critically as to host determination, in accordance with

1964] Greene — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi, XXX 179

present taxonomic treatment, and finds the host species to be as

follows : Galium labradoricum Wieg., G. ohtusum Bigel. and G. trifi-

dum L. An earlier host determination of G. tinctorium L. is incor¬

rect and must be deleted.

Muhlenhergia sylvatica Torr., collected in the Madison School

Forest near Verona, Dane Co., September 25, 1962, bears on the

culms of the lower portions of still living plants a very interesting,

but still undetermined, Ascomycete which is perhaps dothidiaceous.

The fructifications are black, narrowly linear, innate but strongly

erumpent, and with at least a suggestion of a clypeate condition.

Upon being placed in mounting fluid rounded clusters of aparaphy-

sate asci which are still basally attached to one another are readily

separated from their dark-walled, thick-celled housing. The clavate

asci are approx. 65-75 x 10-12.5 /x, the hyaline, fusoid ascospores

20-25 X 6-7.5 /x. This fungus appears to have developed parasiti-

cally. It fails to fit into any of the available keys for the Dothideae,

so perhaps belongs elsewhere.

PucciNiA KUHNIAE Schw. 0, I occurred in profusion on a plant of

Kuhnia eupatorioides L. in the University of Wisconsin Arboretum

at Madison, July 2. This uredinoid aecial stage seems to be rarely

developed, or at any rate rarely collected, as there are no previous

collections of it among numerous Wisconsin specimens in our her¬

barium, nor are there specimens on Kuhnia from any source. Our

only other collection of the aecial stage is on Brickellia lemmoni

Gray from Arizona.

Uromyces LESPEDEZAE-PROCUMBENTis (Schw.) Curt, was reported

by J. J. Davis as occurring on Lespedeza violacea (L.) Pers. in Wis¬

consin, and there are two specimens, both collected July 25, 1904

at Waupaca, labeled as being on L. violacea. Recent examination

of these specimens shows, however, that they cannot be L. violacea.

The leaves appear to be those of Lepedeza capitata Michx., so L,

violacea must be deleted as a Wisconsin host for U. lespedezae-

procumhentis.

Phyllosticta rosae Desm. is the name which has been applied

by various workers to specimens on rose from Wisconsin, and from

various other sources, in the University of Wisconsin Cryptogamic

Herbarium. The original description is vague and incomplete and

one can only suppose that there is at best an element of guesswork

in the naming. There does, however, seem to be an entity involved.

The reddish-brown spots are orbicular and sharply defined. The

pycnidia are epiphyllous and more or less concentrically-zonately

arranged on the spots. The conidia are hyaline and fusoid, approx.

7-8 X 2-2.5 II. The fungus is only marginally sphaeropsidaceous,

since the fruiting structure approaches an acervulus.

180 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [VoL 53

Phyllosticta phaseolina Sacc., as it appears in presumably

authentic specimens^ is characterized by rather thick-walled, black,

gregarious pycnidia and by cylindric conidia approx. 6^7 x 2. 5-3. 5

/X, What is considered to be this species has been collected on Apios

tuherosa Moench. in Wisconsin on several occasions, but in a col¬

lection made July 12 near Leland, Sauk Co., the seemingly mature

pycnidia are flesh-colored on orbicular brownish spots and a small

percentage of the conidia, which are in the size range of P. phaseo¬

lina, have a median septum, suggesting Ascochyta, many species of

which have thin-walled flesh-colored pycnidia. In its effect on the

host and in its general microscopic characters this fungus is very

similar to an undetermined species of Ascochyta on the closely re¬

lated Amphicarpa hracteata (L.) Fern., collected at the same sta¬

tion in 1962 and reported in my Notes 29.

Phyllosticta lappae Sacc. was tentatively reported by J. J.

Davis as occurring on Arctium minus Bernh, in Wisconsin, with

the comment that the specimens might be referable to Phyllosticta

decidua Ell. & Kell. In a specimen collected September 14 at Gov.

Dodge State Park, Iowa Co., the pycnidia are on well-developed

orbicular brown spots about .5-1.5 cm. diam. Most of the pycnidia

have conidia about 6-7 x 3 /x, as described, but some contain fusoid

conidia about ,10-11 x 3-3.5 /x. If two organisms are present the

spots would not indicate it, as they are very uniform.

Phyllosticta spp. indet. occur on 1) Onoclea sensibilis L. col¬

lected near Verona, Dane Co., July 3. The lesions are suborbicular,

reddish-brown with ashen centers, approx, 1 cm. diam. The py¬

cnidia are pallid brownish, very inconspicuous, gregarious, subglo-

bose, about 75-85 /x diam., the conidia hyaline, subfusoid, 8-11 x

2. 5-3.2 /x. 2) Anemone virginiana L. collected at Gov. Dodge State

Park, Iowa Co., September 14. The spots are small, dull ashen with

purplish borders, Pycnidia epiphyllous, black, suglogose, about 140-

160 fx dam., the conidia hyaline with a faint greenish tinge, slender-

cylindric, biguttulate, straight or slightly curved, approx. 6-8 x

1.3— 1.7 /X. 3) Rhus glabra L. collected near Albany, Green Co., Oc¬

tober 6, 1962. The pycnidia are scattered to gregarious on some¬

what elevated sordid areas of indeterminate size. They are erump-

ent, black, subglobose, approx. 250-300 ^ diam., with numerous

hyaline microconidia 3,5-4 x .6-7 ,/x. Leaves overwintered out-of-

doors at Madison showed no further development after several days

in a moist chamber, 4) Scrophularia marilandica L. collected near

Leland, Sauk Co., August 24. The spots are oval, tan, purple-

bordered, diaphanous, about .5-1 cm. diam. Pycnidia are subglo¬

bose, thin-walled and pallid flesh-colored, about 125-150 ^ diam.,

the conidia hyaline, rod-shaped or subellipsoid, straight or slightly

1964] Greene — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi. XXX 181

curved, mostly biguttulate, (3-) 3.5-5 x 1.5-2, 3 fx. In another speci¬

men on the same host, collected at the same time in the same gen¬

eral area, many of the conidia are even smaller and bacterium-like,

with only a few of the size specified above. 5) Aureolaria pedicu-

laria (L.) Raf., collected August 8, near Dodgeville, Iowa Co.Py-

cnidia are black, flattened, prominently ostiolate, about 150 /x diam.,

the conidia hyaline, 5-6 x 1.5-1. 8 [x. On the pods and possibly para¬

sitic. Quite similar to other collections made on pods of the related

Aureolaria grandiflora (Benth.) Pennell and Castilleja sessiliflora

Pursh and reported on earlier in these notes. 6) Eupatorium ru-

gosum Houtt. collected near Pine Bluff, Dane Co., July 20. The spots

are tiny, angled, translucent, the pycnidia somewhat flattened, sooty

grayish in color, only one or two per spot, about 100-115 /x diam.,

the conidia hyaline, broadly ellipsoid, 2. 8-3. 8 x 1.8-2. 2 /x.

Phoma sp. occurs profusely on stems of Helianthus grosseser-

ratus Mart, collected at Madison, Dane Co., October 10. The effect

on the host appears devastating. The stems are black and rubbery,

tending to lop over. The pycnidia are densely clustered around the

stems in pustular areas about 2-3 inches in length. There had been

no killing frost in the vicinity at this date, but the plants were

stunted, had fully died back, and no good seed had been set. The

pycnidia are subepidermal, rather deeply imbedded in the host tis¬

sue, globose, rather thin-walled, approx. 100-125 /x diam., while the

conidia are of the micro- type, hyaline, straight or slightly curved,

5-7 X 1-1.3 /X.

Neottiospora arenaria Syd. parasitizes various species of

Car ex in Wisconsin and it, or a species very similar to it, has been

collected in the fall on leaves of several grasses, including Calamo-

vilfa longifolia (Hook.) Hack., Aristida purpurascens Poir. and

Sporoholus vaginifiorus (Torr.) Wood. var. inaequalis Fern. All

these leaves were dead when collected, so it seems probable that the

fungus developed saprophytically.

Ascochyta sp. on Polygonum hydropiper L., collected September

5 near Connors Lake in the Flambeau State Forest, Sawyer Co., is

similar in size of conidia to Ascochyta polygonicola Kab. & Bub.

reported from Wisconsin on Polygonum arifolium L., but differs in

having pycnidia of larger diameter, up to 200 /x. On P, hydropiper

the lesions are dull purplish with reddish centers, somewhat oblong

in shape and about 1-2 cm. long by .6-.8 cm. wide, extending mostly

from one margin to the leaf midrib. The pycnidia are mostly

epiphyllous, scattered to gregarious, dull yellowish-brown, and sub-

globose. The conidia are quite variable in size, the smaller mostly

continuous, but the larger uniseptate, cylindric or subcylindric,

obtuse, straight or slightly curved, mostly biguttulate, 9.5-14 x

2.8-4 /X.

182 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Ascochyta sp. occurs on a leaf of Mitella diphylla L, collected

June 6 near Leland, Sauk Co. The lesion is circular, sordid brown¬

ish, about 8 mm. diam. with a yellowish halo. The pycnidia are

amphigenous, loosely gregarious, pallid brownish, thin-walled, sub-

globose, approx. 110-125 p. diam. The conidia are hyaline, guttulate,

mostly uniseptate, subcylindric, straight or slightly curved, about

6-10 X 2.5 p. It seems possible that this is a more fully developed

state of a fungus J. J. Davis assigned to Phyllosticta mitellae Peck,

which I discussed in my Notes 26 (Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts Lett.

49: 89. 1960). I have not found any other report of Ascochyta on

Mitella.

Ascochyta on Leonurus cardiaca L. in Wisconsin has been re¬

ferred to Ascochyta nepetae J. J. Davis which was described as

having conidia 10-14 x 3 /x. A specimen on Leonurus collected near

Leland, Sauk Co., July 27, has conidia up to 17.5 x 5 /x, and mostly

more than 3.5 p wide, which lends some doubt to the determination

and perhaps indicates a separate entity.

Stagonospora sp. on Cinna latifolia (Trev.) Griseb. collected

near Connors Lake, Flambeau State Forest, Sawyer Co., September

5, has large, thin-walled, almost colorless pycnidia and conidia, the

latter mostly 16-20 x 2. 6-3. 2 p, 1-2 septate, subcylindric or sub-

fusoid. Many of the pycnidia contain, however, only hyaline, rod¬

shaped microspores. This does not compare well with Stagonospora

intermixta (Cke.) Sacc., previously reported on C. latifolia in Wis¬

consin, which has 7-septate spores, about 30-50 x 3 /x, or sometimes

longer, but seems closer to Stagonospora arenaria Sacc., which,

according to Sprague, has spores 3- (1-4) septate, 25-60 x 2.5-5 p,

often 30-45 x 3.5-4.3 p.

Stagonospora sp. occurs in small amount on leaves of Kuhnia

eupatorioides L. collected near Black Earth, Dane Co., August 17,

1962. The spots are sordid brownish, immarginate, orbicular, sub-

zonate, approx. 2 cm. diam. Pycnidia are epiphyllous, pallid brown¬

ish, subglobose, approx. 140-165 p diam., the conidia subhyaline,

cylindric to subfusoid, ends obtuse, straight to slightly curved or

sinuous, 1-3, mostly 2-3 septate. I have found no report of Stagono¬

spora on Kuhnia or any closely related plant.

Septoria pachyspora Ell. & Holw., occurring on Zanthoxylum

americanum Mill., was described as having spores 35-60 x 3 /x, 4-6

septate, and, in most specimens, they are about this size. In a collec¬

tion made at Gov. Dodge State Park, Iowa Co., in September, how¬

ever, many of the spores are much thicker, up to Ip, and up to 9-

septate, Stagonospora-YWe, but not longer than described.

1964] Greene — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi. XXX 183

Septoria saniculae Ell. & Ev. was described on occurring on

leaves of Sanicula marilandica L. collected by J. J. Davis at Racine,

Wis. in November 1887. Davis later (Trans. Wis. Acad, Sci. Arts

Lett. 9: 176. 1893) equated this with Septoria cryptotaeniae Ell. &

Rau, stating that “Septoria saniculae E. & E. should doubtless be

placed here, the host plant having been erroneously determined.”

S. saniculae is described as having spores spiculiform, slightly

curved, about 20 x 1 fi, or less, while S. cryptotaeniae is said to

differ primarily in larger spots, larger pycnidia, and in spores

20-30 X l%-li/2 u- Sydow’s My cotheca germanica No. 2206 is la¬

beled Septoria saniculae Ell. & Ev. on leaves of Sanicula europaea

L. and it has spots and spores in the size range described for S.

cryptotaeniae. In the Wisconsin Cryptogamic Herbarium there is

no Wisconsin specimen labeled Septoria saniculae, nor do any of the

specimens now marked as S. cryptotaeniae appear to be the collec¬

tion on which S. saniculae was based. Septoria sp. has recently been

found on Sanicula marilandica collected at Gullickson’s Glen near

Disco, Jackson Co. This specimen has spores about 20-22 x 1 /x,, but

the few pycnidia noted are on extensive, indeterminate, dark brown

areas of the sort usually associated on this host with Stagonospora

thaspii (possibly also present) . Thus, there is a Septoria on Sani¬

cula marilandica, and furthermore it has spores very similar to

those mentioned in the original description of Septoria saniculae,

Septoria (?) sp. occurs in scanty development on small, reddish,

oblong lesions on leaves of Maianthemum canadense Deaf, collected

August 1 near Sauk City, Sauk Co. The small, light-colored

pycnidia, which verge on acervuli, are not over 50 /x diam. The

conidia are hyaline, uniseptate, about 17-20 x 2-2.5 /x. Plainly not

S, maianthemi West, which has spores 50-70 x 3 nor yet an unde¬

termined Septoria on this host which I reported in my Notes 13

(Amer. Midi. Nat. 41 : 743, 1949) .

Septoria sp, occurs on leaves of Aralia nudicaulis L. overwin¬

tered out-of-doors at Madison and brought in for study in May

1963. When collected October 2, 1962 near Pine Bluff, Dane Co., the

leaves were bleached except for patchy green areas (the “green

island” phenomenon) on which numerous gregarious, black, largely

immature pycnidia were present, A few contained some rather

poorly developed scolescospores. On the overwintered leaves most,

but not all, the pycnidia have numerous spores. The subglobose

pycnidia are about 125-150 /x diam., the spores hyaline, acicular,

continuous, straight or slightly sinuous, 35—70 x .6—1.6 /x. Some

spores are a bit shorter, but it seems questionable whether they are

fully mature. Septoria macrostoma Clements has been reported as

occurring on Aralia nudicaulis in Colorado. This is No. 55 in Clem-

184 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

ent’s “Cryptogamae Formationum Coloradensium”, issued in 1906,

and apparently is represented only by the type specimen in the Na¬

tional Fungus Collections. According to Dr. C. R. Benjamin, who

kindly loaned the specimen, publication was effected through dis¬

tribution of the exsiccati, but it appears that in the case of Septoria

macrostoma the Latin indication of host appearing on the label is

insufficient to be considered an adequate description, and therefore

the name is not valid. Examination of the Clement’s specimen in¬

dicates that most of the pycnidia are sterile, but one mount was

finally obtained which showed some spores. These were hyaline,

acicular, more or less curved, approx. 50-90 x 1-1.5 u. The pycnidia

are quite similar to those of the Wisconsin specimen and it seems

likely that a single entity is involved. Some years ago a specimen

doubtfully assigned to Septoria was collected on Aralia hispida

Vent, in Juneau Co. (Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts Lett. 46: 144.

1957). This had pycnidia 115-125 /x and spores 55-75 x 1.5 fi sim¬

ilar in size range to the specimens on A. nudicaulis, but the over¬

all aspect is quite different and it seems improbable that it is the

same. Septoria araliae Ell. & Ev., described on Aralia californica

Wats., has spores 18-27 x 1.2-1. 5 /x and pycnidia only 70-75 /x diam.

It would seem that any description of the fungus on A. nudicaulis

should be deferred until better characterized material of the current

season can be obtained, as overwintering in a wire cage may per¬

haps tend to cause deviations from the normal.

Septoria sp. developed on leaves of Aster lateriflorus (L.) Britt,

collected October 10, 1962 at Tower Hill State Park, Iowa Co., and

overwintered out-of-doors at Madison until May 1963. As collected,

the pycnidia contained no spores, were subglobose, black, approx.

140-165 fji diam., and were closely gregarious on small, angled,

brownish spots on otherwise still green leaves. After overwintering

the pycnidia were found to contain numerous acicular, hyaline

spores, straight or slightly curved, appearing continuous, about

35-50 X 1-1.5 /X. Septoria atropurpurea Peck and S solidaginicola

Peck have been reported on Aster lateriflorus in Wisconsin, but this

fungus seems closer to S. astericola Ell. & Ev. so far as spore di¬

mensions are concerned, although not in the large and conspicuous

pycnidia.

Gloeosporium robergei Desm. (Monostichella robergei (Desm.)

Hoehn.) is fairly common on both Ostrya virginiana (Mill.) K.

Koch and Carpinus caroliniana Walt, in Wisconsin. In my Notes 20

(Trans. Wis, Acad. Sci. Arts Lett. 43: 170. 1954) I discussed a

microconidial form on Ostrya noted by both J. J. Davis and me, in

its possible relationship to G. robergei and to G. cai^pinicolum Ell.

& Dearn., reaching the conclusion that, while it might be connected

1964] Greene — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi, XXX 185

with G. rohergei, it could scarcely be identical with G. carpinicolum.

A very similar and perhaps identical microconidial fungus was col¬

lected on Carpinus caroliniana, September 15, 1962, in the Leopold

Memorial Tract, Sect. 1, Town of Honey Creek, Sauk Co. The num¬

erous small, flesh-colored epiphyllous acervuli are scattered to

gregarious on conspicuous, brownish, orbicular blotches approx. 1

cm. diam. In section the acervuli appear to be subcuticular, about

80-110 iJi diam. by about 15-20 /x in elevation. The slender condio-

phores are quite closely ranked and the numerous, hyaline, rod¬

shaped conidia are approx. 4-6 x 1.7-2. 2 /x. This would appear to be¬

long in Cylindrosporella Hoehn, as delineated by von Arx in his re¬

vision of Gloeosporium.

COLLETOTRICHUM sp., which may be parasitic, occurs on a sub-

orbicular lesion about 2 cm. diam. on a leaf of Jeffersonia diphylla

(L.) Pers. collected in the University of Wisconsin Arboretum at

Madison, September 25, 1962. The lesion is tan with a narrow dark

brown border, the whole surrounded by a yellowish halo. The num¬

erous acervuli are gregarious and epiphyllous. The rather rigid,

straight setae are clear deep brown, 1-2 septate, slightly paler near

the subobtuse tip, approx. 40-100 x 4-6 fx, the hyaline conidia fusi¬

form or subfalcate, 17-20 x 3.5-4 jx.

Sphaceloma (?) sp. on Stipa spartea Trin. has been collected

in the Madison area on two occasions, in 1959 and recently August

10, 1963. The first collection was sent to Jenkins and Bitancourt

who failed to find good fruiting, but the second appears better de¬

veloped and worthy of mention. The lesions are very small, on the

order of 1 mm. x .3 mm., somewhat ellipsoid, often confluent in

groups along the adaxial surface of the narrow, strongly ribbed

leaf, with narrow dark border and ashen center on which the

fungus is produced, and which consists of pulvinate agglomerations

of dematiaceous, pseudoparenchymatous mycelium, which may or

may not be basally connected with one another. In section the

fungus appears intraepidermal, or perhaps even more deeply seated,

and the cells are elongate and quite closely packed. Some measure¬

ments of individual mycelial aggregates are: 55 /x wide by 20 /x

high, 65 X 25 /x, 35 x 25 /x and 75 x 25 /x. Hyaline, ellipsoid conidia,

about 5.5-6.5 x 2.6-3 /x, are scantily produced, but none have been

seen attached. The lesions are very sharply defined on the otherwise

healthy green leaves and there seems to be no doubt of the active

parasitism of the fungus.

Mollisia dehnii (Rabh.) Karst, is a devastating parasite of

Potentilla norvegica L. var. hirsuta (Michx.) Lehm. with the very

numerous repand apothecia frequently almost completely covering

the stems and principal veins of the host plants. In a heavy devel-

186 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [VoL 53

opment of this, noted at Madison, August 12, 1962, most of the

apothecia were in turn overgrown by a so far undetermined, sub¬

hyaline moniliaceous fungus which may well have been parasitic,

as the overgrowth was closely confined to individual apothecia and

did not overrun them as a group. The very numerous, globose, hya¬

line conidia have each a definite apiculum, marking the point of at¬

tachment, and are approx. 6-7.5 jx diam. The mycelium is irregu¬

larly dichotomously branched, hyaline distally, but tending to be

grayish or subfuscous below. The overall effect is macroscopically

reminiscent of the fructifications produced by lime-bearing slime-

molds, such as Physarum cinereum Pers. I have found no reports

of any parasite on Mollisia.

Botrytis spp., possibly parasitic, occur on 1) leaves of Ranun¬

culus recurvatus Poir. on large, marginal, broadly wedge-shaped,

sordid grayish subzonate lesions, collected at Gov. Dodge State

Park, Iowa Co., July 10; 2) large, marginal, orbicular to wedge-

shaped brown lesions on leaves of Caltha palustris L., collected on

Glidden Scenic Drive near Valmy, Door Co., June 29. The lesions

have a more or less sharply defined darker border, are from approx.

1-5 cm. diam. and occur on otherwise normal green leaves; 3) a

large (3.5 cm. diam.) orbicular, markedly zonate brown lesion with

narrow darker border on a leaf of Menispeimium canadense L., col¬

lected at Madison, July 25, 1962, and very sharply defined. All these

lesions are similar to others noted on diverse hosts in Wisconsin

through the years, but whether the same species of Botrytis is in¬

volved is still uncertain.

Botrytis sp. developed consistently from lenticular black sclero-

tial structures on stems of Vida villosa Roth collected October 11,

1962 near Gibraltar Rock County Park, Columbia Co., and held out-

of-doors over winter at Madison. The stems were brought indoors

in May 1963 and held in a moist chamber for three days, when

examination showed strong growth of the Botrytis. The conidio-

phores arise from the sclerotia in compact tufts which become di¬

vergent and spreading upwards. They are dark brown, granulose,

quite straight, septate, 16-18 diam. and 700-1200 /a or more in

length, branching dichotomously, more or less elaborately, near the

apex where sterigmata are produced on the slightly inflated tips of

the ultimate branchlets. The conidia are grayish-hyaline, broadly

obovate, 13-15 x 15-17.5 /x, with a noticeable basal protrusion at

the point of attachment to the sterigma. This is evidently not iden¬

tical with Botrytis viciae Greene (Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts Lett.

48: ,114. 1958), described as occurring on leaves of Vida villosa,

which has larger conidia and conidiophores which are more delicate

and less intricately branched. Because of the lateness of the season

1964] Greene — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi. XXX 187

there was no positive indication of parasitic development on the ah

ready dead stems, but parasitism seems probable in view of the

confined and restricted growth of the fungus from the sclerotia.

Cryptostroma corticate (Ell & Ev.) Greg. & Wall. fComspor-

ium corticate Ell. & Ev) occurs in the bark of hard maple pulp

sticks when they are stored prior to usage by paper mills. A speci¬

men has recently been received which developed in the storage yard

of a mill at Tomahawk, Lincoln Co., in 1962. The black, powdery

spores are produced in great numbers and are said to cause allergic

reactions in paper mill workers who inhale them. Gregory and Wal¬

ler state (Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc. 34: 579-597. 1951) that in Eng¬

land this fungus actively parasitizes Acer pseudoplatanus L. and

they further state there are indications it may be parasitic on Acer

saccharum Marsh, (hard maple) in Wisconsin, and on hickory and

basswood as well.

Ramularia heraclei (Oud.) Sacc. is very common on Heracleum

lanatum Michx. in Wisconsin, In late August numerous small, sooty,

semi-translucent, subglobose pycnidia about 75-100 ju, diam., con¬

taining large numbers of hyaline microconidia, approx. 4-5 x .8 jx,

were observed on old Ramularia spots in a specimen collected near

Leland, Sauk Co. Some of this material was held over winter with¬

out any further development,

Septocylindrium sp, is epiphyllous on strikingly sharp lesions

on Aster sagittifolius Willd. collected July 18 near Cross Plains,

Dane Co. The spots are rounded or somewhat angled, with wide,

dark purple margins and ashen centers, and are mostly about 2-4

mm. diam., sometimes numerous on any one leaf. The catenulate

conidia are hyaline, narrow-cylindric, (1 6-) 22-88 (-48) x 2.2-2. 8 /a,

1-3 septate, produced from short, hyaline conidiophores, approx.

10-14 X 3-4 /X, some of which are compactly geniculate with num¬

erous scars. The conidiophores may occur a few clustered together,

or individually, and the fruiting is quite diffuse. As in other speci¬

mens of this nature the conidia quickly fall away and the material

in hand is scarcely suitable for formal descriptive purposes.

Cercospora leptandrae J. J. Davis, occurring in Wisconsin on

V eronicastrum virginicum (L.) Farw. normally has conidia 20-75

X 5-8 /X, many of them subcylindric. However, in a specimen on this

host collected at Madison, August 16, most of the conidia are nar¬

rowly obclavate and are quite similar to those of Cercospora tor-

tipes Davis which occurs on Veronica scutellata L., but the conidio¬

phores are not fascicled as in the latter species, so perhaps the re¬

cent collection represents a bridging form between typical C. lep¬

tandrae and C. tortipes.

188 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [VoL 53

Leaves of Scirpus cyperinus (L.) Kunth. var. pelius Fern col¬

lected August 20 at Dickey Creek, Black Kiver State Forest, Jack-

son Co,, bear numerous, black, seriate pycnidia (or acervuli ?) in

inconspicuous rows. These structures are deeply immersed below

the leaf surface, not more than 30-50 diam., and quite imperfectly

developed above. Hyaline microconidia, about 3-3.6 x 1 ju,, are

borne on closely ranked very slender conidiophores which line the

entire inner surface. Associated with the microconidia, but not seen

within the fruiting structures, are a few hyaline scolecospores.

Aster umhellatus Mill, collected in the Flambeau State Forest

near Oxbow, Sawyer Co., September 4, bears small, elevated acer¬

vuli on rounded yellowish to brownish areas on the upper surface

of the otherwise still green leaves. The acervuli are about 40-60 /i

diam, at the base and had produced hyaline, allantoid microconidia

about 5-6 X 1.2-1. 5 /x. Some of the acervuli show considerable sclero-

tization basally, and they are associated with what appear to be im¬

mature perithecia which are deeply sunken in the host tissue, in

contrast to the more or less superficial acervuli.

Additional Hosts

The following hosts have not been previously recorded as bearing

the fungi mentioned in Wisconsin.

Peronospora dicentrae Syd, ex Gaum, on Dicentra canadensis

(Goldie) Walp, Menominee Co., near Neopit, May 26. Coll. J. A.

Curtis.

Erysiphe polygoni DC. on Aconitum noveboracense Gray. Sauk

Co., near Sauk City, August 1.

PODOSPHAERA OXYACANTHAE (DC.) DeBary on Amelanchier

laevis Wieg. Iowa Co., Sect. 17, Ridgeway Twp., June 17. Infected

trees showed spectacular witches’ brooms, resulting apparently

from the combined effect of the powdery mildew and an infection

of the conidial stage of Apiosporina collinsii (Schw.) Hoehn. There

was no evidence of insect action in this connection. When these

same trees were observed again in late August they appeared to

have died. This seems to be the first record of Podosphaera on a

species of Amelanchier in Wisconsin.

Uncinula salicis (DC.) Wint, on Salix adenophylla Hook,

(cult,). Dane Co., Univ. Wis. Arboretum at Madison, October 10.

Undetermined powdery mildews in the conidial stage only have

been observed on the following hosts not previously listed as bear¬

ing these fungi in Wisconsin: 1) Alnus vulgaris Hill Dane Co.,

Madison, November 15; 2) Viola tricolor L. Dane Co., near Cross

1964] Greene — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi. XXX 189

Plains, June 24; 3) Echinacea angustifolia 'DC. Dane Co., Madison

(Univ. Wis. Arboretum), September 6, 1962.

Gnomonia ulmea (Schw.) Thum. on Ulmus carpinifolia Gled-

itsch, U. parvifolia Jacy. and U. pumila L. Columbia Co., near Ar¬

lington, August 14. These trees were all in a plantation established

by the state with a view toward developing climate-hardy elms

which will also be resistant to Dutch Elm disease.

Melampsora medusae Thum. II, III on Populus simoni Carr,

(cult). Dane Co., Madison, October 12.

Melampsorella caryophyllacearum Schroet. II, III on Myo-

soton (Stellaria) aquaticum (L.) Moench. Sauk Co., near Leland,

May 21, The telia are mostly germinated,

Cerotelium dicentrae (Trel.) Mains & Anders. I on Dicentra

canadensis (Goldie) Walp. Menominee Co., near Neopit, May 26.

Coll, J, A, Curtis.

PUCCINIA RECONDITA Rob. ex Desm. I on Isopyrum biternatum

(Raf.) T. & G. Sauk Co., near Leland, May 7. II on Schizachne pur-

purascens (Torr.) Swallen. Sawyer Co., near Oxbow, Flambeau

State Forest, September 4. Assigned here because of the small

urediospores which indeed barely fall within the lower size range

of this species.

PucciNiA DioiCAE P. Magn. II, III on Carex arcta Boot. Lincoln

Co., near Tomahawk, September 17, 1951, Coll. F. C. Seymour

(13274) . (U. W. Phan.) . On C. canescens L. Oneida Co., near Wood¬

ruff, July 5, 1958. Coll. H. H. litis (11390). On C. prairea Dewey.

Dane Co., Madison, October 10. On C. umhellata, Schkuhr. Lincoln

Co., Tomahawk, May 27, 1950. Coll. F. C. Seymour (11182). (U. W.

Phan.) .

Sphacelotheca reiliana (Kuhn) Clint, on Sorghum sudanense

(Piper) Stapf. Columbia Co., near Arlington, September 5, 1962.

Coll. E. W. Hanson.

USTILAGO MACROSPORA Desm. on Elymus canadensis L. Green Co.,

near Monti cello, July 6.

CiNTRACTiA CARICIS (Pers.) Magn, on Carex aquatilis Wahlenb.

var. altior (Rydb.) Fern. Vilas Co,, Lac Vieux Desert, July 16,

1961, Coll. H. H, litis.

Phyllosticta populina Sacc. on Populus deltoides Marsh. Sauk

Co., near Leland, September 26. Referred to this species with some

doubt. This is said to be associated with the common Septoria

musiva of Populus, but half a dozen mounts have failed to reveal

any Septoria, although at the time of collection in the field it was

supposed that the spots had been caused by Septoria. The large

black pycnidia are up to 200 ix diam., in a few cases even more, the

190 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

hyaline conidia about 4-6 x 2-3 /x, ellipsoid or subfusoid. Davis orig¬

inally reported this fungus on Populus deltoides from Wisconsin,

but later redetermined the host as P. nigra L. var. italica DuRoi,

which it does appear to be.

Phyllosticta livida Ell. & Ev. on Quercus ellipsoidalis E. J.

Hill. Dane Co., Madison, October 10.

Phyllosticta amaranthi Ell. & Kell, on Amaranthus retro-^

flexus L. Dane Co., Madison, August 16,

Phyllosticta dearnessh Sacc. on Ruhus puhescens Raf. Sawyer

Co., near Oxbow, Flambeau State Forest, September 4.

Ascochyta AQUiLEGiAE (Rabh.) Hoehn. on sp. (cult.)

Dane Co., near Mt. Horeb, July 21. The host is the tall garden plant

sometimes called Delphinium “ cultorum’\

Ascochyta compositarum J. J. Davis on Aster macrophyllus L.

Jackson Co., Gullickson’s Glen near Disco, August 21. The Ascochyta

pycnidia are associated with much more numerous, immature,

black, perithecium-like bodies which are apparently identical with

the structures discussed in my Notes 27 (Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci.

Arts Lett. 50: 144. 1961). On A. prenanthoides Muhl, Sauk Co.,

near Leland, September 26. On A. sagittifolius Willd. Sauk Co.,

near Leland, August 24. On Solidago fiexicaulis L. Sauk Co., near

Leland, September 26. On Rudheckia laciniata L. Sauk Co., near

Leland, September 26. On Tithonia rotundifolia Blake var. ‘‘grandi-

fiora’' (cult.). Dane Co., near Cross Plains, September 16. This is

the first instance of a Wisconsin collection of this fungus on a non¬

native host, but the infection is characteristic, both in type of lesion

and in the fungus itself.

Darluca filum (Biv.) Cast, on Coleosporium delicatulum Hedge.

& Long II on Solidago graminifolia (L.) Salisb. Dane Co., Madison,

August 27, 1962.

Stagonospora baptisiae (Ell. & Ev.) J. J. Davis on Baptisia

tinctoria (L.) R. Br. Dane Co., Madison, Univ. Wis. Arboretum,

August 3.

Septoria passerinii Sacc. Microsporous on Elymus villosus Muhl.

Sauk Co., near Leland, July 12. This the stage to which the name

Septoria microspora Ell. has been applied and is similar to Wiscon¬

sin collections on other species of Elymus.

Septoria punctoidea Karst, on Car ex adusta Boott. Jackson Co.,

near Millston, July 19, 1958. Coll. T. G. Hartley. (U, W. Phan.)

Septoria caricinella Sacc. & Roum. on Carex foenea Willd.

Pierce Co., near River Falls, May 31, 1960. Coll. H. H. litis (16818).

On C. merritt-fernaldii Mack. Oconto Co., near Mountain, June 25,

1958. Coll. H. Gale.

1964] Greene — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi, XXX 191

Septoria caricis Pass, on Carex pedunculata Muhl. Manitowoc

Co., near St. Nazianz, May 19, 1961. Coll. H. H. litis (17295).

Septoria nematospora J. J. Davis on Carex deweyana Schwein.

Door Co., Peninsula State Park, June 16, 1957. Coll. H. R. Bennett.

Also noted on specimens of this host from Adams, Ashland and

Florence counties.

Septoria psilostega Ell. & Mart, on Galium hrevipes Fern. &

Wieg. (host det. H. H. litis). Sawyer Co., Flambeau State Forest

south of Connors Lake, October 13. Coll. F. G. Goff.

Hainesia lythri (Desm.) Hoehn. on Hamamelis virginiana L.

Sauk Co., near Leland, August 24. On Rubus puhescens Raf. Sawyer

Co., near Oxbow, Flambeau State Forest, September 4. The Sclero-

tiopsis stage is also present in this specimen.

COLLETOTRICHUM MADISONENSIS H. C. Greene on Carex emoryi

Dewey. Columbia Co., near Wyocena, July 18, 1961. This occurs

with Septoria caricis Pass, in a specimen so labeled.

COLLETOTRICHUM MAL VARUM (A, Br. & Casp.) Southw. On

Ahutilon theophrasti Medic. Columbia Co., near Arlington, August

14.

OVULARIA PUSILLA (Ung.) Sacc. & D. Sacc. on Festuca elatior L.

Jefferson Co., near Lake Mills, August 31. On Bromus ciliatus L.,

Sawyer Co., near Oxbow, Flambeau State Forest, September 4.

Ramularia asteris (Phil. & Plowr.) Bub. on Aster prenan-

thoides Muhl. Sauk Co., near Leland, July 12.

Cercoseptoria vermiformis (Davis) Davis on Corylus cornuta

Marsh. Sawyer Co., near Oxbow, Flambeau State Forest, Septem¬

ber 4. Associated with, and evidently reaching the peak of develop¬

ment after most of the large Cercoseptoria spores have fallen away,

is a microspore stage characterized by small, pulvinate, flesh-colored

masses (acervuli?) of hyaline, continuous, rod-shaped conidia

about 5.5-9 x .7-1 /x. These bodies are gregarious on the same large,

orbicular, brownish lesions on which the Cercoseptoria was pro¬

duced and, it seems, may possibly be the precursors of a perfect

stage,

Cercospora caricis Oud. on Carex albursina Sheld. Green Co.,

Abraham^s Woods near Albany, August 27. On C. bromoides

Schkuhr. Sauk Co., near Leland, May 21. On C. gravida Bailey. St.

Croix Co., near Hudson, June 28, 1959. Coll. J. Patman.

Cercospora circumscissa Sacc, on Prunus americana Marsh.

Iowa Co., Gov. Dodge State Park, August 15, 1962. A report by J.

J. Davis of this species on Prunus pennsylvanica L, f. appears to be

in error, as the host is Prunus serotina Ehrh. and the fungus Cerco-

spora graphioides EIL

192 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Cercospora elaeochroma Sacc. on Asclepias sullivantii Englem.

Jefferson Co., Faville Prairie Preserve near Lake Mills, July 23.

Cercospora arcti-ambrosiae Halst. on Ambrosia trifida L. Iowa

Co., Gov. Dodge State Park, July 10.

Tuberculina persicina (Ditm.) Sacc. on Puccinia polygoni-

amphihii Pers. I on Geranium maculatum L. Dane Co., near Verona,

June 4.

Additional Species

The fungi mentioned here have not been previously reported as

occurring in the state of Wisconsin.

Gnomoniella GNOMON (Tode) W.o\ise on Corylus Marsh.

Sawyer Co., near Oxbow, Flambeau State Forest, September 4. On

C. americana. Sauk Co., near Leland, September 26. Both specimens

are immature, but the fungus is so characteristic as to leave no

reasonable doubt as to identity. The perithecia are fully separate

from one another, not in a pseudostroma as in Mamiana ( Gnomoni¬

ella) coryli (Batsch ex Fr.) Ces. & DeNot.

Puccinia sporoboli Arth. var. robusta Cumm. & Greene (Brit-

tonia 13 : 272. 1961) is the name applied to the variety which occurs

on Calamovilfa in Wisconsin and elsewhere. This differs from the

species proper on Sporoholus in having much broader teliospores

(19-) 22-29 (-35) /x vs. (14-) 17-21 (-23) /x, in having urediospores

with (3-) 5-6 germ pores vs. 3 or 4, and somewhat larger aecio-

spores. This has been confused in the past with Puccinia amphigena

Diet, with which it sometimes occurs in mixtures on Calamovilfa

(Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts Lett. 47 : 124. 1958). The only known

Wisconsin aecial host of P, sporoboli var. robusta is Smilacina stel-

lata, as has been established by J. W. Baxter (PI. Dis. Rep. 46(10) :

706. 1962). As stated by Cummins and Greene “There is no evi¬

dence that P. amphigena has aecial hosts other than species of

Smilax.”

Rhizoctonia crocorum DC. ex Fr. (violet root rot) on Medicago

sativa L. Green Co., 5 mi. E. of Argyl, October 16, 1962. Coll. E. W.

Hanson, who estimates that 10-15% of the plants in a 19 acre field

had been killed.

Phyllosticta ulmi-rubrae sp, nov.

Maculis conspicuis, fusco-purpureis, orbicularibus, ca. .5-2 cm.

diam., saepe confluentibus, pycnidiis hypophyllis, carneis, subglobo-

sis, sparsis vel gregariis laxe, interdum subzonatis, amplitudinibus

variis, ca. 100-180 /x diam. ; conidiis hyalinis, bacilliformibus, saepe

biguttulatis, ca. 4-6 x 1.3-1. 8 /x.

1964] Greene — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi, XXX 193

Spots conspicuous, dark purplish, orbicular, approx. .5-2 cm.

diam., often confluent; pycnidia hypophyllous, flesh-colored, sub-

globose, scattered to loosely gregarious, occasionally subzonately

arranged, variable in size, approx. 100-180 /x diam. ; conidia hyaline,

bacilliform, often biguttulate, approx. 4-6 x 1.3-1. 8 /x.

On living leaves of TJlmus rubra Muhl. Tower Hill State Park,

Iowa County, Wisconsin, U. S. A., October 10, 1962.

The leaves were on shoots which were growing vigorously de¬

spite the lateness of the season.

A Phyllosticta which is very similar, and may be identical, was

collected on the same host in Dane Co. in 1959 and was discussed

briefly in my Notes 26 (Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts Lett. 49: 88.

1960). Phyllosticta ulmicola Sacc., of which P. melaleuca Ell. & Ev.

may be a synonym, is reported as occurring on elm in Wisconsin

but should, judging from specimens examined, probably be re¬

ferred to Coniothyrium and certainly bears no resemblance to P.

ulmi-ruhrae,

Phyllosticta pruni-virginianae sp. nov.

Maculis conspicuis, orbicularibus, purpureo-brunneis, zonatis,

ca. .5-1,5 cm. diam., saepe confiuentibus ; pycnidiis epiphyllis,

zonate dispositis, subglobosis vel fere globosis, pallido-brunneis,

erumpentibus, (75-) 100-160 (-190) /x diam.; conidiis hyalinis, el-

lipsoideis, late ellipsoideis, brevo-cylindraceis, vel rare subfusoideis,

5-7 X (2-)2.5-2.7(-3) /x.

Spots conspicuous, obicular, purplish-brown, markedly zonate,

approx. ,5-1.5 cm. diam., often confluent; pycnidia epiphyllous,

tending to be zonately arranged, subglobose to almost globose, pallid

brownish, erumpent, (75™) 100-160 (-190) /x diam. ; conidia hyaline,

ellipsoid, broadly ellipsoid, short-cylindric, or rarely subfusoid, 5-7

X (2-)2.5-2,7(-3) /X.

On living leaves of Prunus virginiana L. Sect. 11, Town of Honey

Creek near Leland, Sauk County, Wisconsin, U. S. A., August 24,

1963.

This fungus was first noted at Madison in 1959 and was men¬

tioned in my Notes 26 (Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts Lett. 49: 90.

1960). Other specimens have been collected at Wildcat Mt. State

Park, Vernon Co., September 13, 1960, and at Bohemian Valley

near Middle Ridge, LaCrosse Co., August 21, 1963. The spots are

not, or are only slightly confluent in the type specimen, but are

notably so in the Madison and Bohemian Valley collections, so this

feature is included in the description.

194 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Phoma herbarum West, on Rumex crispus L. Jackson Co., Gul-

lickson's Glen near Disco, August 21. The fungus appeared para¬

sitic on elongate pallid lesions on the still green stem of the host.

Assignment to this “catch-alF’ species must be somewhat tentative,

but the specimen corresponds fairly closely to presumably authentic

examples, such as Kabat & Bubak’s Fungi imperfecti exsiccati No.

404. In view of the considerable diversity of the forms listed under

this species, it seems desirable to present here a brief descriptive

note of the Wisconsin specimen: Pycnidia yellowish-brown, some¬

what flattened, with a large ostiole about 30-35 /x diam. sharply de¬

limited by a ring of blackish cells, the overall pycnidial diameter

approx. (180-) 200-215 (-235) /x; conidia very numerous, hyaline,

mostly biguttulate, short-cylindric, ellipsoid or subfusoid, straight

or slightly curved, (5-) 5.5-7 (-8) x (2-) 2. 5-2. 8 (-3.2) }x.

Ascochyta caryae sp. nov.

Maculis variis, orbicularibus vel angulatis, ca. .3-1.2 cm. diam.,

centris pallido-brunneis, marginibus fuscis; pycnidiis inconspicuis,

immersis, sparsis vel gregariis, flavido-brunneis, subglobosis, ca.

95-140 /X diam. ; conidiis hyalinis, uniseptatis, non constrictis, cyl-

indraceis vel late cylindraceis, vel subfusoideis nonnumquam, rectis

vel curvis leniter, (6.5-) 7-8.5 (-10) x (2.8-) 3-4 (-4.5) /x.

Spots variable, orbicular to angled, approx. .3-1.2 cm. diam.,

centers light brownish, margins fuscous; pycnidia inconspicuous

and immersed, scattered to gregarious, yellowish-brown, subglobose,

approx. 95-140 /x diam. ; conidia hyaline, uniseptate, not constricted

at the septum, cylindric to broadly cylindric, or occasionally sub¬

fusoid, straight or slightly curved, (6.5-) 7-8.5 (-10) x (2.8-) 3-4

(-4.5) /X.

On living leaves of Cary a ovata (Mill.) K. Koch. Madison School

Forest near Verona, Dane County, Wisconsin, U. S. A., July 3, 1963.

Five widely scattered infected trees were observed and it seems

likely that an intensive search would have turned up more. There

seem to be no reports of any Ascochyta on Carya. Ascochyta jug-

landis Boltsh. on the closely related walnut has pycnidia about 80 fi

diam. and conidia 10-13 x 4-5 /x, often slightly constricted at the

septum.

In 1952, at Madison, a well-defined Ascochyta was collected on

Verbena urticifolia L. and was characterized in some detail (Trans.

Wis. Acad, Sci. Arts Lett. 42: 70. 1953), although formal descrip¬

tion was deferred. Since that time additional specimens on the same

host have been collected in 1961, 1962 and 1963 at Gov. Dodge State

Park, Iowa Co., and on the property of the Wisconsin Society for

1964] Greene — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi. XXX 195

Ornithology near Leland, Sauk Co. In 1963, at the latter station, the

fungus was also found on Verbena hastata. Since there seems to be

no further doubt as to the constancy of this organism, with its con¬

spicuous and well-characterized lesions, it is here described :

Ascochyta cuneomaculata sp. nov.

Maculis magnis, conspicuis, cuneatis, purpureo- vel obscuro-

brunneis, primum in apicibus vel marginibus ; pycnidiis sparsis vel

gregariis, epiphyllis, inconspicuis, pallido-brunneis, subglobosis, ca.

125-185 jjL diam. ; conidiis hyalinis, uniseptatis, cylindraceis vel sub-

fusoideis, ca. 7-10 (-13) x 3-4.5 /x.

Lesions large, conspicuous, wedge-shaped, purplish-brown, be¬

coming sordid brownish, mostly distal or at least marginal in ori¬

gin; pycnidia scattered to gregarious, epiphyllous, inconspicuous,

pallid brownish, subglobose, approx. 125-185 /x diam. ; conidia hya¬

line, uniseptate, cylindric to subfusoid, about 7-10 (-13) x 3-4.5 /x.

On living leaves of Verbena urticifolia L. University of Wiscon¬

sin Arboretum, Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin, U. S. A., July 2,

1952.

Since the lesions eventually involve and kill back the entire leaf,

the fungus is obviously a strong parasite.

As mentioned in the note cited above, it seems probable that A.

cuneomaculata has a Melanopsamma perfect stage, but this has yet

to be conclusively demonstrated.

Ascochyta kuhniae sp. nov.

Maculis conspicuis, circulis, marginibus late purpureis, centris

albidis vel pallido-brunneis, translucidis, parvis, plerumque 2-4

mm. diam., interdum confluentibus ; pycnidiis unicis vel nonnullis

gregariis in maculis, pallido-brunneis, subglobosis, ca. 120-135 /x

diam. ; conidiis hyalinis, uniseptatis, variis, cylindraceis vel sub-

fusoideis, rectis vel curvis modice, interdum ad septis constrictis

leviter, (7-) 10-12 (-13.5) x 2.7-3.5 /x.

Spots conspicuous and sharply defined, rounded, with wide pur¬

plish margins and whitish to pallid brownish translucent centers,

mostly about 2-4 mm. diam., sometimes confluent; pycnidia one, or

several clustered closely on the spot, light brownish, subglobose,

about 120-135 /x diam.; conidia hyaline, uniseptate, variable in

shape from cylindric to subfusoid, straight or somewhat curved, oc¬

casionally slightly constricted at the septum, (7-) 10-12 (-13.5) x

2.7-3.5 /X.

On living leaves of Kuhnia eupatorioides L. Sect. 6, Middleton

Township, near Cross Plains, Dane County, Wisconsin, U.S.A,,

June 24, 1963.

196 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

The best developed pycnidia are marked by having the ostiole

sharply delimited by a ring of thicker, darker cells about it. When

infection occurs near the leaf margin marked curvature of the leaf

is often produced at that point.

This is not identical with an undetermined Ascochyta on the same

host reported on in my Notes 18 (Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts Lett.

42: 71. 1953). Although the conidial size is approximately that

specified by J. J. Davis for the var. parva of his Ascochyta composi-

tarum, the small, sharply defined spots are very different from those

so characteristic of an A. compositarum infection.

Leptothyrium astericolum (Ell. & Ev.) comb. nov.

Phyllosticta astericola Ell. & Ev. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila.

1893, p. 157

The pycnidia of this fungus are definitely not those typical of a

species of Phyllosticta as they are imperfectly developed and of the

type characteristic of the Leptostromataceae. J. J. Davis (Trans.

Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts Lett. 26: 253. 1931) recognized that this or¬

ganism is not a species of Phyllosticta, but failed to take action in

the matter. Common on Aster umhellatus Mill, in Wisconsin. Lepto¬

thyrium astericolum seems distinct from L. similisporum (Ell. &

Davis) Davis which usually occurs on species of Solidago, but which

has also been found on Aster macrophyllus L. in Wisconsin. L.

astericolum has shorter, much narrower, and more fusoid conidia.

Fusarium tricinctum (Cda.) Sacc. emend. Synd. & Hansen on

Sorghum vulgare Pers. Waushara Co., Hancock, Summer 1962.

Coll. E. W. Hanson. Identification confirmed by W. C. Snyder. This

fungus causes a head blight of the developing sorghum.

NOTES ON WISCONSIN PARASITIC FUNGI. XXXI

H. C. Greene

Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin, Madison

This series of notes is, unless stated otherwise, based on collec¬

tions of fungi made during the season of 1964.

General Observations

Mycosphaerella sp. occurs on the bracts subtending the perigy-

nia in the inflorescence of Carex stricta Lam. collected June 16 near

Leland, Sauk Co. The perithecia are seriate, black, small, about

50 p diam., the asci saccate, about 25 x 12 p, the hyaline, uniseptate

ascospores subfusoid, approx. 10 x 3 p. Possibly parasitic.

Mycosphaerella sp. appears parasitic on leaves of Apios tube-

rosa Moench. collected August 18 at Nelson Dewey State Park near

Cassville, Grant Co. The large, suborbicular, arid, brownish to gray¬

ish spots are conspicuously mottled, the mottling being due to nar¬

row brown lines which form intricate patterns on the spots, which

may involve most of a leaflet and be up to 4 cm. diam. The perithe¬

cia are hypophyllous, scattered to gregarious, subglobose, black-

thick-walled, subepidermal, approx. ,115-130 p, diam. The asci are

subcylindric, about 38-42 x 6-7.5 p, the ascospores narrowly fusoid,

hyaline, obliquely arranged, approx. 10-11 x 2.5~2.7 p. A few of the

spots bear some empty pycnidia which are suggestive of Phyllos-

ticta phaseolina Sacc., but in the absence of conidia this is

uncertain.

Leptosphaeria sp., which may be parasitic, occurs on Scirpus

atrovirens Muhl. collected near Connors Lake in the Flambeau State

Forest, Sawyer Co., September 5, 1963. The perithecia are gregar¬

ious on dead leaf tips and on elongate brownish areas in the still

green portions of the leaves. They are black, globose, thick-walled,

about 150-160 p diam. The asci are cylindric or curved-cylindric,

short-pedicellate, (70-) 75-82 x 15-16 p, the ascospores pallid oliva¬

ceous, subfusoid, 4-septate, often constricted at the septa, 38-42 x

5. 5-6. 5 p,

Calicium (Pers.) de Not. is based upon a lichen and the fungus

parasitic on Polystictm pergamenus Fr., reported as Calicium

197

198 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

tigillare (B. & Br.) Sacc. in these notes (Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci.

Arts Lett. 41: 125. 1952), is properly designated as Mycocalicium

polyporaeum (Nyl.) Vaino.

Puccinia angustata Peck II, III occurred in a very limited in¬

fection on a small group of plants of Scirpus cyperinus (L.) Kunth.

f. andrewsii (Fern.) Carp, observed near Albany, Green Co., Au¬

gust 8. These few plants in turn were surrounded by many plants

of Scirpus cyperinus, all very heavily infected with the same rust,

suggestive of a decided difference in susceptibility between the form

and the species proper.

Puccinia asparagi DC. I was collected on Asparagus officinalis

L. near Cross Plains, Dane Co., June 15. Uredia and telia are of

course common on asparagus, but this appears to be the first collec¬

tion of aecia recorded in Wisconsin.

Puccinia recondita Rob. ex Desm. occasionally stimulates the

production of spectacular globoid to pulvinate aecial galls on the

slender stems of the vine. Clematis virginiana L. At a location near

Leland, Sauk Co., June 26, many thousands of these bright orange

galls were observed, ranging in diameter from 5 mm. to 2 cm. for

globoid galls, and up to 2 cm. thick by 4.5 cm. long for the pulvinate.

Frequently three or four, or more, galls were crowded into the

space of a few inches on a stem. Except for the very limited area

of contact with the gall there is no noticeable hypertrophy of the

stem.

Puccinia plumbaria Peck III has been found on the semi-ever¬

green summer leaves of Phlox divaricata L. near Leland, Sauk Co.,

June 26. The systemic aecial stage is very conspicuous, being pro¬

duced in early May on the leaves of the vernal flowering stems, but

the telia are elusive and had been sought for several years without

success.

Puccinia andropogonis Schw. I occurs closely associated ,with

Septoria pentstemonis Ell. & Ev. on leaves of Pentstemon digitalis

Nutt, collected at Madison, June 18, 1963. Some of the rust sori are

free of the Septoria, but the reverse is not true in any of the leaves

in the specimen.

Exobasidium vaccinii (Fckl.) Wor., on Ericaceae, produces

quite varied effects on its host plants. Hundreds of infected plants

of huckleberry, Gaylussacia baccata (Wang.) C. Koch, observed

near Leland, Sauk Co., in June, were about equally divided between

large, erect, mainly healthy looking specimens with the Exobasid¬

ium infection localized as conspicuous ‘‘bladders’' on one or a few

leaves per plant, and much stunted, chlorotic, usually many¬

stemmed plants where the fungus appeared systemic, as the lower

1964] Greene — -Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi, XXXI 199

surfaces of many or most of the leaves were completely covered by

the parasite. However, the hypertrophy characteristic of more

localized infections was lacking. Perhaps plants initially lightly in¬

fected may become more heavily so over the course of several years.

Phyllosticta anemonicola Sacc, & Syd. (so cited in Ellis &

Everhart's “North American Phyllostictas", although P, anemonis

Ell. & Kell, appears to be the earlier name) seems to be based on an

end-of-the-season overwintering stage of Didymaria didyma (Ung.)

Schroet., discussed by me in my Notes 26 (Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci.

Arts Lett. 49 : 96. 1960) . This is very commonly developed on Ane¬

mone canadensis L. in Wisconsin and is the basis of J, J. Davis'

report of P. anemonicola on this host. Ellis and Everhart report

the conidia of P. anemonicola to be 5-7 x 1.25 /x, but in my experi¬

ence it is sterile and indeed an examination of the Davis specimen

shows no conidia, so far as observed. The writer has, on two occa¬

sions, in mid-season, collected a well-developed, characteristic Phyl¬

losticta on Anemone cylindrica Gray at Madison. This was tenta¬

tively, and I now believe, erroneously assigned to P. anemonicola.

It occurs on definite arid spots on the living leaves and is quite

different in appearance from the indistinct spots and closely clust¬

ered overwintering bodies of Didymaria. The conidia are about the

length specified by Ellis and Everhart, but are somewhat wider.

In August 1964, near Leland, Sauk Co., a similar well-defined Phyl¬

losticta was collected on Anemone canadensis, where the thin- walled

pycnidia are loosely gregarious on rounded, sharply delimited gray¬

ish spots, with the conidia being mostly about 5-6 x 2.5-3 fx. More

material for study would be desirable.

Descriptive notes on some so far undetermined Phyllostictae ap¬

pear below, following mention of the names of the host plants on

which they occurred :

1) On Glyceria grandis Wats., near Leland, Sauk Co., June ,16.

The spots are small, oval, and ashen with narrow dark brown

" border, the pycnidia about 115-135 /x diam., subglobose, pallid

brownish, and thin-walled, the conidia hyaline, short-cylindric, ap¬

prox. 4-6 X 2-2.5 /x; 2) On Carex blanda Dewey, near Leland, Sauk

Co., May 21, 1963. The lesions are narrowly elongate, with brown¬

ish border and ashen center, the pycnidia light brown, subglobose,

about 110-130 /X diam., the conidia hyaline, ellipsoid or short-

cylindric, occasionally subfusoid, 4.5-6 x 1.5-2 /x. Phyllosticta cari-

cis (Fckl.) Sacc. was reported by Davis as occurring on several

species of Carex in Wisconsin, but there are no verifying specimens

in our herbarium, and if there were their identification would be

uncertain as the original description is inadequate, with no meas¬

urements given; 3) On Trillium flexipes Raf. in association with

200 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Gloeosporium hrunneomaculatum Greene, near Leland, Sauk Co.,

June 16. The Phyllosticta is on pallid, translucent, oval spots about

.5 cm. diam., of the same size and shape as the much more numerous

and darker Gloeosporium lesions. The pycnidia are gregarious,

pallid brownish, very thin-walled and collapsed, probably globose

when fresh, approx. 110-135 }x diam., the conidia hyaline, short-

cylindric, broadly ellipsoid, or subfusoid, about 4-5.5 x 2-2.5 /x. This

is plainly not Phyllosticta trillii Ell. & Ev., described as having

conidia 10-14 /x long; 4) On Salix cordata Muhl, (or perhaps a

hybrid of this with Salix interior Rowlee) , near Leland, Sauk Co.,

August 12. This may be referable to Phyllosticta eminens Greene

(Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts Lett. 49 : 104. 1960), as it corresponds

well in spore size, but the material is less well-developed than the

type; 5) On Rosa sp., near Pine Bluff, Dane Co., August 27. The

spots are dull brown with indistinct greenish mottling, immarginate

or with margin not well marked, the whole usually surrounded by

a yellow halo, rounded to wedge-shaped, approx. 3 mm. to ,1 cm.

diam., the pycnidia few, scattered, very inconspicuous and discern¬

ible only by transmitted light, pallid brownish, thin-walled, sub-

globose, approx. 140-190 /x diam., the conidia hyaline, subellipsoid

to cylindric, mostly biguttulate, 7-11 x 2.6-3 (-3.5) /x. Definitely

not Phyllosticta rosae Desm. which verges on a acervular form; 6)

On Desmodium illinoense Gray, Madison, October 9, 1963. Spots

small, angular, sordid — perhaps old Ramularia spots — the pycnidia

black, closely crowded, globose, small, about 50 /x diam., the hyaline

conidia approx. 2. 5-3. 5 x 1.3-1. 5 /x. Perhaps the precursor of a per¬

fect stage; 7) On Lysimachia nummularia L., near Leland, Sauk

Co., June 26. The spots are dull grayish-brown, rounded, immargi¬

nate, .2-.5 cm. diam., the pycnidia pallid brownish, translucent,

scattered, subglobose, about 135-175 /x diam., the conidia hyaline,

broadly ellipsoid, cylindric or subcylindric, approx. 4.5-5. 5 (-6.5)

X 2.5-3 /X. I have not found a report of any species of Phyllosticta

on L, nummularia; 8) On Viburnum lentago L., near Leland, Sauk

Co., August 19. The spots are vinaceous-cinereous, with dark pur¬

plish border, rounded, about 4-5 mm. diam., the pycnidia epiphyl-

lous, gregarious, sooty, subglobose, about 125 /x diam., the conidia

hyaline, broadly ellipsoid, approx. 5-7.5 x 2. 5-3. 5 /x; 9) On Aster

puniceus L., near Leland, Sauk Co., August 12. The spots are varie¬

gated white and brownish, orbicular, about .5-1 cm. diam., the

pycnidia black, few and scattered, subglobose with a prominent osti-

ole delimited by a wide band of thick, dark cells, approx. 200-250 /x

diam. and epiphyllous, the very numerous conidia hyaline, rod¬

shaped, straight or slightly curved, 4. 5-7. 5 x 1.3-2 /x.

Pyrenochaeta graminis Ell. & Ev., possibly parasitic, occurs

on Muhlenbergia schreberi Gmel. collected in October 1959 near

1964] Greene — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi. XXXI 201

Cross Plains, Dane Co, This was discussed at some length, as an

at that time undetermined fungus, in my Notes 26 (Trans. Wis.

Acad. Sci. Arts Lett, 49: 99. 1960). The Wisconsin specimen has

very long appendages, whereas Ellis and Everhart describe the ap¬

pendages as being rather short, but type material, on dead leaves,

is quite weathered with the appendages broken off near the fruiting

bodies, which may account for the difference in described length.

Microscopically the contents of the fruiting structures are identical

with the conidia (or chlamydospores?) being characterized by very

thick, hyaline, refractive walls. It is highly doubtful that this

fungus really belongs in Pyrenochaeta, but for the time being it

has been filed there.

Ascochyta sp. occurs sparingly on large, blackish, zonate lesions,

about 2-3 cm. diam., on juvenile leaves of Pofpulus tremuloides

Michx. collected near Leland, Sauk Co., August 24, 1963. The pyc-

nidia are sooty yellowish-brown, subglobose, the few measured

running from 95-125 /x diam. The majority of the hyaline conidia

are septate, the septum not always median, mostly subcylindric to

subfusoid, occasionally broadly ellipsoid, straight to slightly curved,

(7-) 8-9 (-11) X (2.5-) 3-3.2 (-3.5) y. This seems close to an un¬

determined Phyllosticta collected on Populus grandidentata Michx.,

reported on in my Notes 26 (Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts Lett. 49 :

88. 1960), where the conidia ran (5.5-) 6.5-10 (-11) x 2-2.5 (-3) y,

but which had larger pycnidia and lesions even larger and more

markedly zonate.

Ascochyta sp. — a rather small specimen — was collected on

Sanguinaria canadensis L. near Leland, Sauk Co., June 16. The

spots are dull purplish-brown, orbicular or oval, 1-2.5 cm. diam.,

subzonate. The pycnidia are subglobose, thm-walled and translu¬

cent, pallid brownish, epiphyllous, scattered to gregarious, about

135-165 y diam., the conidia cylindric or occasionally subfusoid,

hyaline, uniseptate, 7-8.5 (-10) x 2.6-3 /x, smaller than those of

other species reported on Papaveraceae.

Ascochyta sp. occurred on Ruellia ciliosa Pursh in the Lfniver-

sity of Wisconsin Arboretum at Madison, July 7. The spots are

small, whitish and angled, the pycnidia epiphyllous, black, subglo¬

bose, about 125 /X diam., with a wide ostiole marked by a ring of

darker cells. The conidia are hyaline, cylindric, subcylindric or

occasionally subfusoid, often somewhat constricted at the septum,

7.5-10 (-11.5) X 2.7-3. 5 /x. I have found no report of Ascochyta on

this host.

Darluca filum (Biv.) Cast, is a hyperparasite on Puccinia

asparagi DC. I on Allium cepa L. var. viviparum Metz, collected

202 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

near Cross Plains, Dane Co., May 21. Common on uredia of this

rust, but not before reported on the aecia in Wisconsin.

Stagonospora sp. occurs on Equisetum o.rvense L. collected at

Madison, August 3. The thin-walled pycnidia are about 175-200 ju

diam., the hyaline, cylindric to subfusoid, straight or slightly curved

conidia are about 17-23 x 4.5-6 /x, (2-) 3-4 septate. This is quite

similar to an undetermined Stagonospora on Equisetum hyemale L.

reported on in my Notes 21 (Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts Lett. 44:

32. 1955).

Septoria sp. on Castilleja sessiliflora Pursh collected August ,13

at Gibraltar Rock County Park, Columbia Co., occurs on small,

rounded, sunken, cinereous to brownish leaf spots, 1-2 mm. diam.

The pycnidia are small, grayish-black, gregarious, globose, about

65-80 /X diam., the spores 45-60 x 1.7-k5 /x, with occasional spores

perhaps slightly longer, from almost straight to rather strongly

curved, tapered more at one end than at the other. These spores are

quite outside the range of an otherwise similar specimen on Castil¬

leja coccinea (L.) Spreng. which had spores 15-21 x 1-1.5 /x, as

reported in my Notes 28 (Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts Lett. 51 : 61.

1962).

Septoria sp. is present in a small specimen on Solidago speciosa

Nutt, collected near Leland, Sauk Co., June 13. The spots are

narrowly oval, tan, immarginate, about .5 cm. long. The pycnidia

are pallid brownish, about 125-140 /x diam., subglobose, with a well-

marked ostiole defined by a ring of darker cells. The spores are hya¬

line, narrowly obclavate, obtuse at one end and tapered at the other,

somewhat lax and flexuous, 1—3 septate, 20—38 x 2. 7-3. 5 /x. This is

certainly not Septoria atropurpurea Peck, the only species of Sep¬

toria reported on Solidago speciosa in Wisconsin, nor does it resem¬

ble any other Septoria on Solidago with which I am familiar.

Artemisia species in Europe and North America bear a confusing

assemblage of pycnidial or near-pycnidial forms which have been

variously referred to Septoria or to Cylindrosporium. Septoria

artemisiae Pass, was described as occurring on small, discoid spots,

with the spores continuous, 30-33 x 1.5 /x. Cylindrosporium artem¬

isiae Dearn. & Barth., on the other hand, has brown, angular spots

which follow the veins and become confluent, while the spores are

subclavate and subflexuous, 1-5 septate, 20-50 (or longer) x 3-4

/X. Specimens in the Wisconsin Herbarium present in effect a vari¬

ously labeled, but intergrading series between the two extremes,

with most seeming closer to Cylindrosporium. Septoria artemisi-

icola J. J. Davis on Artemisia s errata Nutt, seems to me indis¬

tinguishable from earlier collections on the same host , which he

labeled— in my opinion correctly — Cylindrosporium artemisiae. In

1964] Greene — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi, XXXI 203

a recent collection on Artemisia serrata made near Arena, Iowa Co,,

the fruiting structures, though rather widely ostiolate, seem refer¬

able to Septoria and they are borne on small, discoid brown spots

about 1,5-3 mm. diam. The spores, however, are intermediate in

character, although the specimen seems closest to Septoria artemis-

iae Pass,, under which name it is provisionally filed.

Colletotrichum typhae Greene (Trans, Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts

Lett. 44: 41. 1956) is the subject of an article in Trans. Brit. Mycol.

Soc. 46(8) : 459. 1963 by Sutton and Sellar. The authors confirm

that British material corresponds well with the Wisconsin type

specimen and present the results of a cultural study as well as a

study of conidial germination, in connection with which they find

appressoria produced.

Colletotrichum sp., which may have developed parasitically,

occurs on still living, but somewhat passe, leaves of Anemonella

thalictroides (L.) Spach. collected near Leland, Sauk Co., July 2.

The acervuli are scattered or subseriate, mostly epiphyllous, on in¬

determinate dull green areas. The setae are dark purplish-brown,

somewhat lax and diverging, scattered in the acervulus, from about

75-200 X 4.5-5 paler toward the tapered tip, the longer ones

septate. The falcate conidia are of the usual Colletotrichum type,

hyaline, about 20-23 x 3.5-4 /x. The acervuli on the leaves are quite

small, but a few which occur on the old flower pedicels are larger.

Amphichaeta rosicola Greene (Trans. Wis, Acad. Sci. Arts

Lett. 47: 127, 1958) and Monochaetia discosioides (Ell, & Ev.)

Sacc, are relegated to synonomy under the name Seimatosporium

discosioides (EIL & Ev.) Shoemaker by Shoemaker (Can, Jour.

Bot 42: 415. 1964),

Sarcinella heterospora Sacc. is the name assigned, probably

correctly, to a more or less superficial fungus which occurs in Wis¬

consin on species of Cornm, notably C, femina Mill, and G, stoloni-

fera Michx. In earlier records a fungus which may be parasitic and

which occurs with considerable regularity on Corylus americana

Walt, has also been labeled Sarcinella heterospora, probably incor¬

rectly, This fungus, which is strictly epiphyllous, forms small, flat,

subcircular, loosely organized black colonies, about .3-. 6 cm. diam.

These colonies are very conspicuous and quite sharply defined and

do not appear to have developed on insect droppings. They are,

however, so far as can be judged from leaf sections, superficial and

extra-cuticular. If there is any connection it is tenuous indeed. The

component creeping hyphae are blackish-brown and multiseptate.

Produced laterally on some of these hyphae are globose, grayish-

black chlamydo'spores which are single-celled and become thicker-

walled as the season progresses, but do not ordinarly become

muriform.

204 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [VoL 53

Cercospora sp., which seems quite distinctive and does not cor¬

respond with any of the species on Rihes mentioned in Chupp’s

monograph, occurs on Rihes hirtellum Michx., collected near Leland,

Sauk Co., August 4. Unfortunately most of the material is not well

matured, so the specimen is inadequate for formal descriptive pur¬

poses. The fungus is epiphyllous and subcuticular on tiny, cinereous,

purple-bordered spots about 1-2 mm. diam. Very heavy blackish-

brown stromata are produced, running from 40-80 p. wide by 90-

110 /X high, from which the fascicled and somewhat spreading conid-

iophores develop. They are clear brown, becoming paler toward the

tip, mildly geniculate with the geniculations widely spaced, trun¬

cate with prominent spore scar, and mostly not narrowed at tip,

several-septate, approx. 100-140 x 3.5-5 p. The conidia are hyaline,

multiseptate, from very slender long-obclavate to almost acicular,

truncate at base with prominent scar, 80-200 x 3-4 p at base, 2 p or

less at tip, and strongly tapered for a long distance back from the

tip.

Arabis glabra (L.) Bernh. collected near Oxbow, Sawyer Co.,

July 22, has conspicuous black incrustations on the still green stems

and siliques caused by a non-fruiting fungus composed of very

numerous subapplanate, rounded bodies, about 50-60 p diam., with

thick-walled cells, and which tend to be connected with one another

by wefts of the same sort of tissue. Scarcely determinable, but

plainly parasitic.

Gaultheria procumbens L., collected at the University of Wiscon¬

sin Finnerud Forest Preserve near Minocqua, Oneida Co., July 27,

bears most conspicuous, epiphyllous, large gray and dark brown le¬

sions of a “frog-eye” type. The same pattern occurs on the reverse,

but is less marked. On the reverse of the lesions occur numerous,

more or less superficial and indeterminate, black fungus bodies

which internally are composed of a mass of delicate subhyaline my¬

celium from which are produced hyaline microconidia approx. 3-4

X 1-1.5 p. Perhaps parasitic. At any rate, the structures mentioned

are so uniformly present that it seems there must be some connec¬

tion with the spot production.

Additional Hosts

The following hosts have not been previously recorded as bear¬

ing the fungi mentioned in Wisconsin.

Microsphaera alni (Wallr.) Wint. on Cornus rugosa Lam. Co¬

lumbia Co., Gibraltar Rock County Park, August 13. The fungus

affected the outermost twigs and leaves, resulting in extra long

internodes and small, poorly developed leaves.

1964] Greene — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi, XXXI 205

Phyllactinia corylea (Pers.) Karst, on Crataegus macrantha

Lodd. (cult.) Dane Co., Madison, September 11.

Powdery mildews, undetermined as to species, have been collected

on 1) Apios tuberosa Moench. Iowa Co., Gov. Dodge State Park,

September 12; and 2) Cacalia muhlenbergii (Sch. Bip.) Fern.

Sauk Co., near Leland, August 19.

Mamiana fimbriata (Pers, ex Fr.) Ces. & DeNot. on Ostrya

virginiana (Mill.) K. Koch. Sauk Co., near Leland, July 27, 1963.

Venturi A sporoboli H. C. Greene on Oryzopsis asperifolia

Michx. Sawyer Co., Flambeau State Forest near Oxbow, July 22.

In addition to species of Sporobolus this fungus has also been

found on Andropogon scoparius Swall. It seems noteworthy that

all the so far recorded hosts are dry-leaved xerophytes with close

ribbing. The perithecia are developed between the ribs.

Ophiodothis haydeni (B. & C.) Sacc. on Aster puniceus L.,

Sauk Co., near Leland, June 16.

Melampsora paradoxa Diet, & Holw. II, III on Salix serissima

(Bailey) Fern. Dane Co., Madison, August 3.

PucciNiA DioiCAE P. Magn. has been noted on these additional

Carex species: 1) II, III on Carex gravida Bailey. Iowa Co., SW

of Dodgeville, July 22, 1956. Coll. H. H, litis. This seemed atypical

and a specimen was submitted to G. B. Cummins who states that it

appears to be Puccinia vulpinoidis Diet. & Holw. (Bot. Gaz. 19:

304. 1894), described as occurring on the closely related Carex

vulpinoidea Michx, and evidently set aside principally because of

its punctate to elliptic, long-covered telia. Arthur relegated P. vul¬

pinoidis to synonymy. A check of specimens on Carex vulpinoidea

in the University of Wisconsin Herbarium shows some which have

characters similar to those of the specimen on C, gravida, but others

are quite typical P. dioicae. 2) ii, HI on Carex lasiocarpa Ehrh.

Waushara Co., near Wautoma, September 21, 1963. Coll. H. H. litis.

As far as one can judge from the descriptions the principal micro¬

scopic difference between Puccinia minutissima Arth., previously

reported on C. lasiocarpa from Wisconsin, and P, dioicae is in the

short, colored teliospore pedicels in P, minutissima and long, color¬

less pedicels in P. dioicae. 3) II, HI on C. tenera Dewey. Dane Co.,

Madison, July 6, 1960. 4) II on C. blanda Dewey. Sauk Co,, near

Leland, June 16. 5) ii, HI on C, woodii Dewey. Vernon Co., Wild¬

cat Mt. State Park, May 14, 1960. Coll. T, G. Hartley. On a phanero¬

gamic specimen on overwintered leaves still attached to the plant

of the current season.

Puccinia tumidipes Peck I (uredinoid) on Lycium chinense

Mill. Milwaukee Co,, Milwaukee, May 26. Coll. & det. J. W, Baxter.

206 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

SCHIZONELLIA MELANOGRAMMA (DC.) Schroet. on Carex com¬

munis Bailey. Door Co., Jacksonport, June 24, 1952. Coll. R. T.

Ward.

Ceratobasidium anceps (Bres. & Syd.) Jacks, on seedling of

Ulmus americana L. Sawyer Co., Flambeau State Forest near Ox¬

bow, July 22.

Pellicularia filamentosa (Pat.) Rogers on Convolvulus spit-

hamaeus L. Sawyer Co., Flambeau State Forest near Oxbow, July

23.

Phyllosticta nebulosa Sacc. on Lychnis viscaria L. (cult.).

Dane Co., Madison, July 10.

Phyllosticta dearnessii Sacc. on Rubus allegheniensis Porter.

Dane Co., near Verona, September 14.

Phyllosticta phaseolina Sacc. on Amphicarpa bracteata (L.)

Fern. Sauk Co., near Leland, June 26. Also two specimens from

Gov. Dodge State Park, Iowa Co., September 12. Reported with

some reservations, as in the field this was strikingly similar in

gross appearance to the infection produced by an undetermined

species of Ascochyta on the same host at the Leland station in

1962 (Trans. Wis. Acad. Sci. Arts Lett. 52: 236. 1963). Both the

lesions and the pycnidia are highly translucent, unlike most speci¬

mens I have seen assigned to P. phaseolina, but this may be a mat¬

ter of the host species, or of the condition of the host leaves at the

time of infection. Adjacent to one of the specimens from Gov.

Dodge Park was very similar material on Apios tuberosa Moench.

Earlier Wisconsin specimens on Apios assigned to P. phaseolina

tend to have lesions opaque and pycnidia somewhat darker and

thicker- walled. However, in all these specimens the conidia are very

similar and in the range of P. phaseolina as described.

Phyllosticta decidua Ell. & Kell, on Fraxinus pennsylvanica

Marsh. Dane Co., Madison, July 17.

Phyllosticta cirsh Desm. on Cirsium muticum Michx. Dane

Co., Madison, August 3. The conidia are slightly smaller than the

5-7 X 2.5-3 of the description, but otherwise the specimen cor¬

responds.

PiGGOTiA NEGUNDiNis Ell. & Dearn. on Acer negundo L. Dane

Co., Madison, September 28, 1959. There are other earlier speci¬

mens from Dane and Vernon cos., but there seems to be no previous

report in these notes.

CONIOTHYRIUM FUCKELH Sacc. on Rubus occidentoUs L. Iowa Co.,

Gov. Dodge State Park, September 12, The fungus appears defi¬

nitely parasitic and there is no sign of any preceding infection.

1964] Greene — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi. XXXI 207

Ascochyta polygonicola Kab. & Bub. on Polygonum sagittatum

L. Iowa Co., Tower Hill State Park, Ceptember 17. Very similar to

a collection made by J. J. Davis on the closely related Polygonum

arifolium L. Many of the conidia exceed somewhat the 12/i, maxi¬

mum length of the description and many are continuous, but in

other respects there is close correspondence.

Ascochyta compositarum J. J. Davis on Parthenium integri-

folium L, Lafayette Co., near Darlington at Red Rock, August 26.

On Cacalia muhlenhergii (Sch. Bip.) Fern. Sauk Co., near Leland,

August 19. The best matured conidia are about 8-10 x 3-3.5 ju,, mak¬

ing this one of the smaller-spored examples of a species that, in ef¬

fect, may be considered an intergrading series of very closely re¬

lated forms. Also on Cacalia suaveolens L, Same location and date.

On this host the conidia are about the same size as in the specimen

on C. muhlenhergii,

Darluca filum (Biv.) Cast, on Puccinia minutissima Arth. on

Carex lasiocarpa Ehrh. Rusk Co., near Ladysmith, September 8,

1959. Coll. H. H. litis. On Puccinia tumidipes Peck on Lycium

halimifolium Mill. Milwaukee Co., Milwaukee, November 18, 1963.

Coll. J. W. Baxter.

Stagonospora apocyni (Peck) Davis on Apocynum sihiricum

Jacq., Iowa Co., near Blue Mounds, September 11. In earlier Wis¬

consin collections A, sihiricum was not differentiated from A. can-

nahinum L.

Stagonospora astericola (Davis) Greene ( Aster omella asteri-

cola Davis) on Aster paniculatus Lam. Sauk Co., near Leland, Au¬

gust 12. With its clustered, more or less superficial pycnidia, rem¬

iniscent of Rosenscheldia heliopsidis (Schw.) Theiss. & Syd., this

species does not well fit the ordinary conception of Stagonospora.

It was placed there mainly on the basis of spore morphology and

it may be that further knowledge will require its removal from

Stagonospora.

Septoria punctoidea Karst, on Carex intumescens Rudge.

Sawyer Co., Flambeau State Forest near Oxbow, July 21. In this

specimen the spores are quite short, not more than 10 /x, the small,

tan, red-bordered, elliptic spots very sharply defined.

Septoria nematospora J. J. Davis on Carex emmonsii Dewey.

Jackson Co., near Millston, June 25, 1960. Coll. T. G. Hartley.

Septoria caricinella Sacc. & Roum. on Carex communis Bailey.

Florence Co., Purdue University Forestry Camp, T39N R15E S12,

June 14, 1959. Coll. H. H. litis. On C, emmonsii Dewey, Portage Co.,

Coddington, May 27, 1956. Coll. H. H. litis. On C. umhellata

208 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Schkuhr. var. tonsa Fern., Juneau Co., Lyndon Twp., May 10, 1958.

Coll. T. G. Hartley. On C. tuckermani Boott. Sawyer Co., Flambeau

State Forest near Oxbow, July 26, 1964.

Septoria crataegi Kickx. on Crataegus macrantha Lodd. (cult.)

Dane Co., Madison, September 11.

Septoria violae West, on Viola renifolia Gray. Sawyer Co., Flam¬

beau State Forest near Oxbow, July 23,

Septoria gaurina Ell. & Kell, on Oenothera biennis L. Sauk Co.,

near Leland, August 12. This is a very robust specimen, with the

multiseptate spores measuring up to 95 x 3.5 ju, and the epiphyllous

pycnidia up to 200 jx diam. The host plant was growing in a rich

stream bottom and was itself exceptionally large and lush.

Septoria gaillardiae Ell. & Ev. on Gaillardia aristata Pursh

(cult.). Dane Co., Madison, August 15.

Septoria atropurpurea Peck on Aster lindleyanus T. & G. Saw¬

yer Co., Flambeau State Forest near Oxbow, July 23.

Leptothyrium similisporum (Ell. & Davis) Davis on Solidago

uliginosa Nutt. Dane Co., Madison, August 3.

Hainesia lythri (Desm.) Hoehn. on Cornus canadensis L. Saw¬

yer Co., Flambeau State Forest near Oxbow, July 24. On Lysimachia

nummularia L. Sauk Co., near Leland, June 26.

COLLETOTRICHUM MADISONENSIS H. C. Greene on Carex lupulina

Muhl. Iowa Co., Tower Hill State Park, September ,17.

COLLETOTRICHUM LILIACEORUM (Schw.) Davis on Maianthemum

canadense Desf. Sawyer Co., Flambeau State Forest near Oxbow,

July 21. On well-defined spots, but perhaps doubtfully parasitic.

COLLETOTRICHUM LUCIDAE H. C. Greene on Salix pyrifolia An¬

ders. {S. halsamifera Barratt) . Sawyer Co., Flambeau State Forest

near Oxbow, July 22. On this host the fungus does not produce the

conspicuous, large, zonate lesions that characterize it on Salix lu-

cida, but it corresponds very closely microscopically.

COLLETOTRICHUM VIOLAE-ROTUNDIFOLIAE (SaCC.) HoUSe on Viola

renifolia Gray. Sawyer Co., Flambeau State Forest near Oxbow,

July 23.

Entomosporium maculatum Lev. on Amelanchier amahilis

Wieg. (cult.). Dane Co., Madison, September 11.

Cylindosporium filipendulae Thum. on Spiraea menziesii

Hook. (cult.). Dane Co., Madison, September 14.

Cylindrosporium spiraeicola Ell. & Ev. on Spiraea douglassii

Hook, (cult.) Dane Co., Madison, September 14.

1964] Greene- — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi. XXXI 209

Botrytis cinerea Pers. ex Fr. on Pelargonium domesticum*^

(cult.) Dane Co., Madison, September 25. The fungus is on sharply

defined spots and appears strongly parasitic.

Ramularia canadensis Ell. & Ev. on Carex lanuginosa Michx.

Columbia Co., Gibraltar Rock County Park, August 13.

Cercosporella CANA Sacc. var. gracilis J. J. Davis on Aster

lucidulus (Gray) Wieg. Sauk Co., near Leland, August 4, That this

is really closely related to C. cana, which occurs on species of Eri~

geron, may be questionable, but it does seem to be a well-charac¬

terized form.

Cercospora boutelouae Chupp & Greene on Bouteloua hirsuta

Lag. Columbia Co., Gibraltar Rock County Park, August 13. The

conidia are subcylindric and rather short, about 35-50 /x, but were

developed on a host plant growing under extreme xeric conditions

in a period of subnormal moisture.

Cercospora caricis Oud. on Carex deflexa Hornem. Lincoln Co.,

Doering, Schley Twp., May 6, 1952. Coll. F. C. Seymour. On a

phanerogamic specimen in the University of Wisconsin Herbarium.

Cercospora tenuis Peck on Galium ohtusum Bigel. Dane Co.,

Madison, July 10. Abundant on this host in the Univ. Wis. Arbore¬

tum. Apparently the first Wisconsin collection since before 1900

when J. J. Davis reported it (as C. punctoidea Ell. & Holw.) on

Galium trifidum L. Examination of the Davis specimens indicates

that the host was incorrectly determined and may have been G.

ohtusum.

Tuberculina persicina (Ditm.) Sacc. on Puccinia asparagi DC.

I on Allium cepa L. var. viviparum Metz. Dane Co., near Cross

Plains, July 5.

Additional Species

The fungi mentioned have not been previously reported as oc¬

curring in Wisconsin,

Peronospora lamii a. Braun on Lamium amplexicaule L. Dane

Co., Madison, May 11.

Phyllosticta dryopteridis sp. nov.

Maculis rufo-brunneis, conspicuis, immarginatis, in pinnulis totis

implicatis unis vel pluribus; pycnidiis inconspicuis, sparsis, fusco-

brunneis, muris tenuibus, subglobosis, ca. 75-100 p. diam. ; conidiis

hyalinis, brevo-cylindraceis, obtusis, 3. 5-5.5 x 1.3-1. 5 p..

Spots reddish-brown, conspicuous, immarginate and involving

one or more entire pinnules; pycnidia inconspicuous, scattered.

210 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

sooty brownish, thin-walled, subglobose, approx. 75-100 p. diam. ;

conidia hyaline, short-cylindric and obtuse, 3. 5-5.5 x 1.3-1. 5 jx.

On living fronds of Dryopteris thelypteris (L.) A. Gray. In tama¬

rack swamp on property of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology

near Leland, Sauk County, Wisconsin, U. S. A., August 4, ,1964.

I have found no report of Phyllosticta on any species of Dryop¬

teris.

Phyllosticta smilacinae-trifoliae sp. nov.

Maculis magnis conspicuisque, brunneo-cinereis vel sordido-brun-

neis, marginibus fuscis, angustis, vel immarginatis prope, .8-3 cm.

longis X .3-1.5 cm. latis, anguste ellipticis vel orbicularibus, saepe

confluentibus ; pycnidiis sparsis vel gregariis, pallido-brunneis,

muris tenuibus, subglobosis, magnis, ca. (120-) 140-175 (-190) p)

conidiis hyalinis, numerosissimis, parvis, ca. 3-5 x 1-1.5 /x.

Spots large and conspicuous, brownish-cinereous to sordid

brownish, margins dark brown, narrow, or spots without well-de¬

fined margins, .8-3 cm. long by .3-1.5 cm. wide, in shape from

narrowly elliptic to broadly orbicular, often confluent; pycnidia

scattered to gregarious, pallid brownish, thin-walled, subglobose,

large, approx. (120-) 140-175 (-190) /x; conidia hyaline, very num¬

erous, small, approx. 3-5 x 1-1.5 /x.

On living leaves of Smilacina trifolia (L.) Desf. Flambeau State

Forest near Oxbow, Sawyer County, Wisconsin, U. S. A., July 24,

1964. Another specimen was collected a few days later near Min-

ocqua, Oneida Co,

On the basis of conidial size and leaf spotting this seems closest

to Phyllosticta smilacinae Solheim (Mycologia 41: 627. 1949), but

the pycnidial diameter, 50-85 /x in P. smilacinae, does not even

approach that of the Wisconsin fungus.

Phyllosticta corni-canadensis Dearn. & Bisby on Comus

canadensis L. Sawyer Co., Flambeau State Forest near Oxbow,

July 24. The conidia, according to the description (Fungi of Mani¬

toba, p. 138), are only .75 /x wide, whereas I find those of my speci¬

men to be about 1.3-1. 5 /x wide. However, conidia as minute as

these are not easy to measure precisely with ordinary equipment

and the difference may be in part at least due to the observers mak¬

ing the measurements. I find the length to be 3-5 /x, whereas Dear¬

ness and Bisby specify 3.5-5 /x. In other respects my specimen cor¬

responds quite well .with the description. The spots, though small,

are very noticeable because of the dark margin surrounded by a

purplish halo. The sooty pycnidia, about 150 /x diam., stand out

sharply on the small cinereous spots.

1964] Greene — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi, XXXI 211

Phyllosticta wisconsinensis sp. nov

Maculis conspicuis, fusoideis vel orbicularibus, magnis, ca. .5-2

cm. diam., subzonatis, rubiginosis cum halis purpureis; pycnidiis

fuscis, epiphyllis, globosis vel subglobosis, ostiolis latis, erumpenti-

bus, sparsis, ca. (125-) 150-200 (-250) /x diam.; conidiis hyalinis,

angiisto-cylindraceis, rectis vel curvis leniter, biguttulatis plerum-

que, (8.5— ) 10— 13 (—16) x 2,5— 3.5 />t; conidiophorius subconicis,

brevibus, ca. 8-10 x 2.5 /x.

Spots conspicuous, fusoid or orbicular, large, about .5-2 cm.

diam., subzonate, rusty reddish with a purplish halo; pycnidia

sooty black, epiphyllous, globose or subglobose, wide ostioles,

erumpent, scattered, approx, (125-), 150-200 (-250) ^ diam,; coni-

dia hyaline, narrowly cylindric, straight or slightly curved, mostly

biguttulate, (8.5-) 10-13 (-16) x 2.5-3. 5 jx; conidiophores subconic,

short, about 8-10 x 2,5 jx.

On living leaves of Helianthus occidentalis Ridd, Tower Hill

State Park, Iowa County, Wisconsin, U. S. A., September 17, 1964.

A small specimen of this fungus was collected on the same host in

Dane Co. near Sauk City, Wis. in 1945 and was mentioned briefly

in my Notes 11 ( Amer, Midi. Nat. 41 : 715. 1949) ,

The erumpent pycnidia tend to collapse upon drying. In section

their inner walls are seen to be completely covered with the coni-

diophore layer. The wide ostioles are delimited by a narrow band

of blackish cells. Two or three conidia with a median septum were

observed in the type specimen, but there is no evidence that this

is the usual thing and the organism seems best referred to

Phyllosticta.

Pyrenochaeta setariae sp. nov.

Maculis angustis, ca. 2-5 mm. longis, saepe confluentibus, pallido-

brunneis, marginibus angustis, fuscis; pycnidiis in seriebus, fusco-

brunneis, muris tenuibus, subglobosis, ca. 100-150 diam.; setis

fusco-olivaceis constanter, flexuosis, muris tenuibus, continuis, at-

tenuatis tantum moderate, apicibus subobtusis, plerumque in osti¬

olis, 2-10, divergentibus, ca. 15-75 x 3-5 /a; conidiis hyalinis, bigut¬

tulatis, ellipsoideis late, subcylindraceis vel subfusoideis, 6-10 x

2.5-4 IX.

Spots narrow, approx. 2-5 mm. long, often confluent, pale brown¬

ish with narrow darker border; pycnidia seriate, sooty brownish,

thin-walled, subglobose, approx. 100-150 y diam.; setae uniform

sooty-olivaceous, flexuous, thin-walled, continuous, only moderately

tapered with tips subobtuse, mostly around the ostiole, 2-10, di¬

vergent, about 15-75 x 3-5 ,/x; conidia hyaline, biguttulate, broadly

ellipsoid, subcylindric, or subfusoid, 6-10 x 2.5-4 ix.

212 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

On living leaves of Setaria lutescens (Weigel) T. F. Hubb. Uni¬

versity of Wisconsin Observatory property near Pine Bluff, Dane

County, Wisconsin U. S. A., September 5, 1964.

This is quite different from Pyrenochaeta terrestris (Hansen)

Gorenz, Walker & Larson, reported on Setaria lutescens and other

grasses. That species has pycnidia which are more or less rostrate,

black, 120-450 /x diam., the setae light to dark brown, 1-5 septate,

and the conidia 3. 7-5. 8 x 1.8-2. 4 /x. Pyrenochaeta setariae seems to

fall within the allowable generic limits of Pyrenochaeta, which lim¬

its, as treated by various authors are rather vague and elastic. As

the infection progresses the leaves infected first die back com¬

pletely. A few of the pycnidia have no setae, but the great majority

do. The setae are not obvious from a hand lens examination as they

are widely spreading and not stiffly erect.

Phomopsis cuscutae sp. nov.

Maculis nullis; pycnidiis fusco-brunneis, lenticularibus applan-

atisque nonnihil, ca. 200-280 jn longis x 125-180 /x latis, ostiolis latis,

ca. 35-50 /X diam.; Phoma-conidiis anguste fusiformibus plusve

minusve, hyalinis, guttulatis, (10-) 12-16 (-18) x 2. 5-3. 8 /x, scole-

cosporis hyalinis, continuis, flexuosis, acuminatis in extremis aliis,

subobtusis in aliis, (15-) 17-20 (-24) x 1-1.5 /x.

Spots none; pycnidia sooty brownish, somewhat lenticular and

flattened, approx. 200-280 /x long by ,125-180 /x wide ; ostioles wide,

approx. 35-50 /x diam. ; Phoma-type conidia more or less narrowly

fusiform, hyaline, guttulate, (10-H2-16(-18) x 2. 5-3.8 /x, scoleco-

spores hyaline, continuous, flexuous, acuminate at one end, subob-

tuse at the other, (15-) 17-20 (-24) x 1-1.5 /x.

On living stems of Cuscuta gronovii Willd. University of Wiscon¬

sin Arboretum at Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin, U. S. A., Sep¬

tember 1, 1964.

A small collection of this species was made at Madison in 1952

and reported on in my Notes 19 (Amer. Midi. Nat. 50: 501. 1953)

as Phoma sp., with the suggestion that the fungus might be a Phom¬

opsis, although scolecospores were not seen in the 1952 specimen.

The ostioles are delimited by a wide band of blackish, thick-walled

cells.

Ascochyta pellucida Bubak on Calla palustris L. Oneida Co.,

Univ, Wis. Finnerud Forest Preserve near Minocqua, July 27. Re¬

ferred here with some question, as none of the conidia observed

were septate. However, the large diffuse lesions are of the type

characteristically produced by species of Ascochyta, and in dimen-

1964] Greene- — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi. XXXI 213

sions of pycnidia and conidia the Wisconsin specimen conforms

closely with Bubak’s description, A conspicuous and destructive

parasite which was affecting hundreds of plants.

Ascochyta babylonica sp. nov.

Maculis circulis vel orbicularibus, vel elongatis varie, sordido-

brunneis, marginibus angustis, fuscis, ca. 2~6 mm. diam. ; pycnidiis

epiphyllis, gregariis, fusco-brunneis, subglobosis, ca, 100-150 /x

diam.; conidiis hyalinis, subcylindraceis, rectis vel curvis leniter,

subfusoideis aliquoties, septis medietatibus, non constrictis,

6-8 (-10) X 2.6-3 /..

Spots rounded, orbicular, or variously elongate, sordid brownish

with a narrow dark brown border, approx. 2-6 mm. diam, ; pycnidia

epiphyllous, gregarious, sooty brown, subglobose, about 100-150 /.

diam. ; conidia hyaline, subcylindric, straight or slightly curved, oc¬

casionally subfusoid, septum median, not constricted at septum,

6-8 (-10) X 2,6-3 ,/.,

On living leaves of Salix babylonica L, x Salix fragilis L, On

Joseph W, Vilas property. Sect. 17, Ridgeway Township, Iowa

County, Wisconsin, U. S. A., August 5, 1964.

There is usually only a single spot per leaf and the infection was

confined to two trees. Of the various species of Ascochyta described

as occurring on willow this seems closest to A. translncens Kab. &

Bub., but differs in having dull brown, fully opaque spots, as op¬

posed to wide grayish spots which are alutaceous in the centers

and later become arid and shredded. The pycnidia are also some¬

what larger in A. babylonica.

Ascochyta vulgaris (Desm.) Kab. & Bub. on Lonicera prolifera

(Kirchn.) Rehder. Sauk Co., near Leland, June 16. This is a good

match for Kabat & Bubak’s Fungi imperfecti exsiccati No. 212 on

Lonicera xylosteum L. In both specimens septate conidia are in the

minority, but such as occur are well-marked and distinct. The au¬

thors give the conidial size as 6-14 x 2.5-4 /., In the Wisconsin spe¬

cimen septate conidia are mostly about 10 x 3 /..

Camarosporium pteridis sp. nov,

Maculis variis, angulosis, obscuris, purpureo-brunneis, vel sord-

ido-brunneis ; pycnidiis epiphyllis, sparsis vel gregariis, immersis,

nigris, muris crassis, subglobosis, magnis, ca. 250-350 /. diam.;

conidiis dilute virido-olivaceis, formis variis, oblongis, subcylin¬

draceis, vel late ovatis, muriformibus, septis dispositis variis, 33—

45 X 15-20 (-25) /..

214 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Spots variable, angled, dull purplish-brown, becoming sordid

brownish; pycnidia epiphyllous, scattered to gregarious, deeply

seated, blackish, thick-walled, subglobose, large, approx. 250-350 /x

diam. ; conidia dilute greenish-olivaceous, variously shaped, oblong,

subcylindric, or broadly ovate, muriform, arrangement of septa

variable, 33-45 x 15-20 (-25) /x.

On living leaves of Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn. var. latiuscu-

lum (Desv.) Underw. ex Heller. Base of “Hemlock Draw”, Sect. 7,

Honey Creek Twp., Sauk County, Wisconsin, U. S. A., August 31,

1964.

This is a destructive parasite which was first noted in small

amount in 1963 and which, in 1964, had devastated a large patch

of bracken, with entire fronds being killed back in many instances.

The type locality is at the base of a gorge from which cool, moist

air drains nightly and where sunlight is limited to a few hours

daily, providing almost continually damp conditions. When collected

the specimen material was wet and the conidia were being extruded

in large cirrhi.

Septoria tenella Cooke & Ell. on Festuca elatior L. Sauk Co.,

near Leland, June 16.

Sphaceloma rosarum (Pass.) Jenkins on Rosa sp. (cult.). Dane

Co., Madison, July ,10.

Cladosporium brachyelytri sp. nov.

Maculis rufo-brunneis, anguste oblongatis, parvis, ca. 1-2 x .2-3

mm. plerumque, saepe multis ; conidiis levibus, subhyalinis vel flavi-

dis, 1-septatis, catenulatis, cicitracibus prominentibus, subcylindra-

ceis vel subfusoideis, (17-) 20-24 (-27) x 3.5-5 /x; conidiophoris

claro-brunneis, geniculatis forte plusve minusve, solitariis vel pari¬

bus divergentibus, aliquoties in fasciis tribus vel pluribus, simplici-

bus plerumque, apicibus raro bifurcatis, saepe denticulatis, septatis,

ca. 50-115 X 4-5 /x.

Lesions reddish-brown, narrowly oblong, small, mostly about 1-2

X .2-3 mm., often many per leaf; conidia smooth, subhyaline to

yellowish, 1-septate, catenulate, spore scars prominent, subcylin¬

dric or subfusoid, (17— ) 20—24 (—27) x 3.5— 5/x; conidiophores

clear brown, more or less strongly geniculate, arising from the

abaxial leaf surface singly or in diverging pairs, or less commonly

in tufts of three or more, usually simple, rarely forked near apex,

often somewhat denticulate, several-septate, approx, 50-115 x

4-5 /X.

1964] Greene — Notes on Wisconsin Parasitic Fungi. XXXI 215

On living leaves of Brachyelytrum erectum (Schreb.) Beauv.

Flambeau State Forest near Oxbow, Sawyer County, Wisconsin,

U. S. A., July 22, 1964.

Sprague, in his “Diseases of Cereals and Grasses in North Amer¬

ica’', lists no truly parasitic Cladosporium, but the very sharply de¬

fined and limited lesions of C. brachyelytri indicate a high degree

of parasitism. Many plants in a limited area were infected.

PRELIMINARY REPORTS ON THE FLORA OF WISCONSIN.

NO. 51. SALICACEAE. THE GENUS SAL/X — THE WILLOWS*

George W. Argus

University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada

With Illustrations by

F. Glenn Goff

University of Wisconsin Arboretum, Madison

The species of Salix occurring in Wisconsin have been treated in

several regional floras and floras of nearby states, as well as in a

preliminary report on the Salicaceae of Wisconsin by D, F. Cos¬

tello (1935). The purpose of the present study is to elaborate on,

to augment, and in some instances, to correct these former treat¬

ments by providing more detailed descriptions than can be pre¬

sented in a flora ; discussing some problems in variation ; discussing

some nomenclatural problems; and pointing out species relation¬

ships and the diagnostic features of closely related species. It is

hoped that this study will make the species of Salix in Wisconsin

more understandable, and encourage some much needed field study,

especially of population variation and ecological modification.

I gratefully acknowledge Dr. Hugh H, litis, of the University

of Wisconsin Herbarium, who suggested this study, for his critical

reading of the manuscript and his comments on the phytogeography

of certain species ; Professor Hugh M. Raup, Harvard Forest, Peter¬

sham, Massachusetts for his valuable comments and suggestions;

and Dr. J, S, Maini for a critical reading of an early draft of this

paper. The curators of the herbaria who provided loans ; Mr. Steve

Gilson and Miss Ollie Weber of Madison, Wise., who prepared the

range maps; Professor Robert T. Coupland, Department of Plant

Ecology, University of Saskatchewan who generously provided

stenographic assistance ; and the collectors who supplied spe¬

cial collections, including those of Mrs. R. Rill, the “Drift¬

less Area” collections of T. Hartley, and the “Glacial Lake

Wisconsin” collections of P. Sorensen, are gratefully acknowledged.

The research was carried out at the W. P. Fraser Herbarium, Uni¬

versity of Saskatchewan and supported by a National Research

Council of Canada Postdoctorate Fellowship. Much of the field work

in Wisconsin, as well as the mapping, was supported by the Re¬

search Committee of the University of Wisconsin, on funds from

the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

* University of Wisconsin Arboretum Journal Paper No. 65.

217

218 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

This study is based on specimens in the herbaria of the Univer¬

sity of Wisconsin (WIS), University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

(WISH), University of Minnesota (MIN), Milwaukee Public Mu¬

seum (MIL), State University of Iowa (lA) and the W. P. Fraser

Herbarium, University of Saskatchewan (SASK) . About 3,500 spe¬

cimens were studied. Descriptions of the species are based pri¬

marily on specimens from Wisconsin. However, several species are

not sufficiently represented from this area, and in these cases type

descriptions and descriptions in floras were referred to in writing

the descriptions. At the end of each description the number of spe¬

cimens on which the description was based is noted. The species are

arranged in a phylogenetic order. Only the important synonymy is

given for each species, followed by a description, a brief sketch of

its ecology, and pertinent discussions of variation, nomenclature,

related species, etc.

Illustrations of leaves and, for some species, pistillate aments are

included. The leaf and ament prints were prepared by Mr. F. Glenn

Goff, all other drawings and graphs were prepared by the author.

Range maps are provided for each species with dots indicating the

exact location of each collection and triangles indicating the pres¬

ence in that particular county. Generalized phenological data are

included in the lower left hand corner of each map (cf. discussions

of phenology) .

Three keys to the species are provided, one to each of the follow¬

ing groups of specimens: staminate, pistillate, and vegetative.

Characteristics which are usually present in specimens in each of

these categories have been used wherever possible. In some in¬

stances reproductive characteristics alone are insufficient to sep¬

arate species or groups of species and in these cases vegetative

characteristics are used as well. The keys must be regarded as

guides and cannot replace a careful comparison of the unknown

with descriptions and herbarium specimens. The best way to gain

an understanding of the willows of a particular region is to study

a series of representative, correctly identified specimens and to co¬

ordinate this with field study, including the tagging and successive

collection of individuals. The variation in some species of Salix

is so great that only field study can finally clarify the taxonomic

units.

Although much of the variation in Salix is often attributed to

hybridization, it is very difficult and highly subjective to identify

hybrids on the basis of herbarium material alone. An understand¬

ing of the degree and importance of hybridization in North Ameri¬

can Salix will only come through experimentation and not by the

indiscriminate labeling of herbarium specimens as hybrids on the

basis of their supposed morphological intermediacy. Very few of

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No, 51

219

the specimens that I have examined in the course of this study

could be unequivocally named as hybrids. Because of our insufficient

knowledge concerning the total variation of many species it is often

impossible to determine whether a particular variant is simply part

of the total species variability or a hybrid. For this reason I have

placed ''intermediate'’ specimens with the species they most closely

resemble rather than in hybrid categories. Those hybrids which

have been recognized are discussed under the primary parent. The .

determination of which species can and do hybridize and the mor¬

phology and fertility of the offspring are among the most important

unsolved problems in North American Salix,

The phenology of Salix in Wisconsin, with particular reference

to time of flowering, is an important consideration in any study of

natural hybridization. For this reason, and as an aid to collectors,

the flowering time of the indigenous species was recorded (Fig. 1).

The distribution maps may be consulted for additional phenological

data. The staminate specimens recorded to be in "anthesis” were

actively shedding pollen, and the pistillate specimens recorded as

"flowering” had stigmas that were apparently receptive. The spe¬

cies are arranged according to their approximate order of flower¬

ing with Salix discolor flowering the earliest and S. syrticola latest.

Due to variation in sample size and the influence of habitat on

flowering time such a sequence of species can be only approximate.

However, it does indicate that there is a sequence of flowering in

Salix and that some species flower earlier or later than others. The

genus as a whole is in full flower during the period from 6-19 May,

with the season extending from 8 April to 21 July.

WILLOW TERMINOLOGY

Height op species. Although the height of woody plants should

always be noted on herbarium specimens this is rarely done. As a

result the heights given for the species in this treatment are based

in part on the literature and in part on my field experience with

the same species in other parts of their range.

Branchlets, The branchlets are the current years shoot growth.

Their color and pubescence vary with stage of development and

the color may change markedly in drying. In this treatment the

color of branchlets applies to dry herbarium specimens.

Leaf measurements. Leaf length, width, and length/width are

based on the largest mature leaf on a branchlet. The total variation

was based on measurements of one leaf per individual from all or

most of the individuals bearing mature foliage. This was done in

order to have comparable measurements from leaves in the same

220 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [VoL 53

Figure 1. Flowering time of Salix native to Wisconsin based on herbarium

specimens. The species are arranged in an approximate order of flowering.

The top line indicates the number of staminate specimens in anthesis and the

bottom line the number of pistillate specimens in flower. The dash (- — )

indicates no data.

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No. 51

221

general stage of development and in the same position on the shoot.

Leaves of different size or shape than given for the species can

be found on almost any specimen, but the most prominent leaves, at

least, will be as described (cf. Figs. 3 and 9). Petiole and stipule

length are based on the same leaf.

Glaucous. Leaves with a waxy bloom occurring on the under

surface are termed glaucous. In some species the bloom, which can

be rubbed off, is absent but the leaf is whitish beneath. This condi¬

tion is apparently caused by the presence of subepidermal chambers

in Salix lucida and its relatives, and is termed “pale”.

Petiole glandular. In some species glands occur at the distal

end of the petiole (near the base of the lamina) and on the adaxial

(inner) surface. These glands may be prominent and stalked or

similar to those on the leaf margin. In some species they are incon¬

spicuous, e.g. Salix alba, but they can be observed under adequate

magnification.

Precocious. The aments appear before the leaves in precocious

species.

Coetaneous. The aments and leaves appear at the same time in

coetaneous species.

Serotinous. The aments appear after the leaves in serotinous

species.

Ament length. The length of pistillate aments is based on ma¬

terial in early fruit, before the seeds are shed.

Reproductive branchlet. The stalk of the inflorescence from

the lowermost flower to the branch is the reproductive branchlet

(Figs. 4 and 6). This structure is usually termed the “peduncle”

in the literature. I have avoided the use of the term because of its

inaccurate application (to be discussed in a later paper) for what

appears to be not a peduncle but a branch terminated by an ament.

In some species (e.g. Salix discolor) the reproductive branchlet is

very short or absent and the ament is then described as sessile

(Fig. ,11).

Bracts. The foliar structure subtending each flower is a bract

(scale in some literature). The foliar structures on the reproduc¬

tive branchlet are leaves although they may sometimes be bract-like.

Abaxial and adaxial. Dorsal and ventral. If a single gland (nec¬

tary) is present in a pistillate flower it is located adaxially, be¬

tween the pedicel and the rachis. If two glands are present the sec¬

ond is located abaxially, between the pedicel and the bract.

222 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

COLLECTING WILLOWS

For identification purposes the ideal collection of Salix should

include a branch bearing leaves and pistillate aments. Most species

are best understood in their pistillate form and the most definitive

keys are to such specimens. However, it is not always possible to

collect pistillate material, nor is it always desirable. In the case

of an ecologist who may be required to collect sterile material dur¬

ing the course of a study, it is advisable to select ‘Typical’’ shoots.

Adequate notes are essential if the material represents sprout

shoots or if the plant is growing under extreme conditions. In gen¬

eral, the more the specimen diverges from the “ideal” the more

copious the notes should be. In most species the staminate morphol¬

ogy is insufficiently known, and descriptions are based on few spe¬

cimens. This general lack of staminate specimens may account, in

part at least, for their limited use in keys. The most valuable stam¬

inate collections are successive collections, but material bearing

leafy branchlets is often adequate.

Valuable and critical information may be obtained through suc¬

cessive collections. Such collections are made over a period of time

(usually a single growing season) from tagged plants. Each col¬

lection in the series represents a different stage in the annual de¬

velopment of the individual. Successive collections are especially

important in the sampling of precocious species (e.g. Salix discolor

and S. humilis) which often drop their aments before the leaves

are produced. Most species of Salix show a high degree of local

population variation and an adequate description of the annual local

population dynamics can only be obtained through successive local

population collections. This would require the tagging and repeated

collections of a large number of plants in the same population. To

my knowledge, work of this type has not yet been published, al¬

though it could theoretically yield significant information.

A. KEY TO STAMINATE SPECIMENS

1. Stamens 3 or more.

2. Staminate aments slender and loosely flowered ; flowers tufted

and more or less whorled along the rachis.

3. Immature leaves narrowly lanceolate, green beneath;

stipules prominent. _ 1. S. nigra.

3. Immature leaves lanceolate, glaucous beneath; usually ex-

stipulate. _ 2. Sf. amygdaloides.

2. Staminate aments thickish and densely flowered; flowers

spirally arranged.

4. Immature leaves bearing caducous ferruginous trichomes ;

stipules prominently glandular. _ 3. S. lucida.

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No. 51

223

1.

4. Immature leaves glabrous; stipules minute or absent,

5. Staminate aments 3-3.5 cm long; indigenous species.

_ 4. S. serissima.

5. Staminate aments 2-6 cm long ; introduced species. _

_ 5. S. pentandra.

Stamens 2.

6. Staminate aments precocious.

7. Staminate aments and leaves opposite or subopposite ; fila¬

ments and anthers coalescent. _ 22. S. purpurea.

7. Staminate aments and leaves alternate; filaments and an¬

thers distinct.

8. Leaves finely to densely sericeous beneath, margin en¬

tire or serrate; rare species in Wisconsin.

9. Leaf margin serrulate ; blade finely sericeous, at least

beneath; filaments pubescent at base; indigenous

species. _ 18. S. sericea.

9, Leaf margin entire, revolute ; blade densely sericeous

beneath; filaments glabrous; introduced species.

_ 21. S. viminalis.

8. Leaves pubescent when immature, but not sericeous;

common species in Wisconsin.

10. Staminate aments 0.7-1. 5 cm long. _ 19. S. humilis.

10. Staminate aments 2-3.5 cm long. _ 20. S. discolor.

6. Staminate aments coetaneous or some subprecocious.

11, Filaments pubescent,

12. Petiole glandular at distal end ; introduced trees.

13. Branchlets tenacious and flexible. _ 8. S. alba.

13. Branchlets brittle at base.

14. Leaves sericeous, margin finely serrulate;

branchlets pendulous; staminate aments 3-3.5

cm long. _ _ _ 6. S. babylonica.

14. Leaves glabrous or glabrate, margin coarsely

serrate; branchlets not pendulous; staminate

aments 3-6 cm long. _ 7. S. fragilis.

12. Petiole not glandular at distal end; indigenous

shrubs.

15. Bracts black _ ,17. S. petiolaris.

15. Bracts yellow or yellow-green.

16. Keproductive branchlets 0.8-8 cm long;

staminate aments often branched; leaves lin¬

ear ; margin remotely denticulate. _

_ 9. S. interior.

16, Reproductive branchlets 0.3-0. 6 cm long;

staminate aments unbranched ; leaves not lin¬

ear, margin entire to crenate._15. S. bebbiana.

224 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53 I

11. Filaments glabrous.

17. Immature leaves and branchlets dull tomentose. _ ;

_ 14:. S. Candida.

17. Immature leaves and branchlets pubescent or gla- I

brous

18. Immature leaves thin and translucent; plants :

with balsam-like fragrance. _ 13. S. pyrifolia.

18. Leaves or plants not as above.

19. Staminate aments few flowered, 0.5-2 cm

long; bracts yellowish; leaf margin entire,

revolute. _ 16. ^8. pedicellaris.

19. Staminate aments many flowered, 1.2-4 cm

long; bracts dark brown to black; leaf mar- i

gin serrate. :

20. Inner bud scale persistent at base of i

aments and vegetative shoots.

21. Immature leaves glabrous, reddish. _

_ 12. S. glaucophylloides.

21. Immature leaves pubescent, some¬

times reddish.

22. Branchlets glabrate or velutious;

immature leaves pubescent, red¬

dish, margin serrate, not prom¬

inently glandular. _ 10. S. rigida,

22. Branchlets grayish tomentose;

immature leaves densely seri¬

ceous, margin prominently glan¬

dular; on Lake Michigan dunes,

rare. _ 11. S. syrtcicola.

20. Inner bud scale not persistent. _

_ 17. S. petiolaris.

B. KEY TO PISTILLATE SPECIMENS

1. Pistils and capsules pubescent.

2. Pistillate aments precocious.

3. Leaves and aments opposite or subopposite. _

_ _ _ 22. S. purpurea.

3. Leaves and aments alternate.

4. Capsules subsessile, pedicels less than 1 mm long ; intro¬

duced tree. _ 21. S. viminalis.

4. Capsules pedicellate, pedicels 1-2.5 mm long; indigenous

species.

1964]

Argus — Wiscousin Flora, No, 51

225

5. Pistils and capsules blunt; aments 1-2.5 cm long; re¬

productive branchlets 2-10 mm long; leaves silvery

sericeous beneath; rare in Wisconsin. _18. S. sericea.

5, Pistils and capsules long beaked; aments 1.5-7 cm

long; reproductive branchlets absent or very short;

leaves not as above; common in Wisconsin.

6. Pistillate aments 1.5-4 cm long in fruit; styles

0.2-0. 4 mm long ; capsules 4-7 mm long. _

_ _ _ 19. S. humilis.

6. Pistillate aments 4-7 cm long in fruit ; styles 0.5-

0.8 mm long; capsules 6-11 mm long. _

_ 20. S. discolor.

2. Pistillate aments coetaneous or serotinous.

7. Pistils and capsules dull white-tomatose. _ 14. S. Candida.

7. Pistils and capsules finely sericeous or glabrescent.

8. Reproductive branchlets 3-6.5-12.5 cm long; bracts

deciduous after flowering; capsules deciduous after de¬

hiscence. _ 9. S. interior.

8, Reproductive branchlets 0.3-1 cm long; bracts and cap¬

sules persistent.

9. Bracts brown, oblong; pistillate aments 1.5-3. 5 cm

long in fruit; leaves linear-lanceolate, serrate to ser¬

rulate, sometimes with ferruginous pubescence. _

- 17. petiolaris.

9. Bracts yellowish to tawny, lanceolate; pistillate

aments 3.5-6 cm long in fruit; leaves elliptic, elliptic-

ovate to oblanceolate, entire or crenate, lacking fer¬

ruginous pubescence. _ 15. S. hebbiana.

1. Pistils and capsules glabrous.

10. Bracts deciduous after flowering, yellowish.

11. Leaves green or pale beneath.

12. Leaves linear to linear-lanceolate, remotely denticu¬

late to serrulate ; upper surface of blade dull.

13. Leaves linear, remotely denticulate; stipules

small or absent; pistillate aments often

branched; capsules slender, 4.5-7 mm long.

_ 9. S. interior.

13. Leaves linear-lanceolate, often falcate, serrulate ;

stipules large and prominent; pistillate aments

unbranched; capsules 3-4 mm long. _1 ,8. nigra

12. Leaves lanceolate or broader, serrulate; upper sur¬

face of blade glossy, often coriaceous or subcoriace-

ous.

226 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

14. Immature leaves bearing caducous ferruginous

trichomes; stipules prominently glandular. -

_ S, lucida.

14. Immature leaves glabrous; stipules minute or

absent.

15. Pistillate aments stout, 2-4.5 cm long; cap¬

sules 7-10 mm long; indigenous species. —

_ 4. S. serissima.

15. Pistillate aments slender, 3.5-6 cm long;

capsules 1-5 mm long; introduced species. _

_ 5. S. pentandra.

11. Leaves glaucous beneath.

16. Pistillate aments short and stout, 2-4.5 cm long;

capsules 7-10 mm long; seeds shed late in season. __

_ 4. S. serissima.

16. Pistillate aments short or long, but slender, 2-3.5

or 4-8 cm long; capsules 1-5 mm long.

17. Pistillate aments loosely flowered ; pedicels long,

1.5-2. 5 mm long; indigenous species; leaves

lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate ; stipules absent or

minute. _ 2. »8. amygdaloides.

17. Pistillate aments not as loosely flowered; ped¬

icels short to sessile, 0.0-0.5-0.75 mm long; in¬

troduced species; leaves linear-lanceolate to

lanceolate; stipules usually small and caducous.

18. Twigs slender and pendulous, not fragile. __

_ 6. S. hahylonica.

18. Twigs stout, not pendulous, fragile.

19. Leaves sericeous, margin serrulate. _

_ 8. S. alba.

19. Leaves glabrous, margin coarsely ser¬

rate. _ 7. S. fragilis.

10. Bracts persistent, yellow to brown.

20. Leaf margin entire, revolute ; bracts sparsely pubescent.

_ 16, S. pedicellaris.

20. Leaf margin serrate to crenate; bracts pubescent to

densely villous.

21. Immature leaves translucent, glabrous or glabres-

cent; plant with balsam-like fragrance; pistillate

aments loosely flowered ; pedicels 2. 5-3. 5 mm long. _

- 13. /S', pyrifolia.

21. Immature leaves opaque, glabrous to pubescent;

plants lack balsam-like fragrance; pistillate aments

densely flowered; pedicels 0.5-2-(2.5) mm long.

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No. 51

227

22. Immature leaves white-pubescent or densely

sericeous, green beneath or thinly glaucous in

some plants.

23. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, apex gradually

acuminate or attenulate, margin serrulate;

immature leaves reddish-purple ; capsules

4~5 mm long. _ 10. S. rigida.

23. Leaves oblong-ovate, apex acute or acum¬

inate, margin glandular serrate, teeth often

prolonged; capsules 5-7 mm long. _

_ 11. S. syrticola.

22. Immature leaves glabrous, sometimes with

caducous ferruginous trichomes, blade thickly

glaucous beneath, often drying black. _

_ 12. S. glaucophylloides.

C, KEY TO SPECIMENS WITH MATURE FOLIAGE

1. Leaves opposite or subopposite. _ 22. S. purpurea.

1. Leaves alternate.

2. Leaves glabrous or glabrate on both sides, midrib and petiole

at times pubescent.

3. Petiole glandular at distal end.

4. Leaves glaucous or whitish beneath.

5. Immature leaves thin and translucent, glabrate and

green on both sides; mature leaves subcoriaceous,

base cordate to rounded ; plants with balsam-like

fragrance. _ 13. S. pyrifolia.

5. Leaves and plants not as above.

6, Leaves coriaceous or subcoriaceous, margin ser¬

rulate, apex acuminate. _ 4. S. serissima.

6. Leaves not coriaceous, margin finely to coarsely

serrate.

7. Branchlets brittle at base; leaves often linear-

lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate; introduced

trees.

8. Leaves coarsely serrate; branchlets not

pendulous; leaves lanceolate to oblong-

lanceolate. _ 7. S. fragilis.

8. Leaves serrulate; branchlets pendulous;

leaves linear-lanceolate. _ 6. S. babylonica.

7. Branchlets tenacious and flexible; leaves often

ovate-lanceolate; indigenous trees or shrubs. _

- 2. S. amygdaloides.

228 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

4. Leaves green beneath, sometimes pale but not glaucous.

9. Leaves linear to linear-lanceolate, often falcate, not

coriaceous, dull above; stipules prominent. _

_ 1. S. nigra.

9. Leaves lanceolate or elliptic-lanceolate, -ovate, or

-oblong, coriaceous to subcoriaceous, glossy above;

stipules prominent or absent.

10. Stipules present, persistent, and prominently

glandular on margin ; immature leaves pubescent.

_ 3. S. lucida.

10. Stipules absent or minute and early deciduous;

immature leaves glabrous.

11. Indigenous species; aments broad; capsules

7-10 mm long. _ 4. S. serissima.

11. Introduced species; aments slender; capsules

5-6 mm long. _ 5. S. pentandra,

3. Petiole not glandular at distal end.

12. Leaves green beneath.

13. Leaves linear to linear-lanceolate, margin remotely

denticulate; immature leaves sericeous. _

_ 9. S. interior.

13. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, margin serrate to serru¬

late; immature leaves reddish-purple, densely

pubescent. _ 10. S. rigida.

12. Leaves glaucous beneath.

14. Leaf margin entire or crenate, not serrate.

15. Low bog shrubs, 20-70 cm tall ; leaf margin en¬

tire, revolute; exstipulate. _ 16. S. pedicellaris.

15. Tall shrubs or trees, 1.5-6 m tall ; leaf margin

commonly crenate; stipulate.

16. Immature leaves with caducous ferrugi¬

nous trichomes; mature leaves broadly el¬

liptic, oblanceolate or lanceolate; stipules

small, often persistent. _ _ 20. S. discolor.

16. Immature leaves pilose to sericeous-tomen-

tose; mature leaves elliptic, elliptic-ovate

or oblanceolate; stipules small, deciduous.

- 15. S. hehhiana.

14. Leaf margin serrate, at least on immature leaves.

17. Leaf base rounded to subcordate ; stipules large

and prominent, or sometimes absent.

1964]

Argus — Wiscousin Flora, No. 51

229

18. Stipules small or absent; immature leaves

thin and translucent; mature leaves lance¬

olate to narrowly ovate, L/W 1. 6-2.5. _

_ ; _ 13. S. pyrifolia.

18, Stipules prominent ; immature leaves thick.

19. Leaves narrow, 1.2-2 cm wide, L/W

3. 7-5-6. 2, apex acuminate to attenu¬

ate, thinly glaucous beneath. _

_ _ _ 10, S. rigida.

19. Leaves broader, 2.4-3. 5-4.6 cm wide,

L/W 1.9-3-4.4, apex acute to some¬

times acuminate, thickly glaucous

beneath. _ 12. S. glaucophylloides.

17. Leaf base tapering; stipules usually small or

absent.

20, Leaves linear to lanceolate, if broader then

with an attenuate apex and serrulate

margin.

21. Branchlets pendulous, brittle; intro¬

duced trees. _ 6. S', babylonica.

21. Branchlets erect, tenacious ; indigenous

trees or shrubs.

22. Immature leaves mostly glabrous,

reddish; leaf blades lanceolate to

ovate-lanceolate, L/W 4.2-5. 7,

apex attenuate; petioles 10-16 mm

long, glabrous. _

_ 2. amygdaloides.

22. Immature leaves velutinous serice¬

ous, green; leaf blades linear to

lanceolate, L/W 5-7, apex acute;

petioles 3-10 mm long, pubescent.

- 17. S. petiolaris.

20. Leaves broader, elliptic to broadly lanceo¬

late or oblanceolate, apex acute to suba¬

cuminate, margin entire to crenate or

sometimes serrate.

23. Immature leaves often bearing cadu¬

cous ferruginous trichomes ; mature

leaves broadly elliptic, oblanceolate to

lanceolate; stipules small, often per¬

sistent. _ 20. S. discolor.

230 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

23. Immature leaves pilose or sericeous-

tomentose; mature leaves elliptic, el¬

liptic-ovate to oblanceolate ; stipules

small, deciduous. _ 15. S. bebhiana.

2. Leaves pubescent, at least beneath.

24. Petioles glandular at distal end.

25. Leaves glaucous beneath, not coriaceous; stipules

small and deciduous; introduced trees. _ S. S. alba.

25. Leaves green or pale beneath, coriaceous or subcori-

aceous ; stipules 1-6 mm long, persistent ; indigenous

shrubs. _ 3. S, lucida, variety.

24. Petioles not glandular.

26. Young branchlets and underside of leaves dull white

tomentose, flocculent above, margin entire and un¬

dulate, revolute. _ 14. S, Candida.

26. Young branchlets and underside of leaves not as

above, margin entire, crenate or serrate,

27. Leaves linear to linear-lanceolate, margin entire

or remotely denticulate.

28. Leaves densely sericeous beneath, margin en¬

tire, revolute ; introduced species. _

_ 21. S. viminalis.

28. Leaves mostly glabrescent, sericeous when im¬

mature or after insect damage.

29. Leaves green beneath, linear, margin re¬

motely denticulate. _ 9. S. interior.

29. Leaves glaucous beneath, sometimes dry¬

ing black, linear-lanceolate, margin ser¬

rate to subentire. _ 17. S. petiolaris.

27. Leaves lanceolate or broader.

30. Leaf margin entire, crenate or sometimes ir¬

regularly serrate.

31. Leaves sometimes bearing ferruginous

trichomes, L/W 3-5, apex acute to acu¬

minate, bright green or gray green

above; aments precocious.

32. Margin revolute, leaves gray-green

above, pubescence beneath persistent,

often drying black. _ 19. S. humilis.

32. Margin not revolute, leaves bright

green above, usually glabrate in age ;

immature leaves commonly bearing

ferruginous trichomes, _

- 20, S. discolor.

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No. 51

231

31. Leaves lacking ferruginous trichomes,

rugose beneath, L/W 2-3.8, apex abruptly

acute, leaves dull green above; aments

coetaneous. _ 15. S. behhiana.

30. Leaf margin definitely and uniformly serrate.

33. Leaves green on both sides; stipules

prominent.

34. Leaves oblong-lanceolate, apex acu¬

minate to attenuate, base rounded to

acute, becoming glabrescent, midrib

often remaining velutinous. _

_ 10. S. rigida.

34. Leaves oblong-ovate, apex acute or

short acuminate, base cordate or

rounded, densely sericeous. _

_ 11. S. syrticola.

33. Leaves glaucous beneath; stipules small

or lacking.

35. Introduced trees; leaves sericeous,

especially beneath. _ 8. S. alba.

35. Indigenous shrubs; leaves finely ser¬

iceous to glabrescent beneath.

36. Leaves finely sericeous beneath, _

- 18. S. sericea.

36. Leaves usually glabrescent, if

sericeous the trichomes are longer

and less regularly distributed

than in the above species. _

_ 17. S. petiolaris.

TAXONOMIC TREATMENT

SALIX L. Sp. PI. 1051. 1753.

Creeping alpine shrubs,, erect shrubs or trees. Buds with a single

outer bud scale fused into a cap or with overlapping margins.

Leaves alternate, simple, and usually stipulate. Flowers unisexual,

borne in spikelike aments, dioecious. The aments sessile on branches

of the previous year or borne on short vegetative shoots (reproduc¬

tive branchlets) on these branches. Each flower subtended by a

bract (scale) and one to several glands (nectaries). The staminate

flowers contain 1-several stamens, usually two. The pistillate

flowers contain a single pedicellate (stipitate), bicarpellate, unilocu¬

lar pistil, with 2 stigmas. The fruit a bivalved capsule releasing

seeds surrounded by an arillate coma.

232 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

The Species of Salix in Wisconsin

Sect. NIGRAE Loudon

1. Salix nigra Marsh. Arbust. Am. 139. 1785.

Black Willow Map 1, Fig. 2.

Shrubs or trees 3-20 m tall, often with several boles ; branchlets

brownish to sometimes yellowish, slender, often pubescent and be¬

coming puberulent or glabrate, brittle at base. Leaf blade linear

to linear-lanceolate, often falcate, 5-10.5 cm long, 0.8-1. 5 cm wide,

length/width 5.5-12, apex attenuate to a narrow tip, base acute to

rounded, margin serrulate, immature leaves often densely pubes¬

cent, sometimes glabrous, mature leaves glabrescent or glabrous,

dark green on both sides, puberulent on midrib beneath; petiole

pubescent to puberulent, 3-8 mm long, glandular at distal end;

stipules prominent, up to 10 mm long, glandular and subpersistent.

Aments coetaneous, borne on reproductive branchlets. Staminate

aments slender 3.5-10 cm long; reproductive branchlets 1-2 cm

long; stamens 3-6, filaments pilose near base, distinct; bracts obo-

vate, pale yellow, pubescent, not deciduous in staminate inflores¬

cence ; glands 2 to several surrounding filaments ; flowers appear to

be whorled along rachis. Pistillate aments loosely flowered, 4-6 cm

long, slender; reproductive branchlets 1-3.5 cm long; capsules

ovoid, glabrous, 3-4 mm long, often deciduous after dehiscence;

styles and stigmas short; pedicel 0.5-0.75 mm long; bracts oblong,

pale yellow, 2-3 mm long, pubescent, deciduous after anthesis;

glands adaxial, about 0.25 mm long. Based on 14 staminate, 29

pistillate, and 48 vegetative specimens.

Salix nigra is a very important component of the southern low¬

land forests where it may occupy pioneer sites along sand bars, mud

flats, and other areas of disturbance in association with Populus

deltoides (Curtis, 1959). It has been collected in bottomland woods

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No. 51

233

Figure 2. Leaves of S', nigra, and S> amygdaloides. Pistillate anent of S. amyg-

daloides in fruit.

234 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

associated with Quercus bicolor, Fraxinus, Acer saccharinum, and

Betula nigra, in wet mixed savanna, sedge meadows, and in the

northern hardwoods.

Sterile specimens of Salix nigra are often difficult to distinguish

from S. rigida. Characteristics which are sometimes diagnostic in¬

clude : leaves green on both sides in S. nigra vs. leaves mostly glau¬

cous beneath in S, rigida; leaves narrower, more attenuate, and ;

often falcate in S. nigra vs. broader and less attenuate in S. rigida;

petiole glandular at the apex in S. nigra vs. petiole not glandular in i

rigida; and trees in S. nigra vs. shrubs in S. rigida. Some of

these characteristics such as leaf glaucescence and shape are subject

to wide variation and are not always definitive in themselves.

The floral morphology of Salix nigra is very similar to that in S.

amygdaloides ; see discussion under that species.

Sect. AMYGDALOIDES Kimura

2. Salix amygdaloides Anderss. Ofvers. Vet-akad. Forh. 15:114.

1858.

Peach-leaved Willow Map 2, Fig. 2.

Shrubs or trees 3-20 m tall, often with several boles ; branchlets

yellow or brownish, slender, glabrous, and tenacious. Leaf blade

lanceolate to ovate-lanceolate, 8-11 cm long, 0.8-1. 6 cm wide,

length/width 4. 2-5.7, apex attenuate, base acute or sometimes ob¬

tuse, margin serrulate, immature leaves mostly glabrous, sometimes

puberulent and becoming glabrescent, reddish, mature leaves dark

green and glabrous above, glaucous and glabrous beneath; petiole

10-16 mm long, yellow, glabrous, sometimes with small glands at

distal end ; stipules none or minute, rarely up to 1 cm long on vig¬

orous shoots. Aments coetaneous, borne on reproductive branchets.

Staminate aments slender, 3-6.5 cm long, sometimes pendulous;

reproductive branchlets 1-3 cm long ; stamens 3-5, filaments pilose

at base, distinct; bracts pale yellow, glabrate abaxially, pubescent

adaxially (inner side), not deciduous in staminate inflorescence;

glands 2 ; flowers appear to be whorled along axis. Pistillate aments

loosely flowered and often lax, 4.5-8 cm long; reproductive branch-

lets 1.5-3 cm long; pistils and capsules glabrous, ovoid, short

beaked, 3-4 mm long; styles less than 0.5 mm long; stigmas short;

pedicels 1.5-2. 5 mm long, slender; bracts oblong, pale yellow, glab¬

rescent at outer tip, pubescent at base and adaxially, deciduous

after anthesis; glands adaxial, reddish. Based on 19 staminate, 26

pistillate, and 18 vegetative specimens.

Salix amygdaloides occurs along the edges of rivers, in alluvial

woods, and margins of swamps, lakes, and streams. It is relatively

1964]

Argus- — Wisconsin Flora, No, 51

235

important in wet southern lowland forests and is absent from the

white pine-hemlock northern hardwoods.

This species is closely related to Salix nigra and, although S,

amygdaloides does have longer more slender pedicels and generally

longer aments, they are virtually identical in their floral morphol¬

ogy. Fortunately they are distinctive vegetatively (Fig. 2) and

leaves are present even on early flowering specimens. The leaves of

S, amygdaloides are broader, glaucous beneath, and rarely as pubes¬

cent, when young, as the narrowly lanceolate, non-glaucous leaves

of S, nigra. Stipules, which are prominent in S, nigra, are very

small or absent in S, amygdaloides. See S, nigra.

Sect, PENTANDRAE Dumortier

3, Salix lucida Muhl. Neue Schr, Ges, Naturf. Fr. Berlin 4:139.

1803,

Shining Willow Map 3, Figs. 3 and 4,

Shrubs or small trees 4-6 m tall; branchlets reddish brown or

yellowish, glabrous and highly glossy, immature branchlets some¬

times pubescent (remaining so in var. intons a) . Leaf blade lanceo¬

late, broadly lanceolate to sometimes elliptic-ovate, 4-14 cm long

(excluding apex), l,4-3,3 (-4.5) cm wide, length/width (excluding

apex) (1.8-)2,2-3.5(-4.7) , apex long-attenuate 2-4.9 cm long on

later leaves, acute to acuminate on earlier leaves, base acute to

rounded, margin serrate, teeth with large glands at the tip, im¬

mature leaves reddish, glabrous or with caducous, ferruginous and

colorless trichomes (sometimes persistent in var, intonsa) mature

leaves glabrous and dark green above (except in var. intonsa) and

glabrous or pale beneath; petiole 5-13 mm long, glabrous or pubes¬

cent on adaxial side, glandular at distal end; stipules reniform to

semicircular, 1-6 mm long, margin glandular. Aments coetaneous,

borne on reproductive branchlets. Staminate aments 1.7-4 cm long;

reproductive branchlets 1-2.5 cm long, often pubescent; stamens

3-6, filaments pilose near the base, distinct ; bracts oblong 2-3 mm

long, pale yellow, pubescent on both sides or becoming glabrate at

abaxial side of apex, not deciduous in staminate inflorescence;

glands 2, more or less cuplike. Pistillate aments 1.8-2. 5-5 cm long;

reproductive branchlets 1.3-2. 5 cm long; pistils greenish or brown,

glabrous, capsules light brown, 5-7 mm long, dehiscent between 7

June and 10 July, often deciduous after dehiscence; styles 0.5-0,76

mm long; stigmas short; pedicels 0. 5-1-1. 5 mm long; bracts oblong-

oblanceolate, 1.6-3 mm long, pale yellow, pubescent both sides or

glabrate toward abaxial side of apex, deciduous after anthesis;

glands small, less than 0.25 mm long, somewhat cuplike, lobed

236 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

adaxially and abaxially. 2n — (Darlington and Wylie, ,1955).

Based on 39 staminate, 38 pistillate, and 59 vegetative specimens.

Salix lucida commonly occurs in wet situations including swamps,

low wet meadows, spruce bogs, mudflats along lake edges, lake

dunes, and river banks. It may also occur along roadsides.

A group of closely related species in Wisconsin includes Salix

lucida, an eastern American element, S. serissima, a western Ameri¬

can element (Raup, 1959), and S. pentandra, an introduced Euro¬

pean species. Salix lucida and S. serissima, although distinct spe¬

cies, have often been confused. The confusion seems to stem from

the lack of a clear understanding of the characteristics ordinarily

used to distinguish them, i.e. leaf glaucescence and leaf shape. In

reference to leaf glaucescence S. lucida is usually considered to have

leaves non-glaucous beneath, but sometimes pale, and S. serissima

to have leaves glaucous beneath. It is difficult to apply this criterion

to herbarium specimens for although the leaves of S. serissima are

glaucous beneath in life, the glaucescence is very thin and is rap¬

idly lost in drying. Only about 2% of the Wisconsin herbarium spe¬

cimens examined retained this waxy bloom. For purposes of herbar¬

ium identification it is desirable to describe the leaves of S. seris¬

sima as whitish or subglaucous beneath and those of S. lucida as

pale green beneath. With this refinement of the definition the

characteristic becomes more useful.

The use of leaf shape places primary emphasis on the apex, for

the shape of the body of the blade is only quantitatively different

(Fig. 4) and for diagnostic purposes is essentially the same in both

species (Fig. 3). Salix lucida has a long-attenuate apex in contrast

to the acute or acuminate apex of S. serissima. However, there is

not only intergradation in apex length between species but even

in the same individual. On a single branchlet of S. lucida the lower¬

most (proximal) leaves have acute apices, the next higher acu¬

minate, and only the distal leaves have the characteristic long-

attenuate apex of the species (Fig. 3). This characteristic is useful

as a diagnostic feature if intra-individual variation and intergrada¬

tion are kept in mind.

Fernald (1950) reports hybridization between Salix lucida and

*8. serissima in northeastern United States and Canada. I have been

unable to recognize this hybrid in the Wisconsin flora. The reason

for this may be sought in the possible ecological or seasonal isola¬

tion of these species in Wisconsin. The taxa are at least partially

isolated ecologically, with lucida occurring mainly on the margins

of meadows, lakes, and streams, and S. serissima occurring in

marshes and bogs. They may also be isolated seasonally but the

available phenological data are still inconclusive, Salix serissima

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No. 51

237

238 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

does shed its seeds later than S. lucida but they both seem to flower

at about the same time.

The species in question are distinct and may be distinguished on

the basis of the following characteristics (Figs. 3 and 4) .

Salix lucida: Stipules 1-6 mm long, always with prominent

glands on the margin. Immature leaves and branchlets usually bear¬

ing caducous ferruginous trichomes. Leaf apex usually long-atten¬

uate. Pistillate aments narrow. Capsules 5-7 mm long and dehisc¬

ing between 7 June and 10 July.

Salix serissima: Stipules minute, ,1 mm long or less, or absent.

Immature leaves and branchlets always glabrous. Leaf apex acute

to attenuate. Pistillate aments broad. Capsules 7-10 mm long and

dehiscing between 9 July and 23 August.

Salix pentandra combines some of the characteristics of each

of the native species. It has narrow (but usually longer) pistillate

aments and short capsules as in S. lucida and it is often exstipulate

with the glabrous, acute to acuminate leaves characteristic of S.

serissima. It rarely occurs as an escape in Wisconsin and is un¬

likely to be confused with either of the native species.

A variant of Salix lucida which has been recognized in this study

is S. lucida var. intonsa Fern. (Rhodora 6 :2. 1904) . It is character¬

ized by persistently hispid-pubescent branchlets and the persistence

of pubescence on mature leaves. This variety is very common east¬

ward, especially in northern New England and the Gulf of St.

Lawrence region. Because of its possible geographic significance, I

have recognized it in the Wisconsin flora.

4. Salix serissima Fern. Rhodora 6:6. 1904.

Autumn Willow Map 4, Figs. 3 and 4.

Shrubs 1-4 m tall; branchlets yellowish to reddish brown, glab¬

rous, highly glossy. Leaf blade broadly or narrowly lanceolate to

elliptic-lanceolate, 5.4-9. 5 (-11.2) cm long (excluding apex) , 0.9-2. 5

cm wide, length/width (excluding apex) (2.7-3-) 3.5-5 (-6) , apex

acuminate on later leaves, base acute to obtuse, margin glandular

serrulate, immature leaves glabrous, reddish, mature leaves dark

green above, thinly glaucous beneath becoming whitish or subglau-

cous, subcoriaceous ; petiole 4-10 mm long, glandular at distal end;

stipules minute, often reduced to a single gland or absent. Aments

coetaneous or subserotinous, borne on reproductive branchlets.

Staminate aments 3-3.5 cm long; reproductive branchlets 1.5-3. 5

cm long; stamens 4-7, filaments pilose below middle, distinct;

bracts pale yellow, oblong, 2-3 mm long, pubescent, not deciduous

in staminate inflorescence; glands 2. Pistillate aments 2-4.5 cm

long; reproductive branchlets 1.7-5 cm long; ovaries reddish, glab-

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No, 51

239

Figure 3, Leaves of S, lueida, S,. serissima, and S. pentandra.

240 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

1 _ ■ ■ _ I _ ■ I ■ I

2 3 4 5 6

LEAF L/W (excluding apex)

Figure 4, (Top) Pistillate eaments of S. lucida, S. serissima and S. pentandra

in fruit. (Bottom) A comparison of the shape of the leaf blades (length-width

ratio, excluding apex) of S. lucida and S. serissima.

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No, 51

241

rous, capsules light brown, 7-10 mm long, dehiscent between 9

July and 23 August, deciduous after dehiscence ; styles up to 1 mm

long; stigmas short; pedicels 0.75-2 mm long; bracts as in stami-

nate but deciduous after anthesis; glands adaxial, about half as

long as pedicel. Based on 7 staminate, 28 pistillate, and 13 vege¬

tative specimens.

Salix serissima is a shrub of marshes and bogs. It has been col¬

lected from Chamaedaphne calyculataSphagnum bogs, Larix bogs,

lake shores, and in willow scrub along creek margins and roadsides.

For discussion of Salix serissima and related species, see

lucida.

5. Salix pentandra L. Sp. PI. 1016. 1753.

Bay-leaved Willow Map 5, Figs. 3 and 4.

Introduced shrubs or small trees up to 7 m tall ; branchlets brown

to reddish brown, glabrous and glossy, immature ones drying

blackish. Leaf blade broadly lanceolate to elliptic-oblong, (3.5-) 7-

8.5 (-11) cm long (excluding apex), (1. 5-) 2.5-3 (-4.3) cm wide,

length/width (excluding apex) 2. 3-2. 9, apex acuminate on later

leaves, 7-12 mm long, base rounded, margin glandular-serrulate,

immature leaves reddish, glabrous, mature leaves dark green above,

green or pale beneath, coriaceous; petiole 4-10 mm long, glandu¬

lar at distal end ; stipules minute, up to 2-4 mm long in some speci¬

mens, deciduous. Aments coetaneous, borne on reproductive branch-

lets. Staminate aments 2-6 cm long; stamens 5, filaments pilose

below middle, distinct. Pistillate aments 3. 5-6 cm long; reproduc¬

tive branchlets 1.5-4 cm long; capsules 5-6 cm long, glabrous, de¬

hiscent between 20 June and 6 Sept.; styles about 1 mm long; stig¬

mas short; pedicels 0.5-1 mm long; bracts pale yellow, oblong, 2-3

mm long, glabrate adaxially and pubescent at base abaxially, de¬

ciduous after anthesis; glands cuplike with lobes adaxially and

abaxially, sometimes laterally, about half as long as the pedicel.

2n = lQ (Darlington and Wylie, 1955). Based on 15 pistillate

specimens and the literature.

Salix pentandra is a species introduced from Europe and is culti¬

vated in Wisconsin. It rarely occurs as an escape.

See Salix lucida for a discussion of related species.

Sect. FRAGILES W. D. J. Koch

6. Salix babylonica L. Sp. PI, 1017. 1753.

Weeping Willow Map 6, Fig. 5.

Introduced trees up to 12 m tall; branchlets slender, pendulous

(in our area), yellowish to brown, glabrous. Leaf blade linear-

lanceolate, 8-12 cm long, 0,5-1. 5 cm wide, base acute, apex long-

242 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

acuminate, margin serrulate, immature leaves sericeous, mature

leaves glabrate, yellowish-green above, glaucous beneath; petiole

with glands at distal end; stipules lanceolate, 2-7 mm long, or

mostly wanting. Aments coetaneous, borne on reproductive branch-

lets. Staminate aments up to 4 cm long, slender ; reproductive

branchlets 0.5-1. 5 cm long; stamens 2, occasionally 3-5 or more,

filaments distinct, pubescent at base; bracts (in both sexes) pale

yellow, pubescent, caducous. Pistillate aments 2-3.5 cm long, slen¬

der ; reproductive branchlets present ; capsules narrowly ovoid, 1-2

mm long, glabrous, nearly sessile; styles about 0.5 mm long; stig¬

mas short; glands adaxial. 2n — 76 (Darlington and Wylie, 1955).

Based on 1 staminate, 3 pistillate, 6 vegetative specimens, and the

literature.

Salix babylonica is a widely cultivated tree native to Asia and

apparently introduced to North America from Europe. It escapes

sparingly in Wisconsin and then may occur along roadsides and

river banks.

7. Salix fragilis L. Sp. PI. 1017. 1753.

Crack Willow Map 7, Fig. 5.

Introduced trees up to 20-30 m tall; branchlets slender, yellow¬

ish to brown, glabrous to pubescent, very brittle at the base. Leaf

blade lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 9-14 (-16) cm long, 1.5-

2.2 (-3) cm wide, apex long-acuminate, base acute, margin coarsely

serrate (4-5 serrations per 1 cm), glabrous above, glaucous orglau-

cescent and glabrous beneath; petiole 8-10 (-18) mm long with

prominent stalked glands at the distal end ; stipules small, caducous.

Aments coetaneous, borne on reproductive branchlets. Staminate

aments 3-6 cm long, slender ; stamens 2, occasionally 3-4, filaments

pubescent at the base, distinct; bracts (in both sexes) pale yellow,

sparsely pubescent, caducous; glands 2. Pistillate aments 5-7 cm

long; reproductive branchlets 1.5-2. 5 cm long; capsules narrowly

conic, 4-5 mm long, glabrous; styles 0.5-1 mm long; stigmas short;

pedicels about twice as long as the adaxial gland; glands 2, the

abaxial small and inconspicuous. 2n = 76, 114 (Darlington and

Wylie, 1955). Based on 8 staminate, 29 pistillate, and 20 vegetative

specimens.

Salix fragilis is a cultivated tree introduced to North America

from Europe. It frequently escapes from cultivation and then may

occur in low areas along the edges of rivers and lakes, and along

roadsides.

In the keys I have used the characteristic pendulous branches of

Salix babylonica to distinguish it from S. fragilis. However, this

character is not invariable. I have seen collections of S. fragilis

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No. 51

Figure 5, Leaves of S. babylonim, S. fragilis, and S. alba.

244 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol, 53

cultivated in Illinois with pendulous branches. Furthermore, Otto

von Seemen in his “Mitteleuropaische Wieden” (191,1) describes

the branches of S. fragilis as often long, thin, and pendent. The

Illinois specimens of S. fragilis were collected by Professor G. N.

Jones and I am grateful to him for calling them to my attention.

This species is sometimes difficult to distinguish from Salix alba,

but its leaves are more coarsely serrate and glabrous, or only

sparsely pubescent at maturity. The hybrid .S', alba X /S. fragilis is

recognized in Wisconsin (see S. alba) .

Sect. ALBAE Borrer

8. Salix alba L. Sp. PI. ,1021. 1753.

White Willow Map 8, Fig. 5.

Introduced trees up to 20 m tall; branchlets greenish or yellow¬

ish brown, pubescent, not brittle. Leaf blade lanceolate to narrowly

lanceolate, 4-8 (-10) cm long, 1-2.5 cm wide, margin serrulate

(about 9 serrations per 1 cm), immature leaves white-sericeous,

mature leaves sericeous (especially beneath), glaucous beneath;

petiole glandular at distal end ; stipules small and deciduous.

Aments coetaneous, borne or reproductive branchlets. Staminate

aments 3-3.5 cm long; reproductive branchlets about 1 cm long;

stamens 2, occasionally 3, filaments distinct, pubescent at base;

bracts (in both sexes) pale yellow, sparsely pubescent and caducous.

Pistillate aments 4-6 cm long; reproductive branchlets 1.5-2 cm

long; capsules ovoid-conic, 3-4.5 mm long, glabrous, sessile or sub-

sessile; styles small; stigmas minute; gland adaxial. 2n — IQ (Dar¬

lington and Wylie, 1955). Based on 4 staminate, 12 pistillate, 5

vegetative specimens, and the literature.

Salix alba is an introduced tree which is occasionally found as an

escape along rivers, especially in southeastern Wisconsin.

Hybrids between Salix alba and S. fragilis seem to be relatively

common in Wisconsin and seven specimens representing this puta¬

tive hybrid have been segregated out of the material studied. The

difficulty encountered in distinguishing between S. alba and S. fra¬

gilis may be due in part to this hybridization ; but our inadequate

representation of these European taxa, and the frequent introduc¬

tion of “unusual specimens'’ (sports, hybrids, etc.) contributes to

the difficulties.

Specimens with sericeous, finely serrate leaves and sessile to sub-

sessile capsules have been named Salix alba. Those with glabrous or

sparsely pubescent, coarsely serrate leaves and capsules on distinct

pedicels have been named S. fragilis (Fig. 5). There are numerous

intermediate specimens in Wisconsin some of which have received

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No. 51

245

varietal names. For our purposes it seems best not to attempt to dis¬

tinguish any of these proposed varietal names but rather to con¬

sider S. alba in a broad sense.

Sect. LONGIFOLIAE Andersson

9. Salix interior Rowlee, Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 27 :253. 1900.

Sand Bar Willow Map 9, Fig. 6

longifolia Muhl.

S. interior var. pedicellata (Anderss.) Ball.

S. interior f. wheeleri (Rowlee) Rouleau.

Shrubs 1.5-2 (-5) m tall, colonial, shoots originating from roots;

branches numerous, grayish; branchlets brown to reddish-brown,

sericeous or thinly so, becoming glabrescent. Leaf blade linear to

linear-lanceolate, up to 6,5-10.5 cm long, 0.5-0. 9 cm wide, length/

width 9.4-15, sometimes broader on vigorous shoots, apex and base

acuminate, margin distantly denticulate with glandular, often pro¬

longed teeth 5-10 per 2 cm, immature leaves sericeous, sometimes

glabrate, mature leaves glabrescent, sometimes sparsely pubescent

or densely sericeous, green on both sides; petiole 2-7 mm long;

stipules absent or minute, or up to 3 mm long, caducous. Aments

coetaneous, borne on reproductive branchlets. Staminate aments

2-3 cm long, lateral secondary aments present in 60% of Wiscon¬

sin specimens; reproductive branchlets 0.8-8 cm long; stamens 2,

filaments pubescent on lower half, distinct ; bracts yellow or yellow-

green, curly pubescent, becoming glabrescent. Pistillate aments

loosely flowered, 2-5.5 cm long, lateral secondary aments present

in 22% of Wisconsin specimens; reproductive branchlets 3-6.5

(-12.5) cm long; pistils glabrescent, glabrous or thinly sericeous,

green or reddish, capsules glabrescent-glabrous, slender, 4.5-7 mm

long, deciduous after dehiscence; styles obsolete; stigmas short;

pedicels 0.5-1 mm long; bracts oblong to linear, 3 mm long, yel¬

lowish (green when young), pubescent adaxially, glabrescent

abaxially, deciduous after an thesis (in pistillate inflorescence only) ,

rachis pubescent; gland adaxial, half as long as the pedicel. Based

on 72 staminate, 81 pistillate, and 61 vegetative specimens.

Salix interior is a pioneer woody plant in primary succession

(Lindsey, et al, 1961). It occurs widely in sandy habitats includ¬

ing sandy lake and river margins, sand and gravel bars, the foot of

sandstone cliffs, sand dunes, edges of cultivated fields, railroad

rights-of-way, and along roadsides. Although it has been collected

in bottomland woods and bogs, it seems to be most abundant in

moist, sandy situations.

246 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Leaves of S. interion

1964]

Argus— Wisconsin Flora, No. 51

247

Vegetative propagation is highly developed in this species and

large clones are commonly produced by vegetative shoots originat¬

ing from roots and from prostrate branches. Although this mode of

reproduction (vegetative buds originating on roots) has been sus¬

pected in other Salix, I have not seen it demonstrated for species

outside of Section Longifoliae (S. interior, S. exigua, et ah). Prop¬

agation is not wholly vegetative. I have seen several collections of

seedlings from Wisconsin (N. C. Fassett 1291 1^, 12915, shores of

the Mississippi, near Dubuque and Potosi, 8 Sept, 1930 (WIS)).

The leaves of seedlings of S. interior, including those cited, have an

unusual lobed blade. This lobed leaf form has been reported by Lind¬

sey, et ah (1961) in seedlings which assumed a rosette-form dur¬

ing their first year of grovrth in open exposed habitats, and I have

collected similar seedlings from a sand bar on the South Saskat¬

chewan River (Argus 91-62, Batoche, Sask,). It is probable that

the lobed leaf is the juvenile leaf shape, however, it may also be

related to the rosette habit produced under certain environmental

conditions. This problem requires further study.

Two variants, one based on leaf width and the other on leaf

pubescence, have been recognized by authors in Wisconsin. The

first (var. pedicellaris) is thought to be characterized by leaves

shorter and narrower (6 mm wide) than '‘typical’'. This is a highly

variable characteristic even on a single plant. In some cases short,

narrow leaves can be related to second growth during the same

year. The second variant (forma wheeleri) is distinguished by its

densely and permanently sericeous leaves. As has been noted by

Costello (1935) and others, sericeous leaves are often related to

insect attack; and in virtually no instance have I seen densely

sericeous specimens of Salix interior which did not show some sign

of insect damage, or in which the sericeous leaved shoots were not

initiated during the year of their development (see Salix behhiana

for discussion of a similar situation). It is very doubtful whether

either of these taxa merit formal taxonomic recognition.

The inflorescences of Salix interior are often branched, having

one or more lateral secondary and even tertiary aments borne at the

base of the primary ament (Fig. 6). Branched inflorescences are

common in staminate individuals (occurring in 66% of Wisconsin

specimens), and somewhat less common in pistillate individuals

(occurring in about 22%). A superficial examination of the branch¬

ing shows that a lateral (secondary) inflorescence is sometimes lo¬

cated in the axil of the first, second, or rarely the third bract near

the base of the primary inflorescence. The secondary inflores¬

cence (s) may have a tertiary inflorescence located in the axil of

one of its lower bracts. The bract subtending the secondary inflor¬

escence is usually deciduous soon after the secondary inflorescence

248 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No. 51

249

begins to elongate. Not uncommonly, one or two secondary

inflorescences may reach anthesis, however, tertiary inflorescences

have not been observed to reach this stage of development. A de¬

tailed anatomical study of branched aments in Salix interior would

contribute important information concerning the nature of the

Salix inflorescence and the relationship between the ament and the

reproductive branchlet.

A situation which may be confused with the development of

lateral inflorescences occurs when the bud in the axil of the distal

leaf on a reproductive branchlet develops during the same year in

which it was initiated. If this happens, two or more aments may be

produced on a single reproductive branchlet. The second ament in

this case can be distinguished from the above by noting that it is

borne on its own reproductive branchlet. However, if buds on the

reproductive branchlet develop during the year of their initiation

they are usually vegetative.

Sect. CORDATAE Barratt

10. Salix rigida Muhl. Neue Schr. Ges. Nat. Fr. Berlin 4:236. 1803.

S. cordata Muhl. Map 10, Fig. 7.

Shrubs 0.3-3 m tall, sometimes taller ; branchlets reddish brown

to yellow-green, glabrate, or often remaining velutinous for two

years. Leaf blade oblong-lanceolate, 6-10.5 cm long, 1. 2-2.1 cm

wide, length/width 3.7-5-6.2, apex gradually acuminate or attenu¬

ate, base rounded to acute or rarely subcordate, margin serrulate,

immature leaves reddish-purple, thin, densely white pubescent, ma¬

ture leaves glabrate, midrib often remaining velutinous, green

above and glabrate or finely pubescent, light green and becoming

thinly glaucous beneath ; petiole 8-17 mm long, velutinous on inner

surface; stipules 5-9 (-20) mm long, lanceolate to ovate semi-

cordate, margin serrate; buds velutinous to glabrate, inner bud

scale separating from the outer and often clinging to the base of the

shoot. Aments coetaneous or subprecocious, borne on reproductive

branchlets. Staminate aments 1.5-2. 5 cm long; reproductive branch-

lets 2-5 mm long ; stamens 2, filaments glabrous, coalescent at base ;

bracts tawny to dark brown, pilose, 1-1.5 mm long; gland adaxial.

Pistillate aments 3-5 cm long; reproductive branchlets 3-13 mm

long; ovaries slender, reddish or greenish and glabrous, capsules

greenish becoming brown, 4-5 mm long; styles 0.5-0.75 mm long;

stigmas small ; pedicels 1-2 mm long, glabrous ; bracts narrow, light

brown to blackish, long pilose, about 2 mm long, apex reflexed in

fruit; glands adaxial 0.2-0. 5 mm long. Based on 14 staminate, 29

pistillate, and 48 vegetative specimens.

250 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [VoL 53

Salix rigida occurs in a variety of habitats from river banks,

creek bottoms, and willow swamps to sedge flats, seepage bogs, Acer

rubrum second growth woods, lake dunes, and waste places such as

ditches and railroad rights-of-way.

The nomenclatural problems surrounding Salix rigida and the

closely related S. cordata Michx. have been discussed by Fernald

(1946). I am following his treatment in using the name S. rigida

and in regarding S. cordata Muhl. as synonymous with it. The en¬

tire complex surrounding these species is confusing to me and is in

need of a thorough study. However, S, rigida in Wisconsin seems to

be a relatively homogeneous species and to represent a single taxon.

Species closely related to Salix rigida in Wisconsin include S.

syrticola and S. glaucophylloides, Salix rigida can be distinguished

from the very rare S, syrticola by immature leaves pubescent and

reddish colored vs. densely sericeous and green, mature leaves ob¬

long-lanceolate vs. oblong-ovate, leaf margins serrulate vs. glandu¬

lar serrate, pistillate aments 3-5 cm long vs. 6-8 cm long, and cap¬

sules 4-5 mm long vs. 5-7 mm long. From S. glaucophylloides it

may be distinguished as discussed under that species. Vegetatively

S. rigida resembles S. nigra; see that species for distinguishing

characteristics.

The pistillate aments of Salix rigida are very distinctive during

flowering and early fruit. At this time the glabrous ovaries project

beyond the bracts and contrast sharply with the long pilose bracts.

The distinctive aspect is lost during the late fruiting stage as the

apex of the bracts becomes reflexed and some of the bracts are

abscissed.

11. Salix syrticola Fern. Rhodora 9:225. 1907.

Sand Dune Willow Map 11, Fig. 7.

Spreading shrubs 1-3 m tall; branchlets grayish tomentose, be¬

coming glabrate. Leaf blade oblong-ovate, 3. 5-9. 5 cm long, 2-6 cm

wide, apex acute or abruptly short acuminate, base cordate or

broadly rounded, margin glandular serrate, teeth often prolonged,

immature leaves densely sericeous, mature leaves pubescent or be¬

coming glabrate, green on both sides; petiole 2-6 (-10) mm long,

pubescent; stipules prominent, 6-15 mm long, semicordate to sub-

ovate. Aments coetaneous, subsessile or borne on short reproduc¬

tive branchlets, Staminate aments 2. 5-4. 5 cm long, subsessile and

subtended by several bracts ; stamens 2, filaments glabrous ; bracts

(in both sexes) oblong, pale brown, villous. Pistillate aments 6-8

cm long; reproductive branchlets about 10 mm long; capsules gla¬

brous, 5-7 mm long; styles 0.7-1 mm long; stigmas small; pedicels

1964] Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No. 51 251

Figure 7. Leaves of S. rigida^ S. syrticola (including- stipules), and S.

glaucophylloides.

252 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol, 53

0.5-1 mm long, glabrous; glands adaxial, small. Based on 1 stam-

inate, 3 pistillate, 3 vegetative specimens, and the literature (espe¬

cially Fernald, 1907, 1946, and 1950).

Salix syrticola apparently is a Great Lakes endemic occurring on

sand dunes and beaches. It is known from only one locality in Wis¬

consin, namely Two Rivers, Manitowoc Co. I have also seen mate¬

rial from the southern end of Lake Michigan at Chicago, Illinois;

the Indiana Dunes State Park and vicinity, Indiana; and New Buf¬

falo, Michigan; and from Big Bay, Bruce Peninsula, Ontario.

In using this specific name I am following Fernald (1946) who

regarded it as distinct from Salix cordata Michx. (S. adenophylla) ,

Whether or not the populations occurring on sand dunes in the

Great Lakes region represent a species different from the closely

related and wider ranging S. cordata Michx. is open to question.

However, this problem cannot be resolved without considering the

entire complex surrounding S. rigida and S. cordata. The determina¬

tion of the true nature and relationships of S. syrticola awaits a

thorough study of this complex (see S. rigida).

12. Salix glaucophylloides Fern. Rhodora 16:173. 1914.

Blue-leaved Willow Map 12. Fig. 7.

S. cordata var. glaucophylla Bebb,

S. glaucophylla (Bebb) Bebb.

S. glaucophylloides Fern. var. glaucophylla (Bebb) Schneider.

Shrubs 1-2.5 m tall; branchlets brown to yellowish, glabrous or

gray pubescent, glossy. Leaf blade elliptic, broadly elliptic, oblong

or obovate, 6.5-8.5-11.4 cm long, 2. 4-3. 5-4.6 cm wide, length/

width 1.9-3 (-4.4), apex acute or abruptly short acuminate, base

obtuse, rounded or rarely cordate, margin serrate or serrate-cre-

nate, immature leaves often reddish, usually glabrous or with cadu¬

cous ferruginous trichomes (the petiole and young branchlet may

be white velutinous), mature leaves glabrate or with persistent pu¬

bescence on midrib, green above, strongly glaucous beneath with

thick layer of wax, often drying black; petiole 4-10 (-14) mm long,

pubescent, dilated at base; stipules prominent, about 10 mm long,

ovate, glandular toothed margin, glaucous beneath; buds glabrous

or pubescent, inner bud scale sometimes clinging to the base of the

branchlet. Aments coetaneous or subprecocious, subsessile or on

short reproductive branchlets. Staminate aments 2-4 cm long, sub-

sessile or reproductive branchlets 2-6 mm long; stamens 2, fila¬

ments glabrous, distinct or rarely coalescent at the base; bracts (in

both sexes) dark brown to black, 1-2 mm long, densely villous.

Pistillate aments loosely flowered in fruit, 3. 5-6.5 cm long; repro¬

ductive branchlets 5-14 mm long; capsules glabrous 4.5-7 mm long;

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No. 51

253

styles 1-1.25 mm long; stigmas small; pedicels 1.5-2. 5 mm long;

glands adaxial. Based on 17 staminate, 40 pistillate, and 35 vegeta¬

tive specimens.

Salix glaucophylloides occurs on sand dunes, sandy flats, and in

thickets along Lake Michigan. It is also known from wet prairies,

stream banks, and along railroad rights-of-way.

This species has been considered by Raup (,1959) to be the east¬

ern segregate of a continuous population whose western segregate

is named Salix padophylla Rydb. The approximate area of overlap

between these two taxa, which may have been isolated during the

Pleistocene glaciation in ''eastern’' and "western” refugia, is in

northern Ontario with Wisconsin probably lying within or near the

southern edge of the zone of overlap. If this interpretation is cor¬

rect it may account for the description of the species in Wisconsin

under the variety glaucophylla, a taxon somewhat intermediate

between S. padophylla and S. glaucophylloides. A critical study of

these two taxa and their relatives is required for an understanding

of the problem,

A closely related species in Wisconsin is Salix rigida Muhl. From

this species S. glaucophylloides is distinguished vegetatively by

broader leaves, less acuminate at the apex, the margin serrate to

crenate, not serrulate, and immature leaves less pubescent and be¬

coming glabrescent earlier. The undersides of the leaves are coated

with a thick layer of wax and the blade often dries black. Repro-

ductively S. glaucophylloides is distinguished by more villous

bracts, especially in the staminate inflorescence, generally longer

pistillate inflorescence, and longer capsules and styles.

A small leaved form of the species (var. hrevifolia (Bebb) Ball,

Ohio Jour. Sci. 50:187. 1950) has been collected along the shores

of Lake Michigan at Two Rivers and Oostburg (/. /. Davis, Two

Rivers, Manitowoc Co., 25 July 19,17 (WIS) ; W. Finger, Two

Rivers, 18 Aug. 1902 (MIL) ; and T. F. Gritting er, Oostburg, She¬

boygan Co. 6 July 1961 (WIS) ) . Although the leaves on these speci¬

mens are small (3.8-5. 8 cm long and 1.6-2 cm wide) this feature

seems to be of doubtful taxonomic importance. It should be

observed in the field and its possible ecological significance studied.

Sect. BALSAMIFERAE Schneider

13. Salix pyrifolia Anderss. Sv. Vet-akad. Handl. 6:162. 1867.

Balsam Willow Map. 13, Fig. 8.

S. halsamifera Barratt ex Anderss.

Shrubs 3 m tall ; reported to have a strong balsam-like fragrance ;

branchlets glabrous, shiny, dark reddish-brown, rarely greenish,

drying black. Leaf blade lanceolate, narrowly ovate, ovate or

broadly so, to oblong-lanceolate, 4-6 (-8.5) cm long, 2-3.5 (-4) cm

254 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Figure 8. Leaves and pistillate aments (in early fruit) of S. pyrifolia and

S. Candida.

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No, 51

255

wide, length/width 1.6-2. 5, apex acute, base cordate to rounded,

margin glandular serrulate on immature leaves, becoming coarsely

serrate or crenate in age, immature leaves thin and translucent,

thinly pubescent or glabrescent, green on both sides or faintly

glaucous beneath, mature leaves subcoriaceous, opaque, reticulate

veined and glaucous beneath; petiole 7-15 mm long, pubescent,

sometimes glandular at the distal end; stipules small, caducous.

Aments coetaneous, borne on reproductive branchlets. Staminate

aments 2.5-5 cm long; reproductive branchlets 5-7 mm long;

stamens 2, filaments glabrous or pubescent at base; bracts (in both

sexes) oblong, tawny, pilose. Pistillate aments loosely flowered,

2.5-6 cm long; reproductive branchlets 0.5-2 cm long, leaves of

reproductive branchlets broad, apex obtuse to rounded ; pistils and

capsules glabrous, up to 5-6 mm long; styles 0.5-1 mm long;

pedicels divergent^, 2.5-3. 5 mm long; glands adaxial. Based on 7

staminate, 26 pistillate, and 22 vegetative specimens,

Salix pyrifolia generally occurs in wet places and is most com¬

monly encountered in Chamaedaphne calyculata-Sphagnum or

Larix-Picea bogs. It has been collected along wet shores and

marshes bordering lakes, in swamps, in the mixed northern hard¬

woods, and in waste places such as railroad rights-of-way and

ditches.

Sect. CANDIDAE Schneider

14. Salix Candida Fliigge in Willd, Sp. PI. 4:708. 1805.

Sage-leaved Willow Map 14, Fig. 8.

Shrubs 0.5-3. 5 m tall; branchlets yellowish to brownish, and

tomentose to floccose when immature, becoming reddish-brown and

glabrescent in age. Leaf blade linear to oblong, sometimes appear¬

ing to be narrowly lanceolate due to revolute margins near the base,

4.7-10.3 cm long, 0.5-2 cm wide, length/width (5-) 7.8-12, apex

acute, base attenuate, margin revolute, entire, undulate, often dis¬

tantly glandular, dull white-tomentose beneath persistent in age,

floccose to pubescent above becoming glabrate, drying dark green

to brown above, midrib prominent and yellowish beneath, veins im¬

pressed above; petiole 3-5-10 mm long; stipules lanceolate, tomen¬

tose. Aments coetaneous, borne on short reproductive branchlets,

Staminate aments 1-1.5 cm long, subsessile, stamens 2, filaments

glabrous, bracts (in both sexes) pale to dark brown, bearded.

Pistillate aments 2.2-5.2 cm long, cylindrical or narrowly so,

densely to loosely flowered; reproductive branchlets 0-15 mm long;

pistils dull white-tomentose, 4-6 mm long, styles about 1 mm long,

red when fresh; pedicels 1 mm long or less; glands adaxial, red

when fresh. Based on 5 staminate, 40 pistillate, and 37 vegetative

specimens.

256 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Salix Candida is a shrub of alkaline Carex-Eriophorum meadows,

sloughs, limestone shores, Larix bogs, and floating Carex-Typha

mats. It commonly occurs in wet calcareous habitats, but it is not

restricted to them.

The distribution of Salix Candida in Wisconsin (Map 14) is simi¬

lar to that of other calciphilous species including Solidago patula

and S. ridellii (Salamun, 1963), Lysimachia quadriflora (litis and

Shaughnessy, 1960), and Gentiana procera (litis, pers. comm.).

Salix Candida principally occurs in eastern Wisconsin, with rare

extensions into northwestern Wisconsin. Its occurrence in Trem¬

pealeau Co., well within the “Driftless Area’', parallels that of

Lysimachia quadriflora (cf. litis and Shaughnessy, 1960).

A glabrate variant of this characteristically tomentose species

has been named Salix Candida f. denudata (Anderss.) Rouleau

(Nat. Canada. 71:266. 1944). Two specimens of this variant from

Wisconsin have been seen (A. M. Fuller 2371, Cedarburg swamp,

Ozaukee Co., Wis., 9 June 1928 (MIL) ; H. litis 17532,1/2 mi. North

of Maplewood, edge of old Larix bog. Door Co., Wis., 9 June 1961

(WIS) ) . Its glabrous or glabrescent leaves, branchlets and capsules

are in marked contrast with the typically tomentose species. Speci¬

mens of typical Candida as well as the putative hybrid S. Candida

X S. petiolaris have also been collected at the Cedarburg swamp

(bog), and it is possible that forma denudata is of hybrid origin.

Other habitats in which S. Candida and S. petiolaris occur together

should be searched for glabrescent hybrids which resemble f.

denudata.

Sect. FULVAE Barratt

15. Salix bebbiana Sarg., Card, and For. 8 :463. 1895.

Long-beaked Willow, Bebb’s Willow Map 15, Fig. 9.

S. rostrata Richards.

S. perrostrata Rydb.

S. hehhianavs^Y. perrostrata (Rydb.) Schneid.

Shrubs or small trees 1.5-6 m tall; branchlets divaricate, reddish

brown, becoming darker in age, gray pubescent, sometimes glabres¬

cent, pubescence commonly persistent for several years. Leaf blade

elliptic, elliptic-obovate, oblanceolate or rarely broadly elliptic, 3-

7.5 cm long, 1. 3-3.3 cm wide, length/width 2-3.8, apex abruptly

acute, rarely obtuse or sometimes tapering, base acute to obtuse,

margin entire to crenate or irregularly glandular toothed, imma¬

ture leaves pilose and ciliate or sericeous-tomentose, mature leaves

pubescent, sericeous-tomentose or glabrate, dull green above, glau¬

cous and often rugose-veiny beneath; petiole (3-) 5-7 (-10) mm

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No, 51

257

258 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

long, pubescent ; stipules small, usually less than 2 mm long, decidu¬

ous. Aments coetaneous or subprecocious, borne on reproductive

branchlets. Staminate aments 1.5-2. 5 cm long; reproductive branch-

lets 3-6 mm long; stamens 2, filaments pilose at base, distinct or

partly coalescent; bracts (in both sexes) lanceolate, yellowish to

tawny, thinly pilose to long pubescent, 2 mm long. Pistillate aments

loosely flowered, often lax, 3.5-6 cm long, reproductive branchlets

3-10 mm long; pistils lanceolate, long beaked, gray sericeous, cap¬

sules pubescent, 3-7 mm long ; styles obsolete ; stigmas short ; pedi¬

cels 2-3.5 mm long ; glands adaxial, half as long as the bract. Based

on 44 staminate, 141 pistillate, and 112 vegetative specimens.

Salix hehbiana is a very common shrub in Wisconsin and occurs

in a wide variety of habitats. In northern Wisconsin it is known

from Larix-Picea mariana forests on the edge of open bogs, thickets

of Abies balsamea, Thuja occidentalis, and Picea glauca; in the cen¬

tral portion from rich deciduous woods, Quercus scrub, swamps,

alkaline sedge meadows, and Larix bogs; and in the south from

bogs, willow swamps, and virgin prairie where it may be asso¬

ciated with Andropogon gerardi, Carex, Cornus racemosa, Corylus

americana and scattered Quercus macro carpa. Throughout the state

it is commonly encountered in old fields and along roadsides.

The variation in Salix bebbiana is highly complex. Its extremes

of variation in leaf pubescence and rugosity have been typified by

var. bebbiana which has pubescent and rugose leaves, and var.

perrostrata which has glabrescent and plane leaves. These charac¬

teristics seem to be influenced by the time of initiation and develop¬

ment of the leaves, the stage of leaf development, and the external

environment. Leaves which develop later in the season, especially

on vigorous or sprout shoots, are more rugose and pubescent than

those which developed earlier. Presumably these leaves were initi¬

ated and developed during the same season. Many of the specimens

identified as var. perrostrata are immature and may become more

rugose in age. Individual shrubs, or even branches, growing under

shade conditions often produce leaves which are less pubescent,

thinner, and more plane than usual, and this may account for some

of the leaves of the perrostrata type in S. bebbiana. Insect attack

may stimulate the host to produce densely pubescent shoots and

leaves (see: Cheney 7U7S, LaChapelle to mouth of Brule R., Wis.,

17 July 1897, (WIS, MIL) ) . This condition is also known to occur

in S. interior. Most Wisconsin material represents some stage of

intermediacy between the extremes of leaf pubescence and rugosity

and the recognition of intraspecific taxa on the basis of this varia¬

tion is of doubtful validity. I agree with Raup (1959) and others in

placing S. bebbiana var. perrostrata in synonymy.

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No, 51

259

Figure 9, Leaves and pistillate aments (in fruit) of S, bebbiana and S,

pedicellaris.

260 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

The leaf margins vary from entire to crenate or irregularly

toothed. This variation, similar to that discussed above, seems to be

correlated with the time of leaf development, or perhaps initiation.

The proximal (lowermost) leaves on almost all shoots have entire

margins, and the distal leaves have margins crenate to toothed. It

is possible that the distal, toothed leaves are not only developed later

in the season but initiated during the season of their development.

Evidence supporting this hypothesis is found in the observation that

all the leaves are often toothed on sprout shoots and shoots located

in the axil of the same year’s leaf. For example see F. C. Seymour

IJpSSO, Lincoln Co., Wis., Tomahawk, 10 July 1952, (WIS) ; and

121SU, Lincoln Co., Wis., Pine R., 27 Aug. 1950, (WIS). This possi¬

ble correlation of variation with seasonal development and/or initi¬

ation emphasizes the need for thorough developmental and auteco-

logical studies of Salix hehbiana.

Sect. ROSEAE Andersson

16. Salix pedicellaris Pursh El. Am. Sept. 2:611. 1814.

Bog Willow Map 16, Fig. 9.

S. pedicellaris var. hypoglauca Fern.

Low shrubs 20-70 cm tall, rarely to 2.5 m, loosely branched or

simple, often partly decumbent and rooting along the branches;

branchlets glabrous, yellowish, becoming reddish brown and gray¬

ish in age. Leaf blade oblong, elliptic-oblong, narrowly oblanceolate,

obovate, or oblanceolate, (1. 9-) 2. 5-4.7 (-6.9) cm long, 0.6-1. 3

(-2.2) cm wide, length/width ( 1. 9-) 2.5-4 (-4.9) , apex obtuse to

rounded or acute, base narrowed, obtuse to acute, margin entire,

revolute, mature leaves subcoriaceous, dark green, glabrous, and

with fine but prominent veination above, glaucous and with promi¬

nent midrib beneath; petiole (2-) 3-5 (-6) mm long; exstipulate.

Aments coetaneous, borne on reproductive branchlets. Staminate

aments 0.5-2 cm long; reproductive branchlets 0.5-1 cm long;

stamens 2, filaments glabrous, distinct or partly coalescent, bracts

(in both sexes) tawny, sparsely pubescent on adaxial surface, gla¬

brous abaxially. Pistillate aments loosely flowered, broad, 1.5-3 cm

long; reproductive branchlets 1-1.5 or up to 5 cm long; pistils gla¬

brous, dark red or yellow, capsules becoming yellow to brown, 4-6

(-8) mm long; styles very short or obsolete; pedicels 2-3 mm long.

Based on 7 staminate, 58 pistillate, and 31 vegetative specimens.

Salix pedicellaris is a bog species found in open Sphagnum-

Chamaedaphne bogs, Larix-Sphagnum bogs, Larix, Picea, Pinus

strobus and P. resinosa bogs, and floating bogs. It also occurs along

lake shores and in moist to wet Acer rubrum-Pinus strobus north¬

ern hardwoods.

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No, 51

261

In 1909 Fernald proposed names for three variations of Salix

pedicellaris. The commonest variant (var. hypoglauca) had leaves

obovate-oblong and glaucous beneath. The second variant (var.

pedicellaris) was uncommon and although similar to the first had

leaves which were green on both sides. The third variant (var.

tenuescens) was narrow leaved and similar in other respects to

var. hypoglauca. The two names which are most important in Wis¬

consin are var. hypoglauca and var. pedicellaris. Evidence obtained

from Wisconsin specimens suggests that the grounds for distin¬

guishing between these names, i.e. the absence of leaf glaucescence,

in one variety is simply an artifact and not of taxonomic impor¬

tance. It is well known that leaf glaucescence may be driven off in

drying specimens over excessive heat. I have seen 4 Wisconsin

specimens of S. pedicellaris with leaves green on both sides. In one

of these (H. litis t3688, Oconto Co., Wis., Island Lake, 11 July 1959,

WIS) a duplicate specimen (in Argus collection) had leaves which

were partly and irregularly glaucous beneath giving every indica¬

tion that it had been dried over excessive heat which drove off some

of the waxy bloom. The other three specimens may have been simi¬

larly affected.

The material that Fernald cites in his description of var. hypo¬

glauca has been noted by Schneider (1920) to have leaves . .

with at least a partly more or less glaucescent undersurface. ’’ In

the light of the knowledge that leaf glaucescence is, at best, a fickle

characteristic I am not recognizing the name Salix pedicellaris var.

hypoglauca in Wisconsin. A complete study of this species should be

undertaken to finally settle the status of the proposed intraspecific

taxa.

Sect. GRISEAE Borrer

17. Salix petiolaris J. E. Smith, Trans. Linn. Soc. 6:122. 1802.

Slender Willow Map ,17, Fig. 10.

S. gracilis Anderss.

Shrubs 1-3 m tall ; branches slender, dark brown, drying blackish

and glabrate, rarely pruinose; branchlets yellow-green to brown,

pubescent. Leaf blade linear to lanceolate, 3.8-11 cm long, 0.6-1. 9

cm wide on flowering specimens, 3.8-6. 8 cm long, 0.8-1 cm wide on

fruiting specimens, length/width 5-7 (-9), apex acuminate, base

acute, margin serrate with sharp sometimes prolonged teeth, to

irregularly and distantly serrate or subentire, immature leaves

velutinous-sericeous, often with ferruginous trichomes, mature

leaves glabrate or remaining more or less sericeous, green and gla¬

brate above, midrib pubescent, glaucous and glabrate to thinly ser-

262 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

iceous beneath, often drying black; petiole 3-10 mm long, yellow

and pubescent; stipules absent or minute and caducous. Aments

coetaneous, sessile or on reproductive branchlets. Staminate aments

1.2-2 cm long, sessile or reproductive branchlets 1-2 mm long; an¬

thers 2, filaments glabrous or pubescent at base, distinct; bracts (in

both sexes) oblong, 1-2 mm long, brown, pubescent. Pistillate

aments broad and sometimes lax in fruit, 1. 5-3-3. 5 cm long; repro¬

ductive branchlets 3-7 mm long; pistils densely sericeous, capsules

finely sericeous, lanceolate, slender beaked, 5-8 mm long; styles

obsolete; stigmas short; pedicels sericeous, 1.5-4 mm long; glands

adaxial, small. Based on 20 staminate, 98 pistillate, and 102 vegeta¬

tive specimens.

Salix petiolaris is a common shrub occurring in a variety of hab¬

itats from sandy or peaty low prairie (with Sorghastrum, Castil-

leja coccinea, Viola sagittata, and V. lanceolata), sand prairies

(with Artemisia caudata, Viola adunca, and Antennaria), sandy

lakeshores and thickets (including dunes) ; to damp, low, rich

deciduous woods (with TJlmus, Tilia, Acer, Betula, and Quercus

macrocarpa), and northern hardwoods (with Acer rubrum and

Finns strobus, or Abies, Picea, Tsuga, and Acer) ; to lake edge com¬

munities including Juncus-Carex meadows; and peat bogs (with

Picea, Larix, and Sphagnum) . It also occurs in waste places along

roadsides and railroad rights-of-way.

There has been considerable discussion in the literature concern¬

ing the correct name for this species (see: Schneider, 1920:16-19;

Fernald, 1946:46-48; Ball, 1948; and Raup, 1959:84-85). One view

is that Salix petiolaris is an English “tree’^ and has nothing to do

with the North American taxon whose correct name is S. gracilis

(Fernald, 1946) ; the other view is that the type of S. petiolaris was

a specimen introduced from eastern North America into an English

garden and described in a more or less atypical form (Ball, 1948).

Although there is a large measure of subjectivity in both argu¬

ments, Ball’s argument is the most convincing, and it seems most

likely that S. petiolaris was based on material of American origin.

For the time being I will continue to recognize S. petiolaris as the

name applicable to the North American taxon.

This nomenclatural dispute has brought to light the east-west

geographic variation which occurs in this species. A species concept

based on S. petiolaris, whose type is presumably of eastern Ameri¬

can origin, has large leaves (4-10 cm long, 2 cm wide) with promi¬

nently serrate margins. A concept based on S. gracilis, described

from material from Cumberland House, Saskatchewan, has leaves

somewhat smaller (2.5-7 cm long, 3-11 mm wide) and margins

often subentire. Most of the material from Wisconsin is of the east-

1964]

CM

4

3

2

I

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No. 51

SALIX PETIOLARIS

263

• • •

• • • • • •

• • • •••

• • Oi

o o c» o • •

O • 0 •

_ LEAF LENGTH _

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 II CM

Figure 12, Leaf length and width of Salix petiolaris in Wisconsin. The scatter

diagram compares leaf length and leaf width of fruiting (open circles) and

vegetative (closed circles) specimens. See text for discussion,

ern type (Fig, 12) although there is considerable variation in leaf

size. This variation seems to be correlated with either the stage of

ontogenetic development or a difference in leaf size on vegetative

and reproductive branches. Specimens with subentire leaves are

rare in Wisconsin. A study of population and geographic variation

in this taxon would contribute to an understanding of the intraspe¬

cific variation which may be related to postglacial plant migrations.

A close relationship seems to exist between Salix petiolaris and

S. sericea. However, on the basis of the available material of S.

sericea the relationship cannot be fully explained. These species can

be distinguished by the narrow beaked ovaries, coetaneous aments,

longer reproductive branchlets, and generally glabrate mature

leaves of S. petiolaris contrasted with the blunt ovaries, apparently

precocious aments, very short or absent reproductive branchlets,

and finely sericeous undersurface of leaves in S. sericea.

Specimens of Salix petiolaris with permanently sericeous leaves

do occur in Wisconsin, and they have generally been named S.

sericea, although they are clearly of the S. petiolaris type. These

specimens may fit the concept of S. X subsericea (Anderss.)

Schneid. Ill. Handb. Laubholzk. 1:65, 1904, a hybridogenous taxon

supposedly representing S. petiolaris X S. sericea. I am reluctant

264 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

to regard those specimens with coarsely sericeous leaves as S,

sericea or as the above hybrid. The reasons are two, (1) a more

or less continuous variation in leaf pubescence can be observed in

Salix petiolaris, and (2) typical S. sericea is extremely rare in the

state and unknown from the localities in which the sericeous form

of S. petiolaris occurs.

Specimens which represent the sericeous form of Salix petiolaris

in Wisconsin include: Heyns, Laferriere, Meyer, and Nichols, Co¬

lumbia Co., 29 Apr., 14 May, and 31 May 1960 (a successive collec¬

tion) ; M. Johnson 29, Wood Co., 20 May 1960; F. Seymour 157 US,

Lincoln Co., Pine R., 8 July 1954; U. Gale, et al.„ Oconto Co., Lena,

25 June 1958 ; U. litis 15132, Waushara Co., Wautoma, 1 Sept. 1959 ;

15237, Portage Co., Rosholt, 2 Sept. 1959 ; K. White 708, Columbia

Co., Portage, 30 Aug. 1960; 293, Dane Co., Stoughton, 15 June

1960; U15, Dodge Co., Horicon, 7 July 1960 (WIS).

18. Salix sericea Marsh. Arbust. Am. 140. 1785.

Map 11, Fig. 10.

Shrubs 1-3 m tall; branchlets glabrate, light brown to dark

brown. Leaf blade narrowly lanceolate, 4-10 cm long, 1-2.5 cm

wide, apex acuminate, base acute, margin serrulate, immature

leaves sericeous on both surfaces, mature leaves puberulent to

glabrescent above, silvery sericeous beneath, blackening in drying;

petiole 5-10 mm long; stipules on sprout shoots lanceolate, decidu¬

ous. Aments apparently precocious, sessile or borne on short repro¬

ductive branchlets. Staminate aments (unknown from Wisconsin)

1-2.5 cm long; stamens 2, filaments distinct, pubescent at base;

bracts (in both sexes) dark brown to blackish. Pistillate aments

1-2.5 cm long; reproductive branchlets 2-10 mm long; capsules

blunt, sericeous, 3-5 mm long ; styles obsolete ; stigmas short ; pedi¬

cels 1-2 mm long. Based on 3 pistillate, 4 vegetative specimens, and

the literature.

Salix sericea occurs in Wisconsin in wet, boggy soils and sand

terraces along rivers and on ledges above rivers.

This species is rare in Wisconsin and unequivocal specimens are

known from only the following: Clark Co.: Neillsville, 1915, Goessl

s.n. (WIS) ; Jackson Co. : Ledges along Black River, near Hatfield,

Fassett & Schmidt 15U95 (WIS) ; shrub, moist acid meadow near

the Black River, sect. 36, Melrose Township, Hartley & Hartley

3136a (WIS) ; Richland Co. : sand terraces of the Wisconsin River,

1 mi. south of Gotham, Hartley 523U (lU), A fourth specimen may

have been collected at Beloit, but it is on a sheet with specimens

from New York and the locality is in doubt. Salix sericea is closely

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No. 51

265

related to S. petiolaris (see that species) . Pistillate Wisconsin speci¬

mens have a very low level of seed formation suggesting that they

may be hybrids.

Figure 10. Leaves of petiolaris, S. sericea, and S. purpurea. Pistillate ament

of S. petiolaris in fruit.

266 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Sect. CAPREAE Bluff and Fingerhuth

19. Salix humilis Marsh. Arbust. Am. 140. 1785.

Upland Willow, Prairie Willow Map 18, Fig. 11.

S. tristis Ait.

S. humilis var. microphylla (Anderss.) Fern.

Shrubs 1-3 m tall ; branchlets yellow to brown, densely pubescent

to glabrate, dull, drying dark. Leaf blade narrowly to broadly ob-

lanceolate, sometimes obovate, 4-10 cm long, 0.8-1. 9 (-2.7) cm

wide, length/width 3.2-5 (-6.3), apex acute to short acuminate,

base acute, margin subentire, undulate or crenate, revolute, imma¬

ture leaves tomentose, sometimes with ferruginous trichomes, ma¬

ture leaves pubescent to glabrate, gray-green above, rugose, pubes-

cent-tomentose to glabrate and glaucous beneath; petiole (2-) 5-10

(-15) mm long, yellow, pubescent; stipules narrow, deciduous,

3-11 mm long. Aments precocious, sessile. Staminate aments 7-15

mm long, sessile, usually subtended by several light colored, sterile

bracts; stamens 2, anthers often reddish (drying purple), filaments

glabrous, distinct; bracts (in both sexes) 1.5-2 mm long, brown to

black, or often bicolored, long villous. Pistillate aments (0.6-1-)

1.3-4 (-5) cm long, subsessile often on short reproductive branch-

lets with several sterile, light colored or greenish bracts; pistils

gray sericeous, capsules long beaked, 4-7 mm long, thinly pubes¬

cent; styles short; stigmas short; pedicels 1-2.5 mm long; gland

adaxial. Based on 25 staminate, 76 pistillate, and 131 vegetative

specimens.

Salix humilis commonly occurs in wet or wet-mesic prairie where

it has been collected in association with Andropogon gerardi, Car ex,

Cornus racemosa and Corylus americana. It also occurs on sandy

uplands in pine barrens with Pinus banksiana and Quercus, in oak

barrens associated with Quercus velutina and Q. alba, and around

the base of sandstone bluffs. It has also been collected in willow

thickets grading into Carex-Typha “swinging’' mats, and Sphag¬

num bogs.

Salix humilis and the related S. discolor are the earliest flowering

species in Wisconsin and, as a result, they are the most conspicuous

willows in the early spring. These species have precocious aments

and flower in April and early May.

Salix humilis is a variable species which intergrades in one direc¬

tion with S. discolor and in another with S. scouleriana Barratt.

The glabrate leaved form (var. hyporhysa Fern. Rhodora 48:45.

1946) probably represents intergradation with S. discolor (see dis¬

cussion under that species), and the tomentose leaved form (var.

keweenawensis Farwell, Rep. Mich. Acad. Sci. 6:206. 1904) repre-

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No. 51

267

Figure 11. Leaves of S. humilis and S. discolor. Pistillate aments of S, humilis

(upper in fruit, lower in flower) and S, discolor (in fruit).

268 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

sents intergradation with S. scouleriana. The problems in identifica¬

tion which are posed by this variation are of considerable impor¬

tance, especially to ecologists who may be identifying sterile speci¬

mens. The intergradation with S. scouleriana is not of particular

importance in Wisconsin but it becomes an acute problem in south¬

ern Ontario and Manitoba. It may be that this intergradation is due

to hybridization, but this is speculation in the absence of experi¬

mental evidence. The total variation based on population studies is

not yet available for these three species {S. discolor, S. humilis, and

S, scouleriana) and this poses an obstacle to the understanding of

any of these taxa.

A diminutive form of Salix humilis which occurs in Wisconsin

has been named S. tristis Ait., or S. humilis var. microphylla Fern.

It is distinguished from the species on the basis of the small size

of all its organs and may represent a prairie ecotoype or perhaps

an ecophene (a reversible ecological modification). Whether or not

this is so remains to be studied.

None of the forementioned varieties have been distinguished in

this study.

20. Salix discolor Muhl. Neue Schr. Ges. Nat. Fr. Berlin 4:234.

1803.

Pussywillow Map 19, Fig. 11.

Shrubs or small trees 2-3 (-6) m tall; branchlets reddish to dark

brown, pubescent, usually becoming glabrate the same year but

sometimes remaining pubescent ; branches glabrous and sometimes

pruinose. Leaf blade narrowly to broadly elliptic, oblanceolate or

lanceolate, 3.7-8 (-11) cm long, 1.2-3 cm wide, length/width

(2.3-) 3-3.5 (-4.5) , apex acute to subacuminate, base obtuse to

acute, margin crenate to serrate, immature leaves mostly thinly

pubescent composed in part of caducous ferruginous trichomes,

sometimes densely pubescent, blade usually thin and commonly

reddish, mature leaves glabrate and dark green above, glabrate to

puberulent, and glaucous beneath; petiole 7-17 mm long, often

pubescent; stipules present, prominent on sprout shoots. Aments

precocious, sessile or subsessile. Staminate aments sessile usually

with several sterile, yellowish or greenish bracts at the base,

2-3.5 cm long; stamens 2, filaments glabrous or puberulent at the

base, distinct; bracts black, brown or bicolored, 1.5-2, 5 mm long,

acute to rounded at apex, long villous. Pistillate aments densely

flowered, sometimes becoming loosely flowered in fruit (2. 5-3. 5-)

4-7 cm long, up to 9.5 cm in fruit; sessile or subsessile with several

sterile, light colored bracts at the base, rarely borne on a reproduc¬

tive branchlet (see discussion) ; pistils densely sericeous, capsules

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Fiord, No. 51

269

long beaked, pubescent to puberulent, 6-11 mm long; styles 0.5-0.8

mm long; stigmas as long or longer than the styles, up to 1 mm

long; pedicels 2-2.5 mm long, bracts black to brown, broad, 1.5-2

mm long, sometimes oblong and up to 3 mm long, long villous to

pubescent; glands adaxial, 0.5-0. 8 mm long. Based on 24 staminate,

97 pistillate, and 127 vegetative specimens.

Sdlix discolor commonly occurs in willow thickets along rivers,

wet margins of lakes (in Juncus-Carex or Career-grass meadows),

and in Chamaedaphne-Sphagnum bogs. It also occurs in Acer ru-

brum-Betula northern hardwoods, Quercus bicolor-Fraxinus-Acer

saccharinum-Betula nigra bottomland woods, pine barrens, dry

sandy beaches, and prairies. It is a component of the shrub carr in

association with other willows including S. bebbiana, S. interior and

S. petiolaris.

This species is highly variable; however, the factors which in¬

fluence the variation are poorly understood. Two of the many vari¬

eties and forms of Salix discolor which have been described are of¬

ten found in modern literature. The typical variety of S. discolor

is characterized by glabrous branchlets, or, if pilose, soon becoming

glabrate, and leaves early glabrate. The var, latifolia Anderss. (Sv.

Vet-akad. Handl. 6:84. 1867) is characterized by pubescent branch-

lets which remain puberulent in the second year, and leaves puberu¬

lent beneath and often retaining ferruginous trichomes. This varia¬

tion in pubescence is not extraordinary in Salix and has been de¬

scribed in S. bebbiana, S. humilis, S. interior, et al. The pubescent

form of S. discolor (var, latifolia) intergrades with S. humilis (see

that species) and raises the problem of identification of some vege¬

tative specimens and the question of hybridization between S. dis-

270 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

color and S. humilis. Hybridization may be more common than is

suggested by the present circumscription of these taxa and it may

be that specimens referrable to var. latifolia are of hybrid origin.

A parallel situation may exist in relation to the glabrate form of

S. humilis (var. hy porky sa) which is discussed under that species.

The possibility of hybridization between these two common species

deserves careful field study and experimental hybridization. I have

not attempted to formally recognize S. discolor var. latifolia in my

annotations of Wisconsin specimens.

The aments of Salix discolor are usually sessile or subsessile.

However, there are several specimens which have aments borne on

reproductive branchlets 8-25 mm long, and represent exceptions

to this statement. The specimens are: W. Finger, Milwaukee Co.,

21 May 1908 (MIL), 20-25 mm long; W. Derr, K. Rabideau, B.

Smith 27, Iowa Co., Lone Rock, 14 May 1961 (WIS)„ 8-10 mm

long; and P. Wise, Sauk Co., Leland, 19 May 1961 (WIS), 8-10

mm long.

The formulation of a clear concept of Salix discolor has been

handicapped by its precocious nature and the manner in which

collections are made. This species flowers early and the aments are

deciduous before the leaves mature. Therefore, most herbarium

collections represent either fertile or vegetative material, but rarely

both. This problem can be largely eliminated by applying the tech¬

nique of successive collection. Such collections would enable the stu¬

dent to relate fertile and vegetative material and permit a more

meaningful evaluation of putative hybrids or ecological

modifications.

I have examined several vegetative specimens which have been

determined as Salix planifolia Pursh. Their leaves are smaller than

usual for S. discolor, but they are similar to that species in all

other respects. In the absence of flowering or fruiting specimens of

S. planifolia I cannot recognize that species in Wisconsin and I

have referred material so identified to S. discolor.

Sect. VIMINALIS Bluff and Fingerhuth

21. Salix viminalis L. Sp. PI. 1021. 1753. Osier

Introduced shrubs or small trees; branchlets yellowish to red¬

dish brown, puberulent and becoming glabrous. Leaf blade linear

to linear-lanceolate, 12-17 (-25) cm long, 0.5-1 cm wide, apex long

acuminate, base acute, margin entire, revolute, mature leaves dull

green and puberulent above, densely sericeous beneath, midrib yel¬

low; petiole slender, up to 1 cm long; stipules narrow, caducous.

Aments precocious, sessile. Staminate aments 2-3 cm long, sessile;

1964]

Argus — Wisconsin Flora, No, 51

271

stamens 2, filaments slender, glabrous, distinct; bracts (in both

sexes) acutish, black, long villous. Pistillate aments up to 4-6 cm

long, sessile; capsules 4-6 mm long, subsessile, densely sericeous;

styles 0.7-1.2 mm long; stigmas short. 2n — 38 (Darlington and

Wylie, 1955). Based on 2 staminate, 2 vegative specimens (all pos¬

sible hybrids), and the literature.

Salix viminalis is a species introduced from Europe. It is not

known to occur as an escape in Wisconsin.

All of the specimens I have seen from Wisconsin are possible

hybrids. The typical form of the species is unknown in Wisconsin.

Salix incana Schrank, Baier. FI. 1 : 230. 1789

A specimen which may represent this species was seen in the

W. P. Fraser Herbarium (L. H. Skinners, Milwaukee, 10 Aug. 1940

(SASK) . It is an introduced, cultivated species very similar to Salix

viminalis. From that species it differs in being a lower shrub with

shorter acute leaves, pistillate aments shorter in fruit (1-2 cm vs.

4-6 cm long) and pedicellate capsules (Fernald, 1950). This species

is of doubtful occurrence in Wisconsin and is not included in the

keys.

Sect. HELIX Dumortier

22. Salix purpurea L. Sp. PL 1017. 1753.

Purple Osier Map 20, Fig. 10.

Introduced shrubs 1-2.5 m tall; branchlets slender, glabrous, yel¬

low, green to brown, sometimes purplish on immature branchlets.

Leaf blade spatulate to linear, 3.4-6.8 cm long, 0.8-1 cm wide, apex

acute to acuminate, base obtuse, margin entire on basal portion, ir¬

regularly serrulate above, glabrous, glaucous beneath, subopposite ;

petiole 2-6 mm long ; exstipulate. Aments precocious, sessile or sub-

sessile. Staminate aments 2-3 cm long, narrow, sessile or subsessile,

subtended by several yellowish or green bracts, aments usually

in subopposite pairs ; stamens 2, filaments pubescent on lower half,

filaments and anthers often coalescent; bracts (in both sexes) obo-

vate, bicolor or black, pubescent, often reflexed in anthesis. Pistil¬

late aments 2-3 cm long, narrow, subsessile and bracteate; pistils

densely pubescent, capsules pubescent, ovoid, 3 mm long, sessile;

styles and stigmas minute. 2n — 38 (Darlington and Wylie, 1955).

Based on 10 staminate, 2 pistillate, 14 vegetative specimens, and

the literature.

Salix purpurea was introduced into North America from Europe

during colonial times. It is found widely as an apparent escape and

may occur along river banks, lake shores (especially Lake Michi¬

gan), wooded ravines, sandy beaches, or along roadsides and in

waste places.

272 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

This species is characterized by its subopposite leaves and

aments, its coalescent filaments and anthers, and its prominently

bicolored bracts,

Eeferences

Argus, G, W. 1957. The willows of Wyoming-. Univ. of Wyo. Publ. 21:1-63.

Ball, C. K. 1924. The Salicaceae. In: C. C. Deam, Shrubs of Indiana. Dept, of

Conservation, State of Indiana, Publ. 44:35-66.

- . 1948. Salix petiolaris J. E. Smith: American, not British. Bull. Torrey

Bot. Club 75:178-187.

- . 1952. Salix. In: H. A. Gleason, The New Britton and Brown Illus¬

trated Flora of the Northeastern United States and Canada. 2:6-23, New

York.

Costello, D. F. 1935. Preliminary reports on the flora of Wisconsin. No. 35.

Salicaceae. Transact. Wis. Acad. Sci., Arts and Letters 29:299-318.

Curtis, J. 1959. The Vegetation of Wisconsin. Univ. of Wis. Press, Madison.

Darlington, C. D. and A. P. Wylie. 1955. Chromosome Atlas of Flowering

Plants, 2nd ed., London.

Fernald, M. L. 1904. Two northeastern allies of Salix lucidia. Rhodora. 6:1-8.

- . 1907. Some new willows of eastern America. Rhodora 9:221-226.

- . 1909. Salix pedicellaris and its variations. Rhodora 11:157-162.

- . 1946. Technical studies on North American plants. II. Difficulties in

North American Salix. Rhodora 48:27-40, 41-49.

- . 1950. Gray’s Manual of Botany, 8th ed.. New York.

Griggs, R. F. 1905. The willows of Ohio. Proc. Ohio St. Acad. Sci. 4:256-314.

Iltis, H. H. and W. M. Shaughnessy. 1960. Preliminary reports on the flora

of Wisconsin. No. 43. Primulaceae-Primrose Family. Transact. Wis. Acad.

Sci., Arts and Letters. 49:113-135.

Lindsey, A., P. Petty, D. Sterling, W. VanAsdall. 1961. Vegetation and

environment along the Wabash and Tippecanoe Rivers. Ecol. Monog. 31:

105-156.

Raup, H. M. 1959. The willows of boreal western America. Contr. Gray Herb.

185:3-59.

Salamun, P. j. 1963. Preliminary reports on the flora of Wisconsin. No. 50.

Compositae III — Composite Family III: The genus S'oKcZa^fo-Goldenrod.

Transact. Wis. Acad. Sci., Arts and Letters. 52:353-382,

Schneider, C. 1919-1921. Notes on American willows. IV. Bot. Gaz. 67 :309-

346 (1919), VII. Jour. Arnold Arb. 1:147-171 (1920), IX. ibid., 2:1-25

(1920), X. ibid., 2:65-90 (1920), XL ibid., 2:185-204 (1921),

Seemen, Otto von. 1911. Mitteleuropaische Weiden. In: Ascherson-Graebner,

Synopsis der Mitteleuropdischen Flora, 4:54-350.

PRELIMINARY REPORTS ON THE FLORA OF WISCONSIN.

NO. 52. GENTIANA HYBRIDS IN WISCONSIN'

James S. Pringle

Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton, Ontario

The species of Gentiana (sensu stricto) native to Wisconsin ap¬

pear to exhibit a remarkable degree of interfertility even among

species morphologically very diverse. The isolation of the species is

probably largely due to such factors as past geographic separation,

phenology (seasonal isolation), and small population size rather

than to genetic barriers. All of the four species indigenous to Wis¬

consin appear occasionally to hybridize within the state. Descrip¬

tions and illustrations of the hybrids known from Wisconsin are

presented here, which, with Dr. Mason’s (1965) descriptions of the

species, will much facilitate the identification of any specimen of

Gentiana likely to be collected in the state.

The Herbarium of the University of Wisconsin contains an ex¬

ceptionally excellent collection of Gentiana which has been most

useful in this study. The private collection and notes of the late Dr.

J. T. Curtis of the University of Wisconsin, who was especially in¬

terested in gentian hybridization, were made available through the

kindness of Mrs. Curtis and have been very valuable. The illustra¬

tions in this paper (Figs. 1-12) are photographs of these remark¬

able collections as they are mounted and labelled in Curtis’ note¬

book. The collection of S. C. Wadmond, late of Delavan, Wisconsin,

in the Herbarium of the University of Minnesota, has also been use¬

ful. The photographs of Dr. Curtis’s specimens are by Mr. Max A.

Gratzl, photographer of the University of Wisconsin Botany

Department.

Key to the Gentiana Hybrids of Wisconsin

A. Leaves glaucous; involucral leaves ascending, enveloping the

lower portions of the calyces ; calyx tubes hyaline _

_ 4. G. X grandilacustris.

AA. Leaves not glaucous ; involucral leaves spreading, not envelop¬

ing calyces ; calyx tubes not hyaline.

B. Appendages of corollas 1.5 mm high or more; corolla lobes

as high as broad, conspicuously exceeding the appendages ;

stems puberulent or glabrous.

^ Contribution No. 3 from the Royal Botanical Gardens, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

274 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

C. Appendages obliquely triangular; corollas pale to me- I

dium blue ; calyx lobes slightly keeled _ ;

_ 2. G. X curtisii. '

CC. Appendages nearly symmetrical, bifid; corollas deep i

blue; calyx lobes not keeled _ 1. G. x billingtonii. j

BB. Appendages lower, erose ; corolla lobes broader than high, !

scarcely exceeding the appendages ; stem glabrous _ j

_ 3. G. X pallidocyanea. I

The above key should generally be adequate for Fi hybrids and

most components of hybrid swarms. However, since segregation

following hybridization sometimes results in the production of too

wide a range of variation for satisfactory coverage in such a key, j

Table 1 has been included as an aid in the identification of prob- ^

lematic segregates. The characteristics listed are distinctive for the ■

respective species and thus may serve as indicators of probable '

parentage when encountered in hybrids. ^

Table 1. Specific Traits of Gentiana Useful in Determining Probable

Parentage of Hybrids

Trait

Species

Stems puberulent .

Upper internodes long .

Leaves glaucous, pale bluish- or grayish-green .

Leaves yellowish-green, relatively large .

Involucral leaves ascending, folded, enveloping calyces.

Lower leaves linear-oblong .

Calyx tubes hyaline .

Calyx lobes keeled, pushed to one side in pressing .

Corollas pale, whitish or yellowish .

Corollas banded or suffused externally with green .

Corolla lobes large, ovate, spreading (open) .

Corolla lobes very small, connivent (closed) .

Corolla appendages (plaits) bifid .

Corolla appendages with attenuate divisions .

Corolla appendages symmetrical, broad, truncate .

Corolla appendages low, asymmetrically triangular. . . .

Anthers separate .

G. puberula

G. rubricauLis

G. rubricaulis

G. alba

G. rubricaulis

G. alba

G. alba (and albinos)

G. puberula

G. andrewsii

G. puberula and G. andrewsii

G. puberula

G. andrewsii

G. alba and G. rubricaulis

G. puberula (and sometimes

G. alba)

1. Gentiana X billingtonii Farw. pro sp. (G. puberula Michx. x

G. andrewsii Griseb.)

Gentiana andrewsii and G. puberula are both species of the North

American prairies. In Wisconsin, G. andrewsii is usually found in

moister sites than in G. puberula. The incidence of hybridization

of these species may also be limited by the differences in the forms

of their corollas, since different pollinators may be attracted. The

1964]

Pringle — Wisconsin Flora, No, 52

275

small size and wide separation of the populations in which all of the

Wisconsin species of Gentiana usually occur may function as a

barrier to genetic exchange among all of these species.

As shown in Figures 1 to 6, representing the remarkable hybrid

populations from the low prairies north of Swan Lake in 'Columbia

County, hybrids between G. andrewsii and G, puberula are inter¬

mediate between the parental species in several respects. The stems

of the putative and experimental Fi hybrids are usually sparsely

puberulent. The leaves are oblong-lanceolate, not acuminate, and are

widest near the base. The corolla lobes are intermediate in size and

position, rounded-triangular, and usually 2 to 7 mm long. The calyx

lobes are often longer and more foliaceous than those of either of

the parent species. Both G, andrewsii and G, puberula have well-

developed, subequally bifid corolla appendages (corolla plaits).

Those of the hybrids are likewise bifid, with the divisions less at¬

tenuate than those of G. puberula. The corollas of both the parent

species and their hybrids are characteristically deep blue. In some

localities, a wide range of intermediates between these two species

has been encountered.

The type specimen of G, x billingtonii is Farwell 5678 (BLH; a

numerical duplicate is in GH but this was never identified as ''G.

billingtonii” by Farwell) . The type specimen, from Squirrel Island,

Lambton County, Ontario, appears likely to be an Fi,

In some areas, mostly west of the Mississippi River from

Saskatchewan to Missouri, populations of G, andrewsii occur in

which the corolla lobes are not so much reduced as is usual in east¬

ern populations. This variant, G, andrewsii var. dakotica A. Nels.,

may have arisen through the introgression of genetic material from

G. puberula into G. andrewsii. Although occasional specimens from

hybrid swarms in Wisconsin resemble this variety, e.g., that shown

in Fig, 3 (Curtis No. 25 9/15/52 not opening, plicae not visible

on exterior. Backcross to Andrewsii?''), no uniform populations of

this variety appear to have formed in this state. In comparison to

the specimen illustrated in Fig, 3, characteristic var, dakotica from

the Dakotas or Iowa would be expected to have more rounded

corolla lobes.

Wisconsin: Columbia Co,: prairie at Hwys SS and P, Town of

Springvale, Curtis s.n., 13 Sept, 1953 (WIS) .

Green Co,: ''Milwaukee" RR w of Brodhead at Park Road, Fell

58-825, 3 Sept. 1958 (WIS) ; ibid,, Fell 58-889, 58-891, 27 Sept.

1958 (WIS) ; s of Belleville between County Road CC and rr track,

Mason 1387, 17 Sept. 1950 (WIS) ; along rr track, Exeter, S 32,

R8E, T4N, Mason 1393, 17 Sept, 1960 (WIS) ; Belleville, 1 mi s of

village, Gale s,n,, 2 Sept, 1949 (NHA),

276 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

Sauk Co.: Aldo Leopold shack north of Baraboo, McCabe s.n., 8

Sept. 1945 (WIS) ; shack, Sec. 34, T13N, R7E, Leopold s.n., 8 Sept.

1945 (WIS).

Walworth Co.: in prairie habitat, along rt-of-way of CMStP &

Pac RR just ,w of Delavan city limits, Wadmond s.n., 29 Sept. 1935

(WIS).

Curtis collection: 21, Exeter; 2Ip, 25, 26, Swan Lake; 29, Pardee-

ville; 30, 31, s of Belleville; 35 through 52, experimental; 32, 35,

1964]

Pringle — Wisconsin Flora, No. 52

277

Figures 1-12. Calyces and corollas (cut longitudinally and flattened) of speci¬

mens of Gentiana in the collection of J. T. Curtis, X %• Figure 1. An experi¬

mental Fi, G. puherula X G. andrewsii. Figures 2-6. Components of a hybrid

swarm involving G. puherula and G. andrewsii from the low prairies north

of Swan Lake, Columbia County, Wisconsin. Figures 7-12. Components of a

hybrid swarm involving G. puherula and G. alha, also from Swan Lake. Leg¬

ends on photographs are in the hand of Dr. Curtis.

Exeter; 33, presumably experimental (Mason’s # S 52-30) U3, 44,

45, experimental ; unnumbered leaves.

2. Gentiana X curtisii Pringle^ (G. puherula Michx. x G. alba

Muhl.)

2 Gentiana x curtis^ii Pring le, hyb. nov., inter Gentiana puherula Michx. et G. alha

Muhl. Caules aegre puberulentes. Foliae lanceolatae. Corollae pallido-cyaneae. Lobae

corollarum suberectae, triangulae, conspicue reticulatae, 5—10 mm longae. Appendicies

corollarum oblique triangulae, parviores quam lobae.

Typus : along Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, S 34, T2N, R13E, Rock County,

Wisconsin, 20 Sept 1951, Mason 1^70 (WIS).

278 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

The hybridization of Gentiana puherula Michx. and G. alba Muhl.

{G. flavida Gray) is also relatively frequent in southern Wisconsin.

This hybridization is of special interest, since G. puberula is one of

a group of species with large, bifid corolla appendages, open corol¬

las, and ciliate leaves, while G, alba is one of a group with low, tri¬

angular appendages, closed corollas and nearly entire leaves. Both

G. pubemla and G. alba are prairie species, and their ranges are

nearly coincident except that G. puberula extends further north;

however, in Wisconsin G. puberula is usually found in drier situa¬

tions (e.g, sand prairies, xeric hill prairies) than is G. alba,

though in moist calcareous prairies, such as south of Kenosha,

both may occur together. Reproductive isolation may be effected

by the differences in color and closure of the corollas of these

species, since different pollinators may be attracted, and by the

somewhat earlier blooming of G. alba. The infrequent occurrence of

G. alba in Wisconsin, where it approaches the northern limit of its

range, is doubtless also partly responsible for the rarity of its hy¬

brids in this state.

The leaves of these hybrids are usually lanceolate, widest near

the base, and intermediate in size and shape between those of the

parent species. Some trace of the carinate condition of the calyx

lobes characteristic of G. alba is usually present. The corolla lobes

are pale blue, somewhat erect, usually 5-10 mm long, triangular,

conspicuously veined like those of G. alba. The corolla appendages

are usually longer than those of G. alba, but obliquely triangular,

scarcely bifid, and smaller than the lobes. There is often a minute

deflexed projection at the juncture of each lobe with the appendage

clockwise from it, as in G. alba. The difference in the shape of the

corolla appendages is most useful in distinguishing hybrids involv¬

ing these species from those involving G. puberula and G. andrewsii.

Hybrid swarms, in which a wide range of intermediates between

these two species are present, have occasionally been encountered

in Wisconsin and elsewhere. Specimens from one such swarm col¬

lected by Curtis on the low prairies north of Swan Lake are shown

in Figures 7 to 12. A wide range of colors may be found among

the corollas of plants in such hybrid swarms. Most of the corollas

are pale blue, or white suffused with blue on the exterior of the

upper parts of the petals ; however, occasional segregates have pink

or rose-violet corollas.

The name G. x curtisii recognizes the contributions of the late

Dr. J, T. Curtis of the University of Wisconsin to our knowledge

of hybridization in Gentiana, a genus for which he had a lifelong

affection. His studies of the hybridization of G. puberula with G.

alba are especially excellent.

1964]

Pringle — Wisconsin Flora, No. 52

279

Wisconsin: Rock Co.: along Chicago & Northwestern Railroad,

Sec. 34, T2N, RISE, Mason 1470, 20 Sept. .1951 (WIS) .

Curtis collection: 48, Swan Lake; 49 Brodhead (Green Co.) ; 50;

Swan Lake; 51, 52, 58, 55, 56, 57, 58, 62 through 69, Swan Lake.

(54, 59, and 60 were interpreted as being of same origin, but I

suspect that G, andrewsii is involved.)

3. Gentiana X PALLIDOCYANEA Pringle^ {G. andrewsii Griseb. x

G. alba Muhl.)

Hybrids between Gentiana andrewsii and G. alba have been col-

ected less frequently than those previously mentioned. As noted

by Mason (1965), G. alba generally blooms somewhat earlier than

G. andrewsii in Wisconsin, These species also differ in corolla color

and closure.

The crossing of G. andretvsii, which has short corolla lobes and

rather long appendages, with G. alba, which has rather long lobes

and short appendages, results in plants with corollas relatively even

across the summit, appearing as though broken off. The lobes and

appendages are about equal, neither often exceeding 2 mm. The

lobes are triangular, the appendages shallowly erose. The corollas

are pale blue , often with white appendages. The calyx lobes are us¬

ually slightly keeled. Both the parental species and their hybrids

have glabrous stems and ovate-acuminate leaves.

Wisconsin: Sauk Co.: vicinity of Kilbourn (Dells of Wisconsin

River) on the Wisconsin River, Steele 19, 25 Aug. 1909 (US).

Sheboygan Co.: Plymouth, Goessl s.n., 29 Aug. 1930 (MIN.)

Waukesha Co.: between Hartland and Pewaukee, along RR, Cull

s.n.,2S Sept. 1945 (WIS),

4. Gentiana X grandilacustris Pringle^ (G. andrewsii Griseb. X

G. rubricaulis Schwein.)

Hybrids between Gentiana andrewsii and G. rubricaulis are rare.

The range of G. andrewsii is largely south of that of G. rubricaulis;

in addition, as indicated by Mason (1965), G. rubricaulis usually

blooms considerably earlier than G. andrewsii in Wisconsin.

3 Gentiana x pallidocyanea Pringle, hyb. nov., inter G. andreiosii Griseb. et G.

alba Muhl. Caules glabri. Poliae ovatae acuminatae. Lobae calycium ovatae, plus

minusve carinatae. Corollae pallido-cyaneae appendicibus saepe albis. Lobae corollarum

triangulae parvae, appendicies aegre superantes. Appendicies corollarum paulae, irreg-

ulare erosae.

Typus; Between Hartland and Pewaukee, along R.R., SE 14, Sec. 1, T7N, RISE,

Waukesha County, Wisconsin, 23 Sept. 1945, Irene Cull s.n. (WIS).

^ Gentiana x grandilacustris Pringle, hyb. nov., inter Gentiana andrewsU Griseb.

et G. rubricaulis Schwein. Caules glabri purpurascentes, internodis superioribus elonga-

tis. Poliae glaucae, inferiores anguste oblongae, superiores ovatae. Poliae involucri

adscendentes et conduplicatae. Calyces tubis hyalinis, lobis oblongis. Corollae paene

clausae lobis circa 2.5 mm longis, appendicibus laceratis.

Typus: Squaw Lake, Sec. SE-NW 5, Twp. 143, R 36, Clearwater County, Minnesota,

3 Sept. 1935, Grant 6747 (MIN).

280 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters [Vol. 53

No specimens from Wisconsin are very clearly intermediate be¬

tween these two species. However, a few specimens of G. andrewsii

from the northern part of the state, which have rounded rather

than mucronate corolla lobes, have foliage which suggests intro-

gression of genetic material from G. rubricaulis into G, andrewsii.

One specimen from Minnesota (see footnote 4) and one from

Wisconsin cited below appear almost certainly to be hybrids be¬

tween these two species. Their vegetative organs and calyces re¬

semble those of G. rubricaulis. Their corolla lobes, smaller than

those of G, rubricaulis, are about 2.5 mm long. Their appendages

are longer than those of G. rubricaulis and more lacerate. The

1964]

Pringle — Wisconsin Flora, No, 52

281

corollas appear to have been nearly closed. Their color, which is

well preserved, is a deep violet, the petals themselves darker and

bluer than their appendages.

Wisconsin: Bayfield Co.: popple — white cedar and sandy beach

of L. Superior along Boyd Creek, e of road 13, s of Barksdale,

Zimmerman, Ugent & Weber s.n., 8 Sept ,1959 (WIS).

The name Gentiana saponaria has occasionally been applied to

various Gentiana hybrids of the United States (Mason, C. T., in

Brittonia 10:40-43, 1959), True G. saponaria L. is a southeastern

species, readily distinguished from any of these hybrids by its dark

green leaves, which are widest near the middle, by its oblanceolate

to spatulate calyx lobes, and by its bright blue, ventricose corolla. It

has not been collected in Wisconsin, but approaches the state line

rather closely in northeastern Illinois.

Literature Cited

Mason, C. T. 1965. Preliminary Report on the Flora of Wisconsin No. 53. Gen-

lianaceae-Gentian Family and Menyanthaceae-Buckbean Family. Transact.

Wise. Acad. Sci., Arts, and Letters (in manuscript).

Postscript

The following collections of G. X hilling tonii were inadvertently left out of

text and map: Dane Co.: Madison, T. O. Hale s. n. ca. 1860 (WIS). Pierce Co.:

River Falls, Weinzirl s.n. Sept. 23, 1892 (WIS).

OFFICERS OF THE WISCONSIN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES,

ARTS AND LETTERS

President

Walter E. Scott

Assistant to the Director

Conservation Department

State of Wisconsin

Vice-President (Sciences)

John Thomson

Professor of Botany

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Vice-President (Arts)

William Earners

Assistant Superintendent of

Schools

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Vice-President ( Letters )

Walker D. Wyman

President

Wisconsin State University,

Whitewater

President-Elect

Harry Hayden Clark

Professor of English

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Secretary

Eugene M. Roark

Conservation Department

State of Wisconsin

Treasurer

David J. Behling

Northwestern Mutual Life Ins. Co.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Librarian

S. Janice Kee

Secretary

Free Library Commission

Madison, Wisconsin

APPOINTED OFFICIALS OF THE ACADEMY

Editor — Transactions

Goodwin F. Berquist, Jr.

Department of Speech

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Editor — Wisconsin Academy Review

Chairman — Junior Academy of Science

Jack R. Arndt

Extension Division

University of Wisconsin-Madison

THE ACADEMY COUNCIL

The Academy Council includes the above named officers and officials and

the following past presidents of the Academy,

Paul W. Boutwell

A. W. Schorger

H. A. Schuette

L. E. Noland

Otto L. Kowalke

Katherine G. Nelson

Ralph N. Buckstaff

Joseph G. Baier

Stephen F. Darling

Robert J. Dicke

Henry Meyer

Merritt Y. Hughes

Carl Welty

J. Martin Klotsche

Aaron J. Ihde

Cover Design by Art Division

Democrat Printing Company

Madison, Wisconsin

Additional copies of this monograph are available at $2.50 per copy from

Walter E. Scott, 1721 Hickory Drive, Madison, Wisconsin 53705

Volume LIII

Part A

1964

GOODWIN F. BERQUIST, JR.

Editor

1

This publication was made possible through the generous

financial assistance of Dr. Harry Steenbock, Patron of the

Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, Emeritus

Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Wisconsin,

and Founder of the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.

ii

THE NATURAL RESOURCES

OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN

A Wisconsin Academy Profile

A special monograph based upon a series of addresses on

natural resources presented at the 94th Annual Meeting of

the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters,

Wausau, Wisconsin

May 1-3, 1964

OFFICERS OF THE WISCONSIN ACADEMY OF

SCIENCES, ARTS AND LETTERS

President

Walter E. Scott

Conservation Department

State of Wisconsin

Vice-President (Sciences)

John W. Thomson

Department of Botany

University of Wisconsin-Madison

V ice-President ( Arts )

William Earners

Assistant Superintendent

Milwaukee Public Schools

V ice-President ( Letters )

Walker D. Wyman

President

Wisconsin State University,

Whitewater

President-Elect

Harry Hayden Clark

Department of English

University of Wisconsin-Madison ,

Secretary

Eugene M. Roark

Conservation Department

State of Wisconsin

Treasurer

David J. Behling

Northwestern Mutual Life Ins.

Co.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Librarian

S. Janice Kee

Free Library Commission

Madison, Wisconsin

APPOINTED OFFICIALS OF THE ACADEMY

E ditor — T rans actions

Goodwin F. Berquist, Jr.

Department of Speech

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Wisconsin Acadamy Review

Chairman — ^Junior Academy of Science

Jack R. Arndt

Extension Division

University of Wisconsin-Madison

THE ACADEMY COUNCIL

I

The Academy Council includes the above named officers and officials and

the following past presidents of the Academy.

Paul W. Boutwell

A. W. Schorger

H. A. Schuette

L. E. Noland

Otto L. Kowalke

Katherine G. Nelson

Ralph W. Buckstaff

Joseph G. Baier

Stephen F. Darling

Robert J. Dicke

Henry Meyer

Merritt Y. Hughes

Carl Welty

J. Martin Klotsche

Aaron J. Ihde

iv

Table of Contents

PREFACE

IX

THE BRANDYWINE: A WATERSHED AT WORK

1

(Keynote Address)

Clayton M. Hojff

Executive Vice-President, Forward Lands, Inc.

Wilmington, Delaware

WATERSHEDS OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN—

The Wolf River

9

Arthur A. Oehmcke

Fish Management Area Supervisor

Wisconsin Conservation Department

Wayne C. Truax

Game Management Area Supervisor

Wisconsin Conservation Department

Our Neighbor: The Wisconsin River 21

Robert C. Wylie

Vice-President and General Manager

Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company

The Chippewa-Flambeau Rivers 27

Ernest F. Swift

Consultant

National Wildlife Federation

The St. Croix-N amekagon Rivers 35

Sigurd F. Olson

Consultant

U. S. Department of Interior

MINERALS, WATER AND SOILS IN NORTHERN WISCONSIN 41

George F. Hanson

State Geologist and Director

Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey

THE FOREST RESOURCES OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN

John A. Beale

Chief State Forester

Wisconsin Conservation Department

45

v

I

49

LAKE MANAGEMENT FOR RECREATIONAL USES

Edward Schneberger, Superintendent

Research and Planning Division

Wisconsin Conservation Department

C. W. Threinen, Supervisor

Lake and Stream Classification

Wisconsin Conservation Department

SOME ASPECTS OF WILDLIFE AND HUNTING

IN NORTHERN WISCONSIN 57

Robert A. McCabe

Chairman, Department of Wildlife Management

University of Wisconsin-Madison

NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN RECREATIONAL POTENTIAL 67

Harold C. Jordahl, Jr.

Regional Coordinator

U. S. Department of Interior

THE RESORT INDUSTRY OF WISCONSIN 79

L. G. Monthey

Extension Specialist, Travel-Recreation Industry

University of Wisconsin-Madison

A COMPREHENSIVE LONG-RANGE PLAN FOR RESOURCE

DEVELOPMENT IN NORTHERN WISCONSIN 95

Walter K. Johnson

Deputy Director

Wisconsin Department of Resource Development

AN INDUSTRIAL APPROACH TO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 101

M. N. Taylor

Executive Director

Trees for Tomorrow, Inc.

Merrill, Wisconsin

NATURAL RESOURCES: A HISTORY IN HUMAN TERMS 105

Leslie H. Fishel, Jr.

Director

Wisconsin State Historical Society

L. P. Voigt

Director

Wisconsin Conservation Department

THE SPENT SULPHITE LIQUOR PROBLEM:

PROGRESS REPORT FOR 1963 111

Averill J. Wiley

Technical Director

Sulphite Pulp Manufacturers Research League

Appleton, Wisconsin

VI

119

COMPETITIVE USES OF PUBLIC WATERS

L. A. Posekany

In Charge, Rivers Survey Section

Wisconsin Conservation Department

WILDLIFE HABITAT AND THE MANAGED FOREST 123

Forest W. Stearns

Research Forester

Lake States Forest Experiment Station

Wilham A. Creed

Biologist

Wisconsin Conservation Department

LAND FOR LEARNING: A PROPOSAL FOR A STATE-WIDE

OUTDOOR INTERPRETATION PROGRAM 131

James H. Zimmerman

School Forest NaturaHst

Madison Public Schools

I THE NORTHERN WISCONSIN SETTLER

RELOCATION PROJECT, 1934-1940 135

L. G. Sorden

Assistant to the Director, Agricultural Extension

University of Wisconsin-Madison

^ DETERGENTS IN WISCONSIN SURFACE WATERS 139

Gerald W. Lawton

Professor of Preventive Medicine

State Laboratory of Hygiene

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Theodore F. Wisniewski, Director

and

Richard Zimmerman, Chemist

State Committee on Water Pollution

FORTY YEARS AMONG THE TREES 147

Edward W. Blackford

Wisconsin Tree Expert Company

Wausau, Wisconsin

I

vii

Copies of THE WISCONSIN ACADEMY LOOKS AT

URBANISM, the Academy's 1963 special monograph, are

available at $2.00 per copy through: The University Book¬

store, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Milwaukee,

Wisconsin, 53211.

vm

Preface

The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters is a ninety-four

year old society dedicated jointly to original research and to the dissemination

of new knowledge. The Transactions of the Academy is an inter-disciplinary

research annual designed to publicize the original investigations of Academy

members. New knowledge is disseminated from time to time by means of

special monographs like this one.

Mr. Walter Scott, current president of the Academy, suggested the con¬

ference theme of the 1964 Annual Meeting: "‘The Natural Resources of North¬

ern Wisconsin.” The significance of this theme was stressed in memorable

fashion by United States Senator Gaylord Nelson. Among his impromptu re¬

marks to Academy members at the Annual Meeting, Nelson spoke as follows:

... I think the subject matter that you re talking about really is the most

important issue that confronts the country. As long ago as 1906, when Teddy

Roosevelt called the Conference of Governors in Washington, D. C., one of

the lines in his remarks to the governors at that time, more than 50 years ago,

was that the most significant domestic issue in America is the conservation of

our natural resources. He had the foresight to see it then. More than a half

century has gone by and a vast majority of the people in this country don't

recognize it yet. . . . Time is running out on us. I think that unless we move

with some massive programs in the next decade or decade and a half, we

will have lost our opportunity. I think this calls for leadership at all levels

and all walks of life, and the one I’m concerned most about in this field is

the question of political leadership.

The late President Kennedy saw the significance of the problem and last

fall took a conservation tour of the country. I had discussed the idea with him

several times. I told him I thought nothing short of a federal appropriation

of at least a billion dollars a year over and above all the expenditures we are

now making-nothing less than that— would make a significant dent in the

problem of acquisition of park areas, seashore, wilderness areas, and all the

other things we’re concerned about. I think that he was interested and con¬

cerned about it. I told him that I thought probably you’d have trouble with

the Congress on a billion dollars right off the bat, but I thought you could

really get through a 500 million dollar a year bill with 250 million of it for

matching funds to go back to our various conservation departments in the 50

states for development of their own programs.

I think it’s going to require this kind of a massive investment and we’ll

only get it if the public is aroused enough and people like you who are con¬

cerned are able to make the Congress feel the need for this kind of an invest¬

ment. It does seem to me quite a tragedy when we see that it is so easy to pass

ix

other kinds of legislation on the floor of the Senate. I remember last fall, the

day we left on the conservation tour from the White House, to Pennsylvania,

then here to Wisconsin. That day the defense budget came to the floor of the

Senate. That specific budget had 46 billion dollars in it for national defense.

I would have to go back to check the Congressional Record to be exactly ac¬

curate, but my memory is that we spent about 200 minutes on a 46 billion

dollar bill. This is an important investment for the country. But, even though

we passed through the Senate an air pollution bill, a water pollution bill, a

land and water conservation bill, a wilderness bill, all of them have gone to

the House of Representatives where they still sit in a committee without ac¬

tion. No one of these bills really cost very much money and yet you don't see

the public aroused about it. In fact, I got very little mail if any- — oh, a couple

dozen letters — on the wilderness bill. I was on the subcommittee on water and

air pollution — half a dozen letters on that— none on the bill that would raise

additional fimds.

I think that's a failure on the part of all of us to develop the concern and

understanding at the local level which would cause legislative bodies to sup¬

port the kind of appropriations that are necessary ....

It is hoped that this publication will prove useful in the on-going cam¬

paign to conserve America's great and natural resources.

Each of the twenty-one papers which follow was presented during the

course of the Academy's Annual Meeting in May. Each was the work of a

specialist intent upon explaining his area of specialization to the intelHgent

layman. Together the twenty-one form, in the opinion of this writer, an im¬

pressive profile of our natural resources.

Goodwin F. Berquist, Jr. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

K

THE BRANDYWINE: A WATERSHED AT WORK

Clayton M. Hoff^ Executive Vice-President

Forward Lands, Inc.

This is the story of a valley, the Brandywine Valley, and of how people

worked together to make their Valley a better place in which to live, work,

and play.

The Brandywine Valley is not large, only 330 square miles. It is not

heavily populated, only about 200,000 inhabitants. But this Valley has been

important in the political and industrial history of our country and it con¬

tinues to be important because of its remarkable program for the conservation

of natural resources.

It all began back in March, 1945, when thirty-five interested citizens

representing the many varied interests of the Valley met at the Mansion House

Hotel in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The purpose of the meeting was to dis¬

cuss the depletion of natural resources in the region. After seeing, through the

medium of Kodachrome slides, the polluting effect of industrial and sewerage

waste, the decrease in the yields of crops and the lower fertility of the farm¬

land due to soil erosion, the damage done to forests through improper lumber¬

ing, pastoing of woodlots, and forest fires, the diminishing game and wildlife

due to loss of food and shelter, the sacrificing of fishing and other forms of

recreation due to polluted and flooded streams — after seeing all these things

and how they affected the health and welfare of Valley residents, the group

decided to act. A committee was formed to study each of these problems in

depth. Shortly thereafter, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania incorporated the

Brandywine Valley Association, a private, non-profit educational organiza¬

tion concerned wiA the restoration and preservation of natural resources in the

Brandywine watershed.

There was nothing unusual or novel in the procedure thus far unless it

was the effective use of visual education at the group's first meeting. What

became unique were the principles followed in the later program of the Asso¬

ciation. Association members believed that a watershed represented a more

logical unit to work with than a political division. They further felt that it

was the responsibility of the local people of the watershed to initiate and prose¬

cute their own program of conservation. In addition to self-help, every step

was taken to secure the assistance of available local, state, and federal agencies,

especially with respect to technical assistance. The Association digently

avoided competing with any existing agency, but if a needed agency did not

exist, one was created. Another basic principle followed was that work should

be done simultaneously on all problems and all resources. The financial assist¬

ance of every interest in the VaUey was solicited and obtained. Successful

watershed associations elsewhere adhered closely to these same principles.

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol. 53 (Part A) 1964

1

2

Clayton M. Hoff

As mentioned earlier, the work of the Association is primarily educational.

Broadly interpreted, this includes fact-finding research, the dissemination of

public information, area promotion, and the encouragement of cooperation

among the various agencies working in the watershed. Here are some typical

Association projects: measuring the rainfall, discharge, and silt content of the

Brandywine (by means of a cooperative agreement with the United States

Geological Survey) ; determining the cumulative effects of pollution through a

limnological survey of the Brandywine waters (by means of an agreement with

the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences); measuring the amount of top¬

soil to determine the degree of soil erosion (with the help of the Agricultural

Extension Service and the Soil Conservation Service of the United States De¬

partment of Agriculture); and securing a comprehensive water and land use

survey of the entire Valley (through the help of the Soil Conservation Service,

United States Department of Agriculture) .

In the educational field the Association relied heavily on visual education.

Illustrated talks employing Kodachrome shdes were presented to audiences of

over 700,000. These talks were a very important part of the educational pro¬

gram because they provided speaker flexibility and could be easily kept up-to-

date. To meet the demand for more illustrated talks than the staff was capable

of presenting, a twenty-seven-minute, 16mm. sound-color film, entitled “The

Brandywine — ^A Watershed At Work”, was prepared with the assistance of

the Department of Forests and Waters, the Department of Agriculture of the

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and the motion picture laboratory of the

Pennsylvania State University. Thirteen prints of this film, distributed both by

the Brandywine Valley Association and the Department of Forests and Waters

of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, have enabled hundreds of organizations

and thousands of people in and out of this watershed to study the program.

The Association for almost all of its lifetime has participated in one conserva¬

tion workshop for teachers and has instigated the formation of two more; one

at the University of Delaware and one at West Chester State Teachers Col¬

lege. These workshops have provided the opportunity for over 100 teachers

each year to study the conservation of natural resources in the field and to

equip themselves for teaching the subject in their schools.

Hundreds of conservation tours have been conducted by Association

staff members, (usually by bus) for teachers, schools, society clubs, service

clubs, civic organizations, educational and other groups.

Among other important educational projects was the Gregory Farm

Demonstration, which was planned in cooperation with the Agricultural Ex¬

tension Service and the local Soil Conservation District. This was a project

in which a rather comprehensive face-lifting program on a farm was wit¬

nessed by over 10,000 people. Similarly, a sanitary landfill demonstration was

arranged in cooperation with four townships. Hundreds of people could see

and study the various new methods of rubbish and garbage disposal.

The “Watershed News”, a quarterly publication of the Association,

is regularly sent to all of the 2,000 members. Other Association publications

are distributed from time to time. The staff has presented weekly and monthly

radio broadcasts, and telecasts are arranged to cover interesting events or

activities of the Association. In fact, the Association has maintained a con-

The Brandywine: A Watershed At Work

3

tinuous educational or public information program, using all available media

ever since its founding.

Once the need for a non-existent organization was determined, the Asso¬

ciation took steps to help the local people secure one. Thus was formed the

Soil Conservation District for Chester County. Its staff has cooperated with

both the New Castle County, Delaware, Soil Conservation District and the

Chester County Soil Conservation District in a broad program to combat ero¬

sion and improve farm practices and yields.

Likewise, sensing that little progress could be made on reduction of pollu¬

tion in Delaware unless that state had some pure stream laws, steps were taken

to prepare a Pure Stream Bill for Delaware, and the Association assisted in

its passage by the Legislature and since has cooperated with the Water Pollu¬

tion Commission of Delaware and the Sanitary Water Board of Pennsylvania

in the reduction of pollution from industrial and sewage waste.

In order to improve the harvesting of forest products from farm wood-

lots in the Brandywine Valley, the Association promoted the organization of

Woodland Products, Inc., and Forestry Services, Inc. A cooperative sawmill

was soon in operation.

For a more thorough study of the present and future needs of water

supplies in the Valley, the Association organized the Brandywine Water Re¬

sources Committee, membership of which consists of the major water users of

the entire Valley. This committee directed the survey of the present and

future needs for water in the Valley, the water now available, and the means

for reconciling the two.

The Association has worked very closely with all the schools and col¬

leges in this area and has participated in many local, state, interstate, and

■ national meetings and activities with mutually profitable benefits. It has co¬

operated directly and indirectly with most community, township, county, state,

and federal agencies. It has fostered the interest and support of other organ¬

izations in conservation activities, such as interesting the Chester County

Bankers Association and the Delaware Bankers Association in sponsoring and

financing the Future Farmers of America Annual Conservation Contest.

A rather comprehensive evaluation of the results of the activities of the

Association was made after the first ten-year period of its existence. As of

October 1955, over 55% of the farms were under conservation plans with Soil

Conservation Districts and 70% of the farms were following good conservation

practices. Over 20,000 acres were in contour strips and some 18,000 acres had

been converted to grassland farming. The conservation activities included over

thirteen miles of diversion terraces and 145 new farm ponds, with the result

that the runoflF has been reduced by about 30%, as measured by our series of

rain gage, flow-gage and silt-sampling stations. There has been over a 60%

reduction in silt discharge. As a result of conservation practices and better

farming methods, there has been a 37% increase in farm income in the Valley

during this period.

Insofar as forestry is concerned, over 2,200 acres of woodlots were har¬

vested under the supervision of a farm forester and over one and one half mil¬

lion new trees, planted in reforestation projects. While the woodlot owner has

been the greatest beneficiary. Forestry Services, Inc. and Woodland Products,

4 Clayton M. Hojf

Inc. both have prospered and are continually expanding and rendering greater

service to the community.

Due to a decrease in the pasturing of forests, the burning of woodlots,

and the burning of grass, and also due to the fact that over twenty-one miles

of multiflora rose living fences have been planted, game and wildlife have

increased.

With the creation of the Delaware Water Pollution Commission, progress

has been rapid in the reduction of pollution. The City of Wilmington has spent

$18,000,000 on a new sewage treatment plant and other communities in the

Valley have spent $4,000,000 on expanding or improving their plant facihties.

Valley industries have spent over $1,100,000 on waste disposal equipment.

The net result of this is that there is now installed in the Valley equipment for

handling about 95% of the sewage and industrial waste. Of course, this means

that fishing is rapidly getting better in the Brandywine, not to mention the

additional fishing in the farm ponds. Facilities for recreation are rapidly im¬

proving. The water of the Brandywine is now classified as a satisfactory source

of domestic water supply by the Water Pollution Commission of Delaware in

their report dated June 24, 1954.

Water Supply and Flood Control Project

There was a definite reason for reporting the progress for the first ten

years ending with 1955, for about this time there occurred a considerable

change in the Association’s major activities. This was precipitated by two

years of severe drought periods and by a period of two years in which exten¬

sive drought and flood damages were experienced. Industries were forced to

curtail production, citizens of communities where the municipal water supply

was low were requested to refrain from washing cars, sprinkling lawns, etc.,

and many farmers, in order to salvage their withering crops, resorted to sup¬

plemental irrigation thus decreasing the level of water in the wells and the

flow of water in the streams. Following these periods of drought there were

usually torrential rains resulting in terrific flood damage again to industry, com¬

munity and to agricultural land, not to mention highways, utilities and water

supplies.

The extremes of these conditions can be best illustrated by referring to

the flow measurements at the dam of the Wilmington water supply intake. For

several days the flow of the Brandywine was below 38,000,000 gallons per

day, of which industry consumed 5,000,000 (normal consumption 15,000,000

gallons per day) and the City of Wilmington 33,000,000 gallons per day,

leaving not a trickle flowing over the Water Works dam. In fact, children were

using it for a playground. Then— -the cloudburst^ — ^and approximately 10 bil¬

lion gallons of water went over this same dam in two and a half days, enough

to supply the City of Wilmington for almost one whole year. It was obvious

that we were not managing our water as well as we should. The simple answer

was to save some of this water during flood periods and use it during periods

of drought. This led to a comprehensive Water Supply and Flood Control

Project for the Brandywine VaUey.

Preliminary surveys, made by staflF members, soon indicated that this job

was one far beyond the facilities of the Association. Assistance on flood damage

The Brandywine: A Watershed At Work

5

BRANDYWINE WATER SUPPLY AND FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT

surveys was requested from the Soil Conservation Service under the provisions

of Public Law 566, and help was asked from the Department of Forests and

Waters of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for determining the present and

future requirements for water supplies for all users in the Brandywine Valley.

The surveys were soon extended to determine the structures necessary and the

cost thereof to establish a satisfactory degree of flood control and to provide

for storage of water and downstream releases to meet the needs of community,

industry, agricultural irrigation, and recreation for fifty years in the future.

Engineering-wise, this project resolved itself into twelve structures quite

well-distributed throughout the upper part of the Brandywine Valley. Seven

of these structures were primarily for flood control, with supplemental recrea-

6

Clayton M, Hoff

tional facilities, and five were primarily for water supply, but including recrea¬

tion and flood control facilities and to be operated as multipurpose reservoirs.

The gratifying part about this project was the assurance by the Soil Con¬

servation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture that it would build

the flood control reservoirs, and by the Department of Forests and Waters of

the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania that it would build and operate the water

supply reservoirs, if the local people of the Valley would purchase the neces¬

sary land, acquire the easements, and stand the cost of the necessary relocation

of utilities, such as highways, raihoads, pipehnes, telephone, and power lines.

The total cost of this comprehensive Water Supply and Flood Control

Project for the Brandywine Valley is estimated at $11,445,600 and the sug¬

gested distribution of this cost is as follows:

Local People of the Valley . . . $3,824,800

State of Pennsylvania ............................ 6,122,600

Federal Government (S.C.S., U.S.D.A.) .............. 1,498,200

At first glance the cost to the local people (almost $4,000,000) seems like

a large amount but, on the basis of a twenty-year amortization, it is believed

that this project would cost the local people $1.00 per year, per person, over

a period of twenty years, which is pretty low cost water supply and flood

protection.

This project would provide two things-— flood protection and water sup¬

ply — ^flood protection to the extent of a reduction of 77% of the existing flood

damages in the Valley, and water supply in the amount of fifty-five million addi¬

tional gallons per day. Now there would be enough water even for a 90-day pe¬

riod of drought in the vicinity of Coatesville, Downingtown and West Chester

and almost this amount at Wilmington. In other words, water supplies would

now be ample to meet the needs of industry, community, agriculture, and rec¬

reation for fifty years in the future. Currently progress is being made on this

project on aU fronts.

Financing. Bonding Houses have been consulted and they speak very

optimistically about the financing of this project by issuing bonds at moderate

rates of interest. In fact, they have stated that the multipurpose features of this

project are somewhat novel in the financing field and strongly appeal to them.

Legal. The commissioners of one of the counties involved indicate that

they are agreeable to creating an authority for implementing this project if

they are assured of the cooperation of all principal interests in the watershed,

or more correctly stated, the principal beneficiaries. Conferences between the

Attorneys General of the two States and other state ofiicials representing de¬

partments or commissions involved have indicated the desirability of an in¬

terstate compact between the States of Delaware and Pennsylvania for man¬

aging the water supplies on the interstate streams. The participation of the

various communities in this project does not seem to involve any unsolvable

legal problems.

Legislative. The proposed interstate compact, once prepared, must be

passed by the legislatures of both states and sent to Washington for approval

by Congress before it becomes effective. Furthermore, it seems essential tiiat

The Brandywine: A Watershed At Work

7

a Water Resources Commission be established for the State of Delaware in

order that the State may have one official body responsible for the water re¬

sources, who would also have the responsibility of cooperating with similar

official commissions in other states. Delaware at present lacks the counterpart

of the Department of Forests and Waters of Pennsylvania. However, Senate

Bill #81, providing for a Delaware Water Resources Commission has been

prepared as a result of almost three years' study and will soon be introduced

into the legislature for action. While this matter is not as urgent in Pennsyl¬

vania, there is need for additional water rights legislation in the Common¬

wealth and steps are being taken to remedy this situation.

Allocation of costs. Carrying out one of the basic philosophies of the As¬

sociation — that the cost of such a beneficial project should be shared by those

benefiting and in proportion to the benefits — studies are now being directed

to determine more accurately the relative benefits of flood control and water

supply to each of the beneficiaries, and to apportion the costs of the respective

projects.

Engineering. When the allocation of costs has been accepted, authorities

created, and the method of financing approved, a start will be made on the

detailed design engineering. Then contractor bids will be made, subject to

legislative approval, authorizations and appropriations. Only after all these

steps will construction work be started.

While of economic necessity, most of the land involved must be pur¬

chased or optioned now, the period of completion of all stages of this project

may be extended over a period of ten, fifteen or even twenty years, depending

upon rate of demand due to increased populations, expanded industries, etc.

When completed, this project will provide urgently needed water sup-

pHes, flood control and recreational facilities for the people of the Brandy¬

wine Valley. This project is but one more example of the power of people

working together and the benefits of constructive community action on a

watershed basis.

The Brandywine has been important in the nation's political and indus¬

trial history. The people of the Brandywine Valley are now building the future

history of the Valley.

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THE WOLF RIVER

Arthur A. Oehmcke, Fish Management Area Supervisor

Wayne C. Truax, Game Management Area Supervisor

Wisconsin Conservation Department

Introduction

The early picture of northern Wisconsin, so aptly portrayed by our state

historians, largely reflects the beginning of the development of the entire

Wolf River Basin. This river system was an integral part of the mass resource

exploitation (otherwise categorized as ‘progress”) for which men labored in

the pineries of Forest, Langlade and Shawano Counties, and then in the fields

and factories after the wood was gone.

As a major tributary to the Fox-Winnebago waterway, the Wolf River

Basin was first traversed by French explorers, fm- traders and missionaries, all

compatriots of Jean Nicolet who came to the Green Bay area in 1634. After

the French (1763) and then the English (1815) relinquished control of the

region, the first Wisconsin settlers moved into the upper Wolf River Basin.

The first permanent white settlement appeared at the outlet of Shawano

Lake in 1843. Here, Charles D. Wescott contructed a sawmill for Samuel

Farnsworth. The sawmill was adjacent to the site of “Shawanaw”, then an

Indian village on the Wolf River. This point in upper Wolf River history was

important to the economic expansion of the Fox-Winnebago area which is

importantly linked to the lower Wolf.

Steamboats and other river navigation on the lower Wolf during 1849 to

1854 were instrumental in spearheading settlement and, subsequently, the

fabulous logging operations on the central and upper Wolf River Basin.

Wolf River log drives reached their destination at Lake Poygan where

timber companies made up rafts of logs which were floated to Oshkosh. In

1873, at the peak of logging, 217,000,000 board feet of lumber were sawed in

mills in Oshkosh, which was properly named the “Sawdust City”.

The entire length of the Wolf River was utilized for the transportation of

saw logs. Remnants of small impounding structures and rafting dams, con¬

structed in the mid-19th century at fifteen different sites on the main stream

to flush logs over shallow stretches, are witness to the extent to the early log

drives.

Not all saw timber was driven downstream to Lake Poygan. Railroad and

wagon road penetration into the upper watershed by 1870 and 1880 aided in

the development of local mills at Hiles, Lily, White Lake, Red River, Langlade,

Pearson and many other sites on the main stream and tributaries.

The reputation of the upper Wolf River system as prime trout water is

weU established. Before the turn of the century this region was the destination

for anglers from many midwestem states. Trout fishing on the West Branch of

the Wolf River is described in an article in the magazine Forest and Stream,

by Dr. Alfred Hinde of Chicago, in 1894. Dr. Hinde reported his railroad trip

to Matoon, via Oshkosh and Aniwa, where he

Drove by team to Phlox (a distance of four miles). Went half way

toward W. Branch of Wolf. Two miles through virgin woods to an

Wia. Acad. TRANS. Vol 53 (Part A) 1964

9

10

Arthur A. Oehmcke and Wayne C. Truax

Indian sugar camp on the Menominee Indian Reservation . . . Found

fishing rough, fighting brush, mosquitoes, etc. Stream had to be

waded, too deep at some places. Had to use worms, fly fishing im¬

practical. First day 95 trout . . . 334 trout in 312 days (3 men) —

largest I/2 poimds. Found the trout small, the river diflBcult to fish

and too inaccessible for comfort.

Thus, even virgin fishing had its critics. But its supporters frequented the inns,

fishing camps and small hotels in nearby sawmill towns and the city of Antigo.

Although initially dependent on the upper watershed, the later economy

of the Lower Wolf-Fox-Winnebago area experienced a different trend in

growth resulting, in the main, from its geographic position. The proximity to

the fertile bottom lands of Wisconsin's Central Plain, to low cost transportation

and, consequently, necessary raw materials, were among more important

factors of opportunity which were eagerly seized by the early citizens of this

locahty. Their initiative is well documented and presently in evidence by the

great complex of paper mills in the adjacent Fox River Valley and the prosper¬

ing urban areas between Oshkosh and Green Bay.

The economy of the upper Wolf River Basin transformed directly from

pioneer land clearing and lumbering to dairying. There was no intermediate

wheat growing era prior to implementation of dairying as in the more southern

counties of the state. The watershed of the upper Wolf has not prospered at

the same rate and to the same extent as the larger area of its lower basin. But,

the lack of natural resource “development” in the upper watershed might

possibly be considered a blessing to the state as a whole. Many of the

original natural endowments on the upper Wolf have not been obliterated or

despoiled although some have been considerably altered. Thus, many features

and resources remain for our wise use and/or enjoyment; some by chance,

others by deliberation.

The River

Several characteristics of the Wolf River are common to other classic

Wisconsin streams. The precipitous drop of the central Wolf is duplicated on

the Menominee, Popple, Pine and Peshtigo Rivers. The Wolf River has a total

vertical drop from source to mouth of 903 feet, contrasted with the 1,018

foot fall of the Peshtigo River.

The Northern Highland ground moraine gives birth to the Chippewa-

Flambeau, Brule-Menominee and the Wolf River systems. From this gravel-

covered granite perch, all four streams flow down to lowland areas of the

Mississippi River and Lake Michigan.

The Wolf tumbles, riffles and meanders through 220 miles of terrain of

eight counties from its source in Little Pine Creek north of Hiles, less than

twenty-five miles from the Wisconsin-Michigan boundary, to Lake Poygan.

The forested headwaters of the Wolf are distinctly slow moving. Not until the

Wolf has coursed through about twelve miles of northern Langlade County

does it begin its spectacular lurch to Keshena Falls. In this stretch alone the

Wolf descends nearly 700 feet.

After leaving tne granitic-crystalline upland, the pace of the Wolf slows

down considerably, falling only about fifty feet in its 100-mile course from

Shawano to Lake Winneconne.

(3^ WAYKA RIPS

® KESHENA FALLS DAM

® HIGHWAY KESHENA, WIS.

@ SHAWANO HYDRO¬

ELECT. PLANT

RED RIVER

SHAWANO LAKE OUTLET

SHAWANO DAM

SEMPLES BRIDGE

SCHROENROCK

LAKE CREEK

Wolf River Profile

MENOMINEE, LANGLADE

AND SHAWANO COUNTIES

HOR. SCALES EACH SQUARE— 6 MILES

VER. SCALE; EACH SQUARE = 40 FEET

12

Arthur A. Oehmcke and Wayne C. Truax

Gauging stations on the Wolf River operated by the United States Geo¬

logical Survey for nearly fifty years indicate an erratic flow from seasonal high

water levels caused by prolonged periods of precipitation and heavy runoff.

During drought years (viz. 1961-1964), the level of the lower Wolf drops

to such an extent that walleye and northern pike are prevented from reaching

their natural spawning marshes. The average volume of flow in the Woff

River is 1,734 cubic feet per second. Annual precipitation in the watershed

varies from an annual high average of 43 inches to a low of 23 inches.

Fish populations in the lower warm water sections include game fish,

panfish and rough fish. The more important species of these groups are lake

sturgeon, walleye, largemouth bass, northern pike, white bass, catfish, perch,

bullheads, crappies, bluegill, carp, sucker, sheepshead, eelpout, and garfish.

The fishing in the Wolf above Keshena Falls for a distance of sixty miles

consists predominantly of brown trout, but rainbow and brook trout are taken

early and late in the season.

Another warm water fishery exists at the headwaters and is made up of

species similar to those found in the lower Wolf with the exception of the

sturgeon, white bass, catfish, sheepshead and carp. While muskellunge are

present in the lower Wolf, they are much more abundant in the headwaters,

particularly in the Post Lake area.

The flat, expansive flood plain of the Wolf River below Shawano and the

characteristics heterogeneous habitats in the sub-watersheds provides a variety

of wildlife species for hunting and observation. Deer and grouse are abundant

while farm game occupies the habitat along the forest edges. About 27% of

the 1,169,720 acres in the lower basin is forested, amounting to 316,650 acres.

The remainder is made up of extensive open wetlands, largely incapable of

being drained, and farmland. Thousands of acres are in fur farms for the

production and harvest of muskrats, mink and otter. The degrees of manage¬

ment vary greatly, depending on the resources of the private owner, the natural

attributes of the land and the fur market.

Waterfowl traditionally use the lower Wolf in their spring and fall migra¬

tions. Summer residents are largely teal and mallards, and other species occa¬

sionally nest along the sloughs, in the muskrat ditches, and on the shores of

the adjacent lakes.

A discussion of the scenic and aesthetic values of the Wolf River generates

another encore to that splendid central portion with its white water, foaming

cascades and the beautiful gorges in Menominee County called the Dalles.

Hardly any other Wisconsin canoe route offers a trip on one of the more im¬

portant trout streams which, in Langlade and Menominee Counties, is con¬

sidered to be one of the state’s most scenic, exciting, rugged and dangerous.

The precaution that it is not recommended for inexperienced canoemen is

sufficient commendation for this stream. To comfort present day "voyageurs”,

numerous unimproved campsites are found on the river along with adequate

put-in and take-out spots. Since no rapids or dams are found in the lower

stretch of the Wolf, a trip in this section is ideal for novice canoeists.

One must indulge in fishing, canoeing, boating or hiking to appreciate

to its fullest extent 5ie beauty of the Wolf River. The northern hardwood

stands and age-old conifers lining its banks, have already disappeared from

most Wisconsin streams.

The Wolf River

13

An erroneous reputation of being the least “dammed” stream in the state

has been awarded the Wolf. Actually, there are five dams upstream from the

City of Shawano. The Shawano, Upper Shawano, and Keshena dams are used

for electric power generation and have a capacity of 1,590 kilowatts. The Post

Lake and Little Rice Flowage dams in Langlade and Forest Counties are pri¬

marily recreational and water storage reservoirs.

The Feeders

Six major tributaries drain the 3,750 square miles of the Wolf River Basin.

The post-glacial drainage pattern displayed by the Evergreen, Red, West

Branch, Little Wolf, and Embarrass Rivers on the west and northwest portions

of the basin account for most of the runoff from this large area. Only the small

subwatershed of the Shioc River is of any consequence east of the main stream.

The contribution of the Lily River and Nine Mile Creek in the upper Wolf

River of Langlade County is significant to the trout management program of

the upper river system.

All of the Wolfs feeder streams have their origin in springs, spring seeps

and natural exposed aquifers in the glacial sands and gravels. The fact that

nearly every stream in the feeder system sustains a trout population confirms

the quality of the water.

With several exceptions, almost all branches of the Wolf have moderate

to high gradients. However, spruce-cedar shelves on the Nine Mile, Evergreen

and Lily have provided excellent locations for beaver to impound water.

Thus, problems in management programs develop since the feeder

streams, with very few exceptions, are high grade trout waters. An increasing

trend in beaver populations is occurring on the headwaters of the sand country

streams of Waupaca and Shawano Counties. Beaver numbers in the forested

portions of the upper watershed are gradually being controlled through special

regulatory management.

Among the best producers of trout, the Wolfs tentacles in Waupaca and

Waushara Counties are heavily fished for trout and are noted for their high

capacity for natural reproduction. The reputation of the Tomorrow, Little

Wolf, White and Waupaca Rivers for their ability to maintain themselves

without stocking are a few examples.

Northern feeder streams of some repute include the Evergreen River, Nine

Mile Creek, Spring Creek, and the Hunting River. Because of past extensive

beaver damage, these streams are not as productive as they were in previous

years. They are nonetheless meeting present fishermen demands by a heavy

“put and take” trout stocking and stream habitat improvement program.

Many miles of scenic tributary waterways can still be found on the Wolf

watershed but farming, logging and general habitat changes have transferred

the present feeder stream scene from one of continuous stream cover to a

broken pattern of farm-woods-field. Exceptions, of course, appear on the main

stem and branches of the West Branch of the Wolf, the Red and Evergreen

Rivers in Menominee County. Here, the preservation of wilderness and at¬

tendant values to a stream are demonstrated in Wisconsin’s last big timber

stand.

Even though the main Wolf can boast of fewer dams than other state

streams of similar size and importance, not as much can be said of its feeders.

The Wolf River

15

This fact is particularly true of the Embarrass River where five dams have been

built and still operate. Ponds in back of these barriers support, for the most

part, warm water fish populations. Constructed originally for sawing lumber

and grinding feed, they no longer serve such purposes. Most sites have been

used as hydro-electric plants but several have been abandoned in the past

fifteen years.

In their entirety, the 1,352 miles of feeder streams, making up the sub¬

watersheds of the upper Wolf River, drain 790,041 acres, or 32.3 per cent of

the 2,438,900 acres in the watershed as a whole and offer varying character¬

istics. Those in the upper portion of the watershed originate in forested sub¬

watersheds which provides habitat for typical forest game species including

deer, ruffed grouse and snowshoe hares.

Watersheds which the feeders drain, and which are west of the main

stem of the Wolf River below Menominee County also have typical forest

game species. Marginal farming and other factors produce a bio-ecological

complex conducive to forming habitats occupied by a greater variety of game

species including farm game along with forest species.

East of the main stem the sub-watersheds are fewer and larger, draining

better soils. Forest cover is lacking and farming is more predominating than

elsewhere in the Wolf River Basin. This gives rise to farm game habitats with

forest species in the more or less isolated forest coverts. Wildlife is less abun¬

dant in this region than elsewhere in the basin, but the area has considerable

potential as will be discussed later.

The Lakes

Three significant inland lake areas appear in the Langlade, Menominee,

Shawano and Waupaca County portions of the Wolf River Basin. There are

over 400 lakes of glacial origin which vary in size from several acres to over

10,000 acres, but most contain less than 100 acres of surface area. Lakes

Poygan and Shawano are the largest and the most prominent natural lakes in

the Wolf watershed. They are also classified among the twenty largest lakes

in the state.

The nature of the substrate from the northern to the southern extremes of

the basin influences the fertility of the lakes. Those lakes formed in or adjacent

to glacial drift containing limestone and dolomite, or near sedimentary rocks

of a calcareous nature, have a high proportion of nutrients. The crystalhne-

granite sands and gravel of the northern section of the watershed contribute

hardly any material of a soluble nature and as a result the lakes in this region

are not very fertile and consequently less productive. Generally speaking, the

clarity and lower temperatures of the water in the northern lakes make them

highly desirable for water recreation activities whereas the lower watershed

lakes warm up considerably and, due to their higher fertility, lack the clarity

desired for general water-centered activity except fishing.

All fish species listed for the north and south sections of the main Wolf

River are also common to lakes of these sectors of the river basin.

Thus, the factor of fertility points up the productivity of the lakes in the

basin, and, although there is danger in any generalization, one can safely say

that good fish producing areas are generally found in the better farming areas.

16

Arthur A. Oehmcke and Wayne C. Truax

Forests and Lands

Almost all of the original forest is gone from the Wolf watershed but a

remarkable recovery has taken place in the present woodland area which

covers about 46% of the entire Wolf River Basin. Agriculture, urban areas,

water and highways absorb the remaining surface area.

Our foresters tell us that this region contains over 1,000,000 acres of com¬

mercial forest land, 61% of which is privately owned by small landowners.

The only remaining choice pine is found in Menominee County, but these

species have been replaced in other counties predominantly by dense hard¬

woods and aspens. Mixed hardwoods and lowland hardwoods in the lower

portion of the basin and oak in the sandy, well-drained soils of the western

section is typical. Farming is the major land use in the southern half of the

watershed with livestock and livestock products the more important source of

farm cash income.

The use of lake and stream frontage for rest and recreation has grown

considerably. Much river frontage on the main Wolf north and south of

Shawano has been platted and is being sold and developed. Many small land

parcels have been acquired by trout fishermen and hunters on this extensive

water system. Riparian lands in public ownership on this river show a much

healthier ratio to private holdings in Forest, Oneida and northern Langlade

Counties. South of the village of Hollister, however, the picture changes

drastically and private ownership of downstream river frontage runs higher

progressively.

Highways to all portions of the river basin are not only adequate but of

excellent quality. General public access facilities to the Wolf ranges from fair

to good except for Menominee Enterprises, Inc. lands in Menominee County.

Access to major lakes is fair but is poor to non-existent on many lakes under

100 acres.

The People

Census figures from 1960 show that the human population of the Wolf

watershed has decreased by nearly 3,000 people since 1950. This decrease

appears to parallel similar rural area population trends in Wisconsin and the

United States.

The various sectors of the river basin have very low population densities.

Only 2,600 people, mostly Menominee Indians, inhabit Menominee County,

one of the less populated vicinities in this river system.

Problems and Potential

During periods of abnormal rainfall, high water has created an incessant

problem in the lower Wolf River and damaging floods, particularly in the New

London area. The Corps of Engineers of the United States Army contend that

most lower Wolf River lands will flood because of the nearly flat slopes of the

river’s natural cross section and that the high flow during flood stages cannot

help but spread out over the lowlands below Leeman. While this may be con¬

sidered a problem, it perhaps is not greater in scope than any other lowland

river area. The frequency of flooding leaves one to speculate that possibly

changes in land use and land use patterns and less emphasis on river channel

The Wolf River

17

improvement would be eflFective and economical. It is noted that only 39,000

acres of the total watershed area are subject to floods. It would appear that

local planning could devise some system of eliminating areas of this type with¬

out creating additional problems throughout the watershed.

Paradoxically, drought influence on trout habitat and the effect of irrigation

during periods of low rainfall present as much of a dilemma to administrators

as the flood situation in the lower watershed. Low flows and excessive irrigation

on feeder streams have caused warning of water and destruction of trout

habitat.

The anxiety of the people in the more economically distressed areas of

Forest and northern Langlade County to broaden their tax base and “develop”

has generally led to problems in “over-development” and destruction of fish

habitat along lake and stream banks. The cover in many instances has been

ruined in the so-called “cleanup” of stream banks and lake shores and has

resulted in a look of artificiality. When one considers that there are over 150

spring seeps and spring ponds on the Wolf River from the County A bridge

to the Menominee County line, it is understandable that the problem must be

acted upon at once.

The development of the upper watershed has also been challenged by

well-meaning individuals who feel that the construction of a dam will pro¬

vide greater water recreation opportunity regardless of the general nature of

the impoundment. It is understandable from the planner’s viewpoint and the

governmental officials’ outlook that extremely heavy use and increased public

traffic will be the picture in the future. The recent controversy over the pro¬

posal to establish a dam on a slow-moving portion of the Upper Wolf River and

more recently the proposal to establish a dam in the Leeman area has aroused

the ire of many sportsmen and other individuals who feel that the quality of

the remaining stretches of the Wolf River, which now run unimpeded, will be

injured. The proponents contend that the deleterious effects to the other por¬

tions of the Wolf River will be minimal and the benefits from new impound¬

ments will far outweigh any damaging effects. The Wisconsin Conservation

Commission has opposed the construction of such dams on the basis that trout

values would be ruined on the upper Wolf and spawning migrations of stur¬

geon and other species of game fish on the lower Wolf would be lost and

the effects would be felt on the Winnebago-Fox area as well.

It is obvious that increased boat traffic will create additional demands on

the river. It is hoped that unnecessary speed and excessive horsepower can be

held to a minimum so that there will be no menace to future canoeing, on the

lower Wolf particularly.

Feeders to the Wolf River are generally the problem areas and will con¬

tinue to be plagued with problems of pollution, destruction of land cover and

irrigation. Although the main stem of the Wolf provides the name and the

glamor, trouble usually centers on the feeder streams. The pollution from

creameries, cheese factories and in some instances municipalities has made

it necessary for the State committee on water pollution to issue orders for

cleanup. This was accomplished in 1951, and it appears that good compliance

is being made. On the brighter side, it has already been mentioned that the

future of trout fishing, particularly in the sand country area, is improving. This

outlook is enhanced by the land acquisition program on the feeder streams in

18

Arthur A. Oehmcke and Wayne C. Truax

these areas. If the construction of dams can be prevented and cover can be

restored and protected, it is quite evident that stabihzed flows and improved

quality of water would be a reality.

What the future might offer for lake areas in the upper watershed is dem¬

onstrated by the intensive development around Shawano Lake and the more

southerly lakes of the basin. Future demands on water recreation will be just

as intense in this watershed in the future as it is in the more populous localities

of the state today. Fewer people appear to be in pursuit of fishing opportu¬

nities, and the quest for swimming, sight-seeing, and relaxation is being

substituted.

While the lakes furnish about 8 times more water area in the basin, the

larger streams offer much more available frontage and hence will require

zoning or some other control measures to provide for protection as well as

orderly development.

Natural inland lakes cannot be replaced by artificial impoundments. The

creation of artificial water areas generates additional problems of warming and

siltation. This should be avoided.

Present forest inventory information on the watershed shows a real po¬

tential for increasing tree growth rates to one half cord per acre per year.

Foresters claim a step-up of this nature could provide most of the wood for

Fox River Valley mills.

In order to realize the full potential of the forest lands, woodland grazing

— ^presently a number one offender — ^must be curtained drastically.

The well-forested watershed will retard runoff, promote infiltration and

generally contribute to improvement of the economy.

Wildlife management is conducted as a two-pronged attack, using both

public and private funds. The long-range objective is public ownership of

some 10,000 acres consisting of the larger wetland areas offering choice de¬

velopment possibilities. These are to serve for demonstration as well as public

hunting grounds and resting areas. Waterfowl and furbearers will be given

top priority along with other resident species which occupy the edges. Water

control and manipulation by gravity or pumping is planned.

Private wildhfe management is a vast untapped potential in the water¬

shed. The key to exploiting this tremendous resource is—technical advice!

Game management planning and supervision is underway on more than a

dozen private projects.

In summary we envision a network of strategically located public areas

surrounded by numerous satelhte management projects, privately owned. All of

the game habitats mentioned are within an hour’s drive of the populous lower

Fox River Valley. Accessibility, along with the excellent wildlife potential of

the basin, will make the Wolf River Basin an increasingly important hunting

area.

Pressures from increased population in and near urban centers outside

the Wolf watershed are being felt. The cry is for more recreational

“lebensraum” and for more freedom in achieving it. Such forces are met with

counter-pressure from within the river basin to “broaden the tax base” by sub¬

dividing private lands and platting. Interior forces in the watershed are also

The Wolf River

19

active in coercing town and county boards to release desirable watershed

frontage land for private acquisition.

Much ready capital is needed to stimulate and carry out long-range pro¬

grams for forest plantations, woodland management, resort and service busi¬

ness development and general recreation^ — -vacation centered business. A great

deal of local talent and knowledge is lost annually from migrants out of the

upper watershed to the cities because of lack of opportunities and inadequate

financing possibilities at home.

Public administrators at all levels of government within the Wolf Basin

are required to analyze divergent public opinion on perplexing issues. For

instance, the land developers and real estate people want to create lakes by

building dams while trout fishermen, sports clubs and conservation groups

want to retain the original status of the river. A fly Ashing only area is accepted

by only half the residents of the area since it “discriminates” against the worm

fishermen.

Many citizens are clamoring for more long-range planning while others

maintain that we must develop lands now to increase the tax base.

A fine project in stream habitat improvement work on the Evergreen

River is criticized on the grounds that the “state should get out of the land

business.” Thus, the official in the watershed responsible for planning reaches

an impasse trying to determine how to improve any of the basin area without

adequate control of the land.

The attitudes must change or no improvement will grace the Wolf water¬

shed. Future demands of the river basin, particularly those of recreation,

must be met with an unselfish outlook. Local sacrifices must be made and state

aids will perhaps be necessary. But outside help will never replace the “boot¬

straps” of local patience and initiative.

Where the Wolf River was an important factor in the economy of north¬

ern Wisconsin in the past, a reversal appears imminent if its future role in

Wisconsin’s development follows a planned course. The opportunities offered

by the northern portion of the Wolf watershed are so great that little time

should be wasted in getting on with a program.

Many ideal waterfront sites are available for youth camps in the Langlade,

Forest and Menominee County sections of the basin. New groups are becom¬

ing interested in canoeing and by 1975 this sport will have many more sup¬

porters. Historical sites offer spendid opportunities for entertaining and/or

educating the tourist. Such locations should be marked by signs and the his¬

torical value of the logging era should be stressed. Wherever possible old

log flumes and other non-interfering structures should be resurrected in the

streams as they originally applied to the lumber industry.

Finally, a sincere effort by all citizens and government officials in the

Wolf watershed should be made to bring about an agreeable and equitable

zoning system for river and lake frontage lands. Such zoning should include

adequate building set-back provisions and assure protection of cover along

stream banks and shorelines to perpetuate wilderness aspects.

Planning is essential in the over-all development of the resources of the

Wolf River watershed. The Wolf River Basin Regional Planning Commission

was authorized and began functioning less than two years ago. It can and

20

Arthur A. Oehmcke and Wayne C. Truax

must serve as a catalyst for the many government resource agencies, the people

living in the watershed and those who will benefit from the development of

its resources. Coordinating this monumental task are three commissioners from

each of the eight counties comprising the Planning Commission. Their leader¬

ship must be bold — ^yet diplomatic, courageous — ^but compromising, far¬

sighted — ^but practical. They are the foundation of the resource planning and

development structure. Failure in the foundation or any of the agencies form¬

ing the superstructure will topple the whole.

Success is essential to the orderly, logical development of all the resources

of the basin. The alternative is chaos! Mismanagement to date is apparent to

anyone who wishes to view it. Witness the shacks along the banks, die house

trailers on the subdivisions, the draining, the filling and a host of other helter-

skelter cultural atrocities.

On the other hand picture, if you will, the clean, clear water, the man¬

aged woodlands, abundant wildlife, scenic drives, zoned land-uses, attractive

cottages, a flourishing recreation industry, overlook parks, historical sites, white

water, and lastly— a happy people!

References

Andrews, Lloyd M., Black, John J., and Threinen, C. W., Surface Water Resources

of Menominee County — ^Wisconsin Conservation Report — 1963.

Austin, H. Russell, The Wisconsin Story — The Milwaukee Journal — 1948,

CNRA Report, Citizens’ Natural Resources Association of Wisconsin, Inc., Menominee

Report — 1956.

Durand, Loyal Jr., and Bradbury, L. M., Home Regions of Wisconsin — New York,

1933.

Hinde, Alfred, 1894. “Fishing the Wolf’, Forest 6- Stream — October and Novem¬

ber.

Martin, Lawrence, The Physical Geography of Wisconsin, Wisconsin Geology and

Natural History Survey, Bulletin No. XXXVI. Second Edition, 1932.

Neupert, Carl N., M.D., Wisniewski, Theodore I., State Board of Health and

Committee on Water Pollution, 1952. Findings of Fact, Conclusion and Order

Alleged Pollution of the Wolf River and Its Tributaries.

Threinen, C. W., et al. Wolf River Watershed — ^Wisconsin Conservation Depart¬

ment Report — November, 1962.

Williams, Ann C., et al. The Wolf River Basin — ^A report to the Water Resources

Committee of the Wisconsin Legislative Council, 1960.

Wisconsin Conservation Department, 1963. Wisconsin Water Trails.

- 1941-1964 — Department Files

- - 1959 — Report on Land and Water Use (Coordinating Committees for

Conservation Needs.)

Wisconsin Conservationist, The, 1919. Trout Fishing in Langlade County, Vol. 1,

No. 2, May, Page 10.

Wisconsin State Department of Agriculture Crop & Livestock Reporting Service, 1957

Wisconsin Rural Resources (Langlade, Forest, Oneida, and Shawano Counties.)

Wisconsin State Planning Board, 1945. A Picture of Wisconsin, Bulletin No. 16,

August.

OUR NEIGHBOR: THE WISCONSIN RIVER

Robert C. Wylie, Vice-President and General Manager

Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company

Life History of a River

How do you describe a river? A river that is neither primitive or unde¬

veloped enough to be included in the present investigations of our nation’s

wild rivers or imruly enough to gain national prominence in the news each

year for the heartache and monetary destruction it causes by overflowing its

banks.

I have tried many times to describe the Wisconsin River and have always

been impressed with its human-like characteristics and the manner in which

its life parallels the experiences of human Hfe. Now, nobody really believes

that a river is human, but allow me to point out the many similarities.

Birth

The Wisconsin River was born many centuries ago. Its parents were the

great glaciers whose mighty force shaped and moulded the face of our state

and whose melting waters, along with the vast quantities of runoff that have

occurred since, helped to carve the path that the infant was to follow. This

child started life in Lac Vieux Desert and as the history of the state unfolded

it became apparent that it was to Hve its whole life within the borders of the

state. It was only one of a large number of rivers in this and adjoining states

that joined togemer to create the well-known Mississippi family. In this family

it is interesting to note that the Wisconsin River is the largest child living en¬

tirely within one state, even though it is 430 miles in length. In all of the

other great river families of the nation, there are only three other rivers of

greater length which live in only one state—the Brazos, Colorado, and Trinity,

all of which are in Texas. This new child was destined to do and see great

things in its hfetime. Even as an infant it was expected to do its share of

the family chores and drained 12,280 square miles, or about 25% the area of

the future state of Wisconsin.

Infancy

Infancy is a time for phenomenal growth, great discoveries and marvelous

adventures. There was no exception to this in the life of the Wisconsin River,

which was a water highway for the Indians and other primitive people long

before the coming of the white man to North America. The early explorers,

such as Radisson, Allouez, Marquette and Johet, made good use of the Wis¬

consin and its close proximity to the headwaters of the Fox River in their

explorations more than 300 years ago. All of those who followed these ex¬

plorers, such as the voyageurs in the 1700’s, and the lumbermen in the 1800’s

were to play a large role in opening up the wilderness, and the Wisconsin was

to be one of the main arteries of further discovery and a means of transport¬

ing settlers, the necessities of life, and the products of their toil.

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol. 53 (Part A) 1964

21

22

Robert C. Wylie

Childhood i

1

After infancy, each experience in childhood takes on specific meaning j

that can be related in later life to the overall development of tiie child and his ;

niche in life. Some of the great experiences in the childhood of the Wisconsin

Biver were the formation of this great state and the timber logging era of the j

1800’s. II

The river was a favorite means of transportation for the fur traders, :

loggers, and even the farmers who used the Wisconsin-Fox waterways to send

Wisconsin wheat to the eastern markets. However, the river was often an “

unpredictable and un wieldly child, not always obeying its elders. It was ;

recognized that the river had great potential in the transportation and power |

industries, and some attempt was made to develop that potential.

The logging industry prepared great quantities of logs and lumber each i

winter for shipment to the markets downstream. However, there were some |

rough spots in the river’s path that even the bursts of stream flow each spring i

couldn’t float the logs over. Therefore, the loggers temporarily harnessed some j

of the youthful energy by storing rrmoff water in holding ponds during most '

of the year and releasing it during the high flow spring season to help speed |

the logs on their way. ;

I suppose you could say they were spoiling the child, by giving it is own j

way and increasing its flow tantrums. However, a good portion of this unruli- i

ness was aheady a habit, probably due to the child’s heritage and origin. Many |

tributaries of the river originated in glacier deposited soil types that exerted J

no natural control over their actions. Rain and snow draining from these water- I

sheds ran unrestrained and the soils held nothing in reserve for future stream

flow needs. This helped to create conditions of flooding during the spring and |

fall of each year and paved the way for drought conditions at other seasons.

Other pioneers began to develop communities along the river and harness

its power in other ways. The first dam on the river was built at Wausau in

1840 and used for milling wheat. Some years later in 1889 the first electricity

in the valley was generated at a dam in MerriU.

As the state and the child grew, their way of life changed and became

more refined. Homes needed greater conveniences and industry needed a more

reliable source of power. The use of the river as a means of transportation

began to wane. The forests were utilized for pulpwood in the new paper mills

that were destined to become one of the major industries in the valley.

The child and its neighbors were growing up.

Teens

The coming of teen-age brings with it the reahzation that it won’t be

long before we are to become a man, and now is the time when we must

begin to plan if our lives are to have meaning and purpose. In the late 1800’s

and early 1900’s, the river was in the same position as other teen-agers and

needed understanding and guidance.

The paper mill industry and hydro-electric industry were making great

strides forward and many plants were being constructed along the river. The

businessmen who were investing heavily in these plants realized that the river

Our Neighbor: The Wisconsith Rimr

23

was a great natural resource and a potential source of great energy if properly

channeled and guided. They were willing to become teachers and furnish

guidance for this teen-ager because they knew that those young people who

study their lessons and plan for the future will be the good citizens of to¬

morrow. They will be the backbone of our nation and the stabilizing force in

our economy.

Our teen-ager s teachers realized that we must become useful — not just

ornamental. People and resources are meant to be utilized and we know that

they both work better if they are encouraged and not mistreated. In order to

lead meaningful hves, people and resources must have a goal and need to be

gainfully employed. This is what the teachers of yesterday had in mind for

flie Wisconsin River.

However, as is the case today, there are always a few of the teen-agers

who, because of their behavior, give the rest of die crowd a bad name. A

number of the western tributaries of the Wisconsin had terrible tempers and

at the least provocation, because of rain or saturated ground conditions, were

prone to loose a torrent of water through the valley, disrupting classes for the

day, and getting everybody upset. Experience has shown that small amounts

of control judiciously applied to key figures in a group can result in complete

cooperation of the whole group. This the teachers knew.

They also knew that the river needed to have a reliable coordinator, or

guidance director, with the authority, physical facilities and responsibility to

help this teen-ager and its tributaries apply their knowledge for the benefit

of all.

In 1907, the businessmen along the river, who were on their way to be¬

coming teachers, convinced the state that they should be allowed to create a

guidance director for the Wisconsin River.

As usual there were those who didn*t agree that this was the way to

train the child. Some, of course, felt that the child was incorrigible and not

ment to be trained, or that it was not possible to retrain a wayward teen-ager

to the important things in hfe. Others claimed that child labor was to be ex¬

ploited for the great gain of the industrial barons, accompanied by a great

theft of their water resources, ravaging of the north’s scenic beauty, and a great

detriment to the state’s interest. One particular article that was written de¬

nouncing the idea poetically described the Wisconsin River and proposed

reservoir system with its title, ‘‘White Coal Fields and Water Farms.”

Fortunately, the good judgment of the public and state legislature pre¬

vailed and the guidance director, known as the Wisconsin Valley Improvement

Company, was created.

A special chapter of the state statutes was passed granting the authority

needed, listing all special conditions under which the interests of the people

were safeguarded, including the placing of the overall company activities

under the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission.

The teachers had planned well, and determined that the best means of

river control was to train those few tributaries that gave the whole river a

bad name. They also knew that early habits were more easily broken than

those that were well-established; therefore, it was important to control the

headwater tributaries of the drainage system before they gathered bad habits

on their way downstream.

24

Robert C. Wylie

The teachers’ plan to be carried out by the guidance director called

for the establishment of storage reservoirs on the river and its tributaries to

store the excess water when there was an abundance of stream flow and re¬

lease it for use when the natural energy of the river began to droop. In this

way the destructive seasonal floods could be averted and the river would ;

become a solid citizen throughout the entire year.

Maturity

The river was beginning to mature now. It had a plan in life. Many of ’

the storage lakes used during the logging days were acquired by the Improve¬

ment Company and sixteen of them became “natural” reservoirs. It soon be- '

came apparent that these reservoirs were not sufficient to hold the great quan¬

tities of excess water that not only were available each spring but were neces¬

sary to sustain stream flows during the long, dry summers. Therefore, the *

Improvement Company began to enlarge its storage capabilities, and during

the first 30 years of operation constructed five new reservoirs which now hold

75% of the total system storage. As the teachers had predicted, it was only

necessary to exert some influence on a few unruly ones to bring the entire ;

group into line so that useful, predictable stream flows could be maintained. !

For example: '

The average annual runoff of the Wisconsin River at the Muscoda gauge

is 6,160,000 acre-feet and yet the annual storage and release of the reservoir

system is only 470,000 acre-fee, or 7.6% the Muscoda yield. '

The teachers’ theory in early training paid off, too. It was found that the

control of the headwater tributaries not only was the most effective means of

controlling floods but reduced the cost of control to each user because the

water could be used throughout the entire length of the river. The net effect of

the reservoir system was to reduce most flood flows by as much as 50% and

increase dry season flows by as much as 100% or more.

The teacher-businessmen also felt some responsibility to this youngster

and his education in terms of financial assistance. As a result they agreed to

assume all the liabihties of the Improvement Company so that, while the river '

supplies the energy and water, it is kept functioning and useful through con- '

tinned maintenance and repair of its control structures. In other words, busi- '

nessmen, through their support of the guidance director, have paid for the

education and graduate work of the pupil. And, of course, like any other pri¬

vate businesses, they have paid their share of the taxes that support our

governments.

Through the years, the Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company has con¬

tinually checked the pulse of the river and tested it. Any variations in behavior

have immediately been corrected and additional lessons have been taught so

that the full effectiveness of the training could be reahzed. In this way and •

with this guidance, the youngster has reached adulthood.

Adulthood

The river has come of age. It has remembered the lessons it learned as

a youngster and is well along the way to becoming a good citizen. Its life has

meaning now and it is gainfully employed at 26 hydro-electric dams along its

Our Neighbor: The Wisconsin River

25

course. It helps the valley paper mills and utilities provide employment for

10,000 people who receive a payroll of $62/2 million each year. During its

lifetime, the river has attracted industrial development along its banks and

has been a major factor in the continuity of the paper mills and utility plants

that now pay taxes each year totaling $23 million. The river’s director, the

Improvement Company, pays its own way with taxes of $110,000 each year

and an annual payroll over $100,000.

Don’t get the idea, however, that this river is a dullard and is only inter¬

ested in working. It does find time to play, too, and provides many recreational

opportunities for its neighbors. Some of the best known vacation areas in the

state— Wisconsin Dells, Minocqua, Rhinelander, Tomahawk, Eagle River,

Land O’Lakes— are located along the river, and are highly dependent on the

river and its reservoir system as a source of recreational facilities. Although

not a dramatic river in the terms of whitewater, scenic falls, wilderness vistas

and hungry trout, the Wisconsin does have its moments of solitude, stretches of

enjoyable canoe water, and enough changes of scenery to satisfy all but the

most seasoned river traveler.

The river industries recognize the need and the value of hunting and

fishing in our health and economy. They also recognize the part that their

industrial forest lands, reservoirs, hydro-ponds, and bordering lands can play

in providing this and other types of recreation. As a result of this concern,

more than 900,000 acres of land and water owned by the businessmen who

trained the river are open for use by the general public.

Thousands of acres of water in storage reservoirs or lakes behind hydro¬

plants are prime fishing areas and are available for use. The majority of these

lakes have been man-made, and accurate sportsman’s guide maps to each lake

and its rugged shorelines are appreciated by the fisherman and boater. Thou¬

sands of such maps have been provided free-of-charge as a service of the

industries.

Like most adults, the river tends to stray now and then, and may even

revert to some of its childhood traits. Its guidance director, the Improvement

Company, recognizes that some of the river’s tributaries are still capable of

raising some doubt in peoples’ minds as to whether the river really has ma¬

tured. It is common knowledge among those who are concerned that five tribu¬

taries draining only 22% of the headwaters area and only 7% of the entire

basin can periodically throw the entire river flow regulation out of balance.

These tributaries need some control exerted over them and the Improvement

Company is proposing the construction of a storage reservoir on each stream

to accomplish that control.

Whereas, the present reservoir system covers 67,000 acres, stores 17/2

billion cubic feet of water, and was built with an investment of about $2

million, the five new reservoirs would cover 13,000 acres, store 5/2 billion

cubic feet and also cost about $2 million. All of which goes to prove that the

longer you put off training the child the more troublesome and expensive it

becomes.

As an adult the river has to learn to accept changes. Many adult lives

are wasted because of inability to forget old ways and habits, and adapt to

new ways and changing uses. The increased leisure time available to most

workers today has increased the pressures on our waters through recreational

26

Robert C. Wylie

uses and lakeside developments. The expanding utilization of irrigation prac¬

tices in agriculture has put new dmands on our water supplies. Increased per¬

sonal and industrial use of water has made some people fearful for the future

water supplies of our state and nation. Through it all, however, the Wisconsin

River has shown an aptitude for adjusting to all uses and pressures, and has

shown that foresight and continued planning and development will help us

avoid the problems of the future.

The mature adult learns to weather the times of adversity, not to get over¬

confident in times of good fortune and to pursue a steady course. This is also

true of the river and its reservoirs. No river control system is perfect and it is

impossible to foresee or build for all eventualities. Experiences of recent

months have shown that a change in time-areal-quantity distribution of our

available precipitation can cause temporary shortages and inconveniences.

Behind it aU, however, 57 years of reservoir operation has shown that the

steady, relentless course is the best and will eventually prove to be the great¬

est benefit to all concerned.

Of course, everyone doesn’t always agree with what you and I do as

adults and the same is true with the river and its operation. There is always

the problem of educating the other fellow as to our true intent. In these days

of big government and biUion dollar water schemes, it requires sound think¬

ing and a knowledge of past accomphshments to reahze that a private company

can effectively develop, control and conserve a major natural resource. It re¬

quires continued education to convince others of the need for fluctuating

water levels in the storage reservoirs and the part this plays in effectuating

stable river flows, reliable power production, steady employment, reduction of

flooding and just a plain, basic, sound economy in a river valley.

Perpetual Life

The river has lead a long and useful hfe. It has learned its lessons well

and grown up to be a solid, dependable citizen, playing a major part in the

way of life of its neighbors. It has even become the teacher in many in¬

stances. By example, one of the best ways of teaching, it has shown how water

conservation can effectively be carried on while serving the multiple needs of

all our water users.

The similarity between the river and humans now begins to disappear.

Humans are mortal and will soon be gone, to be replaced by others with

similar ideals and goals. But the river has the quality of perpetual life and

will continue to serve man as it has learned in the past.

The state of Wisconsin can be proud of its citizen and we should be

thankful for our neighbor — the Wisconsin River.

THE CHIPPEWA-FLAMBEAU RIVERS

Ernest F. Swift, Consultant

National Wildlife Federation

This is the story of the Chippewa River, called the Riviere Des Sauteux

by the French, and its main tributary the Lac Du Flambeau. This is the story

of two rivers whose turbulent history is symbolized by the once sullen power of

their falls and rapids, and by the primitive solitude they watched over; rivers

which demanded craftsmanship from those who dared to trespass. Craftsman¬

ship or death; mediocrity was not tolerated. Like many rivers of their kind

they begat a people of stoic courage and truculent individualism.

The Chippewa finds its source by the joining of two forks, one from the

northwestern lake region, the other in the north-central highlands. Some of

Wisconsin’s finest lakes give their waters to make the Chippewa a majestic

stream. The Flambeau, also with two forks, flows south and west from the

north-central highlands; and at one time was one of the most beautiful rivers

of the mid-west. Other watersheds feed the Chippewa, such as the Red Cedar,

the Jump and many lesser tributaries of some individual distinction. There was

a time when the rivers, those ancient highways of man, were the only prac¬

tical wav to penetrate this lonesome and austere north country.

Old time lumberjacks in the embrace of John Barleycorn used to brag

that they helped Paul Bunyan gouge out the channels for the two rivers, but

long before the riverpig grew ten foot tall in song and legend, another breed

of daring men had called the Chippewa and Flambeau their own.

At the time the Pilgrim Fathers were timidly probing the Cape Cod sand

dunes, intrepid Frenchmen with a genius for geography had penetrated as far

as Lake Superior and proclaimed the Continental heartland as part of their

Empire.

Radisson and Groseilliers supposedly wintered on a tributary of the Chip¬

pewa, Lac Court Oreilles about 1659; called Lake of the Short Ears by them

and Ottawa Lake by the Indians. Some of its first known residents were Ot-

tawas, kin folk of the Ojibwa. Both tribes in their westering migration during

the fifteenth century had established themselves around the Apostle Islands;

and then moving South and West began to displace the Sioux. It was during

the winter at Lac Court Oreilles that Radisson recorded dire famine and

starvation.

Father Rene Menard was on the Black and the head waters of the Wis¬

consin in 1661 and no doubt touched the Flambeau and Chippewa on his

agonizing trip back to Chequamegon Bay. And to give flavor and geographic

significance to the Chippewa and Flambeau, the panorama of other waterways

must be woven in; of long portages, heartbreaking snowshoe treks, and of

famous trading centers such as Mackinac, Fort William, La Pointe, Prairie Du

Chien and faroff Montreal, where trade goods started and furs returned.

One can only speculate on the many bold adventurers who followed Radis¬

son, Menard, Allouez, Hennepin, Duluth, Brule, in their sojourns. Le Sueur

knew of the Chippewa, and Perrot with a fort below Lake Pepin had some

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol. 53 (Part A) 1964

27

28

Ernest F. Swift

knowledge of this wilderness watershed. But there were many lesser stars in

this firmament, voyageurs with long rifles and gay sashes and an Indian family,

with canoes ladened with trade goods seeking new beaver country and with

the impelling urge to explore; finally poling back up the sullen current of the

Riviere Des Sauteux and portaging to Gitchee Gumme with bales of sweet,

greasy beaver plews. And there were Jesuits on endless treks to save heathen

souls for the glory of God and the Empire.

After the French regime came the English, and one of them explored

northwestern Wisconsin and parts of Minnesota as far west as the Red River

of the North. His name was Johnathan Garver. He had been commissioned

shortly after the French and Indian War to inventory captured trading posts

and report on the fur trade.

In his extended wanderings he poled up the Chippewa, and took space

in his diary to comment on the herds of buffalo, elk and deer in and around

where the Chippewa joins the Mississippi. He visited Lac Court Oreilles, por¬

taged to the Namekagon and finally arrived at La Pointe.

Although the French lost their Empire their half-breed descendants re¬

mained as a potent force in the mid-continent, and when the dour Scots from

Montreal took over the fur trade these hardy natives were the key to success.

With only a daily measure of cracked corn or peas and bear grease as sub-

sistance, and through hardships beyond description, they paddled and por¬

taged the huge trade cargoes for thousands of miles for their bourgeois. Much

later their offspring became mastercraftsmen of the log drive.

In 1671, Monsieur Cadeau, a man of some breeding, arrived in the Supe¬

rior country. He married the daughter of an Ojibwa Chief, and in so doing,

helped create some of the great fur trade traditions of Minnesota and the Chip¬

pewa and Flambeau regions. His two grandsons, Jean Baptiste and Michel

Cadotte also married Indian wives, became “Marchand Voyageurs” and fur

traders and dominated the above mentioned regions for years to come. When

the Northwest Fur Company was organized they joined it.

With headquarters at La Pointe, Jean Baptiste operated in what is now

northern Minnesota, while Michel, using Reserve on Lac Court Oreilles as a

base, traded on the Chippewa, Flambeau, Red Cedar, Namekagon and tribu¬

taries. Among his several posts he established one in 1784 on the Namekagon

about two miles south of the present village of Hayward. He traded as far

south as the Falls on the Chippewa. He was just twenty years old when he

became a bourgeois.

These early traders of necessity developed a keen sense of geography and

knew all lines of travel. Goods were brought to the Interior from La Pointe by

the way of Fish Creek to the White River, then a portage to Long Lake (Lake

Owen), another portage to the Namekagon, and the last carrying place to Lac

Court Oreilles and Reserve. Another trade route was up the Bad-— -the French |

called it the Mauvais — then up the Bruinswieller, a portage to the West Fork ,

of the Chippewa, down the West Fork and up the South Fork of the Chief,

and then a long portage to Reserve. This was the most diflBcult route with f

several pauses. .

Of course furs were taken out these two routes, but sometimes they went ,

up the Flambeau with a portage to the Montreal River, and then to Lake

Superior and finally to Montreal. i

The Chippewa-Flambeau Rivers

29

After the War of 1812 the English traders were pushed north of the new

boundary between the United States and Canada, and it was now the Ameri¬

cans who were exploring the trade possibilities as had the English when they

took over from the French.

The American Fur Company of John Jacob Astor became established at

Mackinac, La Pointe, Green Bay and Prairie Du Chien. The Cadottes joined

Astor.

Other names still faintly haunt the two rivers. In 1818, two Yankee

brothers of Mayflower background appear on the scene. They were Truman

and Lyman Warren. They married daughters of Michel Cadotte, and even¬

tually took over the fur business from their father-in-law. Then there was James

Ermatinger, another trader of note after whom Jim Falls was named.

James Doty traveled the trade routes of the Chippewa tributaries and

made a report to the Territorial Governor, Lewis Cass in 1820. Henry School¬

craft was appointed Territorial Indian Agent and preserved in his writings

much of the lore of the Great Lakes and the Chippewas. His journals inspired

Longfellow to write HIAWATHA.

From Prairie Du Chien other Frenchmen of the American Fur Company

made their way up the Chippewa, and the influence of Wisconsin's first mil¬

lionaire, Hercules Dousman, was felt on the river. Jean Brunet, who built the

first saw mill at Chippewa Falls in 1836, was one of Dousman's agents. Some¬

time later Brunet migrated up river and built a trading post at a falls which

bore his name and is now buried under a concrete dam. Here stands the village

of Cornell.

Probably the most controversial man on the river at one time was Ezra

Cornell. With the passage of the Land Grant College Act, ofiicially known as

the MoriU Act, in 1862, Cornell came to Wisconsin and purchased 500,000

acres of finest pine land in the valley from public domain with script supplied

by the federal government. Much of it was bought for 80 and 90 cents an

acre and some "'forties” cruised a million feet of timber. This so-called land-

grab caused much bitter feeling among local people; and when sold the funds

were used to found Cornell University.

In the beginning there were the two rivers in all their virgin beauty,

with massive pines, hemlock and yellowbirch arching over the falls and rapids

and deceptive currents, where muskellunge as long as an oar breasted the

turbid waters. But the rivers were ideal for driving logs and when dammed

would run sawmills.

In the 1840's, Yankee and Canuck loggers swaggered over the horizon

with axes on their shoulders, a cud of tobacco in cheek, and plenty of sand in

their gizzards.

Back east the slashings were getting bigger, the smoke of forest fires

thicker, and the green chunks whittled smaller. Looking up through the long

shadows to the green crowns, they calculated that there was enough cork

pine in Wisconsin to patch hell a mile, to last forever. And when they got to

the Chippewa Valley and saw the majestic sheen stretching over sylvan hills,

even these case-hardened timber beasts paused and removed their battered

head-gear in respect for the accomphshments of the Almighty. This reverence,

however, was soon forgotten when with Yankee shrewdness they started to

estimate these fabulous riches, for after all, the Valley had about one fifth of

30

Ernest F. Swift

the pine of the entire state. And made to order was a growing market — ^the

western prairies were filling up with sod-busters, and they were demanding

railroads, grain elevators, stores, schools and churches; there was a great hue

and cry for lumber. Manifest destiny was not to be denied.

By the early "50's, the economic, social and geographic atmosphere of the

Chippewa watershed was rapidly taking on new dimensions. Not only was it

a bonanza for bold enterprise, but along with other timber regions was becom¬

ing a proving ground for new methods of logging, river driving and milling

machinery.

The onslaught was ruthless and wasteful beyond reason because timber

was thought inexhaustible, and competition became a deadly, bare-knuckle

brawl with little regard for human, social or legal niceties. Tlieft of govern¬

ment timber was common, had little stigma, and was justified in the name of

progress. Timber inpectors received no local support, little from the courts,

and considerable abuse from some Congressmen for being so assiduous to duty.

Labor was cheap and equipment and transportation expensive; and lastly

there was a greedy market on the prairies. Present generations would have

done much the same under like conditions; and some are still trying.

In all, the pine era spanned about 50 years, but lumbering continued

with hardwoods, hemlock and a growing paper industry. But those pine days,

what hell-roaring times they were!

First came government surveyors, cruisers and landlookers, using the

rivers as highways for exploration. Then followed bateaus with supplies for

small camps. At first logs were cut along stream banks and skidded by travois

and oxen. But soon the distance increased from timber to river. Costs had to be

cut and so logging technology came into its own Twenty-man camps grew to

accommodate 100 or even 200 men. Equipment improved rapidly and sleighs

were built with 14 foot bunks. This necessitated better hauling roads and so

some genius tried icing the ruts with a water tank on runners.

Summer crews were sent up river to build dams on the tributaries for a

water supply to sluice millions of feet of logs down on the spring floods. Horses

replaced oxen for hauling and skidding, and the bateau was gradually aban¬

doned for taking in supplies when tote roads began to parallel the rivers. Big

lumbering fom-horse tote wagons following end to end carried plunder and

grub from Chippewa Falls as far north as the Namekagon in Bayfield County,

and up the East Fork to Chippewa Crossing, now the village of Glidden.

Time and adversity developed a breed of men who rivaled any on the

American frontier; French and Scotch-Irish from “Canadaw,” and blue-bellied

Yankees from down East. At a later date there was a great influx of Scandi¬

navians. The American lumberjack was about as tough an animal as ever

walked on hindlegs.

They were a highly selective lot due to the processes of primitive sur¬

vival. Nature would tolerate no mediocrity in these unshorn sons of the saw

log. They were craftsmen par-excellence, with axe, saw, canthook, peavy,

bateau and caulked boots; the latter often being used as weapons for rough

and tumble fighting.

Logging at best was a dangerous, back-breaking job. The true lumber¬

jacks were a laconic, proud lot, indifferent to long hours, muzzle-loading bunks,

lice and the miseries of arctic winters and icy rivers. There was a standing

The Chippewa-Flambeau Rivers

31

joke that the only time the camp was seen in daylight was on Sunday. By

the time there was daylight in the swamp they were at work, and were not

back in camp to gorge their evening meal until after dark.

Sometimes working for slave wages, they were, nevertheless, fiercely in¬

dependent, but also loyal to any man suflBciently tough and seasoned to handle

them. It was in the Lake States where Paul Bunyan and Babe, his blue ox,

reached the peak of their mythical fame, and along with them a vernacular

developed which only woodsmen could comprehend. It was earthy, highly

picturesque and to the point, be it at times profane.

When the iron hand of winter gave way to the spring breakup, the great

spectacular got under way— the log drive. Immense rollways along the river

banks were broken out by men with peavies, the logs cascading into the ice-

filled water, and the pull of the current starting them on their journey to the

mills.

This is where the whitewater burlers reigned supreme. There were long,

long hours and miles of river trail to hike; there was rain, sleet and ice, and

there was the everlasting danger from tons of grinding logs that could pull a

man under as the riverpigs rode them down stream. They had a chanty they

sang when the going got too rough for even their stoic souls: ""No matter how

cold and wet I am, Tm always warm and dry!”

Some who started from the upper reaches of the Flambeau or the Torch,

Moose or Chief would not hit the sorting booms at the Falls or Eau Claire

until July. And ever more logs with their crews poured into the main river

from side streams to form a vast carpet of restless, churning timber from

bank to bank and miles on end.

But there were always some who never made it back to the sinful de¬

lights of Whiskey Boulevard, There was always the risk of a widowmaker, a

broken wrapper or a swamphook letting go. And the sullen river was always

watching to pull a careless driver under the logs. Sometimes even the best went

under; as an example; on July 8, 1905, eleven men drowned at Little Falls —

now Holcombe— trying to break up a center jam.

But those that made it hit town with an explosive energy beyond the

comprehension of ordinary mortals. They wanted whiskey, they wanted women

and they wanted to howl. After they had rimracked the town, as so quaintly

expressed, they returned to the forest solitudes at peace with the world. With

several hundred healthy young Americans wanting the same thing, it can be

well understood why the physical, moral and social standards of a sawdust

town had to be rather flexible. Yes, it took a lot of sourdough pancakes, beans,

pork and Norwegian condition powder— Copenhagen snuff— to get a log as

far as the endless chain at the mill.

Each year there were more miles of slashings, each year fewer green

crown of majestic pines to grace the denuded hills. Each year the primeval

wilderness retreated like a wounded animal; and fires seemed to forever flare

and languish or explode into a holocaust, until the smoke hung on the air from

spring thaw to fall snow. And the ruby sun would stare down through stream¬

ers of smoke like the evil eye of perdition.

Sawmills were built where there was a river and a falls for power. Saw¬

mills begat boarding houses, company stores, shanty towns and evil dives for

the workers. Out of this came villages and sometimes cities. The town, the

32

Ernest F. Swift

river, the mills, and later the railroads, were merely segments of the tradi¬

tional sawdust trail which commenced in Maine and ended on the Pacific. It

spanned a Continent, and in the making was one of the greatest sagas of

American history.

Such was the history of Chippewa Falls, Eau Claire and many other

towns that started on rivers. The pattern was standard, mills chewing up logs

24 hours a day during the cut, with two eleven hour shifts. Wages were about

$1.50 a day.

No story of the rivers would be complete without mention of the

""Stopping Places” that followed the loggers, and provided housing for men and

beasts, alcoholic refreshments and on occasion, feminine companionship. A few

of these also became famous in song and story, stops of brief relaxation and

opportunities for fabricating garish yarns that were the sheer genius of fantasy.

And there was the pioneer farmer who also became very much a part of

the Valley history. As the timber disappeared from the river banks and the

back country, small patches of clearing also followed the loggers. They were

painfully grubbed out by sober, God-fearing settlers. They proved a mighty

impact to the Valley’s economy as can be attested by their descendants with

their fine farms and herds of dairy cattle. But the headwaters defied their

efforts and for decades remained wild, and still are to a degree.

I once knew a genuine 23 jewel woods boss who said that he had gone

up the Chippewa and seen its pine forests when they were still on the hoof. I

didn’t see the beginning but I saw the end; the last pine drive to go down the

swirling crest of the Chippewa in 1917.

It was the last big cut of virgin pine and came from the Lac Court

Oreilles Indian Reservation above the two forks. It was removed to make way

for a big reservoir and more hydroelectric power. It marked the end of an era.

Dams were beginning to clutter up the headwaters of both rivers.

Nostalgically I so vividly remember where all this happened, the old

Indian Trading Post with its enormous pines shading the log cabins and birch

wigwams, where old Indians sat and smoked kinnikinnick and the women

scraped summer deer hides and scolded naked children. Ponies grazed the

dancing ground, and birch canoes graced the river bank. For over forty years

this touch of pure Americana has been under water.

But what a country it was when I first saw it through the eyes of youth.

There was much cut-over, but still many miles of green hemlock and yellow-

birch, spreading out between the two forks of the Chippewa and extending

east to the Flambeau. There was ground hemlock in those days and lacy ferns

whose giant fronds stretched higher than one’s head. There was the silent

beauty of virgin lakes, the churning of whitewater over rock faults, and in

those days the occasional howl of a timber wolf; and most important there was

solitude. By learning woodscraft I felt I had earned the right to call it my

own, and that others had that right only through the same rugged lessons.

Thus came to fruitful fulfillment a deep and abiding passion for wilderness

places; those two rivers left their mark. Then ask me why I mourn?

Today people virtuously condemn their forebears for the havoc and de¬

struction of those early logging days. Of course things will never be the same,

but, nevertheless, the cry of "Timber’ is again heard in the woods. After

austere years of rehabilitation, forests are again coming back to become an im-

The Chippewa-Flambeau Rivers

33

portant part of Wisconsin’s economy, and converting raw wood a billion dollar

industry in the state.

But in another way this generation is duplicating the sins of past genera¬

tions. It is now well recognized that timber is not inexhaustable, but it has not

been recognized that outdoor recreation has definite limits. The recreationist

can easily overgraze his pasture, and is being encouraged to do this by federal

and state bureaus with no attendant responsibilities demanded of him. He is

being taught that picnic table conservation is both an economic and recrea¬

tional solution.

Up and down the two valleys as in many other areas, invasion of the

sophisticated city image is rapidly destroying the last vestige of primitive

elements which are the only true foundation for an outdoor experience. Com¬

mercialized recreation has taken over, in fact being governmentally subsidized,

with the same thoughtless greed once attributed to the old time logger. Al¬

ready there are too many roads, too many cottages, too many leaky septic

tanks, too much irresponsible bug spraying, too many speed boats, too much

shore filing, too many unappreciative people. It is smugly called develop¬

ment, a faceless, factitious term which generally means those things just listed

and seldom true enhancement.

Although there is still much wanting in forest management, especially

small holdings, the forests of Wisconsin will continue to thrive to furnish an

economic base, but the esthetics which should be part and parcel of them is

being destroyed, and in a large measure by recreational demands. Commercial

recreation puts a price tag on all natural elements; and esthetics — so called —

are now being sold by the pound. Now we are calling upon people steeped in

unearned leisure to assume managerial responsibilities of values they do not

understand or appreciate.

The primitive charm that once made the Flambeau a famous canoe stream

is all but gone, and the acrid smell of chemicals floating down stream from

a paper mill is an offense to nature. The State of Wisconsin has all but lost

its opportunity to save a tattered bit of the Flambeau as a wilderness area;

and at best it would only be a pleasing illusion of an uncut fringe along the

river and elimination of numerous access roads. At least the logger left solitude.

But if you ever knew the Chippewa or Flambeau in the old days, ghosts

will dog your footsteps as you look for the scenes of yesterday, and with a

little imagination you can visualize a pageant of long ago; of half -naked In¬

dians, Jesuits, traders in buckskins, and rivermen in stagged pants and caulked

boots poling their canoes and bateaus up the swirhng crests of the two rivers.

And if you are still in this mood and are on the upper reaches in the pre¬

dawn cold winter morning, you can still faintly hear the melodious call of the

shanty boy from out the distant past: “R-o-o-11 Out! R-o-o-11 Out! Daylight

in the Swamp!”

1 r.i i'r.vr ' .-ii^ivlj

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THE ST* CROfX^NAMEKAGON RIVERS

Sigurd F. Obon, Consultant

U. S. Department of Interiof

' I want to thank you, Dr. Ihde, and all those who during the past months

have sent me material on the St.Croix-Namekagon complex, which I read

with great interest and profit. It would he presumptuous to add to it, so I will

merely speak from my own personal experience and draw a few general con¬

clusions. I have been intrigued by the papers which preceded mine— a wonder¬

ful backgrO'und for the river proposals this panel is considering. I feel happy to

be asked to be a member of this panel because I Ve had a love affair wiA wild

rivers most of my life.

I tried to fly in yesterday but tibe weather didn't permit my landing, so I

came down on a bus from Ashland coming through country which at one time

I knew very well. I thought of my early Wisconsin experience and how it

would apply to what Tm going to say this morning.

I thought of a little creek which so far as I know has no name even today,

where I caught my first brook trout, somewhere out of the Phillips-Prentice

area which I came through last night. I wasn't more than seven or eight when

I caught that trout, a tender age, but catching that trout and seeing a wild

little creek affected my life. That's where my love affair started.

The last few days iVe been in Hayward, which is close to the head¬

waters of the Namekagon. Living at Ashland for a while and Hayward, I be¬

came familiar with the country Ernest Swift described so vividly. In my

memory are strange names such as the Chippanazee Creek, Big Brook, Branch

Brook, the Mosquito, the Ounce, the Tobitik, not Totogotik as it is on the map,

but Tobitik, countless little streams and tributaries of the upper Namekagon.

Those streams are woven into my life and they have colored my whole attitude

toward wild rivers. I fished the Namekagon fifty years ago when it was full

of brook trout before the browns came in and when it was unusual to catch a

Northern or a bass.

I made a sixteen day canoe trip once from the Kettle River at Sandstone,

Minnesota, down to the St. Croix and down the St. Croix to Stillwater and be¬

yond. Ill never forget that trip. There were no portages on the rivers in those

days, and I ran the famous Kettle Rapids; six miles of white water with no

chance of getting out, and I broke quite a few ribs in my old canoe in the

process.

While at the University of Wisconsin, I spent a summer on the Wisconsin

Geological Survey under Mr. Bean, who was state geologist at that time. Our

headquarters were Stanley and Danbury. I surveyed the Yellow River at that

time, waded all the way from its beginning to where it joins the St. Croix, got

to know it and its tributaries well. Since then my love of rivers has carried me

into many strange places. I have followed the great Canadian rivers from the

International Border up to the Arctic Coast, rivers with such names as the

Churchill, the Athabaska, the Great Bear, the Slave, wild and inaccessible,

even today. In July, I followed the Gods River and the Hays down the fur

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol 53 (Part A) 1964

35

36

Sigurd F. Olson

trade route from the north end of Lake Winnipeg to Old York Factory on

Hudson Bay. My involvement with rivers has been a lifetime affair. Wherever

there's water, I have a penchant for getting into a canoe to explore them. Just

a year ago I made a canoe trip down the Swanee River from the Big Okefeno-

kee swamp in Georgia down to the sea. The year before that I made a trip

down the Lewis and Clark section of the Missouri. IVe canoed the Current

River in Arkansas and Missomri, known the Allagash in Maine. Last year, I

followed the Namekagon from the headwaters to Hayward, a sentimental j

journey for me. |

These trips have given me a feeling fcir wild rivers, a sense of their im¬

portance. Rivers were the first highways of America — ^first the Indians, then the

French and American fur traders, finally the loggers and the settlers. Rivers are i

woven into our lives. Many here today can trace river travel in the history of

their families.

The first highways of America — paths of exploration, trade and develop¬

ment; now we re looking at rivers to see if they have other values. The very

fact that the first morning of this important meeting of the Wisconsin Academy

of Sciences, Arts and Letters is devoted to the preservation of wild rivers is

significant.

Yesterday morning I walked down to the banks of the Namekagon. Mrs.

Olson's old home is on its banks between Hayward and Cable. I had brushed ^

out a trail down to the river some years ago, a lovely trail, paralleling a little

creek rising in a swamp and following the river for probably half a mile. It

was a misty morning. I stood down there by the river and listened and

looked. It hadn't changed much in fifty years. The water was fast and high and

flecked with foam from rapids above. There was constant movement. The

birds were singing. The white throats weren't back yet but the chickadees

were giving their mating calls and a flock of red winged blackbirds were in a

tall tree. Then I heard a mallard coming down the river, a greenhead. It lit in

the river in front of me; I was hidden behind a big cedar root. Soon it was

joined by two others and then there were three greenheads there. They

paddled around in the river and watched the foam, picked up an occasional bit

of food (I couldn't tell what), dove, swam upstream and down for about an

hour. Standing there by the river watching these mallards, listening to the

flow of the water, I thought: the Old Namekagon epitomizes the interest and

the love of people for all wild rivers. Here was the same silence I had known

as a boy. Across from where I stood were two old cedars. I used to catch a

trout there once in awhile, a real brook trout. There was movement and alive-

ness and silence. I could hear cars occasionally on Highway 63 but the sound

ebbed and flowed. Most of the time was the feeling of wilderness that the i

Namekagon used to have. I thought to myself as I stood there, and this part

of the Namekagon is not included in the study, how wonderful it would be if

others could come back as I had done fifty years or so to hear and see what

I saw.

Walking back to the house I took a different trail, wound up on a road,

and there was a sign: River Front Properties For Sale. The Namekagon, the

Wolf, the Chippewa, the Flambeau, and the St. Croix are disappearing before

our eyes. The rivers are not disappearing, but their wild quality is changing

fast.

The St. Croix-Namekagon Rivers

37

I am glad that the St. Croix-Namekagon complex has been given me to

talk about this morning. The St. Croix boundary hne between Wisconsin and

Minnesota was a suitable subject because IVe lived part of my life in northern

Wisconsin and part in Minnesota, so am qualified, I think, to speak for the

project. The river has the same kind of history that other rivers have. It"s a

large river, larger than most being considered, about sixty-five hundred square

miles, roughly five million acres for the watershed. It too was once a famous

highway for the Indians. It had Indian villages, battle grounds between the

Sioux and the Chippewa, and early fur trading posts. During the logging era,

when five and one half billion feet of logs were sorted in the Stillwater area,

it was the great highway. From the standpoint of size and significance this

complex is worth considering.

Just how the Interior Department study teams arrived at their conclu¬

sions I do not know, but I know they started out with six hundred and fifty po¬

tential streams. After a great deal of research, many meetings and pairings,

they cut this vast number down to sixty-four, and this sixty-four eventually to

twelve. What guided the committees in their final choices was national signifi¬

cance. The St. Croix is a large river, has important history, and is still untamed

enough to qualify as a wild river.

I have a gi'eat deal of respect for the study teams and the work they are

carrying on. The more I study the material that has aheady come out, tentative

ideas, surveys, and suggestions, the more I am impressed with the tremendous

amount of research going into these projects. Here is a challenge never faced

before in the preservation of wild country. Trying to figure out the ownership

pattern of a national park, a national recreation area, or an historic area is

simple compared to what these teams face in their study of rivers. Here are no

solid blocks of land, but long ribbons along the rivers which may be from one

hundred to two hundred miles in length. Here they face different kinds of co¬

operation-federal, state, county, with a complex of private ownership that's

sometimes baffling, legal complexities which will take all the ingenuity, brains

and analytical ability the study teams possess.

The twelve national rivers were chosen because of their proximity to

great populations and their recreational potential, as well as beauty and charm.

There are many other factors going into their choices for the kinds of rivers

picked for this first study. I merely want to say to these teams; do not under¬

estimate the importance of your studies. Those of us who know, recognize

the tremendous difficulties you're faced with. If you come up with fairly firm

conclusions by the end of the year, which is your hope, remember that you are

laying the groundwork for a new system to be called "‘The Wild Rivers of

America", something different than has ever been done before.

“The Wild Rivers of America" is a challenging concept. I'll never forget

when Secretary Udall came into office. He had a big map of America laid

out before him, had marked in red dozens of rivers, most of them the head¬

waters of huge drainage systems. He said, “I hope the day will come when we

can save a few of these rivers in a wild or wilderness condition, when the

American people will realize that some rivers are more important from the

standpoint of aesthetics and recreational use than as sources for power and

water storage. We'll have to move fast because these opportunities are

disappearing.”

38

Sigurd F. Olson

In the Department of Interior, with its various agencies — the Bureau of

Outdoor Recreation, the National Park Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service,

Reclamation, and other, and with the cooperation of the Department of Agri¬

culture the Forest Service, there has finally come into being a definite deter¬

mined program to save some of these rivers while there is still time. I hope that

the twelve which are now being studied in depth will be increased shortly to

maybe twenty or thirty. I hope those that the federal government is not study¬

ing will be studied by the states, the counties, and local governments.

I hope the day will come when such beautiful rivers as the Wolf, if it

does not fill the criterion for national designation, wiU somehow have woven

around it a protective design. Back in the thirties I made a survey for the

Bureau of Indian AflFairs of all the Lake States’ reservations, spent considerable

time on the Wolf and had a delightful assignment to also fish the Evergreen

which up to that time was denied to white people. You can imagine how diffi¬

cult it was for me, being an old trout fisherman, to go into Sie Evergreen

with an Indian friend with the express purpose of seeing what was there.

It’s hard to make comparisons, diflBcult to compare one river with an¬

other. They’re all different and worthwhile. An encouraging thing about this

wild rivers movement is that studies are being made by men as conscientious

as any I’ve ever known — ^men who have an emotional involvement in rivers as

I have. If these men didn’t have a deep feeling for rivers, if they didn’t wear j

their hearts on their sleeves so to speak in the work they’re doing, their work

would not be significant. Joseph Wood Krutch of Arizona said once, “Conserva¬

tion without love is a meaningless activity.” I am sure all of you embrace that

philosophy whether it’s the wild rivers program or any of the many facets

which may be discussed here today. AU conservation is the same, and all con¬

servation work done by people such as you and the organization you repre¬

sent, is done for love and the deep feeling you have for the land, and your

envronment — ^not only rivers, but forests — and swamps — and fields, the total '

hmnan environment we’re trying to save. Wild river studies are part of this

pattern. I

An old Greek philosopher said, “Life is a gift of Nature, but a beautiful

life is a gift of wisdom.” How right he was. A beautiful life is a gift of wis- !

dom. What we’re trying to do in this wild river study is to gain wisdom, wisdom

on how to cope with all the technical problems confronting such preservation. '

In order to have wisdom we must have knowledge, studies in depth that have

to do with the physical terrain through which a river flows, the kind of stream

it is, the kind of water, ownership patterns, legal complications, federal, state

and county divisions, the complexities of zoning, purchase of easements, and

other facets that are part of the overall effort. !

I want to sound a few precautions regarding rivers. Let’s never try to bal¬

ance the economic potential of wild rivers against the dollars and cents of

economic statistics so easily available. I’ve always felt in any of these strug¬

gles that to talk of aesthetics, intangible value and the spiritual, the emo¬

tional impact on people, with the complex of the dollar sign, is a losing battle.

We cannot ignore the dollar sign, but let’s not try to make any wilderness

reservations justify themselves from the standpoint of economy alone.

Secondly, I would say the important thing in protecting rivers is to save

the streamsides by the creation of inviolate strips along them. How wide they

The St. Croix-Namekagon Rivers

39

should be depends on the terrain itself. A river shorn of its trees is a changed

river, a river logged to its banks, a diflFerent ecology from what it was before.

Thirdly, let us not overdevelop these priceless rivers. As I stood by the

Namekagon yesterday, alone in the mist watching those mallards and listen¬

ing to the birds, I thought of what maximum recreation use could do to a river

like that, I thought of thousands of canoeists coming down the Namekagon,

not only canoeists but boats with uptilted motors, and I thought,” Why stress

this matter of maximum use? Why not face up to the real issue, the preserving

of something wild for its own sake, for the days when our population will be

three hundred million instead of one hundred and ninty?” We must look to the

future not the next decade, a future of fifty, one hundred years, or a thousand.

I was delighted to see you at this meeting. Senator Nelson. I thought Td

said goodbye this morning but evidently the planes are not flying. I want to

compliment you for your vision, for the leadership Wisconsin took in its fifty

million dollar natur^ resource fund. I must also tell you that due to our

jealousy regarding the lead Wisconsin took, we did the same thing in Minne¬

sota. You set an example which is being followed all over the United States.

I couldn't be here last night to see the Brandywine film which I viewed

some time back, but I did want to hear the speaker again; nor did I make it to

see the Apostle Island films because my planes weren't flying either. I saw the

film in Washington and was impressed. Living at Ashland I knew the Apostle

Islands, once was storm bound there on a little sand spit of Long Island for

several days with nothing to eat. I know the Kaukaugan sloughs and the Che-

quamegon sloughs at the end of the bay. It would be a wonderful thing if the

dream of providing protection for this unusually historic complex of islands,

rivers, and sloughs would come into being.

I don't think any of us still face up to the fact that time is running out,

that we're faced with a population and industrial expansion which will destroy

many of these things we're talking about unless we move now. That's why

this meeting is important. There is an urgency that cannot be avoided. The

day is going to come when any place of wilderness will be so precious to our

people that even to go there and look is enough without having to paddle down

it, swim or water ski, or catch fish. The important thing is to save places with

wilderness quality to which the people of the future can repair for their spirit¬

ual well being.

I remember Justice Douglas on our C & O Canal hike of ten years ago

when we walked one hundred eighty nine miles from Cumberland to Washing¬

ton. He and I were on a radio program one night when he said, '‘We establish

sanctuaries for deer and ducks and fish and all sorts of creatures, but what we

really need to do is establish sanctuaries for men.”

MINERALS, WATER AND SOILS IN NORTHERN WISCONSIN

George F. Hanson, State Geologist and Director

Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey

Geologically speaking, Northern Wisconsin is the very heartland of the

state. It is here that the rocks of the so-called “basement complex” have been

uplifted and exposed at the surface by erosion.

These rocks are extremely complex and record over 2,000,000,000 years

of geologic history. They record the presence of ancient seas whose boundaries

have long since been obliterated but whose deposits are represented by sand¬

stones, now quartzites, such as we see in Rib Mt., and by other marine de¬

posits now so highly altered that their origin is often barely discernible.

They record the activity of volcanoes, some quietly extruding basaltic

lavas that covered hundreds of square miles, others erupting with explosive

violence and emitting deadly clouds of incandescent dust such as annihilated

the inhabitants of Pompei and St. Pierre. They record periods of intense crustal

deformation when mountains were built, and periods of quiescence when the

mountains were reduced to plains on which rose hiUs of more resistant rocks

such as quartzite. During the final minutes of the last scene glaciers covered

the land leaving on their retreat a blanket of debris which all but obscured the

underlying rocks and which radically changed the preexisting featmres of the

landscape.

Such then is the geologic setting of our mineral resources, our water re¬

sources and our soils.

Of all the mineral resources of the north none have been more important

historically than iron ore. This was originally deposited as a marine sedi¬

ment and consisted of thin, alternating layers of silica and iron carbonate. As

these sediments were subjected to various geologic stresses with the passage

of time, their nature changed; in some areas the iron and silica combined to

make iron silicate minerals; in others the iron carbonate changed to magnetic

iron oxide and in others to non-magnetic iron oxide; locally the silica was

leached away, leaving masses of high-grade iron ore scattered as plums in a

pudding. It was in these high-grade ore bodies that the iron mines on the

Penokee-Gogebic Range were developed. The first production was in 1884

from the Colby mine in Michigan, and two years later the Montreal and Cary

mines in Wisconsin began production.

Although the iron-bearing formation itself was extensive, the high-grade

ore bodies were scarce, and as early as 1924 work was started to produce a

high-iron concentrate from the low-grade iron formation or, as it is commonly

called, “taconite”. At first this was uneconomical, but as mining and concen¬

trating techniques improved, and as the cost of mining the high-grade ore

rose, the cost-benefit ratio began to favor the production of taconite. Imported

ores of exceptionally high-grade also appeared on the market. It became ap¬

parent that die iron mines of the Penokee-Gogebic Range, some of which were

operating from 3-4000 feet xmderground, would soon be unable to compete

economically. In 1962 the Montreal Mine was abandoned after having pro-

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol. 53 (Part A) 1964

41

42

George F. Hanson

duced almost 45,000,000 tons of ore, and although the Cary Mine is still pro- I

ducing, its future is most uncertain. ,

The era of high-grade iron ore mining in Wisconsin is drawing to a close

and the future lies in “taconite”. Substantial quantities of ‘‘taconite” are known

to be present on the west end of the Penokee Range near Mellen; in the vicin¬

ity of Butternut, in southern Ashland County; at Pine Lake, south of Hurley I

in Iron County; and at Black River Falls in Jackson County. It is very possible I

that there are imknown deposits awaiting discovery. Although it is imcertain

when taconite mining in Wisconsin wiU become a reality, I have little doubt

that it will ultimately be of as great, or greater, economic importance to the

north as has the mining of high grade ore.

Although iron is the only metallic mineral that has been produced from

the northern part of the state, it was another metal, copper, that captured

men's imagination at the turn of the century. It had been shown that the same

geologic formation that was host to the rich copper deposits of the northern

peninsula of Michigan extended across northern Wisconsin to Minnesota; some

outcrops showed traces of copper mineralization, and on the basis of this in¬

formation a full-fledged copper boom was promoted. Mining companies pointed |

to the fabulous success of die Michigan mines and sold stocks with the assur- j

ance that ‘‘all risks had been eliminated.” This rosy picture was clouded when,

in 1900, the state survey issued a report stating that although some copper min¬

eralization was apparent there was no evidence from the outcrops and test

holes that had been examined that ore bodies of commercial magnitude were ,

present. This report created an intense furor but it has stood the test of time,

and although there has been exploration during recent years by some of the

world's largest copper producing companies, we still await the discovery of a

commercial ore-body. In spite of these discouraging results, I feel certain that

such ore-bodies do exist and may be discovered in the future as new explora¬

tion techniques are developed.

Although metals have much popular appeal, non-metalhc minerals are of ,

no little importance. Among the non-metallics produced in northern Wisconsin

are large quantities of sand and gravel for highway and other construction

purposes. Crushed stone for roofing granules is produced in Marinette county

and also at Mosinee just north of Wausau. Quartzite is quarried for abrasives :

at Rib Mountain. Wisconsin granites are known throughout the nation and

indeed there are none finer. Occurrences of some rather exotic minerals such

as talc, molybdenite, asbestos, zircon, thorium and the rare earths are also

known and may point to the discovery of deposits of commercial grade.

The soil and water resources are both legacies of the Ice Age. Our in¬

formation is insufficient to reconstruct the pre-glacial physiography with anyt

degree of accuracy. The topography was probably somewhat more rugged;

there was certainly a well developed drainage system with few, if any, l^ies;

groimd-water supplies would have been hard to obtain as the crystalline rocks

store negligible amounts of water, and the residual soil would have been highly

leached of its nutritive elements.

The material that was deposited by the ice sheet consisted of imsortedi

debris composed of fragments, scoured from the rocks over which it passed,

ranging in size from large boulders to rock flour. In general these deposits are

quite high in nutrients. As the ice receded, streams took up new courses and

Minerals, Water and Soils in Northern Wisconsin

43

lakes were formed in the depressions created by dammed valleys and the

melting of stagnant ice blocks buried in the glacial debris. In many places

the glacial sediments were redistributed by water from the melting ice and

sorted into various sizes depending on the velocity of the current. Coarse ma¬

terials such as sand and gravel were deposited in broad, flat, “outwash” plains

close to the margin of the melting ice; the finer materials were carried greater

distances and were deposited in the still water of lakes, which were then of

much greater extent than those of the present day. In some areas a fertile layer

of wind blown silt, called “loess”, covered the ground to a depth of several

feet. Thus a brand new landscape, new soils and a new water regimen were

created.

The sands and gravels act as a highly permeable sponge to soak up rain¬

fall, store it temporarily as ground water, and release it slowly to streams to

maintain cool and steady flows. In such areas wells can be drilled to yield

large quantities of water. However, in areas where sands or gravels are lacldng,

and especially where the glacial deposits are thin, ground-water may be ex-

‘ tremely difficult to obtain, even in such limited quantities as are necessary for

' domestic and hve-stock use. If surface water supplies are readily available

these may be developed, but quite often they may be highly polluted or may

I lie far enough away that the cost of obtaining, processing and transporting

! the water is beyond the economic capabilities of the communities involved.

In such areas the lack of water may seriously limit the growth potential. Thus,

' although northern Wisconsin is water-rich overall, the local availability of

water for domestic, municipal, industrial or agricultural use may vary from

that of extreme plenty to that of critical shortage.

The soils of the northlands are by and large quite fertile, and in 1921 the

I state survey issued a bulletin extoUing their virtues. However, the agricultoal

boom, like the copper boom, failed to materialize. Although some areas sup-

: port a healthy dairying industry, the growth of diversified crops is limited by

the short growing season. Within recent years, however, a significant new de-

! velopment has taSken place, namely growing specialized crops, such as potatoes,

I on the sandy soils with the aid of supplemental irrigation. This activity is bound

I to increase in the future, and, hopefully, attract processing plants that will

further add to the economic base.

I do not, in this extremely brief discussion of the mineral, soil and water

! resources of the northern part of the state, wish to leave the impression that

we know all there is to know about the subject.

I In the field of bedrock geology, much could be learned from an aero-

j magnetic survey. This technique measures differences in the magnetic attrac-

I tion of rocks even when deeply buried. Such work recently delimited a large

I iron ore body in Missouri and possible ore bodies in Iowa and southeast Min-

I nesota. We have done some reconnaissance along these fines and will at-

I tempt to obtain support for continuing the work.

The needs for information on water resources are legion. Detailed work

! should be done in areas of water shortage to locate sand and gravel beds that

: may fie in buried valleys; information is needed on the relationship of ground

: water to surface water and of streamflow characteristics to geology and

! climatology; the biologic effects of pollution and the aging of lakes demand

44

George F. Hanson

study. A bill to initiate such studies passed the Wisconsin Senate without a

dissenting vote during the last session, but is currently held up in the Assembly.

Agricultural studies on soils will always be important, but the emphasis is

shifting towards interpreting data on soils for many other uses, such as their

engineering properties for highway construction; suitability for on-lot sewage

disposal systems, for recreational uses, game management, timber production

and scores of other purposes. We intend to devote a major part of our rather

meagre funds for soil surveying to the study, mapping, and classification of

Wisconsin soils for multiple purpose uses.

In short, northern Wisconsin has a potential that is far from well known,

but we shall continue to work to obtain the necessary support to enable us to

contribute to a fuller understanding of its basic resources.

THE FOREST RESOURCES OF NORTHERN WISCONSIN

John A. Beale, Chief State Forester

Wisconsin Conservation Department

It is most appropriate at this meeting, with its theme of ‘‘The Natural

Resources in Northern Wisconsin,” to consider a resource which at one time

was the North's number one industry— the forest resource. It is unlikely that

the industries using the wood resource will ever again completely rule Wis¬

consin business, but they are presently a much larger force in the economy of

the North and the State than most people realize. It is apparent, too, that

they will remain one of the dominant segments of the Wisconsin business

community in the future. The forest resource is the most important resource

in the North, yet it is synonymous with the so-called depressed areas of our

state.

To serve as background material, I would like first to outline the present

status of the forest resource in the North— its volume, growth and changing

character. Secondly, I would like to mention some of the principal problems

and goals in management of both public and private forest lands. And third,

I deem it appropriate to discuss the present forestry program in the North,

both public and private — or, in other words, what all types of land managers

are doing to solve their problems and meet the needs of the future. Finally, I

would like to touch on the outlook for the resource as it affects northern Wis¬

consin and to offer a few suggestions for speeding up the process of rehabilitat¬

ing the forests of the North.

Presently, 69%, or ten and one half million acres, of the northern twenty-

one counties is in forest land, and the total volume of wood in these forests is

just about sixty-two million cords. If cut in eight-foot sticks, it would fill 3,000,-

000 railroad gondola cars; and if stacked up four feet high, it would make a

continuous pile alongside 47,000 miles of road in the state. If the resource were

static, that is, if it could be banked, with no change, it would supply the paper

industry for nearly thirty years at the present rate of consumption.

Unlike some other resources, however, forests are dynamic — ever-growing

and ever-changing. The nonstocked, cutover forest area in the North has

steadily declined with successful fire protection and forest plantings over the

past twenty-five years. The acreage of sawtimber has decreased from the

days when Paul Bunyan traveled these parts. The acreage of small seedling and

sapling stands has decreased markedly; and the acreage in pole-size timber,

that is trees from five to eleven inches in diameter, has doubled in the last

twenty years. Today, northern Wisconsin is covered with a young, changing

forest and is shaking itself free from the results of the logging done at the

turn of the century and the fires that followed.

The species composition of these northern forests has changed also. The

acreage of aspen, paper birch, white pine and balsam fir has decreased; the

acreage in maple, hemlock, yellow birch and black spruce has remained about

the same, and the acreage in jack pine and red pine has noticeably increased.

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol. 53 (Part A) 1964

45

46

John A. Beale \

The volume in sawlogs has increased within the last twenty years, but the

trees are smaller in size and of poorer quality than the original stands. We

have less sawtimber in the more desirable species such as sugar maple, yellow ,

birch and hemlock but more in oak, basswood and elm. The pulpwood volume ,

is mainly concentrated in these northern counties of the state. The northeast

and northwest areas have about equal volumes, and together they account for

about four-fifths of the available pulpwood in the state. The forests of the

North are growing rapidly. The net increase is about 2.4 million cords annually

or somewhat more than the yearly harvest. This might seem to be a pretty good

sign for the future for this area, but the average growth rate is only about one- ■

fourth of a cord per acre. With more intensive management, growth of one

cord per acre is easily possible. So we have a long way to go to reach full pro- '

ductivity, and this is one of the major goals of forest managers in the northern

counties.

This, then, is what we have to work with in Wisconsin's "north woods”-™

a growing forest, but growing only about one-fourth as fast as it could; mostly

hardwood, mainly in the five to eleven inch diameter class; a small but in¬

creasing volume of sawtimber, small in tree size and low in quality; between

500 and 600 thousand acres of planted forest, mostly pine; a pulpwood in¬

dustry with a healthy appetite to satisfy; a lumber and veneer industry in need

of quality logs to remain competitive; and the more recent concern that the

forests of the North are important not only for timber supplies but also for

water, wildlife and recreation. Those are the pieces of the puzzle that we are

trying to put in their proper places to achieve full benefits from the forest

resource for the people of the northern community, for the industries depend¬

ent upon the forest resources, and for the people who use the forest for other

activities.

What about our aims? What are we shooting for tomorrow or 1980 or

2000? Basically our goals are much the same as they were thirty-five or forty ■

years ago-reducing fire losses, improving forest management and having the j

forest resource of these northern counties contribute more to a better way of |

life for the people in the area. Besides these goals, though, we look forward

tm

1. The increased growth of a highly integrated and automated forest in¬

dustry based largely upon Wisconsin-grown wood and producing a wide vari¬

ety of finished products, some of which we do not even conceive at this time.

The Conservation Department has seen fit to put a utilization and marketing

specialist to work full time to help the industries and counsel new industries !

in an orderly expansion of the vital wood-using industries. '

2. The increased growth of a modernized, commercial recreational in¬

dustry based on clean water and an attractive forest background. This en¬

deavor should not be the responsibility of the state alone but is one where we

are willing to offer noncompetitive cooperation so all lands and landowners can

play a key role in shaping the economic health of the North. This is compatible •

with growing and harvesting timber and is an added benefit and source of

income that must be developed.

3. Advances in technology and research in equipment and in trained man¬

power to open the way toward better management of the available forest area

with less expense. The wood products harvested in the North in the next 30

The Forest Resources of Northern Wisconsin

47

years must come from trees presently growing in the forests of the area. The

advances made in management and utilization of this crop will determine the

resource base that local forest industries can tap for raw materials in the

future.

In the attainment of these goals, a number of new or accelerated accom¬

plishments must come to be:

1. Increased and modernized forest fire protection as the timber stands

grow up and the hazards of crown fires are magnified.

2. Reduction or elimination of excessive taxation of forest land — a prob¬

lem since the early logging days and still with us.

3. New uses for wood and improvement of existing manufacturing and

marketing methods so annual allowable harvest can be utilized.

4. A speedup in the program of intensive forest management which will

result in a greatly increased output of available forest products, providing a

firm basis for the economic growth of the North.

5. Modem transportation methods have done much to bring the distant

timber supplies close to the mill. Despite increased mobility, freight rate

stmctures and highway shipping limits are deterrents to full utilization. These

increased competitive costs need study and change.

6. Improvement of safety conditions in woods work to lessen the cost of

necessary insurance programs for woods workers and the industry.

7. Improvement in the detection and control of forest pests, both diseases

and insects.

8. Improve conservation education or, rather, I should say, resource

management education to mold public understanding of the importance of

conservation in general and especially the forest resource. This need was most

apparent to me in the recent election when a referendum to increase the mill

tax for forestry purposes was defeated by the electorate. Voters in only three

northern counties favored the change, and they are the recipients of most of

the benefits. Too many of our so-called conservationists are concerned only

with the frosting on the cake— -the fish, ducks and deer, while they are either

unaware of or choose to ignore the rest of the cake, the real basic elements of

resource management— water, soil and forests — ^without which there would be

no frosting.

These then are the major goals and some of the problems we face in reach¬

ing them. The question next is: What are we doing now to meet our goals,

to solve our problem, and what else should we be doing? This list is not as

long as we might like, but it shows that the forest acreage of the northern

counties is some of the most intensively managed, studied, manipulated and

most promising land in the state. Let’s take a close look at some aspects of

progress in the management of the timber resource of the North.

1. We have a forest fire protection program that is of prime essence to

the growing of renewable timber crops and justifies the expenditure of time,

money and materials in a forestry program.

2. We have a cooperative agreement with the northern counties in the

management of nearly 2 million acres of forest land that last year alone pro¬

duced over 2.6 million board feet of sawlogs and nearly 100,000 cords of

48

John A. Beale

puipwood. In addition to supplying raw materials to the industry, these figures i

represent jobs for people in this area and money that is earned on a year-

round basis, not seasonal in nature.

3. Reforestation is moving ahead at an encouraging rate. All landowners,

state, federal, county, industrial and private, have been actively engaged in

restoring the production of the area to stands of timber which will assure the

forestry future of the North.

4. An increasing number of acres in all ownerships are being managed

under intensive multiple use. These acres are producing raw materials for the

local industries, recreation for tourist, and increased levels of wildlife for sports¬

men or for that segment of the public that merely wants to see the animals |

of the forest.

5. The forest survey and timber resource data are constantly being evalu¬

ated and used by industries interested in planning plant locations and expan¬

sions. I might add here that we had hoped to update this survey in the near

future, but the failure of the recent forestry referendum has dimmed chances

of this because of the shortage of funds for this purpose.

6. The forest research program has given us answers to many problems

directly related to growing timber and protection against insects and diseases.

This type of research must continue. We must also find answers to prob¬

lems of marketing, forest taxation, utilization of low-grade wood and less ex- |

pensive methods of timber management.

Contrary to much that has been said about the economic future of the ;

forest areas of the North, I am inclined to be optimistic. It is apparent, I hope,

to many of you that we have not been sitting on our hands for the past 30

years. We must realize that over a period of about fifty years from the Civil

War to World War I, the North was relieved of a timber resource so great that

the original timber supply is hard to comprehend. Such a resource is not to

be restored overnight, but it can be restored and it is being restored.

What about the future? So far, I have talked about what has been and

is happening in the forests of the North. A look at what we can expect by

1986“0nly twenty-two years away which is relatively short by our time

schedule— -shows an expected 43% increase in timber volume. Timber cut

will be 40% higher than in 1964. This looks promising for the North but I feel

we can and should do even better. With expansion of the forest industries of

the state a substantially higher proportion of the wood they need will come

from Wisconsin forests. It is also my belief that we will be doing a better job

of forestry in the woods. This means more growth and more timber available

for cutting, more jobs and more residents earning a suitable livelihood.

All forest owners, public and private alike, must make a greater effort to

recognize the inherent public interest in all the forest lands of the North and

manage these lands to provide wood products for our state industries, jobs

for the residents of the North and a more stable, flourishing economy for the

entire northland. Much has been happening in the forests of the North. The

outlook is good if we continue to progress as we have during the past 25 years.

It can be excellent if we put a little more effort into it. We are determined to

do just that.

LAKE MANAGEMENT FOR RECREATIONAL USES

Edward Schneberger, Superintendent

Research and Planning Division

C. W. Threinen, Supervisor

Lake and Stream Classification

Wisconsin Conservation Department

Wisconsin is a humid state with large amounts of surface waters moving

from the higher elevations to the major water courses. Wisconsin is endowed

with thousands of pits or blocked drainages as a result of glacial action and

man’s works. With much water running off in streams and collecting in pits

or impoundmentS“better known as lakes — it is only natural that waters are an

important part of our landscape and that they are the focal point for an im¬

mense amount of recreation.

What are the types of water recreation sought and what are their require¬

ments? Knowledge of this kind is essential to chart the course of future sm'-

face water management to provide the pleasures desired. Most analyses of

water recreation have simply viewed water as unlimited space to which only

the parks and accesses need to be opened up, under the assumption that then

aU the bounty can flow from this opening. But there is more required than

that. Every duck that is shot, every fish caught, every boat anchored and

every beach appropriated for swimming has space requirements, which may be

in conflict with other requirements.

The primary recreational activities on water may be lumped in these

categories: fishing, boating, swimming, hunting and trapping, esthetics, aquatic

life study or observation. Besides recreational activities there are numerous

nonrecreational activities which utilize surface waters such as irrigation, naviga¬

tion, dilution of wastes, power generation and industrial uses of water, aU of

which can be competitive with and often are detrimental to surface water use

for recreation, through in some certain instances they are complementary. In

the following paragraphs we shall define these activities and furnish a picture

of their requirements. With such a background, waters classification comes into

focus.

Fishing

From the standpoint of welfare there is no finer participating sport than

angling. It takes the individual outside and it furnishes “a pleasureful use of

time not spent at work” during all seasons of the year. It furnishes healthful,

moderate exercise, offers a mental challenge, provides an element of chance

and, as a bonus, it can provide meat on the table for the skillful (or lucky)

fisherman. Clearly with all these values we need to provide just as much fish¬

ing as we possibly can.

The requirements for fishing have several dimensions, beginning with the

space or habitat requirement for rearing the fish. The first essential will be to

provide water with qualities acceptable to fish. Space does not permit a dis¬

cussion of the various types of poUutants and the effects of pollution on water

quahty. It will, therefore, suffice to state that every effort must be made to

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol. 53 (Part A) 1964

49

50

Edward Schneberger-C , W. Threinen

protect our surface waters from these destructive forces. Where waters are

polluted it should be public policy and civic pride to clean up the situation as

soon as possible.

If w© are to maintain quality fishing, a minimum requirement will be to

keep the BOD (biochemical oxygen demand) of our waters as low as possi¬

ble. Subtle changes can occur if we fail to do so. In the clearest and deepest,

cold-water fish such as cisco and trout will disappear. Important invertebrate

food can be lost to the environment, and pleasant weeds can be displaced by

filamentous and bluegreen algae. Lack of attention to water quality will result

in a harvest of less desirable fishes instead of the highly prized game fish such

as walleye, muskellunge, bass, perch and bluegills.

The second requirement is adequate habitat. For some species this will

be cover in the streams, stable water levels dmring rearing periods, weed beds

for nursery areas, unmolested spawning grounds, adequate food resources and

many other not-easily recognizable requirements, A sampling of some require¬

ments will partially illustrate this point. The muskellunge and northern pike

spawn in shallow marshy bays. What will happen to these spawning grounds

when these areas are filled in for cottage sites? The trout fingerlings hatched

in midwinter are completely at the mercy of the stream cover. If cows have

stripped all the cress beds, water buttercup clones or over-hanging brush or

grass, their lot is simply food for others. Even big trout face the same problem

— having escape cover---when attacked by otter, merganser or heron.

There is subtle interplay among all species of fish. If the habitat is shifted

slightly in one direction or another, a different species may be given advantage.

Reduction of weed cover favors plankton eating species such as crappie. The

crappie is commonly the most abimdant species in relatively weecUess flow-

ages with fluctuating water levels and in lakes which have had vegetation

reduced by carp action. We shall reap a harvest of the types of fish the en¬

vironment will produce. This can be a high value crop or a low value crop.

The fishing space required by fishermen is a subtle thing. Fishermen

seldom appreciate having others around them. It will never do to have two

trout fishermen on the same hole. On lakes an angler systematically working a

few acre weed bed for muskellunge will be intolerant of another invader.

Many uses of water can interfere with fishing without actually destroying

the fish themselves or damaging the habitat. For example, some pollutants can

and do contaminate the flavor of the fish so that they are unpalatable and

thereby decrease the value of the fish population as a recreation resource.

Many municipalities find that surface water courses are either needed to

*"flush” water off the landscape or store water in times of peak runoff. The

former requires a ditched and straightened stream and perhaps one that is

cemented in. The storm sewer belching unsavory water into streams or lakes is

not an asset. Agricultural enterprises also find it convenient to ditch many

streams that have a fishing value. Water which is used for power purposes is

not in itself seriously harmful, rather it may do some good. Many waters were

created or enlarged primarily for power production. The Chippewa Flowage

is the largest of our flowages and has provided much to the recreational assets

of the area. Water is stored for subsequent industrial use. There are several

similar flowages, but much smaller in size. Considerable study and research is

Lake Management for Recreational Uses

51

needed on these flowages to clearly understand how to manage them so that

industry and recreation are in concert to the best advantage of both.

Irrigation is a consumptive use that takes water away from fish. This con¬

flict is especially keen on trout streams mainly because the geography that

provides trout streams is also the geography that favors an irrigable crop,

mainly potatoes. The first and almost immediate eflFect is felt by the trout

fishermen.

Other activities on water can subtract from the fishing experience. The

presence of numbers of motor boats, especially when associated with water

skiing, will drive fishermen oflF the water. It is common to watch fishermen

leave the water when their solitude is broken by the whirring, wave-creating

motorboat and the “splish splash” of the water skiers.

Swimming

Although swimming, as a sport in the open air and pursued on surface

waters, is confined to the warm months, usually from Memorial Day to Labor

Day, it is a favorite sport of many. The requirements for swimming are clear

water and sandy beaches, and therefore shore property owners willingly pay

twice as much or more for firm frontage with sandy beaches as for water

frontage with soft bottoms. Estimates indicate 45 or more percent of the public

indulges in swimming and the greatest number of participants is among young

age groups. Swimming and its counterpart sunbathing are healthful activities,

gentle, complete, and relaxing, and should rightly be favored by public policy.

Swimming can be most easily adversely affected by water quality. A

heavy algae bloom or water that is too turbid will be shunned by the swimmer.

This sport has been hurt on some waters in this state by water enrichment,

notably in lakes below sources of sewage effluent. It has also been hurt by

the industrial wastes. Sewage contamination frequently requires the closing

of swimming beaches. Health authorities generally use as a basis for pollution

a B. Coll, count of 1,000 per cc.

Interference with swimming aside from diminution of water quality is

not great. Only fast boating pursued close to shore and use of shore for marina

facilities can be cited as causing interference. Use of shore for cottages is a

means of providing relatively exclusive swimming opportimities, although this

is certainly an extensive use of shore.

Swimming occupies the littoral zone and if heavily pursued little other

activity can take place. The littoral area will be barren of vegetation and will

have a barren sand bottom. These conditions will not be optimum for fish

and certainly if the real deficiency is nursery areas, such losses could be sig¬

nificant. Consequently clean water and space are the primary prerequisites

and must be jealously guarded if we are to give this use the optimum benefit

it deserves.

Boating

Boating has much variety to it, and includes rowing, canoeing, sailing,

speed boating, water skiing and ice boating. When boating is practiced with

moderation, we can say that exercise, the opportunity to be outdoors and the

opportunity to enjoy tne esthetics of water from boats, are all very much in

the public interest.

52

Edward Schneberger-C. W. Threinen

Rowing and canoeing furnish exercise and have low consumption of water

space. Today, although little rowing is practiced, canoeing is increasing in

popularity. Such activities interfere but little with other activities. Sailing is

largely confined to the larger lakes, and to the center of these waters where

abundant maneuvering room is available. Sailing does not cause significant

interference, either because of its location, or slower speeds. However, motor

boating presents entirely different situations. Most modern boats are the

planing type designed to take advantage of hydraulic lift. They skim over the

surface of the water at speeds generally in excess of ten miles per hour. The

speedboat ripping and roaring around the lake or river surface will cover a

great deal of space in a short period of time and will, therefore, be destined to

interfere with more tranquil activities. Water skiing may be regarded as a fine

sport, but it is without question the most space consumptive of water sports.

We have indications that each water skiing unit requires about 20 acres of

water surface before these units begin to force each other oflF the water.

Motorboating, unless water skiing is involved, has less necessity for clear

water than many other activities although the boating experience can also be

enriched if it has plenty of clear water to complement it.

The consequences of fast boating and skiing in relation to spatial limita¬

tions have to be weighed against welfare objectives of the recreational

enterprise.

Waterfowl Hunting and Wetland Trapping

These activities are declining as time goes on because both are based on

an extensive use of land and they are faced with sharply declining habitat.

The number of hunters is little more than 2 percent of the population, and

trappers are but a few thousand for the whole state. From the standpoint of

recreational values, however, both activities should rate high on the welfare

scale because they offer a distinct outdoor challenge during periods of the year

when other uses are lower. However high they rate, a drawback always exists

in the amount of space required for their pursuit. For example, to provide a

blind on every 150 or 200 yards of shore on all the lakes in three southeastern

counties would permit only 2,700 blinds for the 20,000 licensed hunters.

Hunting and trapping do not seriously interfere with other activities ex¬

cept with wildlife observation. The untrapped animals and unmolested water-

fowl contribute to wildlife observation. But the interference of other activities

with hunting and trapping is major. Converting the wild shores, particularly

the marshy stores, to human uses is a net subtraction from the habitat require¬

ments of waterfowl for nesting areas and for feeding areas.

At best, faced with habitat decreases, waterfowl hunting and trapping

will be a declining activity and only a few can be participants.

Wildlife Observation and Study

This field of activity is pursued by the many Audubon Clubs, biology

students and doubtless any youngster who has played along the shores of

water. The number of participants at any one point in time will probably not

be so large as many other activities, but the activity is nevertheless important.

Lake Management for Recreational Uses

53

It has similar spatial requirements to hunting and trapping, namely wild shores

that provide nesting, resting and finding habitat for marsh birds and animals,

and the homes for amphibians and reptiles. The httoral zone with its great

variety of fish has interest also.

The activity is increasingly limited as habitat is gobbled up for home sites,

marinas and other human uses. One cannot picture a frog croaking at the

site of a house nor a turtle sitting on the end of a pier. The family of young

ducks will not find much peace as water skiers race in and out, nor will they

find much food along shores that have had chemical weed control. Almost any

intensive human activity has an element of interference with wildlife.

Besides the micro aquatic life furnishing recreation of a desirable type,

aquatic life of all sizes serves an educational function. No biology class was

ever complete without a crayfish or a frog for dissection.

Esthetics

From what vantage point do the events of nature unfold with the great¬

est intensity? Over water of course. The esthetics associated with water are one

of its greatest uses. No one is restricted from this element of enjoyment by

age nor is anyone hampered significantly by economic means.

Aspects of aesthetics associated with water are so numerous it is diffi¬

cult to mention them all. There is space, motion and setting. The ability to

look out across the expanse of water rather than staring at a house or an apart¬

ment; the ability to watch waves, babbling brook or ripples dimpling the sur¬

face of calm waters; the ability to enjoy contrasts of sailboat and water sur¬

face, hill and flat surface; all these are ingredients of this value. The soaring

white gull is not nearly so striking over the rough landscape as it is over the

flat water scape. The white water lily in summer or tawny bullrush stand in

fall would not strike the viewer with the same gorgeous intensity without the

blue and green back drop of the water surface. In reahty, water and the

esthetics values it offers contributes much to the recreational activity on

water. It is hard to believe so many would choose to build cottages on the

shores of a lake or river if it were not for these values.

These values are, however, not all secure; they can degenerate. Should the

water take on foul odors from pollution or excessive algae blooms, the intrinsic

enjoyable quahties can disappear. Also if water becomes scummy with algae or

too thick with weed growth, its visual attraction will diminish. Many attractions

on water are based on natural vegetation and animal life. Their habitat must

therefore be protected.

The Overview

A large percentage of us are trying to get close to water to better enjoy

its pleasures. The situation will be public beach, commercial establishment or

cottage-house site. The greatest demand currently is for the cottage-house site.

The banks of all our significant waters are becoming lined or ringed one deep

and sometimes two and three deep close to the big cities. The consequences

begin to tell. Certain species of fish drop out of the picture because their

spawning grormds have disappeared. The water grows more undesirable weeds

and algae and perhaps for the first time winterkill will be felt. We catch more

54

Edward Schneberger-C. W. Threinen

bullheads than walleye. The ducks no longer visit the lake. The peace and

quiet and many elements of beauty have dwindled. It is well to ask, is this

what we want? Don't we want to maintain the maximum package of values?

What does it take to do this?

With the pure market place and personal utihty to guide the allocation of

space, we would find the shores and water dominated by the biggest and

fastest. The fish or ducks cannot lay out cash for a home site. If these fish

and wildlife values are to be maintained, man has to be thinking of them.

The circumstances cry out for a system of waters classification to help

define what should happen where. Happily, the barest elements of this need

were provided in a statute that required the Conservation Commission to set

up a system of classification of lakes and streams by use. Most will think of

this legislative mandate only in terms of boating because it was precipitated

by the conflict between water skiing behind fast boats and fishing and swim¬

ming. Waters classification is much more than that. It involves first of all

maintaining a resource for optimum use and secondly, it involves apportioning

the use when conflicts between uses become excessive.

This mandate was the basis for initiating an inventory of waters by which

facts on the surface water resource could be provided. The inventory and

other data are giving us the basis for suggested lines of action. To bring the

suggestions before the public, the Department has initiated a series of recom¬

mendations that would contribute to water resource protection and lacking

authority to implement them, they have been given widespread pubhcity.

Although the first few recommendations concerned boating, more recent

ones have also paid attention to shore uses because after all it is from the

shore that most uses of water originate. The recommendations are briefly re¬

viewed as follows:

1. Lakes of less than fifty acres not part of a connected chain are too

small for motor boats.

2. A shoreline activity zone 200 feet wide in which the speed of boats

should be limited is needed for all lakes.

3. Overnight camping, drifting or mooring of boats on the open water on

which people are living does not have a place on inland lakes because the

density of users is high and the capacity to assimilate wastes is low.

4. Pubhc landings do not have the space to accommodate mooring of

boats on the water or shore. This conclusion was amplified by the observation

that boats imder most circumstances are used only seldomly.

5. Lakes in the 50-200 acre size range and in some cases larger lakes

will become crowded when they become heavily used.

6. Slow moving activities and shore activities such as swimmers, slow

moving boats or anchored boats and the shore need to be separated from fast

activities.

7. If we want to have recreation from small rivers and streams, movement

up and down the banks will be necessary. This is incompatible with any

amount of housing or development on the banks.

8. Many values associated with the inland lakes are based on the exist¬

ence of some wild shore. Therefore preservation of some shore of this type

is needed.

Lake Management for Recreational Uses

55

These are merely suggestions — ^planning if you will— -for steps to be

taken and there are many more suggestions that are warranted. What will

really count is implementation— placing needed measures for water protection

and equitable use in operation. This involves necessary boating controls, pro¬

tecting the necessary wild land and shores through zoning and acquisition and

arranging public use facilities compatible with space available. Many positive

steps can be observed such as the land acquisition program of the Conserva¬

tion Department and positive zoning steps which give waters protection and

more equitably allocate uses.

None of us wish to observe with increasing frequency in years to come

such symptomatic comments as “winterkill”, “closed to swimming”, “carp”,

“scummy waters”. We cannot infinitely keep pyramiding uses and crowding in

on the shores of our waters. We had better take stock and figure out the best

approach for their use. Once the marshes are filled, the streams straightened

and water quality impaired, correction measures are beyond our reach.

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SOME ASPECTS OF WILDLIFE AND HUNTING

IN NORTHERN WISCONSIN

Robert A. McCabe, Chairman

Department of Wildlife Management

University of Wisconsith-Madison

Concealed in the theme of this conference, "'The Natural Resources of

Northern Wisconsin,” is the fact that these resources cannot be thought of or

dealt with as a single entity, except in a very broad context. They are renew¬

able and non-renewable; commercial and non-commercial; public and private;

physical and metaphysical; sought after and ignored; loved and despised . . .

The regard in which they are held depends upon the attitude of the viewer.

When appraising wildlife as a resource, and hunting as one way in which

it is used, we must understand the animals and the environment in which they

are found. From a hunting point of view, there are three main species which

are of recreational and economic importance to the north; they are the white¬

tailed deer, ruffed grouse and sharp-tailed grouse. Other kinds of hunted ani¬

mals could have been used as examples but the problems and solutions would

not be greatly altered.

The role of these three species in early Wisconsin has been described in

the scholarly contributions of A. W. Schorger.^ The white-tailed deer in Wis¬

consin has also been treated historically by Swift,^ Dahlberg and Guettinger,^

and Bersing.'^ The thread of unanimity among these accounts is that deer and

the two species of grouse were present, but not in great abundance, when white

men came to Wisconsin. Deer, for example, were scarce in our pristine north

woods by comparison with game abundance in the post-lumbering period.

The fur trader and the missionary left no marks upon the land; trappers

were little more than transient; and homesteaders created and ultimately left

behind only small bare patches in the northern forests. It was the lumber

barons who, by reckless exploitation of our forests, prepared the stage for

major changes to occur on the land and set in motion the dynamic processes

whereby northern botany still struggles to regain its lost grandeur. Fortunately

such havoc to mature forests will likely not take place again in the life of this

nation.

Constant change in our northern environments has continued to the pres¬

ent time and will be an inevitable part of the future. At various times, the

changing plant mantle of our state has had a profound effect on wildlife and

the sport of hunting. Indeed the economy of the north is influenced by the

persistent changes in the succession of plant types that keep Wisconsin green.

Each of our key species will be treated separately in relation to this dy¬

namic process of environmental change in northern Wisconsin.

Wis. Acad, TRANS. Vol. 53 (Part A) 1964

57

58

Robert A. McCabe

White -TAILED Deer

In early historical accounts, deer were recorded to be both scarce and

plentiful. The tall pineries with little understory, heavy snow, and a popula¬

tion of wolves and Indians accounted for the sparse occurrance of deer on the

southern shore of Lake Superior, according to Schorger.’^ Shiras,® Doty® and

McKenney”^ support this position. Cram,® discussing the Lac Vieux Desert of

Vilas County, claimed that deer were found in reasonable abundance in 1841.

Malhiot® also states that deer were plentiful in the Lac du Flambeau area in

the early 1800’s.

In the years before the sawyers scattered pine chips and sawdust over

the trailing arbutus on the forest floor, only wolves, hide-hunters and Indians

made inroads on the moderate deer numbers in northern Wisconsin. Severe

winters, however, were perhaps the chief decimating factor.

By 1840, the fledgling logging industry, spurred by a growing nation, gave

evidence of its prowess. By 1870, lumbering was our number-one industry. At

the turn of the century our major rivers of the north were tinged brown with

pine tannin and only dynamite could dislodge the displaced forests that had

piled up like jackstraws in these same rivers. From this point, with the produc¬

tion of over three billion board feet of lumber in 1900, we were rapidly moving

downhill as a lumber-producing state and were reduced to secondary scaveng¬

ing for big timber by 1930. The cut-out and get-out policy in handling this

‘'inexhaustible” resource produced slash which became the punk waiting only

for the steel and flint of a droughty autumn.

The first major spark flew in 1871, and over a million acres of timber

and 1200 human lives were lost in the Peshtigo holocaust. The loss to recupera¬

tive power of the soil and its water-holding capacity caused by this and other

fires was severe. SwifF records other large fires in 1880, 1891, 1894, 1897,

1908, 1923, 1925, 1931 and 1936.

Opening the forest floor to sunlight by ax and fire fostered a growth of

plants which formed a superb food-and-cover base for a deer population. The

response was immediate. Deer range was extended and hunting opportunities

expanded. The legal bag for deer has since then been altered many times in

response to fluctuating populations and to public pressure. (These two forces

are not synonymous.)

In time, the lush first growth of woody ground cover so desirable for deer

began to shelter commercially-important tree seedlings. Deer do not recognize

the silvicultural alternation of the habitat, and the herd was soon literally eat¬

ing into the economic value of the newly emerging forests. Wood-using indus¬

tries justifiably objected, and so did thinking hunters. Aldo Leopold — forester,

college professor, game manager extraordinary- — ^pressed hard for a harvest of

does to reduce the growth rate of northern deer herds. He, along with others,

reasoned that this would bring deer numbers in line with available food and,

at the same time, protect the economic investment in our forests. The first

antlerless-deer season since 1919, took place in 1943. The kill jumped from

45,188, in 1942 to 128,296 in that fateful season.^ “The deer herd has been

ruined by this slaughter,” was the hue and cry up and down the state. The

unkind things said and printed about Leopold’s part in this management effort

underscored the lack of understanding and short-sighted emotionalism by a

Some Aspects of Wildlife and Hunting in Northern Wisconsin

59

•V.V D

^ occupied range

I I no deer

• isolated occurrence

Figure 1. Wisconsin deer range about 1929 (after Leopold, 1931). (This

map is Figure 4 from ‘‘The White-Tailed Deer in Wisconsin,” by Burton L.

Dahlberg and Ralph C. Guettinger.)

noisy minority associated with this resource. In the next ten years, hunters

took from the “slaughtered” herd 745,337 deer. In some years, the hunters'

success ran as high as 56%.^® Aldo Leopold was not alive then to say: “I told

you so.” He doubtless would not have said it in any event, but I would, and

did, and do so now.

Deer hunting is an economic factor in the north. Stores, motels, resorts,

gas stations, restaurants and farmers benefit from the annual nine-day bonanza.

Today our basic problem is to keep deer and deer habitat in balance and to

encourage maximum allowable harvest for the good of the deer, the forest, the

60

Robert A. McCabe

hunter and the economy of the north. In my opinion, one of the major game-

management accomplishments in recent years has been the “variable quota”

system of deer harvest developed by the Wisconsin Conservation Department.

In brief, it attempts to promote harvest in accordance with deer abundance.

Figure 2. Wisconsin deer range about 1938. (This map is Figure 5 from

“The White-Tailed Deer in Wisconsin,” by Burton L. Dahlberg and Ralph C.

Guettinger. )

Some Aspects of Wildlife and Hunting in Northern Wisconsin

61

Principal forest range

^ Principal farm range

Secondary farm range

I I Isolated occurrence

Figure 3. Wisconsin deer range in 1954. (This map is Figure 6 in the

Wisconsin Conservation Department’s recent book, “The White-Tailed Deer in

Wisconsin,” by Burton L. Dahlberg and Ralph C. Guettinger.)

62

Robert A. McCabe

Ruffed Grouse

No other non-migratory game bird has as wide a geographic range as this

species. It is regarded by some, myself included, as the finest of all game birds.

It is commonly called “partridge” or, in very early accounts, “pheasant.” The

partridge finds optimum habitat on the edges of cover where various plant

types meet. It is found in abundance where the interspersion of cover types is

at its best. Generally it is a bird of the thickets both in high ground and low,

in hardwoods and softwoods, in the south and in the north. Populations be¬

come high periodically (ca. 9-11 years) followed by periods of scarcity. Early

historical records mention this bird frequently, but little is said concerning

great abundance in the north. By 1850, newspapers carried accounts of abun¬

dance and scarcity, according to Schorger.^

The plant changes of the post-lumber period altered northern monotopic

mature forests into massive areas of interspersed second growth, which were

periodically reduced by fires to seedling beds. These changes presented to the

ruffed grouse as well as the sharptail large areas of ideal habitat. Newspaper

accounts in the north were quick to report on the response by the grouse and

on the economic capital that was realized.

Schorger^ quotes an early writer as follows:

the number of partridges that were being shipped from Ogema

[Price Co.] was something almost past belief. He said that time and

again he saw heaps of partridges piled up at station platform in piles

reaching almost as high as his head. Shipments of 400 and 500 a day

from that one point alone were the ordinary thing dming the open

season. . . . The local shooters are paid 40 cents for each bird they

kill, sometimes as high as 50 cents. The bags run from twenty to forty

birds a day to each man. . . . One man said he had shipped 1,500

birds last fall up to date, and he was still shooting, and had 75

ready to ship. This man said that he had paid off the mortgage on

his farm by means of his market shooting.

And again:

Levin and Son are not what would be considered extensive buyers,

yet during the hunting season they have bought and shipped to

Milwaukee parties, 2,000 birds. For these they paid to himters on

an average 20 cents apiece, a total of $400. Other concerns in this

city did an equal and possibly a better business. From the hundreds

of towns along the different lines of railroad in this part of the state,

thousands of these birds were shipped.

Today we still have abundance and scarcity but it is doubtful if the mag¬

nitude of abundance will ever approximate these early records. It is more

than likely that our now fire-free maturing timber has a dampening effect on

each period of partridge abundance. Management efforts will alleviate local

limiting factors and concentrate birds, but large-scale abundance wiU come

through no direct human effort. The local effort may be all that is needed to

promote hunting and entice the sportsman’s dollar.

Some Aspects of Wildlife and Hunting in Northern Wisconsin

63

Sharp-tailed Grouse

The last of our three typically northern species is the one whose survival

is in greatest jeopardy. Early records of abundance or occurrence are vague,

since the bird was frequently confused with its close relative, the true prairie

chicken or pinnated grouse. Its numbers varied perhaps in relation to the

age of its fire-created habitat.

This bird is truly a phoenix for, out of the ashes of pine, hemlock, birch,

maple, tamarack, and black spruce, came the brushy species and young forests,

and with them sharp-tailed grouse in great abundance. Here is a bird of the

postburn scrub, the bog edges, the recently abandoned fields and the off-

sight aspen.

Its habitat is guaranteed only by fire, frost or infertility. In the mid-1930’s

Wisconsin developed a forest fire protection network that has, since 1936, pre¬

vented any large-scale fires . . . and so the forests have been growing unin¬

terrupted to this moment. The forest protection program is a monument of

efficiency; we would not want it otherwise, but it has also choked off the

sharp-tailed grouse by its own too much.

From Arbor Day elms to the jack pine of frost pocket bogs, we have over¬

sold reforestation as a panacea for all times and places in the north. That

there were areas best suited to game which should be devoid of trees was an

idea foreign to most old-school foresters.

Today, however, many foresters are ecologists and are interested in more

than cellulose. The multiple-use concept of forests is finding a place for sharp-

tails and deer. Controlled burning is being used for game management and

even blueberry production on wild lands in northern Wisconsin. These con¬

cepts ten years ago were sacrilegious.

SchorgeF^ was optimistic in 1944; he said: “The anticipated extinction of

the sharp-tailed grouse has not been realized nor is it within the realm of

probability.”

Hamerstrom et al.^ were pessimistic in 1952. Speaking of loss of sharp-

tail habitat, they said: “In all of northern Wisconsin we have found not one

single piece of uniformly excellent wildland habitat as large as a township in

size; we know of not a single township of even moderately good wildland range

with an even chance of being equally productive five years from now, if the

present trend [of deterioration] continues.”

The adaptive aspects of evolution which prescribed that sharptails shall

be a bird of the young forests or open bogs did not count on a forest-protec¬

tion program or the tractor-driven tree planter. To save the sharptails, we must

first want to keep them as an integral part of our northern fauna, then develop

a plan of action, and finally take action. The growth of plants will not wait —

we cannot afford to.

These three key species continue to struggle against time and cell division

while man adjusts his behavior so that his predation on these species does not

impair their survival.

The impact of these species on the economy of the north is almost im¬

possible to evaluate from data currently available, but these figures seem sig¬

nificant: In the last ten years, the northern counties (the northernmost two

64

Robert A. McCabe

tiers, including: Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Florence, Forest, Iron,

Marinette, Oneida, Price, Sawyer, Vilas and Washburn counties) held 12.8%

of the deer licenses when 44% of the state deer kill was taken from these same

counties. In the years for which we have records (1948-56), the northern

counties held 7.4% of the small game licenses when 45% of the ruffed grouse

and 41% of the sharptails were taken in these counties.

The excellent shooting ability of northern hunters notwithstanding, the

influx of outside hunters and the dollars they carried could account for the

harvest figures and in the apparent increase in cash register activity.

Let me speculate on one aspect of the hunting-economic picture which

may dispel undue optimism regarding sportsmen’s dollars for the north.

In the past ten to fifteen years, our southern forests and the woody vegeta¬

tion of non-agricultural lands like those in the north have been growing. The

food and cover produced waited only for a seed stock of deer to re-establish

a southern deer herd. A series of mild winters allowed for deer movement and

thus completed the picture. The range maps (Figure 1) produced by Cory,“

Scott,"^* Leopold,"^ and Dahlberg and GuettingeF tell the story of deer range

expansion, and today there is no township in southern Wisconsin devoid of

deer. What does this mean to the southern hunter and his dollar?

1. He no longer needs to go north of Wausau to hunt deer.

2. He can spend his nights and eat his meals at home.

3. His travel budget is spent where he hunts.

4. His hunting conditions are often less severe and his chances of getting

lost are virtually nil.

5. He is no longer a captive of his sport.

Need I go on?

How much southern Wisconsin deer hunting means to northern pocket-

books, I do not know, but if it is serious or only disconcerting, one must re¬

member that there was nothing that the north did or did not do to inherit this

competition. Time and the continuum of plant change wait for no man. He

can slow down or delay this process but he cannot eliminate it. He exerts con¬

trol only through great striving, and if his efforts are relaxed, this continuum

will dictate his actions and govern his economy, and eventually determine his

biological resources.

References Cited

1. ScHORGER, A. W. 1953. The white-tailed deer in early Wisconsin. Trans. Wis.

Acad. Sci., Arts and Letters 42:197-247.

2. Swift, E. 1946. A history of Wisconsin deer. Pub. 323, Wis. Cons. Dept., Madi¬

son. 96 pp.

3. DahlberG/ B. L., and Guettinger, R. C. 1956. The white-tailed deer in Wis¬

consin. Tech. Bull. 14, Wis. Cons. Dept., Madison. 282 pp.

4. Bersing, O. 1956. A century of Wisconsin deer. Wis. Cons. Dept., Madison.

184 pp.

5. Shiras, G. III. 1921. The wildlife of Lake Superior, past and present. Nat. Geog.

Mag. 40(2):113-204.

Some Aspects of Wildlife and Hunting in Northern Wisconsin

65

6. Doty, J. D. 1876. Northern Wisconsin in 1820. Wis. Hist. Colls. 7. 195-206 pp.

7. McKenney, T. L. 1827. Sketches of a tour to the lakes. Baltimore. 493 pp.

8. Cram, T. J. 1841. Report on the survey of the boundary between the state of

Michigan and the Territory of Wiskonsin. Senate Doc. 151, 26th Cong. 2nd

Session.

9. Malhiot, F. V. 1910. A Wisconsin fur-trader’s journal, 1804-05. Wis. Hist.

Colls. 19. 163-233 pp.

10. Bersing, O. [1955]. The 1954 deer kill. Mimeo. Kept., Wis. Cons. Dept., Madi¬

son. 19 pp.

11. ScHORGER, A. W. 1947. The ruffed grouse in early Wisconsin. Trans. Wis. Acad.

Sci., Arts and Letters 37:35-90.

12. Hamerstrom, F. N., Hamerstrom, F. and Mattson, O. E. 1952. Sharptails

into the shadows? Wis. Wildlife No. 1. Wis. Cons. Dept, Madison. 35 pp.

13. Cory, C. B. 1912. The mammals of Illinois and Wisconsin. Pub. 153, Vol. XI.

Field Mus. Nat. Hist. Chicago, Ill. 502 pp.

14. Scott, W. E. 1938. Wisconsin deer situation, September 1938. Wis. Cons. Bull.

3 (10): 40-46.

15. Leopold, A. 1931. Report on a game survey of the north central states. Sporting

Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute, Madison, Wis. 299 pp.

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NORTHWESTERN WISCONSIN RECREATIONAL POTENTIAL

Harold C. Jordahl, Jr., Regional Coordinator

U. S. Department of Interior

Introduction

I propose in this paper to do the following; first, to describe briefly the

history of exploitation which accounts for the present resource distress in the

region; second, to urge comprehensive planning not only for the area but for

the entire Upper Great Lakes; third, to suggest public works as a means of

easing the hardships of people caught in a resource use transition period; and

fourth, to analyze major resources in the region, problems of developing these

resources and the potential impact on recreational values. Lastly, several rec¬

ommendations are presented.

To list the major recreation resources of the region or to discuss in any

detail their recreation potential would be superflous duplication of the many

fine reports of the Wisconsin Department of Resource Development, the Uni¬

versity of Wisconsin, the Conservation Department, Federal agencies, and

others. Rather, a list of references is attached to which an interested reader can

turn for more careful and leisurely study.

Resource Exploitation

Generally, I shall confine my remarks to the Lake Superior watershed;

Douglas, Ashland, Bayfield and Iron Counties.

These counties are characterized by a present imbalance of people to

resources. As a result, the region suffers from economic depression; there are

more employable people than job opportunities. Although outmigration gen¬

erally exceeds natural population increases, the transition rate is so slow that

numerous people of productive ages still live here. These facts are thoroughly

documented in recent reports of the Wisconsin Department of Resource Devel¬

opment and the University of Wisconsin. Unless there is a basic change in the

economic status of the region, it will be several decades before a reasonable

balance is achieved. In fact, estimates indicate continual decline through the

year 2000 at which time a condition of '‘stability” may occur.

In the meantime, there is poverty. Unemployment, for example, in some

areas where mines have closed is still in excess of one-third of the employable

labor force (a 15 to 20% unemployment rate for the entire region during winter

months is not uncommon). Workers are being forced to make diflScult reloca¬

tions of their families into strange urban environments where their skills are

not in demand, or to continue to live within the region slowly exhausting un¬

employment compensation and life savings and struggling along at subsistence

levels.

The various economic forces tend to accelerate each other and the impact

on local economies. As workers move out, as homes are abandoned, as busi¬

ness establishments are closed, the costs of maintaining essential governmental

functions^ — schools, fire and pohce protection, streets, etc., are borne by fewer

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol. 53 (Part A) 1964

67

68

Harold C. Jordahl, Jr.

and fewer people. And as productive workers in the middle age groups leave,

the proportionate costs of educating the children and caring for the elderly

increase.

The situation today is the net effect of a series of devastating blows to

the natural resource base. First, was the exploitation of the timber resources

around the turn of the century. Logging of the pine was followed by a second

and third cut of lower value hemlock and hardwood. Subsequent forest fires

then destroyed much of the remaining wood producing potential. Thousands of

people either directly or indirectly employed in the timber industry were

thrown out of work. They turned to employment in the mining, commercial

fisheries or agricultural industries, or migrated out of the region.

Agriculture in the cut-over, burned-over region expanded and flourished

for about a quarter of a century. Demands for food and fiber generated by two

major wars accounted in part for a successful agricultural economy. However,

as production in more fertile regions increased, farmers in the northern Great

Lakes were faced with economic competition which they were unable to meet,

and today the area is still in a last stage of transition to forests — a transition

which the New England area experienced more than a century ago. (In spite

of this general trend, on the red clay soils, average number of acres per farm,

productivity and value of farm products is increasing.) Again, many people in

the region were faced with unemployment, or a level of subsistence scarcely

meeting minimum standards.

Mining, especially of iron ore, brought many communities in the region

(especially in Iron County) great economic prosperity which lasted much

longer than the short-lived boom and bust economy of logging and to a lesser

extent, that of agriculture. Massive demands of the two wars accelerated deple¬

tion of the rich hematite deposits in the Gogebic Range which were within

economically efficient reach of deep shaft mines. Exhaustion of these rich direct

shipping ores, along with an increase in imports of high grade foreign ores

to American blast furnaces, dealt the mining industry and the region another

blow which has thrown thousands of people out of work. The transition and

human adjustments to this problem are still in process.

Coupled with the above, and taking place within the last 15 years, was

the complete destiuction of a healthy lake trout fishery by the parasitic sea

lamprey. Although not as spectacular as the decline in the minerals, forestry and

agricultural economies, the collapse of this fishery had a considerable effect on

many small communities along the Great Lakes shorehne, which had, through

many years, maintained a healthy, stable economy. And most recently, the

unfortunate deaths of a number of people from eating fish from the Great

Lakes area which were contaminated with Type E botulism toxin all but

wiped out the remaining fishermen. Although fliese botulism outbreaks can

be traced to improper care of fish after leaving the producer, the attendant

publicity has collapsed the market for Great Lakes fish.

Planning

The University of Wisconsin, the Department of Resource Development

under the Ten Year $50 Million Resource Development and Gonservation

Act and the State Planning Program, and the Northwestern Wisconsin Re-

Northwestern Wisconsin Recreational Potential

69

gional Planning Commission are doing a splended job of planning for these

lakeshore counties. Their work, however, needs to be related to larger planning

parameters in the resource depressed Upper Great Lakes Region. Transporta¬

tion systems are vital to regional development and require unification. Not

every community on Lake Superior, for example, can profitably invest in a

recreational boating harbor. The demand is capable of supporting only a lim¬

ited number. Obviously, a plan is required. Lack of planning, or perhaps of

conscious decision, is also evident when examining the new highway patterns

for the Lake Superior area. Both Upper Michigan and Northern Wisconsin

are by-passed by the new systems and already a decline in tourists visiting

these two states has been noted. Hopefully, this is only a temporary

phenomenom.

Community facilities, which are generally good, should not, in the main,

be permitted to deteriorate. Regional service centers can be identified and

governmental programs used to strengthen these centers as locations for uni¬

versities, vocational education and welfare institutions, etc.

In essence, most governmental programs, including those which focus on

recreation in the northern Great Lakes area are today too scattered. In place

of a shotgun approach, they need refinement and focus based on a general

plan of development. The Federal government has been studying this matter

since the Land and People Conference at Duluth in September of 1963. The

experience of the President’s Appalachian Regional Commission, which last

week reported to President Johnson, and the reaction of the Congress to the

proposals for development of that area of great distress, might provide clues

to the possibility of comparable programs for the Upper Great Lakes. Sig¬

nificantly, the PARC report makes numerous recommendations for recreation

resource development.

Public Works, Area Redevelopment and the Economic

Opportunity Act of 1964

Within most of the four county area, outmigration and population de¬

cline will continue for another forty years. Vocational training, retraining and

massive educational investments are required. In the meantime, the existing

manpower reservoir provides an opportunity for long-term investments in rec¬

reation resources by government which the private sector of the economy

cannot afford. Public investments of the type made under the Accelleratest

Public Works Program, the various facets of the Area Redevelopment Admin¬

istration program, and the proposals in the Economic Opportunity Act of

1964, which is now before the Congress, will assist these people in making

gradual and less distressing adjustments. Furthermore, it will improve the

economic potential for resource development in future years.

Thousands of man years of constructive employment opportunities are

available on the more than one-million acres of public land in the four county

area county forests, Chequomegon National Forest, state park forests, fish

and game areas, etc.) Several examples which have recreational value are as

follows:

1. Hiking trail layout, clearing and marking. (The proposal for a Ke-

weenawan Hiking Trail from the St. Croix Valley through the Gogebic-

70

Harold C. Jordahl, Jr.

Penokee ranges and thence into Upper Michigan and the Keweenaw

Peninsula is a splendid example of what could be accomplished. )

2. Cleaning canoe trails.

3. Park improvements (camp and picnic sites, beach improvement and

numerous other high labor input work on intensively used mass rec¬

reation areas),

4. Boat launching facilities.

5. Stream, lake and game habitat improvement.

6. Plantings on recreational corridors to enhance beauty, especially along

highways and waterways.

7. Streambank fencing and red clay stabilization.

8. Lake, pond and marsh construction. Although the four counties have

considerable water, well spaced new lakes, ponds and marshes will im¬

prove the recreation development potential especially in areas where

surface water is at a minimum; Ashland County, for example.

Water Resources

The area is bounded by Lake Superior, the greatest fresh water body

in the world with a shoreline of 325 miles (175 miles of this total is in the

Apostle Islands). There are 534 inland lakes with a surface area of 81,588

acres; 210 trout streams of 1346 miles.

The water resource provides an untapped potential for industrial uses

which will increase as regional and national supplies become scarce. Chemical,

chemical base treatment, pulp and paper and minerals industries all appear pos¬

sible as future developments. If such developments occur, extreme caution must

be taken to insure that there is no major infringement on recreational values in

water.

Presently, the surface water is the resource base for recreationists and the

tourist-vacation industry. Abundant opportunities exist to establish additional

public facilities, parks, camp grounds, boating waterways, etc. adjacent to the

water base.

Within the area are more than 200 miles of canoe streams. The most

famous is the Brule River in Douglas County, which the legislature in an his¬

toric act in the 1920's protected, by prohibiting any dams. (Some 40 years

later the legislature gave portions of the Wolf River comparable protection.)

In our work on the recreation plan for Wisconsin we suggested that considera¬

tion be given to preserving at least one-half of the important canoe routes by

acquisition of the fee or of scenic easements.

The resort industry needs modernization; capital financing problems are

acute. In general, the industry is plagued with inefficient operating size. Lack

of planning, unwise lakeshore subdivision and destruction of scenic beauty

along shorelines require correction.

Land Resources

In general, agriculture is concentrated on the better soils of the region,

especially on the red clays near Lake Superior (some 600,000 acres are red

clay). Forests and swamp occupy the balance. Reversion of agricultural land

to forests continues. About one-fourth of the total land area is in farms. Tillable

Northwestern Wisconsin Recreational Potential

71

acreage represents about one-third of the total farm acreage. The small operat¬

ing size of farms, low soil fertility and adverse climate will force further land

adjustments. A general plan of development should focus on preservation of

the best soils for agricultural use to supply local markets and to meet food

needs of a developing tourist-recreation industry. At the present time most of

the food requirements generated by the thousands of tourists who visit the

region are imported. Marketing mechanisms, open air markets for example,

through which small producers can sell their produce will help to increase

income and generate demands for additional production.

Potential combinations of farming, woodland management and private

recreation development by farmers in the four county area offers another po¬

tential, Considerable research has already been done on the ways by which

these resources can be combined to maximize profits. Required at this time

are highly trained resource economists to work in the region to provide in¬

dividual land owners with technical advice. Managerial ability also needs to be

developed.

The forests, about 2.5 million acres, which provide a backdrop for a

fine recreation environment, are in need of improvement; many acres still re¬

quire planting and timber stand improvement. A potential for pulp and paper

production exists which is being studied for the four county area. A major gap

exists on management of the numerous small forest land ownerships. Owner¬

ships need stabilization and encorporation into larger holdings, or integration

into economic forest management units. As plans for the various types of hold¬

ings are developed, it is incumbent upon the resource manager, privately or

publicly employed, to consider recreation values in forest lands. For example,

we should be able to find one good remnant stand of virgin hardwood and

hemlock for preservation for scientific and recreation purposes. Likewise,

typical examples of the boreal forest, the northern hardwood type, the “bar¬

rens” of the Plainfield sands, and the pineries should be preserved.

Commercial Fisheries

The Commercial Fishery of Lake Superior has been on the decline since

1954, primarily because of sea lamprey predation on lake trout. The botulism

outbreak furthered this decline.

As a result, there has been an increase in populations of other species;

lake herring, smelt, alewives, etc. The States and the Bureau of Commercial

Fisheries have been conducting basic biological research on these species,

and developing techniques for harvesting, processing and marketing. Lamprey

control now shows great promise and lake trout restoration hopefully will be

completed in Lake Superior by 1970.

In the meantime, sports fishermen are once again finding sufficient stocks

of lake trout to make fishing interesting. Also, a new sports fishery has de¬

veloped on brown trout which are caught in the shoal ai*eas of Lake Superior'.

(Fisheries biologists have known about this population for years; sportsmen are

just beginning to realize its existence.) And the well established steelhead

fishery receives more attention .each year.

Future conflicts may well develop unless the issue of commercial fishing

vs. sport fishing in the waters of Lake Superior are resolved today. Fifteen

72

Harold C. Jordahl, Jr.

years ago it was not uncommon to see several hundred people on the ice in

the Apostle Islands region “bobbing” for lake trout. Numerous “deep sea”

sports trollings boats plied the oflF-shore shoals for lake trout. As the fishery

is restored, pressures between the two groups will develop unless the advice

of the fisheries biologist, who tells us the two are compatible, is heeded.

Indian Resources

The four county area has two Indian Reservations; Red Cliff and Bad

River. The Tribes, working with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, are attempting

to develop recreation on the reservations as an economic stimulus. Their inter¬

ests will be carefully safeguarded in the studies which will be made of the

proposed Apostle Islands Region National Recreation Area. Hopefully, means

can be found in that proposal to improve their economic lot, which by our

standards is poor indeed.

Mineral Resources

Minerals must be considered in any resource program for the four county

area and careful attention given to the potential impact on recreation values.

Problems associated with the minerals industries fall into three elements.

First, although considerable knowledge exists regarding iron ore resources,

little is known of the existence of other minerals and whether commercial

exploitation is feasible. Geophysical surveys of the entire Lake Superior area

should be completed at an early date. Aeromagnetic and gravity surveys fol¬

lowed by intensive exploration on the ground may open up opportunities for

development not being considered today. Although the costs of such studies

are formidable, only through such investments can we secure a more firm

future for the region.

Second, investigations and research into problems associated with sepa¬

ration of low-grade iron ores from the surrounding rock, and preparation of

beneficiated products for a high grade blast furnace feed need intensification.

Recently, the Bureau of Mines announced a new technique of combining scrap

iron as a reducing agent in processing non-magnetic iron ores to produce a

material suitable for use in blast furnaces. If this proves successful, the abun¬

dant low grade hematites and semitaconites in Iron and Ashland Counties may

be commercially exploitable.

Third, government and industry must work more closely together in the

planning of mining operations. The traumatic effects of sudden mine closings,

forcing thousands of miners out of work and forcing undue hardships on the

miners and their families can be, in large measure, avoided by careful plan¬

ning. We can bring to bear on these problems our knowledge of world- wide,

national and regional conditions to forecast future trends and to provide for

orderly and planned transitions in the mining industry.

An investment in joint planning by the industry, private developers and

government, for example, at Mt. Whittlesey in Ashland County, which con¬

sists of low grade magnetic iron ore, might make possible a ski development

which would materially improve the economic well being of the little village

of Mellon.

Northwestern Wisconsin Recreational Potential

73

Most importantly, our combined talents can be applied to surface min¬

ing operations in such a way that the over-burden and the tailings can be

placed to create a pleasing land form once the pit is .exhausted. Such land

forms, if coordinated with plans for the future use of the pits for lakes, for

example, can leave a surface mined area with an outdoor recreation potential

Strip mining does not have to mean devastation of the landscape and a com¬

plete destruction of the landscape for any other alt.ernative future use.

Required to accomplish these goals will be the talents of dozens of different

specialties— -economics, mining, landscape architecture, fisheries, game man¬

agement, forestry, recreation, etc. The splendid work done by Professor Zube

of the University of Wisconsin as reported by the Wisconsin Department of

Resource Development on this subject illustrates the potential I urge state

officials to continue this fine start so that mining, when it does come to the four

county area, will have maximum economic value to the region and to the

state, and will not ravish the countryside, but leave it in some semblance of

order.

Federal Recreation Projects

The Lake Superior region with its vast forests, clean lakes, and rivers

and its summertime air conditioned environment offers a great playground

for the vast urban areas in the upper midwest.

The nine upper midwest states contain some 50 million people. They are

bisected by many fine highways providing ready access to all points of the

compass for recreational purposes. Much of mid- America is flat or gently roll¬

ing prairie, plain and fi.eld and has a relative scarcity of water and topographic

resources for recreation purposes.

Mid-Americans making plans for vacation and recreation activities look

to the Ozarks in the southwest, to the Smoky Mountains in the southeast, or

north to the Lake States and Ontario for outdoor recreation.

The states along the Mississippi River are developing the Great River

Road Parkway. Minnesota plans to extend it to the Canadian border which

will provide ready and scenic access to residents in Illinois, Iowa and Mis¬

souri. An interstate highway will link metropolitan Minneapolis and St. Paul

directly with Duluth. Michigan has completed a major north-south highway

and is planning an extensive system of scenic shoreline drives around the

Michigan Great Lakes. Detroit, and Toledo and Columbus, Ohio residents now

find several hours cut from their travel time to the Lake Superior area. Wis¬

consin, likewise, is completing an interstate network which will tie together

the great Chicago metropolitan area with Milwaukee, Madison, Minneapolis

and Duluth and some day will probably develop a major system of north-south

routes to provide improved and faster access to the Lake Superior area. And

only - three short years ago, the Canadian Government and Ontario completed

the Great Circle Road around the north shore of Lake Superior.

These vastly improved new highways and those which are planned will

provide the arteries along which will flow the people in vast mid-America to

the Lake Superior area for recreation and a change of scene in one of the

great unspoiled areas of our land. A great opportunity exists here to achieve

both the social goal of providing our citizens with facilities for recreation and

the economic goal of stimulating the economy.

74

Harold C. Jordahl, Jr.

The Department of the Interior has initiated studies to develop a coor¬

dinated recreation area plan for the region. Federal projects aheady under¬

way or being studied, and which may form a part of this system, include the

following;

1. Voyageurs National Park — Minnesota. This proposal which is currently

being studied by the Department, includes a forty mile portion of the Voy¬

ageurs route along a superb system of lakes and wilderness waterways, includ¬

ing Rainy, Kabetogama and Namekan Lakes.

2. Quetico— -Superior Canoe Area — Minnesota and Ontario. The two

countries have agreed to preserve in a semi-wilderness condition the magnifi¬

cent canoe country located on the Canadian shield between the proposed Voy¬

ageurs Park and Lake Superior. Mounting use pressures threaten this area

and studies to mitigate problems are underway.

3. Grand Portage National Monument and Pigeon Point Indian Park.

Grand Portage on the Minnesota-Ontario border was designated as a National

Monument in 1960 to preserve the historic portage route between the Great

Lakes and the fur country to the west.

Pigeon Point, next to the Monument, is one of five acres identified by the

National Park Service as being of special significance. The area is presently

being developed as an Indian Park.

4. Isle Royale National Park — Michigan. This area was estabhshed in

1940 as a gift to the Nation from the State of Michigan. It is an isolated seg¬

ment of the Great Lakes and north woods country and in a future National

system in the Upper Great Lakes Region will be a wilderness area serving

landward parks much the same way the high Sierra country serves the lower

region of Yosemite and Sequoia as wilderness.

5. The Apostle Island National Recreation Area — Wisconsin. This pro¬

posal provides the next link in the system under study and will be discussed

in greater detail later.

6. Pictured Rocks — Michigan. This area on the southeast shore of Lake

Superior, has been proposed as a National Recreation area. It consists of 15

miles of 50 to 200 foot multi-colored cliffs, 12 miles of undeveloped beach

and five miles of Great Sable dunes. This proposal is presently before the

Congress.

7. Wild Rivers — Wisconsin and Minnesota. The Department of the Inte¬

rior and the Department of Agriculture are currently analyzing the potential

of a preservation system along the famous Namekagon-St. Croix Rivers. The

joint report will be complete in July, 1964. The goal, expressed in its simplest

terms, is to achieve some balance in river systems development. Obviously,

we canT preserve all rivers in a wild condition. By the same token, it is impor¬

tant to preserve some free flowing streams.

8. Other Projects. Three other projects in this region are the National

Ice Age Scientific Reserve in Wisconsin, the Sleeping Bear Dunes proposal

in Michigan along the Lake Michigan shore, and Indiana Dunes near Chicago.

All are before the Congress. These areas, along with such notable projects

as the Great River Road and other state and local projects, will provide the

recreational stepping stones— the stopping off places — for people headed

towards Lake Superior.

Northwestern Wisconsin Recreational Potential

75

It is within this framework that the Department is currently analyzing

the proposal for a National Recreation Area in the Apostle Islands Region of

Wisconsin.

The idea for a National Area originated with Gaylord Nelson while he

was Governor. He proposed it to Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall in

1962. Several Federal inspections have been made since then. President Ken¬

nedy made an aerial inspection of the aerial in September of 1963 and said,

‘‘Anyone who flies over those islands, as we just did, looks at that long beach,

looks at those marshes, looks at what a tremendous natural resource this can

be, and is now, for nearly 50 million Americans who live in this section of

the United States in the coming years, must realize how significant this occa¬

sion is . . .

“ Lake Superior, the Apostle Islands, the Bad River area, are all unique.

They are worth improving for the benefit of sportsmen and tourists. In an

area of congestion and pollution, man made noise and dust. Lake Superior

has a beauty that millions can enjoy. These islands are part of our American

heritage. In a very real sense they tell the story of the development of this

country.”

Secretary of the Interior Udall on April 2, 1964, announced the forma¬

tion of a special task force consisting of Interior representatives, the State of

Wisconsin and members of the Bad River and Red Cliff Indian Tribal Coun¬

cils. This committee will study the three units in the proposal; the 22 islands

in the Apostle archipelago, the tip of the Bayfield Peninsula and the Kakagon-

Bad River sloughs. In brief, the area will be studied in depth and a complete

report prepared. Of prime concern will be the relationship of the area to the

criteria for National Recreation Areas which have been adopted by the Presi¬

dent's Recreation Advisory Council.

Regional Recreation Needs

In the Wisconsin recreation planning work of the Department of Resource

Development, estimates through the year 2000 were made for needs in a

nine county area of northwestern Wisconsin which includes the four counties

along Lake Superior as follows: 880 acres of new swimming beaches; control

of 194 miles of canoe routes; canoeing pressures will exceed acceptable stand¬

ards by three times; 2,111 acres of new picnic facilities; 2895 miles of new

hiking trails; provisions for 16,950 persons to camp in contrast to a 1960 capac¬

ity of 2196 persons; boating demands will exceed surface acreage unless boat¬

ing controls are instituted; sightseeing will increase from three million to six¬

teen million; pleasure driving will increase more than three fold; and lastly

better harvests of game animals are needed.

These data not only represent needs, but a challenge.

Re commendations

Throughout this paper numerous recommendations have been made; the

more important are as follows:

1. That the studies of the Department of Resource Development on this

four county area be published at an early date. This work contains the frame¬

work for a fine recreation development program.

76

Harold C. Jordahl, Jr.

2. That the comprehensive planning program of the Northwestern Wis¬

consin Regional Planning Commission be supported at every level. That the

fine work being done in this area by the University of Wisconsin through its

Land Use Coordinator Walter Rowlands, and the Extension Division be sup¬

ported at every level.

3. That towns, counties, cities and the state government make an

increased effort to develop the fine recreational resources in this region.

4. That recreation resource programs be developed along the “environ¬

mental corridors” identified by Phillip Lewis of the Department of Resource

Development working with other state agencies. These linear patterns which

are characterized by topography, vegetation and water, in one or more com¬

binations, are abundant in northwestern Wisconsin; for example, the magnifi¬

cent waters of the Brule River, the adjacent bogs which are virgin remnants

of a northern ecological type, and the sandy headlands; or the sweep of sky

and landscape which unfolds from the tops of the Gogebic-Penokee ranges,

a mountain range of ancient vintage; or the union of beach and sandstone

cliff, sedges, heaths, bog and boreal forest along Lake Superior; or the unique

island archipelago on which grow forbs, and forests and which join with

beach and rocks; or scattered bits of prairie flora intermixed with jack pine,

scrub oak and Juneberry, where a diligent observer may, on a quiet spring

morning, still watch sharptail grouse in nuptial display.

5. That major revisions be made in land use controls which were devel¬

oped more than 30 years ago and which were limited to agricultural and for¬

estry zones. The missionary-like zeal of Walter Rowlands, L. G. Sorden, Fred

Trenk, Fred Wilson and others is needed again today to protect recreation

values. Billboard blight continues its ugly spread along major scenic routes;

subdivision practices which have not changed in a century continue to despoil

the remaining lake and stream shore areas. For example, how much sense does

it make to permit a developer to subdivide land into little bits of less than

100' in depth along the Namekagon River and located between busy state

trunk Highway 63 and the river? A serious highway safety problem is created.

Moreover, scenic beauty was destroyed by cutting most of the trees. The

land will sell for $5.00 per foot! Imaginative approaches, cluster layout and

design for example, need actual testing; approach areas to villages and cities

continue to be developed in traditional fashion— junkyards, billboards, shoddy

service centers and general blight are the rule, not the exception. Cities,

county and town boards have the power through zoning to control the use of

land — zoning can be used as a positive device to enhance economic values.

It also makes esthetic sense. In the absence of local action, should regional

governments be considered to deal with the problem, or should the state

reassume these powers?

6. That the historical wealth of the region be recognized and developed.

Man lived here through the Upper Mississippi and late, middle and early

Woodland periods, a thousand years before the birth of Christ. In later years

this was the home of the Dakota, a Sioux tribe. It was also a period of

aggressive westward movement of the Chippewa who eventually con¬

trolled the Lake Superior shore. There were numerous battles among the

Dakota, Chippewa, the Fox. The French and English names are a mix of the

famous explorers and developers of the North American Continent; Menard,

Northwestern Wisconsin Recreational Potential

77

Duluth, Brule, Cadotte, La Prairie, Conner, and later Schoolcraft, Allen, John

Jacob Astor. The region has examples of most of the archeological and histor¬

ical resources of the continent. A splendid job has been done by preserving

some of these evidences at the little museum on Madeline Island. Historical

markers are scattered throughout the region. The potential, however, has

hardly been scratched and a combination of private and governmental efforts

are required to accelerate the modest efforts of today.

7. A system of scenic highways needs to be developed, utilizing the exist¬

ing state, county and town road systems. Some new road construction and/or

relocation may be necessary. Land use controls adjacent such a system are as

important as the roads themselves. And means must be found to preserve

roadside strips of forests and other plant communities characteristic of northern

Wisconsin. A combination of easements and zoning controls offer potential.

8. Massive effort of red clay stabilization is required. Practices requiring

high labor inputs, such as fencing along important streambanks under the

Agriculture Conservation Program, will pay major dividends in terms of soil,

water and fisheries conservation. Esthetics will be improved. Moreover, un¬

employed labor will be put to productive tasks. More expensive and refined

techniques — channel improvements— should be used in future years.

Agricultural drainage and practices which increase rates of surface run-off

into streams on red clay soils need to be held to absolute minimums. Officials

charged with highway maintenance and new road construction need to view

their responsibilities with new insights. Typical road practices in use in the

region today aggravate the erosion of the unstable clay soils and materially

affect stream resources.

9. The recommendations of the Department of Resource Development

regarding protection of canoe streams and the Conservation Department rec¬

ommendations regarding preservation of 25 percent of the land adjacent sur¬

face water resources should be thoughtfully reviewed and implemented wher¬

ever possible.

The framework for development decisions in northwestern Wisconsin is

at hand. Our Wisconsin citizens as represented by their government have the

opportunity to develop wisely one of the fine, still relatively unspoiled regions

of Wisconsin. The challenge exists. Can it be met?

List of References

1. Our Fourth Shore: Great Lakes Shoreline Recreation Area Survey, National Park

Service, 1959.

2. Remaining Shoreline Opportunities. A report prepared by the Great Lakes Shore¬

line Recreation Area Survey, National Park Service, 1959.

3. Recreation in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Department of Resource Development, Madi¬

son, 1962.

4. State Land Benefits Communities. Doll, Arthur D., Wisconsin Conservation Bul¬

letin, Jan.-Feb. 1963.

5. Final Report on the Lake Superior South Shore Region, Wisconsin Department of

Resource Development, Madison, (In process..)

6. South Shore Resource Development Potential, A Preliminary Recreation Report.

Wisconsin Department of Resource Development, Madison, 1962.

78

Harold C. Jordahl, Jr.

7. The Tourist-Vacation Industry in Wisconsin, 1. V. Fine and E. E. Werner, Wis¬

consin Department of Resource Development, Madison, 1961.

8. Tourist and Recreational Resources — Grand Portage Indian Reservation, Minne¬

sota. Aguar, Jyring and Whiteman, Bureau of Indian Affairs, 1963.

9. The Proposed Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, An Economic Study, Institute

for Community Development, Michigan State University, National Park Serv¬

ice, 1963.

10. Sleeping Dunes National Seashore, A Proposal. National Park Service, 1961.

11. A Plan for Wisconsin. Wisconsin Department of Resource Development, 1963.

12. Final Report, Area IV (Preliminary draft). Wisconsin Department of Resource

Development, August 19, 1963.

13. Outdoor Recreation for America. A report to the President and to the Congress,

the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission, January 1963.

14. Walking Survey of the Lake Superior Shoreline. Report by the Wisconsin De¬

partment of Resource Development (in process of publication) November

1963.

15. Preliminary Overall Economic Development Plan for Northwestern Wisconsin,

Wisconsin Department of Resource Development, 1961.

16. Transactions of Land and People Conference, Duluth, Minnesota. September 25,

1963. (Two publications; a summary report and a complete proceedings; U.S.

Department of Agriculture ) .

17. Resources and Recreation in the Northern Great Lakes Region. U.S. Department

of Agriculture Task Force Report, 1963.

18. Taconite and the Landscape: Lake Superior South Shore Area. Wisconsin De¬

partment of Resource Development, 1964.

19. Landscape Analysis in Lake Superior South Shore Area. Wisconsin Dept, of Re¬

source Development, 1964.

THE RESORT INDUSTRY OF WISCONSIN

L. G. Monthey, Extension Specialist

Travel-Recreation Industry

University of Wisconsin-Madison

Perhaps a more appropriate title for this paper would be "'The Resort

Industry-— What Is It?” I say this because there is some confusion in this

area, and many people would like to know more precisely what the resort

business does include— or does not include— and how it operates.

The resort business is certainly not an “industry” in the usual sense of

the word, because no products are extracted, produced, or processed. It does

involve a rather large array of services— as well as some goods— and primarily

those associated with people on vacation trips. However, the primary service

is lodging or rental housing, usually referred to as “accommodations.” For this

reason, and because the word resort is often used rather loosely, we prefer to

use the terms “vacation accommodations” or “visitor-housing business” — in¬

stead of resort industry. But more about this later.

The resort business, or vacation accommodations, is an important segment

of Wisconsin’s growing travel-recreation business (often referred to as the

“tourist industry” or “touristry”) . However, the latter includes all types of

visitors, not just vacationers, and all commercial recreation activities — and

probably involves $10 in gross income for every $1 taken in by resorts as such.

With this in mind, we will attempt to define a few words, present some

current statistics, outline some basic problems, and identify a few trends in

the vacation accommodations business. A detailed report would take more time

and space than our program permits.

Some Definitions

First, we should consider a few definitions in this general field:

Tourism — Travel in general; the promotion of tours.

Tourist — Any traveler; a person on a recreational trip away from his

home area.

Touristry — ^The art and business of catering, selling and renting to tour¬

ists who visit our area.

Visitor — A tourist in our community; a customer from outside of our

regular trade area.

Vacationer — ^A tourist on a recreational trip of 3-days duration or longer.

The travel-recreation business, or tourist industry, involves visitors of all

types who travel with a recreational purpose. In fact, several states (notably

Colorado) refer to this trade as their visitor industry.

There are many ways of classifying tourists, or visitors. One method,

based on length of stay in the community, is as follows: (a) day visitors; (b)

overnight guests; (c) week-end visitors; (d) vacationers (3 days to 1 month);

(e) seasonal residents (1 to 6 months). Each category can be further sub¬

divided.

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol. 53 (Part A) 1964

79

80

L. G. Monthey

Each class of visitors has certain characteristics, including rather specific

spending habits. Day visitors, for example, may spend anywhere from 10

cents to $10 or more per day, depending on age, purpose, resources, available

time, and so on. Each category makes a measurable contribution to the econ¬

omy of a community, a county, or a region where it is served. Each town or

area has a certain “tourist mix” from all visitor classes, and this determines

the total gross income per year from its travel-recreation business. Thus, state¬

wide average figures don’t mean too much in any given area.

Visitor Expenditures

Wisconsin’s touristry, or travel-recreation industry, now totals over $600

million a year — and possibly as high as $650 million in 1964. It has increased

from approximately $581 million in 1960, when a University of Wisconsin

Commerce School study was made by I. V. Fine and E. E. Werner.

Table 1 gives statewide totals and a classification of visitor spending,

based on this U. W. study. It also includes a breakdown of the 1960 tourist

dollar.

It is noteworthy that the tourist-lodging business derived $154 million in

income, or 26.4 per cent of the total spent by visitors. The resort business, or

vacation accommodations, is an important part of this tourist-lodging industry

in Wisconsin. It probably accounted for 25 to 50 per cent of the 1960 total, or

between $40 and $80 millions, depending on how the word “resort” is defined

and what we include under vacation accommodations.

Table 1. Volume and Nature of Visitor Expenditures in Wisconsin and

Breakdown of the “Tourist Dollar” in 1960 (U. W. Study)

What Is a Resort?

Dictionaries offer several definitions of the noun “resort,” but not one

refers to a business as such. For example, Webster’s International (una¬

bridged) Dictionary defines a resort as “a retreat and place of refuge,” “a

place of entertainment or recreation,” or “a place of frequent assembly.”

The Resort Industry of Wisconsin

81

Actually, the word 'resort” is more meaningful and appropriate to our

purpose when used as a adjective (denoting a "recreational” or "vacation¬

like” environment) to describe an area, town, or establishment. Thus, we have

resort hotels, resort motels, resort communities, etc. However, it is still widely

used as a noun in our Midwest region and for our purposes, the word will be

used to identify a business establishment as follows:

Resort — tourist facility or visitor-lodging business located in a scenic

and/or recreational environment.

(In Wisconsin we think of a resort in more specific terms as a "vacation

accommodation overlooking a lake or river.” However, the first definition is

somewhat broader and hence preferred, especially since all types of visitors

and not just vacationers must be considered.)

A wide variety of businesses might be classified as resorts under our fore¬

going definition. In Wisconsin these usually include cabin-cottage establish¬

ments, motels, hotels, youth camps, tourist homes, vacation farms, etc. — ^pro¬

vided they have guest accommodations and are located in a recreational or

scenic setting.

Inventory of Accommodations

To obtain a reasonably complete inventory of Wisconsin tourist-lodging

businesses, including resorts, we utihzed the State Board of Health mailing

list and other data. The information is presented herein on a county-by-

county basis and includes data on the number, type, size, distribution and

seasonality of establishments that furnished rental accommodations in 1962.

Four major categories were used in classifying tourist-lodging businesses,

and the firm name was used to categorize each establishment. For example, the

RESORT category includes all businesses that used one or more of the fol¬

lowing key words in their title:*

resort landing cottage

retreat cabin lodge

* 2,257 used the word “resort” or “lodge” in 1962, while 2,301 used “cabin,” “cottage,”

etc., in their business title.

Table 2. Types and Seasonality of Tourist-Lodging Establishments

IN Wisconsin (1962)

Type of Business

RESORTS — including cabins, cottages,

lodges, landings, etc . . .

HOTELS — including motor hotels, inns, etc. .

MOTELS — including motor courts, tourist

courts, etc . . .

OTHER — including camps, clubs, tourist

homes, etc .

TOTAL. . . . .

*About 974 of these were tourist homes with less than 5 bedroom units.

82

L. G. Monthey

On this basis the resort category included 4^558 estabhshments of the

total of 7^715 that were licensed by the Board of Health as of April 1, 1962.

A summary of Wisconsin tourist accommodations by type and seasonality is

given in Table 2.

Approximately 75 per cent of all tourist-lodging establishments were sea¬

sonal (open for less than 6 months of each year). Almost 94 per cent of the

resort-type establishments were of this type, whereas only 21 per cent of the

hotel businesses and 31 per cent of the motels were seasonal in nature.

The 5,763 seasonal establishments — ^largely resorts, resort hotels, rural

motels and tourist homes- — ^had a total of almost 48,000 bedroom units.* The

1962 year-round businesses had 32,600 bedroom units, so the total of rental

bedroom units in Wisconsin was just over 80,000 in 1962.

Nature of Resorts

Lefs examine the 4,558 resort businesses (cabin-cottage-resort-lodge

establishments) of Wisconsin in more detail.

In addition to being highly seasonal (94 per cent), these resort establish¬

ments are of small size. Whereas year-round operators averaged 17 bedroom

units per firm, the seasonal operators had an average of 8.3 bedroom units.

(Many rental cabins or cottages have 2 or more bedroom units.) The average

cottage-resort business in two Wisconsin areas had about 6 cabins or cottages,

or approximately 9 bedroom units, our studies show.

As Table 3 shows, only 1.7 per cent (76 establishments) had more than

30 bedroom units in 1962; and only one-third (33.2 per cent) of all resorts

had more than 10 bedrom units to rent to visitors. Of the two-thirds with less

than 10 bedrooms, slightly over one-half (1,576 or 35 per cent of all resorts)

had less than 5 bedroom units.

Of the 4,558 “resort” firms in 1962, approximately 10 per cent (or about

450) were American Plan or European Plan establishments, which provide

complete food service for all guests at the resort. Of the remaining 4,100 in

1962, an estimated 500 were roadside businesses situated on state or federal

highways, offering overnight cabins or rooms to travelers or transient guests

(in the nature of “tourist courts”).

The final 80 per cent (or approximately 3,600 establishments) are in the

cabin-cottage class, and these— -almost without exception— -are located on the

water and cater to vacationers rather than short-term tourists. About 3,000 of

* A bedroom unit is a room that is adequate for sleeping one or more adults (at least 400

cu. ft. per person).

Table 3. Size and Seasonality of Resort-type Establishments in

^ - Wisconsin (1962)

The Resort Industry of Wisconsin

83

these cabin-cottage establishments are usually referred to as housekeeping-

cottage resorts, since the guests have facilities to prepare their own food. How¬

ever, there is a growing objection to the term ‘Tiousekeeping” because it sug¬

gests work for the lady of the house. Instead, the terms ‘"eflBciency units'^ or

“self-service cottages” are now proposed for this important type of vacation

accommodation.

Certain Resources Needed

The resort business of Wisconsin is largely a resource-based enterprise.

It is directly related to the geography and distribution of certain natural re¬

sources, notably water- — lakes and rivers — and good quality shoreline. The

4000-plus resort establishments located on the water’s edge in Wisconsin utilize

an estimated 450 miles of shoreline and approximately 45,000 acres of choice

waterfront real estate.

There are five major types of lake (or river) shoreline in Wisconsin which

might be classed as follows:

Soft Shorelines Hard Shorelines

A. Bog C. Beach

B. Marsh D. Bank

E. Bluff

Virtually all of the present resort establishments utilize either Class C

(Beach) or Class D (Bank) shorelines, which are the most desirable and

valuable types available. Most resort developers prefer at least some sandy

beach area, and this class of shoreline is largely confied to the 1,134 named

lakes that are over 100 acres in surface area. (Wisconsin has about 8,700 lakes,

of which 4,138 are named. Of those named, 70% (3,004) are under 100 acres.)

As a consequence, only a small percentage of the resort establishments are

found on Wisconsin lakes that are less than 50 acres in size. And certain large

lakes with predominantly “soft” shorelines have relatively few resort opera¬

tions on their margins.

Geographic Distribution

The regional distribution of resort establishments in Wisconsin bears a

striking resemblance to the distribution of named lakes over the State. Note

Figure I, which shows resort numbers and named-lake distribution in the

recreational regions of the State, as outlined by the Wisconsin Conservation

Department. For example, The Wisconsin Indian Head Country (an area of

15 counties in Northwest Wisconsin) has 1,249 named lakes and 1,219 resort

establishments. The Wisconsin Northwoods Region (a 9-county area of North¬

east Wisconsin) has 1,646 named lakes and 1,752 resort establishments. In

Northern and Central Wisconsin the ratio of resort numbers to named lakes is

about 1:1, but it runs about 1.5:1 in Eastern Wisconsin and over 3:1 in

Southern and Southeast Wisconsin, where population is heaviest. The latter

regions have a preponderance of roadside cottage businesses in certain areas.

There are 25 counties in Wisconsin which have 50 or more named lakes

apiece, and 20 of these counties rank among the top 25 “resort counties” (in

terms of number of resorts). Thus, resort distribution is closely related to lake

84

L. G. Monthey

FIG. I

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN RESORT FREQUENCY

AND DISTRIBUTION OF NAMED LAKES IN

WISCONSIN (BY RECREATIONAL REGIONS, 1962)

BY L. G. MONTHEY

Number of resorts

Number of named lakes

Recreational Regions

1 - Lake Michigan Strip

2- Green Bay Country

3- Kettle Moraine Country

4 - Southern Hill ond Lake

Region

5- Coulee Country

6- Heartland

7“ Indian Head Country

8- Northwoods Country

(Defined by Wisconsin ''

Conservation Department)

and river distribution in our State. In any county or area, the number is al¬

most in direct proportion to the total mileage of good quality shoreline (on

lakes over 100 acres in size).

About two-thii'ds of the resort establishments (3000-plus) are located in

the counties north of State Highway 29, which runs east-and-west across the

The Resort Industry of Wisconsin

85

state from River Falls to Chippewa Falls, Wausau, and Green Bay. In fact,

15 of the 20 leading counties— as far as resort numbers are concerned — -are

located in Northern Wisconsin.

Only two Wisconsin counties (Oneida and Vilas) have more than 500

resort businesses (and Sawyer has 332), but a total of 12 counties have 100 or

FIG. II

DISTRIBUTION OF RESORT ESTABLISHMENTS

Each dot represents one resort establishment.

Dots do not show actual location of resorts but indicate county totals.

86

L. G. Monthey

Table 4. Relationship of County Resort Totals to Frequency of Named

Lakes (All counties with 75 or more resorts in 1962)

*Rank is shown among the top 25 counties only.

more resort establishments apiece (See Table 4.). Of these 12 counties, only 3

(Columbia, Walworth and Waushara) are south of State Highway 29. Fig¬

ure II is a graphic presentation of the state-wide distribution of resort-type

establishments in 1962.

Only four (4) counties in Wisconsin don’t have a single resort, lodge or

cabin-cottage establishment (Lafayette, Menominee, Outagamie and Ozau¬

kee), but 11 other counties have less than 5 such businesses per county. Table

5 shows the resort distribution among Wisconsin counties by frequency

brackets.

Table 5. Resort Frequency Among Wisconsin Counties

Some may desire more detailed information on the classification and dis¬

tribution (both as to size and location) of tourist-lodging establishments in

Wisconsin. Table 6 provides 1962 data of this type on a county-by-county

basis.

Table 7 gives further details on the size and seasonality of resort- type

businesses (resort, lodge, cabin-cottage establishments) on a county-by¬

county basis.

Type of Accommodations and No. of Establishments

Resort Industry of Wisconsin

87

TOURIST ACCOMMODATIONS IN WISCONSIN

Table 6. Classification and Size of Tourist-Lodging Establishments in

Wisconsin Counties (As of April 1, 1962) — Continued

88

L. G. Monthey

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The Resort Industry of Wisconsin

89

Table 7. Cabin, Cottage, Resort and Lodge Accommodations in Wisconsin for

Vacation and Overnight Tourist Housing ( Number and Size of Establish¬

ments IS BASED ON 1962 Board of Health data )

90

L. G. Monthey

Table 7. Cabin, Cottage, Resort and Lodge Accommodations in Wisconsin for

Vacation and Overnight Tourist Housing ( Number and Size of Establish¬

ments IS based on 1962 Board of Health data) — Continued

Similar to Agriculture

There are several problems peculiar to the resort industry which confront

today’s owners and operators of vacation accommodations. We can discuss

them only briefly here. Before doing so, however, we would like to emphasize

the close similarity between the resort business and agriculture in our State.

In many ways, a cottage-resort is almost like a small farm — ^with many of the

same characteristics and problems. Here are a number of ways in which the

two types of business resemble one another rather closely:

(1) Short season. Resort establishments and farms are quite seasonal,

and both are subject to a fairly short season in Wisconsin. Cottage-resorts are

pretty well limited to a 10 to 14 week vacation season in northern Wisconsin,

whereas farms in this same area are limited to a 90-100 day growing season.

(2) Weather. Both resort and farm operations are dependent to a great

extent on weather conditions. A cold summer is not the best for either busi¬

ness. Prolonged drought (summer or winter) can affect both farms and re¬

sorts. Storms, unseasonal frost, and insects are other problems which often

face both farmers and resorters.

(3) Resource depletion. Soil erosion and fertility depletion lower farm

productivity. Similarly, lakes can be too acid, too infertile (sometimes too

fertile), discolored, polluted, weedy, or silted so as to affect their productivity

and quality for water users. Thus, both farms and resorts are dependent on

basic resources, which must be conserved and properly managed for best

results.

The Resort Industry of Wisconsin

91

(4) High investment. Both resorts and farms require a heavy initial

investment in proportion to the annual gross income. Even on many good

farms, the annual gross income seldom exceeds 30 per cent of the total in¬

vestment in land, buildings, livestock and machines. Similarly, the annual gross

income from a cottage-resort located on a good lake is seldom over 20 per cent

of the total investment (or replacement cost) of the establishment. Most cot¬

tage resorts, like small faims, are part-time enterprises since additional income

is needed.

(5) Family business. Both the cottage resort and farming business are

family "type enterprises. Because of the low income in relation to the money

invested, it is difficult to hire much outside help and thus all members of the

family must “pitch in” to operate the business. Small resorts, like small farms,

provide very few job opportunities in the community, aside from family em¬

ployment.

(6) Way of life. Both cottage-resorts and small farms are often a “way of

life” for many families. These people would not be happy doing anything else,

despite the relatively low income possibilities afforded by the business. Both

businesses give ample opportunity for outdoor work and pleasures, with a

minimum of restrictions and a maximum of independence. Many people would

rather do resort work or farm work more than anything else in the world, and

thus they tend to stay in the business despite little or no net income above

costs.

Short Season Is Problem

Perhaps the most serious problem of all is the extremely short guest

season for cottage resorts, the bulk of which are not located near winter-

sports areas in Wisconsin. Most of them enjoy only 8 to 12 weeks of fairly good

business each summer. It is true that some successful operators are extending

the season to 14 and even 16 weeks, but they have had to build up this busi¬

ness by skillful advertising and by providing more services for their guests.

The short season is not a matter of climate alone, although 16 weeks is

getting rather close to the limit in terms of good, warm weather. The biggest

problem is the school-vacation term which is always a factor in the vacation

plans of city families. The big city school systems seldom close before June

15 and most families with children like to have a week or two at home be¬

fore school begins in the late summer. Thus, there are only 75 to 80 days avail¬

able for vacationing city families with school-age children.

On the plus side, however, we are developing more and more activities

that can utilize the good weather of May and early June, plus September and

October, in addition to weekends the year around. Winter sports, especially

skiing, which got under way as recently as 1946 in Wisconsin, is a good ex¬

ample of an “off-season” activity. But there are many other things, such as

nature study, conventions, shows, contests, spring attractions, autumn festivals,

and so on that could be highlighted during the period from early fall to late

spring, which embraces a good eight months here in Wisconsin. Much more

attention will be given to developing off-season attractions and events in the

years ahead.

92

L. G. Monthey

Resources Deteriorate

Another problem that is already troublesome in some areas is lake and

stream deterioration. Overcrowding of these waters, as well as misuse and

pollution, leads to such problems as siltation, weed growth, fish kills, algae

infestation, and loss of esthetic values. For example, one lake of 970 acres in

Vilas County already has 46 summer resorts plus more than 100 summer

cottages. As a consequence, this lake has only about 21 acres of available

water surface per resort. The weed-growth, fertility, and siltation problems

increased at a rapid rate until 1962, when action was taken to reduce shore¬

line erosion, sewage fertilization, and so on.

In addition, overcrowding has led to serious confiicts between speed-

boaters, water skiers, fishermen, canoeists, swimmers and other users of the

water resources. Excessive use of speedboats and water skis can lead to de¬

struction of spawning grounds near shore and create other fish management

problems.

Another problem that is plaguing resort operators in certain areas is the

matter of obsolete facilities. This is particularly true where the resorts were

built from 25 to 50 years ago and still remain on the same sites. Many of the

earlier resorts, particularly those built between 1900 and 1940, were designed

for sportsmen and were in the nature of fishing camps. Thus, the cottages were

largely of cabin size (less than 300 usable square feet) and had to be ex¬

panded for rental to family groups later on. Since many of the structures were

not especially suited to expansion and modernization (installing running water

with modern toilets and bath fixtures), the results were often not satisfactory.

Since World War II, with the advent of larger families and predominantly

family vacationers in some areas, these housing units have become less and

less desirable to vacationers and even weekend guests. The best solution, in

many cases, is to raze the structures and start out again with a new layout and

new buildings, if the owner wishes to stay in the vacation-accommodation

business.

Vacationers and other visitors in this modern era insist on a wide range of

special services beyond the lodging and usual waterfront activities. Unfortu¬

nately, many of our housekeeping-cottage resorts in Wisconsin have not kept

pace with this demand and still have little to offer the public beyond lodging,

a boat, and access to water. Since the visitors of today are much more mobile

and can go much farther afield in seeking the guest services and recreational

activities they want, many of the older resorts are not getting the percentage of

“repeat business” that is necessary to stay in operation.

In our observations, at least one-third of the cottage-resorts in Wisconsin

are not offering the type of service that family vacationers desire and can afford

in 1964. The usual complaint among operators is that the people want good

accommodations, plus all these services, for $50 a week or less. Unfortunately,

this claim is usually not true because family income levels are at an all time

high in our Midwest Area (over $7500 per household in 1964). Progressive

resort operators have shown that many family vacationers will readily pay from

$100 to $150 a week for spacious vacation homes with a wide range of re¬

sort services provided. In addition, the newer resort hotels and camp grounds

are “siphoning off” some of the trade that formerly went to cottage resorts — •

particularly the marginal ones.

The Resort Industry of Wisconsin

93

There is a general lack of professionalism among cottage-resort operators,

many of whom came to this business after being mechanics or storekeepers

or factory workers most of their lives. (Not just a few are retired or semi-

retired people!) As a consequence, they have had httle or no experience in

catering to the traveling public, nor have they had sufficient experience in

tourist-business management. The University of Wisconsin Extension Service

has been conducting a series of seminars and workshops to help meet this

problem, but further educational work is needed.

Trends and the Future

There are several rather noticeable trends in the resort business of Wis¬

consin. During the past three years the author of this paper has had a chance

to visit several hundred resorts in every corner of the state and he has talked to

hundreds of local people and community leaders in resort areas.

One of the most noticeable trends is the decline in numbers of small

estabhshments. This is particularly true in the case of housekeeping-cottage

resorts on popular, well-known lakes such as Lake Minocqua in Oneida County

and the Eagle Chain of Lakes near Eagle River and Three Lakes, Wis. These

small establishments are being sub-divided and sold as individual cottages or as

waterfront lots to people who wish to own summer cottages or year-round

homes in these areas.

Part of the reason for this decline in small resorts is the increasing land

costs, since good lake frontage property has been appreciating in value at the

rate of about 10 per cent a year since 1946. This means a much higher land

cost and higher taxes for housekeeping-cottage resorts which have, in most

areas, shown gross incomes of only about $700 per cottage per year. Thus,

the cottage resort’s waterfront land is often sold and goes over to a “higher

use”— either residential buildings or intensive resort operations. (The same

is true of the smaller American Plan resorts that have a capacity for less than

50 guests.)

Hand in hand with the decline of small establishments has been the in¬

crease of larger resorts and resort hotels in some areas. It appears that approxi¬

mately 20 average-to-good cottages are needed to provide a reasonable profit

to the seasonal operator with 10 to 14 weeks of business (at 80 per cent occu¬

pancy). Many of the newer resort-type establishments are of the more efficient

motel or apartment type, particularly where the season can be extended.

There is also a definite trend toward complete resorts which can offer

lodging, food service, car service, private airstrips, gift shops, sports apparel

and equipment shops, beverage service, entertainment, meeting rooms, swim¬

ming pools, marina service, and a variety of personal services— all at one loca¬

tion. Although the number of such establishments is quite small at the present

time, at least a dozen have been built or developed since 1960. Some of these

do not offer the entire range of services yet, but the increase in number of

motel-supper club establishments in our resort counties is quite noticeable.

Many of these are not located on the water, but instead are situated near a

town or on a well-traveled highway within easy driving distance of a dozen

or more lakes, rivers, sports areas, etc.

94

L. G. Monthey

Another noticeable trend has been the development of “off-season” activ¬

ities and facilities, which tend to lengthen the visitor-lodging season in many

areas. Perhaps the development of winter sports areas has been most notice¬

able. The first commercial ski area in Wisconsin was started in 1946 with a

single rope tow and tarpaper shelter. In 1959-60 there were 37 major ski

areas in Wisconsin, and 44,000 ski enthusiasts were contributing about $4 mil¬

lion a year to our economy. By the winter of 1963-64 the number of winter

sports areas had increased to 53, and the total gross income from 100,000 or

more skiers and ski followers (over 450,000 skier-days) probably exceeded $10

million.

There are many other examples of winter, spring and fall activities that

have meant more weekend guests and visitors for Wisconsin, even the northern

areas. Convention business, contests, festivals, guided tours, nature study, his¬

toric sites, factory tours, and many other things have helped the cause. In

addition, more and more people, particularly our senior citizens, are taking

vacations in the spring and fall months, and this trend will continue. There was

a 17 per cent increase in the number of people over 65 years of age between

1950 and 1960, and this group can take recreational trips at any season. Addi¬

tional opportunities for more off-season vacation business develop each year.

As for the future, many of us feel that Wisconsin is big enough and has

natural resources enough to have both a good volume of tourist business and

an abundant supply of natural resources of good quality. However, it will take

both individual and organized efforts by progressive operators and commu¬

nities to guide future developments along proper lines.

Even if the total volume of travel-recreation business were to increase to

$1 billion by the year 1975, which some travel experts now predict, we feel

that this can be done without despoiling our valuable water, forest and wild¬

life resources. After all, these primary natural resources are the very basis of

our vacation resort business and — to some extent — our entire travel-recreation

industry. Abundant outdoor recreation and activities, plus a wealth of scenic

and sightseeing opportunities, can assure Wisconsin’s future in this important

business.

Bibliography

Fine, I. V. and Werner, E. E. The Tourist-Vacation Industry in Wisconsin. Wis¬

consin Department of Resource Development and University of Wisconsin, 1961.

Fine, I. V. and Tuttle, R. E. The Tourist Overnight Accommodation Industry in

Wisconsin. Wisconsin Department of Resource Development and University of

Wisconsin, 1963.

Banning, Victor H. The Wisconsin Tourist. Wisconsin Commerce Studies, School of

Commerce, University of Wisconsin, 1950.

SiELOFF, Richard O. The Economics of Outdoor Recreation in ^the Upper Midwest.

University of Minnesota, Duluth, 1963.

Threinen, C. W. et al. Wisconsin Lakes. (Publication 218-58) Wisconsin Conserva¬

tion Department, 1958.

A COMPREHENSIVE LONG-RANGE PLAN FOR RESOURCE

DEVELOPMENT IN NORTHERN WISCONSIN

Walter K. Johnsoriy Deputy Director

Wisconsin Department of Resource Development

The Department of Resource Development about two years ago initiated

a comprehensive planning program for the State of Wisconsin. In connection

with this program, major segments of which are now nearing completion,

special attention is being given to Northern Wisconsin’s problems and needs. A

prime objective of this effort is to identify the projects and programs that

governments and citizens should undertake to assure for the north country, an

economy and a standard or quality of living that compares favorably with the

rest of the nation. This emphasis is justified on the grounds that Northern Wis¬

consin has experienced a lagging economy throughout most of the Twentieth

Century, and is part of one of the nation’s large depressed regions. These re¬

gions are characterized by high rates of unemployment, declining populations

and a relative lack of economic opportunity.

There are several general observations that need to be made about the

Department’s state level planning program before outlining the specific sub¬

jects with which it deals. In the first place, it is not conceived to be a single¬

shot effort, instead it should constitute only a beginning, the foundation on

which long-range improvement programs can be built. Fifty years of decline,

almost certainly, will not be recovered overnight by some magic stroke. Since

unlimited public funds are not available to pour into any depressed area, the

best use needs to be made of all public investments— -an objective that can

best be achieved through planning them in advance to assure that each new

investment complements and supplements those already made and those to be

made in the future. Under such a program, even the smallest investments con¬

tribute to the total effort. But, time is an important factor because continuing

attention to problems of development and underdevelopment can achieve for

an area gains which would not otherwise be realized.

The Department’s planning efforts are described as ""comprehensive.” By

this we mean that the program involves not just an analysis of economic con¬

ditions, or land uses, or resources, or transportation problems or public facility

needs- — ^rather it is an effort to see all of these aspects of development in a single

perspective. Also, the state planners engaged in this undertaking are not ex¬

pected to draft detailed plans or working drawings for specific public works or

development projects. The State’s many action agencies have able personnel

assigned to these tasks. The job of the State’s central planning office, in the

Department of Resource Development, is to suggest, somehow, an arrange¬

ment of the many on-going activities of state government so that public pro¬

grams are tailored not only to present, but to future needs as well; so that

public projects complement, rather than compete or conflict with one another;

and so that economic and social benefits are the deliberate result, rather than

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol. 53 (Part A) 1964

95

96

Walter K. Johnson

only a possible, incidental by-product of the many development activities of

the state government.

The Department’s state planning effort involves three types of tasks — data

gathering and analysis, plan formulation, and plan implementation. Each of

these was covered in a general way in seven reports published last year. More

detailed analyses are now underway. The population and economic studies will

be completed this year. Work is also proceeding this year on analyses of land

use, transportation and state facility needs. Plans dealing with each of these

areas of concern will be formulated next year. Implementation will be a con¬

tinuing responsibility thereafter.

The analysis of Northern Wisconsin population, economic and resource

problems that has been undertaken to date reinforces, in general, the accepted

image of it as an area of declining population slowing economic activity and

depleted resources. But a closer look at the data reveals that these characteris¬

tics aren’t as immutable as most people might have been led to believe. For

example, the population trend of Northern Wisconsin counties has been gen¬

erally downward throughout most of the Twentieth Century because many

young people have left the area due to a lack of job opportunities. Northern

Wisconsin is now left with a relatively aged population. Since elderly people

don’t have babies, the area’s population could continue to slide downward un¬

less job opportunities and living conditions there make the area more attrac¬

tive to young people. Planning studies will identify the governmental actions

that might be taken to reverse these trends and to stabilize the area’s popula¬

tion. Knowledge of the cause of problems leads to discussion of means of

alleviating them. And knowledge of the many possible action alternatives will,

we hope, stimulate new efforts to reverse the area’s long-term decline. Govern¬

ment programs — local, state and federal^ — largely determine the living amen¬

ities of an area. Local educational facilities, municipal services, streets and

highways, libraries, parks, beaches, forests, colleges, hospitals and many other

facilities and services provided by governments make an area competitive in¬

sofar as hving conditions are concerned. Many jobs are created in the process

of providing such facilities and services and new private enterprises can be

attracted to an area simply because people like to live there. The government

programs needed to strengthen the living conditions and amenities of the

Northern Wisconsin area will be identified in connection with the State’s

planning effort.

Northern Wisconsin once had a magnificent forest resource, but by 1920

it had been virtually demolished. Conservation efforts and forest management

have done much to repair the damage, and industries using forest products

now support fourteen percent of the State’s population; still much remains to

be done. Resource-based industries are doubly beneficial to an area because

they support not only those engaged in manufacturing operations, but also

those who produce the raw materials and bring them to market. If the demand

for goods made from wood products continues to grow in the future as it has

in the past, and if forest management practices enable the State’s Northern

Counties to realize their full forest-production potential, this resource will con¬

stitute an increasingly strong element of the economy of Northern Wisconsin.

It took government, as well as private, action to restore the forests to their

Development in Northern Wisconsin

97

present levels of production. New eflForts will be needed to make these prac¬

tices even more widespread and effective.

Iron mining operations contributed heavily to employment of people in

Northern Wisconsin for several generations. It now appears that the best part

of that resource in the state has been used. The future of this indusjtry in

Northern Wisconsin, therefore, appears bleak. But if the State wishes to at¬

tempt to rejuvenate this industry, at least two things might be done. The first

is to press for research efforts directed toward eventual utilization of the taco-

nite deposits still available. The second is to obtain a magnetic survey of the

State to identify mineral deposits not yet measured or discovered. The bene¬

fits from these efforts would admittedly be somewhat conjectural and long

term, rather than immediate.

After the forests were removed from the Northern Counties of Wisconsin,

the popular belief was that it could become an area of flourishing farming

activity. It was discovered, too late for many people, that most of that area’s

soils would not sustain agriculture. As farming operations became more mech¬

anized and competition from more productive areas became more severe, the

agricultural economy of Northern Wisconsin lost ground. While certain types

of agricultural activities are still feasible in certain locations, most areas that

were once farmed should likely be returned to forest uses or held in a land

bank status for possible future use. State planning studies will outline the

means of achieving such objectives and the relationship between such efforts

and development possibilities in both the urban and rural communities of

the Northern Counties. Experts in agriculture, at both the state and federal

level of government, will play an important role in both the formulation and

the implementation of such programs.

The Northern Counties of Wisconsin still have a great water resource —

ground water is readily available and fresh water abounds in its lakes and

streams. The streams have their origin in the forested highlands, and with the

improvement of forest management and farming practices water quality has re¬

mained high. In recent years, however, there has been a brisk market for water¬

front cottage sites, and development of such sites has proceeded with very

little thought given to the long-term efforts of these actions. Sites are bought,

then ground cover is removed in preparation for construction. Rains come

and wash debris and soil into the water. Cottages are built with septic tank

facilities, usually discharging effluent into the water. When this process con¬

tinues unabated, waters become murky and warm, algea and plant growth is

stimulated, and fish spawning grounds and wildlife habitat are ruined. The

very things that attracted people to the waterfronts are destroyed, and unlike

the forest resource, the water resources cannot readily be restored to their

original condition. The damages can be repaired only at great cost. The coun¬

ties of Northern Wisconsin might benefit temporarily from exploitation of water

resources, but such actions will almost certainly bring about a low grade of

development that will create long-term problems and hardships. Through im¬

proved development practices, the Northern Counties can have their water

resources and use them too; and they can, in this way, build an even stronger

economy for their area. An objective of the State’s planning efforts is to identify

the specific means whereby, through joint local-state programs, a higher

standard of water related developments can be assured.

98

Walter K. Johnson

A resource important to Wisconsin, but given little attention to date, is

its scenery. Today more people engage in viewing scenery than in any other

recreation activity. The Northern Counties of the State have a great variety of

scenic resources. Its highlands, forests, water and many points of historic or

scientific interest contribute greatly to its living amenities and to its attractive¬

ness to tourists. Like aU other resources, its scenic resources need to be de¬

veloped with foresight. Carefully planned roads, selective cutting of trees and

provision of overlooks, waysides and recreation facilities all contribute to the

scenic resource. On the other hand, billboards, honky-tonk developments, junk

yards and dumps destroy scenic resources. State and local governments have

the power to control both public and private developments so as to minimize

the possibility of damage to the scenic resource and to enhance that resource

wherever possible. The objective of planning eflForts— -state, regional and local

— must be to effectively guide developments so that Northern Wisconsin can

enjoy the economic benefits that flow to an area that has a reputation of being

beautiful and livable, as well as functional.

Planning for Northern Wisconsin should deal with all aspects of its de¬

velopment. Of basic importance is its human resource. Fortunately, Northern

Wisconsin has a high-grade human resource and because of this fact, the North

will never sink to the level of Appalachia. This is not to disparage the good

people of some of our southern states. The fact is that state governments in

that area of the country, years ago adopted a practice of providing only

minimal education, transportation and health and welfare services to their

people. As a result, those people do not have the capacity to cope with prob¬

lems of a complicated society that cannot any longer use their labor. Great

numbers of them have become dependent on public grants of one kind or

another.

The State of Wisconsin has prided itself on the quality of services it pro¬

vides its people. High levels of education have been encouraged. Adequate,

and for the most part even excellent, health and welfare facilities have been

provided. Without the programs that progressive state and local governments

have provided in the past, residents of Northern Wisconsin would likely now

be a despondent, dependent liability. Instead the human resource of the

North is viable, capable and independent. The State’s past investments are,

therefore, paying off in a much greater way than is generally appreciated. The

interest shown by county and local officials in improvement programs for the

area is evidence of this fact. Most Northern communities are now engaged in

planning programs. Five counties have joined hands in establishing the North¬

western Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission. Others have joined the

eight-county Wolf River Basin Regional Planning Commission. These new

inter-county efforts to deal with area-wide problems demonstrate a capacity

and desire on the part of the people of the North Counties to face up to the

problems of today and to build a better environment there for future genera¬

tions. Also, they have joined hands with the government of the State to insure

that programs developed for their areas will be appropriately related to the

needs and development activities of the state as whole. With the overview that

the Department of Resource Development has of all the activies of state gov¬

ernment, the Northern Counties should achieve through state and regional

planning efforts the added benefits that result from effective co-ordination of

Development in Northern Wisconsin

99

all local, state and even federal programs. If a full measure of the possible

benefits from all these programs can be realized, the future for the Northern

Counties can be bright. But without some such concerted eflFort, its future

would be dim. Fortunately, the state and the people of the North country

counties have decided that their future will not he left to chance. All of the

information, all of the knowledge, all of the experience that can be brought

to bear on the problems of the North will be utilized in the planning programs

that have now just been started and will continue to bear fruit in the future.

Northern Wisconsin can encourage developments that are consistent with

the goal of preserving its natural resources. It can plan for public investments

that satisfy human needs and improve its human resources. It can achieve a

diversified economy, not dependent on a single industry or resource. It can

reahze these objectives through planned government actions and free, private

enterprise. Finally, Northern Wisconsin can, through its efforts, demonstrate

to the Northern depressed areas of its sister states, a way out of the down¬

ward spiral that has engulfed the region. Its leadership in developing a planned

approach to the solution of its problems might, indeed, be regarded as a con¬

tribution of national significance. The staff of the Department of Resource

Development is pleased to serve this effort in partnership with local and

regional groups.

AN INDUSTRIAL APPROACH TO RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

M. N. Taylor, Executive Director

Trees for Tomorrow, Inc.

Merrill, Wisconsin

In selecting the subject, "The Natural Resources of Northern Wisconsin,”

the Wisconsin Academy has focused on one of the most important facts today

■—that people of urban centers are taking time to study natural resources, to

become acquainted with them, and to learn how to use them wisely.

Wisconsin is a land of wonderful resources. Early explorers found dense

forests, wide prairies, innumerable lakes and streams, and an abundance of

fur bearing animals. Jean Nicolet, searching for a route to China, reached Red

Banks near Green Bay, in 1634. Radisson and Grossilliers reached Che-

quamegon Bay in 1659, returned with canoes piled high with furs. Menard

arrived in 1660. In 1698, Hennepin called southern Wisconsin the charming

land. For many years the voyageurs and missionaries journeyed through this

land of promise.

People, hearing of the wealth of resources, came from many countries

of the world. Though not always understanding good management, they de¬

veloped the country. However, 300 years passed from the time of the first

explorer, before people realized that the resources were not inexhaustible.

We now have a complex and diversified economy in Wisconsin^ in the

south and along the rivers-— highly developed industrial areas; in the central

plains—an agricultural empire; in the north— -a background of green forests

and water for the wood using industry and for recreation.

The paper industry produces $958,507,000 worth of products each year,

employs nearly 43,000 or about 10% of the manufacturing personnel of the

state. Wages and salaries come to more than $258,236,000. Capital investment

is $657,618,000; current average annual investment $50,000,000. Paper mills

buy $18,200,000 worth of Wisconsin grown, pulpwood, or approximately half

of their wood requirements each year.

On the rivers, a series of dams and reservoirs, owned by the power com¬

panies and mills, provide vast hydro-electric power and an even flow of water

for industrial, community, agricultural, and recreational use. Power companies

plant trees to protect their watersheds. Members of Trees for Tomorrow alone

own 950,000 acres of industrial forests.

The recreation industry provides jobs for people of the north and a vaca¬

tion land outstanding in this country.

During the course of this meeting, you have heard from many different

agencies who work with many different resources. It is my pleasure to give a

thumb nail sketch of Trees for Tomorrow and its broad industrial approach to

resource management.

Trees for Tomorrow is a non-profit, resource management organization,

sponsored by 14 Wisconsin paper mills, six Wisconsin power companies, ■ and

one' Michigan power company. Membership includes the bulk of the paper

and power producing capacity of Wisconsin.

Wis. Acad. TBANS. Vol 53 (Part A) 1964

101

102

M. N. Taylor

Trees for Tomorrow’s main offiee is in Merrill; the Camp at Eagle River.

Four foresters are on the staff.

Our objeetive is to build a sound forest economy for Wisconsin and

Upper Michigan. Folke Becker, president of Trees for Tomorrow from 1944-

1961, said in a 1953 address, “We have our goal, a background of green forests

for Wisconsin, increased employment, protection of our watersheds, and, most

important, informed citizens who realize that large scale, long range resource

building requires coordinated effort and that it cannot be accomplished over¬

night by decree.”

When Trees for Tomorrow was founded twenty years ago, our original

research revealed that any forestry program could accomplish little if it was

not directed to the small private forest landowners, who own 68% of the forest

land in the state. The following figures emphasize this factor. Only 28 private

landowners in the state own 5,000 to 50,000 acres or more a piece. As many

as 146,000 landowners own only 100 acres or less a piece.

The first five year work area was confined to the Wisconsin River valley.

Today, our forestry work area covers 34 counties. Fifty percent of our time

is spent in helping small landowners develop the potential of their wood¬

lands; fifty percent in conservation education. The latter phase of our program

is directed toward building a sound concept of resource management for the

future. This brief paper will touch on the philosophy back of this program,

how it operates, and some of the progress.

It is highly interesting for an individual or a group that begins to work

with the renewable natural resources — soils, forests, water, and wildhfe— -to

learn how these resources are intricately related to one another. This has been

the experience of Trees for Tomorrow, over a span of two decades.

Each phase of the program is designed to provide an action outlet for

any individual whose interest has been stimulated in the field of reforestation,

forest management, or resource education.

Trees for Tomorrow’s work falls into these areas:

1) Distribution of free trees, which provides an opportunity for action

to many people who never thought of planting.

2) Machine planting, which introduces people to resources and the de¬

light to be found from making their property productive.

3) Preparation of forest management plans, which shows a landowner

where to plant, where to harvest, where to let grow, in short, how to put each

of his acres to its best use.

4) Resource education at Trees for Tomorrow Camp.

Free Trees

Objectives of the free tree program are to stimulate interest in forestry,

to expand reforestation, to create an opportunity for our foresters to get on to

the land, and to project the idea of self help.

Self-help is essential. We have found that people accomplish most when

they help themselves. Landowners receive 500 free trees each year for two

years. They are then encouraged to buy trees from the state or private nurseries.

Trees for Tomorrow distributes 350,000 free trees each year. Trees are

from member mills’ industrial nurseries. From 1944 to 1963, a total of 10,350

An Industrial Approach to Resource Management

103

landowners received and planted 9,716,000 free trees. Landowners who have

received free trees buy an additional 4,000,000 trees each year. Making a

survey of state nurseries in 1957, we discovered that people who had received

free trees, had bought and planted an additional 58,000,000.

Machine Planting

Objective of the machine planting program is to .encourage large scale

reforestation. The landowner buys his trees from state or private nurseries.

Trees for Tomorrow inspects the planting site, prepares a planting plan,

routes trees from nurseries, furnishes the technical assistance of foresters,

tractor, planting machine and crew. Cost: about $30 per 1000 trees, including

tees.

Machine planting demonstrations are staged to encourage banks and

others to buy machines. A total of 1.2 million acres still need reforestation in

Wisconsin.

Trees for Tomorrow machine planted the 10 millionth tree near Minocqua

recently. On a spring day as we neared the site to take a picture, a huge truck

load of logs rolled out of the forest. Here was a dramatic example of harvest¬

ing mature tees while machine planting new trees. By the end of 1963 Trees

for Tomorrow had machine planted a total of 10,490,000 trees for 610 private

landowners.

Forest Management

Objective of the forest management program is to increase sustained yield

forestry on privately owned woodlands. Under this plan, Trees for Tomorrow:

1) secures aerial photos, 2) makes in-the-field surveys, 3) furnishes type maps,

4) submits written supplements, 5) .encourages self-help.

There is another sidelight along the idea of self-help. In 1953, we made a

survey to learn to what extent landowners were implementing the plans we

had drawn for them. Up to this time, we prepared management plans free of

charge. Our survey revealed there were conflicting ideas about our services.

Some people thought they could not harvest trees unless we gave them per¬

mission. Still others thought there must be some gimmick connected with this

free service, which required the technical services of a forester over a period

of several days, a week, or a month.

As a result of this and other factors, in 1953, we initiated a fee system.

The results apparently bear out the idea that people appreciate most those

things for which they have invested some time, labor, or money. Another

thing, signing a forest management agreement and paying a fee is an accepted

business transaction with which they are familiar. As a result, our requests for

forest management services increased 56% over the form.er five year period.

Forest management services include: 1) general reconnaissance survey,

self-help fee 20^ per acre; 2) intensive forest management plan, self-help fee

30^ per acre; 3) estimating and marking, self-help fee $4.00 p.er hour; 4) super¬

vision of harvest, self-help fee 10% of gross; 5) retaining fee, 500 acres or more,

St per acre.

Trees' for Tomorrow has prepared management plans (which cover a ten

year period) for 295,400 acres owned by 769 landowners; marked for harvest

3,000,000. board feet of sawlogs, 21,190 cords of puipwood.

T

104 M. N. Taylor

The above is a thumb-nail sketch of our forestry activities. In forestry we |

deal with people who own land. But these landowners comprise only a small

fraction of our population. Because of urban population trends and the de- I

mand for outdoor recreation, it is indeed apparent that the 4,000,000 or more '

people in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan must have a basic understanding ^

of our natural resources, how they should be used, and how they should be

renewed. Creating this understanding is the function of the Trees for Tomor¬

row Camp. I

Resource Education 1

Widespread appreciation of the social and economic values of our natural |

resources is the objective of the Trees for Tomorrow resource education pro- !

gram at Trees for Tomorrow Camp. Here more than 4,000 citizens register ;

annually. The workshop curriculum covers forests, soil, water, and wildlife.

There is an effective thread of cooperation that winds its way through ’

all of the educational work at Trees for Tomorrow Camp. A great deal of as- '

sistance and technical guidance are given by public agencies, the University ^

of Wisconsin, the state colleges, the State Soil and Water Conservation Com¬

mittee, and others who believe in the important role of this conservation center, j

Workshops at Camp ai*e geared to the interests and vocations of groups, j

Among these are newspaper men, who own their own 78 acre forest three

miles south of Eagle River, bankers, women’s clubs, civic and service clubs,

industrial foresters, sports club leaders, executives of Trees for Tomorrow, ;

teachers for whom seven different courses are scheduled, as well as more than j

a thousand high school pupils who attend a series of 3-day workshops on school ,

time each year. (1,251 pupils took part in 25 workshops in 1963). j

i

Communications !

I

Communications are maintained with the public through our bulletin i

Tree Tips, through talks, two movies in the library at the University of Wis- ,

consin, news releases, magazine articles, and exhibits.

In summary — since 1944, Trees for Tomorrow has distributed nearly 10 i

million free trees, machine planted more than 10 million for private land- ■

owners, put under management nearly 300,000 acres of privately owned forest I

land, helped establish 42 school and six memorial forests, which more than i

50,000 people have studied resource management at the Trees for Tomorrow .■

Camp. :

These figures are significant, not merely from the standpoint of numbers, j

They serve as a guide post in a new pattern for an industrial approach to re- j

source management. At the Camp and in the field of forestry. Trees for Tomor- j

row plays a role seldom, if ever, approached by other industry in the country. .

On tours from Camp, within the distance of a few miles, you will see a :

cross section of Wisconsin’s working resources. Because of these resources

Wisconsin is a wonderful place in which to work and to live. This state has !

had a colorful and exciting past. With good management of the renewable |

natural resources, Wisconsin will have a colorful and exciting future, |

NATURAL RESOURCES— A HISTORY IN HUMAN TERMS

Leslie H, Fishel, Jr., Director

Wisconsin State Historical Society

L. P. Voigt, Director

Wisconsin Conservation Department

An anonymous but perceptive observer once quipped that no woman

could be married to the same man for fifty years because after the first

twenty-five years, he was not the same man. It is certainly true that people

change from year to year and from decade to decade and perhaps marriage is

one cause. But there are many other causes and it is with one of these and

its history that this paper is concerned. Wisconsin’s natural resources have a

natural history all of their own and as man has impacted himself on the

countryside, land and water, he has changed the course of this natural history.

Conversely, as nature has changed or been changed, man has reacted in new

and diflFerent ways. To cite one obvious example, as second growth forests have

been preserved, hunters, hikers, fishermen, campers and many others have

altered the patterns of their lives to use of these newly-created resources.

It was only a short time ago, as nature measures time, that the idea of

preserving the human history of Wisconsin’s natural resources story bubbled

to the surface. Quite naturally, the man who made the bubbles and brought

them to the top is a conservationist in every bone and fiber of his body, and

more importantly, in heart and spirit. C. L. Harrington, retired Superintendent

of Forests and Parks of the Wisconsin Conservation Department, is an effer¬

vescent and tenacious conservationist with a sharp, observant eye toward his¬

tory. He fathered the idea of preserving the human history of Wisconsin’s

conservation effort, an idea which, as he wrote in a letter in January, 1960,

should include ‘"the field of natural resource conservation in its entirety.”

With Harrington, this became more than an idea; it became a goal. He

quickly involved his friends in the State Historical Society and the Conserva¬

tion Department, preaching the gospel from one person to another, from one

he wrote to the Society in the same letter,

pproval. . . .” and he cagily spread a httle

that an agency as efficient as the Society

could handle this project without missing a step. He worked over the Conserva¬

tion Department too, to the point where the Director sent out a memorandum

(draft dated May 19, 1960) to all Department supervisory personnel urging

their cooperation with what was then called by various names, but later be¬

came known as the Natural Resources History Project. The Director appointed

Walter E. Scott to serve as a liaison with the Society and specifically asked

supervisors to report names and addresses of “old-timers” in conservation, and

record any anecdotes or details about conservation history. Harrington’s bub¬

bles had begun to form a visible pattern.

But it was only a beginning. As the Society and the Department worried

over other matters, the project seemed to move too slowly, at least for one as

spirited as C. L. Harrington. He intensified his efforts, pushing for a mutually

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol. 53 (Part A) 1964

agency to another. It is important,

that “the effort have your official a

butter on the toast with a remark

105

106

Leslie H. Fishel, Jr.-L. P, Voigt

acceptable title for the project and trying to transform the agencies’ enthusiasm

into greater action. The results were beneficial. The Forest Advisory Committee

of the Conservation Department passed a resolution recommending that the

Conservation Commission support the project. Shortly thereafter, the Com¬

mission so resolved.

Two important barriers remained, the second depending largely upon the

first. The project needed money. The Society, which was to house and operate

the project, estimated that it would take two years and cost a total of $25,000.

It took more planning and paperwork to begin to raise this money than those

responsible had calculated, but the project prospered. By the spring of 1963,

the project received half of the needed amount, $12,500, from such interested

donors as the Milwaukee Journal, Consolidated Paper, Inc., and some private

individuals. The project was ready to face the second barrier — hiring a young

historian who could devote time to it. Fortunately, the Society located Dennis

East, hired him and put him to work, on a part-time basis, directing the Natural

Resources History Project (NRHP) as it was now named. By September, 1963,

the NRHP was a reality.

Actually, even before this time, both the Society, through the efforts of

its Field Services Supervisor, William K. Alderfer, and the Department through

Walter E. Scott, had been actively gathering names and interviewing ‘‘old-

timers.” As Dennis East began to familiarize himself with the history of con¬

servation in Wisconsin, he had some first-hand records to which he could go for

information. His charge was, and is: increase the collection extent and depth.

The charge needs an explanation, since the word “collecting” has to have

a reference point. The Society and the Department, in an informal agreement

dated April 26, 1960, established some preliminary guidelines, four of which

are wordi repeating:

— To provide historical information to aid conservation research.

— To develop information about Wisconsin’s conservation program which

will be of some help to other states.

— To secure recognition for Wisconsin’s pioneers of conservation, since

the state was one of the first in the field.

— To add to the available resources of the history of the state the rich

material relating to conservation history.

This is a big program, what an earlier memorandum called “a broad historical

record.” But it is important that these four statements are understood for the

guidelines they are.

The NRHP is concerned with all natural resources in a state that has been

wonderfully blessed with them. The project will ask questions about human

activity in fish and forest conservation, in lakes and land conservation, in wild¬

life and water conservation. The project will delve into early fire prevention

methods, law enforcement, and research. No area which has attracted dedicated

conservationists in this state will escape the project’s eyes, ears, and arms.

The NRHP is really a voracious monster, hungry for information about the

history of the conservation of natural resources in Wisconsin, but it is a mon¬

ster with a sense of humor. It is anxious to collect the human side of this

human history — the anecdote, the practical joke, the lighter side which makes

Natural Resources — A History in Human Terms

107

it human. And it is a monster with plaudits to bestow. The project wants to

recognize the unsung heroes whose lives were and are monuments to the cause

of conservation. The reseai'ch men in the field, the wardens, the administra¬

tors, the planners, the lobbyists, the legislators — among these and other groups

of men and women are the few who literally shaped the course of conservation

in Wisconsin. This is what NRHP is all about.

The project has gone about its job with care. It uses a tape recorder to

interview men and women whose recollections enliven and expand our knowl¬

edge of conservation history. It collects photographs, letters, memoranda,

diaries, reports and other documents, printed, typed or scribbled, which

relate to some part of this story. The end result will be as fine a collection of

data about the history and the influence of the conservation of natural re¬

sources as exists anywhere in this country. Then will come the most important

and continuing consequence — the use of this material for contemporary pur¬

poses, as history, as precedent, as example, as inspiration.

In the background lies an even larger objective, more subtle and less sus¬

ceptible of ready accomplishment. The men and women who initiated, shaped,

and implemented conservation policy have created and preserved Wisconsin's

natural resources in challenging new ways over the last fifty years. The con¬

tinuing result has been a changing landscape and an increasing popular and

commercial use of these resources. The impact which conservation has had on

Wisconsin and out-of-state citizens who benefit from these changes deserves

serious study, since this is a wide and significant influence. It has brought

about almost revolutionary changes in the way people live, what they do, what

they wear, use and eat. Here is a Cinerama-sized screen of activities which the

NRHP collections and studies will eventually help to illuminate.

Perhaps these wide-angle lens objectives are too grandiose for a project

which has just begun on something less than a multimillion dollar budget, but

we do not think so. The early efforts of the project have already brought in

fruitful results. For example, most people who remember back to the I920’s

think of flappers, Scott Fitzgerald and speakeasies, but historians are be¬

ginning to take that decade apart and discover that beneath the popular frills

were some important, even world-shaking events. The NRHP materials already

collected bear this out.

Wisconsin in this crazy decade was worried about its conservation pro¬

gram. In 1928, the then chairman of the Conservation Commission, William

Mauthe, told a group at the Lake States Forest Experimental Station, that

“Almost everyone from ploughboy to philosopher is quite certain that he

alone possesses an exact knowledge of what is wrong with our conservation

program,” Mauthe was concerned about attacks that conservation policies were

too political and set about to defend the commission as “a part of a political

institution created through political effort,” adding that “I prefer to hold to

the better and finer interpretation of the word, politics’.” Here is an indication

that conservation has a very human history and that the development and im¬

plementation of our conservation policies have important consequences in other

areas of life.

The recorded reminiscences of W. J. P. “Bill” Aberg, a former officer in

the Izaak Walton State League reflect this, too. He remembered that giant

among men, Aldo Leopold, whose activities extended the areas and influence

108

Leslie H. Fishel, Jr.-L. P. Voigt

of conservation. Leopold, Aberg said, brought game management into the

U. S. Forest Service; and the pioneering study he did on the subject (beginning

in this same flapper decade) was sponsored by the Sporting Arms and Am¬

munition Manufacturers Institute, a healthy marriage of self-interest and public

welfare. When Leopold, Aberg and others began to work on what was to

become the state Conservation Act of 1927, they enlisted the help of Field

And Stream magazine and obtained reprints of an article on the conservation

organization in the state of Pennsylvania, which were distributed widely in

the legislature. The issue of conservation overflowed the narrow bed of natural

resources and reached into areas of national and popular concern. The guberna¬

torial election of 1926 in Wisconsin, Aberg remembered, was largely deter¬

mined by the conservation platform.

These brief samples from the 1920’s, right out of the raw data which now

make up the nucleus of the NRHP collections, suggest that the story of the

conservation of natural resources in Wisconsin is an important and exciting

human story which needs to be known. These samples suggest, too, that this

story, like the conservation movement itself, is more than a narrative of what

conservationists did or did not do. It is a story of how conservation has carved

an important priority for itself in the range of all human activity. To gather

material for research on these stories is the chief pmpose of the Natural Re¬

sources History Project.

At this point in time, the NRHP is launched and sailing before a fair wind,

but the voyage is a long one. The project will need the continuing support of

conservationists and historians and their friends. It needs more funds to carry

it into the second year. It needs more names and addresses of “old-timers”

who can contribute their recorded memories and written materials. It needs

and will receive the sustained backing of the two state agencies which initiated

the project, the State Historical Society and the Conservation Department.

In 1950, the NRHP files reveal, Virgil J. Muench, President of the Wis¬

consin Division of the Izaak Walton League, told the story of the old man who

always seemed cheerful in spite of his many troubles. When asked how he

managed to do this, the old man rephed that he had “learned to cooperate with

the inevitable.” His secret was probably a little deeper than that. He knew his

history and how to live with it. This is the potential the Natural Resources His¬

tory Project has for the conservation movement.

Materials on Deposit at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin

Which Relate to the Natural Resources History Project-

May 1964

Papers (already collected)

John Sweet Donald, (1869-1934). Farmer, politician, and prominent conservationist.

Former President of the Sons of the Native Landscape, 1919-1920.

Speeches of William Mauthe. Chairman of the Wisconsin Conservation Commission,

1927-1933.

Papers of Arthur Kaftan. Concerned with the State Izaak Walton League, 1949-1954.

Papers of Virgil Muench. Concerned with the Izaak Walton League, 1948-1955.

Papers of Frank M. Graass, Conservation Commissioner.

Papers of Louis McClane Hobbins, Conservation Commissioner, 1929-1937.

Papers of the Wisconsin Federation of Conservation Clubs.

Papers of the State Izaak Walton League, 1938-1945.

Natural Resources — A History in Human Terms

109

Oral History (tape recordings already made.)

W. D. Barnard. Planter, forester, park superintendent. Tape concerned with forestry

practices and conservation in Wisconsin from 1911 to 1916.

Mildred Castle. Chief Clerk for the Wisconsin State Board of Forestry, 1905-1915

( ? ) . Tape concerned with operations of the Board and conservation practices in

Wisconsin.

Henry Freund. First forest ranger in the Rhinelander District. Tape concerned with

forest management.

C. L. Harrington. Superintendent of Forests and Parks. Tape concerned with forest

conservation, tax laws, lumber company reforestation, establishment of the Forest

Protection Districts, state regulation of lumbering, the Civilian Conservation

Corps, and the Works Progress Administration.

George F. Kilp. First industrial forester. Tape concerned with reforestation movement

after 1915.

Wilhelmine D. LaBudde. Milwaukee clubwoman and noted conservationist.

John Landon. Wisconsin lumber company manager. Tape concerned with lumbering

and logging operations.

Nelson J. LeClair. Wisconsin fisherman and member of Wisconsin Conservation Com¬

mission. Concerned with commercial fishing on the Great Lakes.

Philip A. McDonald. Forest ranger. Tape concerned with experiences of forest sta¬

tion at Trout Lake.

Marvin Schweers. Tape concerned with history of soil erosion control in Wisconsin

with emphasis on development of Coon Valley project and watershed manage¬

ment.

Charles Scoville. Tape concerned with fish and wildlife on the Wolf River.

Fred B. Trenk. Extension forester of the University of Wisconsin. Tape concerned

with shelterbelt in Wisconsin and mechanization of tree planting.

B. O. Webster. Superintendent of Fisheries and Wisconsin Conservation Commis¬

sioner. Tape concerned with propagation and fish management.

W. J. P. Aberg. Lawyer and former officer in State Izaak Walton League. Tape con¬

cerned with early history and development of the Conservation Department,

reminiscences of Aldo Leopold, the State Izaak Walton League, and related

subjects.

Louis Blanchard. Tape concerned with early logging and log driving operations in

northern Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin Conservation Department

The State Archives holds some early records of the State Board of Forestry and

the State Parks Board (1904-1905) and other records of the Conservation Depart¬

ment from 1928 and later.

^ _ f

SPENT SULPHITE LIQUOR PROBLEM— PROGRESS

REPORT FOR 1963

Averill /. Wiley, Technical Director

Sulphite Pulp Manufacturers Research League

Appleton, Wisconsin

We, who are actively engaged in research to find answers to the spent

sulphite liquor problem of Wisconsin’s sulphite pulping industry, are pleased

to have this opportunity to report progress to the Wisconsin Academy. To

find out exactly how many people are now at work on this problem in various

research centers within the State, we made an industry count before preparing

this paper.

We found that the Wisconsin pulp and paper industry employs in its

own laboratories fifty-six full-time professional and technical research men and

women specifically for research on the spent sulphite liquor problem. An addi¬

tional ten to twenty engineers and chemists at the Forest Products Laboratory,

on the University campus in Madison and at The Institute of Paper Chemistry,

conduct fundamental and applied lignin and sugar research closely allied to

the sulphite problem. These figures clearly indicate the responsibility which

the pulp and paper industry accepts for finding solutions to this waste problem.

The Wisconsin Committee on Water Pollution makes another compilation

which provides a further index of intensity of the industry’s effort to find

lasting solutions to this problem. The Committee reports that the pulp and

paper industry in Wisconsin spent $336,897 in 1961 for pollution research,

$772,392 in 1962, and $710,255 in 1963. The mills put these findings to prac¬

tical use. The industry spent $2,059,560 in 1961 for new equipment and plants

to reduce pollution, $3,036,430 in 1962, and $1,848,103 in 1963. Although

this survey covers all types of pulp and paper mills in Wisconsin, the greater

share of the expenditures tabulated were made by and in behalf of the sul¬

phite pulp mills in their program to abate stream problems caused by spent

sulphite liquor. It should be pointed out that these plant and equipment figures

show sharp fluctuations as between years when major plants were being built

and years when no new large-scale projects were in process.

The assigned topic of this paper is exclusively concerned with the re¬

search and development of practical processes for control of water pollution.

It must, however, be pointed out that this same program is a true research

for conserving the natural resources of Wisconsin. Water is one of our more

important natural resources, and prevention of water pollution is now uni¬

versally recognized as a major field of conservation. When we are making the

best use of our water resources, we are genuinely forwarding the best interest

of all of the people who live here and of the thousands from elsewhere who

visit our State for reasons primarily connected with use of our surface waters.

In still another way our research and development of new processes for

treating spent sulphite liquor is important to conservation. Much of the in¬

formation set forth here should make it clear that this research program con¬

serves Wisconsin’s forest resources. A major fraction of the industry’s research

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol. 53 (Part A) 1964

111

112

Averill J. Wiley

is directed toward finding effective new and better ways to use that half of

the wood which is boiled out of the chips in the pulping process and con¬

stitutes the dissolved solids in spent sulphite liquor. These organic materials

were formerly wasted but now are being utilized in an increasing number of

products marketed all over the United States.

Our work takes this direction because keeping these organic materials

from ever reaching the river has proved to be the best way to improve down¬

stream conditions below sulphite mills. The only practical way to keep them

out of the river is to transform them into commodities that customers will trans¬

port away from the mills while paying part or all of the processing cost in¬

curred by the mills. It is a pleasing side effect that these new products or by¬

products contribute significantly to better standards of living for all of our

fellow Americans.

Some thirty-eight years ago the Marathon Corporation— now Marathon,

Division of American Can Company — ^pioneered the development of the first

processes that utilized the values contained in spent sulphite hquor. Marathon

conducted a persistent and expensive research effort in developing its new

materials. Nearly twenty years of hard work and more than a million dollars

went into developing that company’s method of processing spent sulphite

liquor to the stage where they were manufacturing products and selling them

for enough to meet the cost of operation. Today Marathon operates a major

byproduct industry employing 135 people for processing spent sulphite liquor

and for marketing the products which are sold worldwide.

Marathon’s success encouraged other Wisconsin pulp and paper com¬

panies to proceed with research and development programs that led to other

new and salable products made from spent sulphite liquor. Each of these com¬

panies lost money in its early years of operation, and some of them have not

yet turned the corner where the new products are self-supporting. Not only

is it expensive to perform the research and development of a new commercial

product, but also a plant to process the spent sulphite liquor produced by a

100-ton mill usually costs $1 million or more. It takes years of expensive market

development and sweat-stained selling to find enough people who want to use

these new products and who can purchase in quantities that can make a dent

in an output of 100 tons per day.

Today four major Wisconsin pulp and paper corporations operate five

spent sulphite liquor utilization plants. A sixth major installation will be com¬

pleted during 1964. At least one, probably two, other pulp mills will be en¬

gaged during this year in the final design work for new processing facilities to

be built. At this moment, more than 100,000 tons per year of Wisconsin spent

sulphite liquor solids are being manufactured into marketable products, with

an estimated value approaching $10 million. This new sulphite products in¬

dustry directly employs more than 300 persons in Wisconsin. A good many

more jobs could be traced back to sulphite products by tallying up the full¬

time and fractional jobs created here in transporting these commodities as well

as their raw materials and end products in the form in which they eventually

reach market.

These are impressive figures for a brand-new industry based on what

formerly was wasted. They are all the more impressive when considered in

perspective. After all, these jobs and these values have been created only

Spent Sulphite Liquor Problem— Progress Report for 1963

113

because the sulphite pulping industry is so firmly determined to solve the

problem that its spent liquor creates in this state's streams.

Those of us who spend our working lives on this problem are looking

forward to new developments, new processes, and new products to come from

research now underway in our industry laboratories. Many of today's products

from spent sulphite liquor are relatively crude. They are mixtures of organics

directly proportional to the occurrence of various materials in the original

pulp wood chips. But research today is finding ways to separate and modify

purified lignin compounds, pure wood sugars, a number of sugar derivatives,

and also the organic acids. As these are perfected to commercial usefulness,

they should lead to major increases in the jobs and values as these more refined

products find their place in new and profitable markets.

Processes and products such as these do not pop up overnight from simple

efforts in the laboratory. Time is required to develop a good, new idea into a

commodity for commercial production. As an example, for the past fifteen

years we have been attempting to create from the crude lignin in spent sul¬

phite liquor a particular kind of binder which could improve upon the mining

industry's processes for recovering high-grade iron ore pellets from the low

grade ore deposits of Northern Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. This is

a market that could take vast tonnages of sulphite liquor solids“--when and if

we can attain its specifications of quality and meet its limitations of cost.

Each year our research has improved the binder products we could pro¬

duce. Each year's binder comes closer than last year's to meeting the rigid

requirements of the iron ore industry. But thus far all of our binders have

fallen short. They have not been quite good enough either in quality or cost.

We are continuing this development work on iron ore binders, and we feel

confident that eventually we shall hit our target.

For another example, the lumber industry in Wisconsin and Minnesota,

in the South and on the West Coast, uses tremendous tonnages of adhesives in

making weather-proof plywoods. But they need still better adhesives than we

have, and we are hard at work to meet their needs with a plywood adhesive

derived from spent sulphite liquor. A display of these iron ore and plywood

binder products in various stages of research and development has been

brought tO' this meeting for those who would like to examine these products

more closely.

You may ask how our industry research laboratories go about the task

of finding these new processes and new products to be developed from spent

sulphite liquor. This type of research requires a diligent and organized pro¬

gram that studies the properties of spent sulphite liquor as it comes from

each of the various sulphite pulping processes used in our Wisconsin pulp

mills. No two mills produce identical liquor, nor are their other conditions

identical, which are the reasons why, when our research and development

yields a new process or product, this can be put to practical use only by those

mills whose situation it fits.

Only through fundamental research can the industry's scientists know

the chemical structure and reaction characteristics of each of the lignin, wood

sugar, and other organic components present in spent sulphite liquor. The

Sulphite Pulp Manufacturers' Research League conducts fundamental re¬

search within its own laboratories, and additionally has supported a research

114

Averill J. Wiley

grant at an average cost of $25,000 annually for the past twent-five years for

fundamental research by staff members of the Organic Chemistry and Physical

Chemistry Departments of The Institute of Paper Chemistry. Numerous other

laboratories conduct their own independent fundamental research on lignin

and wood sugars at the University and at the Forest Products Laboratory in

Madison, and at similar research centers elsewhere in the U.S.A.

One-half of the total research budget of the League is directed to this

systematic search for new knowledge about the organic compounds in spent

sulphite liquor. This is not science in an ivory tower, for it is from this funda¬

mental research that the new ideas come for new processes and new products.

From that point on, our research effort systematically searches for ways to

apply the new ideas. The League laboratories are equipped especially to fol¬

low through with practical developments. We have extensive laboratory equip¬

ment for carrying on our experimental work in test tube and flask, and we have

the finest scientific instruments for careful analytical control.

When work in the laboratory yields results that are sufiiciently promising,

the League has pilot plants that can carry this work along to a scale for de¬

veloping practical methods of processing. Where our pilot plants are inade¬

quate for the particular program, we equip a new pilot plant. Our present

pilot plants enable us to make large-scale studies requiring that products be

centrifuged, filtered, ion exchanged, solvent extracted, evaporated, spray dried,

polymerized, oxidized, and fermented. These pilot plants on occasion are

also used to produce samples of our new materials in quantities sufficient for

prospective industrial users to make trial production runs with our products

in their own laboratories and plants.

In the course of the twenty-five years since the League was founded, our

laboratories have tried out hundreds of new ideas for processes and products.

Laboratory trials screen out most of the impractical and uneconomical projects.

Those that pass this first screening move ahead to pilot plant testing. The

eventual survivors are the more promising methods which merit further study.

Since we are working with a waste product from a large industry, we

can expect that many of the proposals for new processes and products will not

survive critical examination in the laboratory. We consider ourselves fortunate

when 10 out of 100 proposed new ideas survive critical evaluations on paper

and the blackboard, and move along to laboratory testing. Not more than one

out of 100 gets as far as pilot-plant testing.

The League has constructed just eight major pilot plant installations in

a quarter century. One of these yielded the process for growing food and feed

yeasts on the carbohydrates in spent sulphite liquor, originally developed dur¬

ing the war years of 1943 to 1946. Two plants are now in full commercial op¬

eration, producing up to twenty tons of dry yeast daily at Rhinelander and

Green Bay. Five plants at mills in Appleton, Green Bay, Rhinelander, and

Rothschild are operating evaporation processes based on pilot plant studies in

the League’s laboratories and pilot plants.

But a somewhat larger contingent of other processes failed to survive

pilot plant testing and were shelved. The trickling filter method for disposal

type processing of liquid wastes, which is widely used for municipal sewage

plants, was tested extensively in the League’s first pilot plant; the process

proved technically possible, but only at a capital cost and operating expense

Spent Sulphite Liquor Problem — Progress Report for 1963

115

that no mill could support and remain competitive. A process for extracting

pure wood sugars from spent sulphite liquor was also developed and pilot-

tested, but it too fell afoul of the strict laws of economics. We still believe that

the sugar products may some day be recovered feasibly from spent liquor,

but it will have to be as part of an overall process which derives other values

from the raw material.

The League's most recent pilot plant project is studying the electrodialysis

process. We began working on electrodialysis research first in the laboratory,

then went on to a small-scale pilot plant and finally to a commercial-scale pilot

plant. The research is now in its sixth year and its total cost has reached

$400,000. League member mills have financed the entire project.

Electrodialysis as a commercially feasible process has been the dream and

the frustration of many competent electro-chemical engineers since before the

turn of the century. Most of the early research scientists and engineers were

handicapped by lack of proper equipment and materials; particularly, they did

not have ion-selective membranes. Membrane improvements since 1950 have

made electrodialysis practical for processing salt water into potable water, and

electrodialysis desalting plants now are operating commercially in many arid

regions of the world.

The success of these salt water treatment developments opened new

vistas and brought forth new ideas. We have learned how to treat spent sul¬

phite liquor for recovery of the pulping chemicals so that they can be reused

in the pulp mill, and also we now can fractionate the valuable organics con¬

tained in spent sulphite liquor. We had all manner of diflBculties in the early

stages of this project, but we have overcome them one by one. Eventually we

modified the conventional membrane arrangement by a simple method, and our

laboratory staflF was off to a running start.

Results were exciting from the very first use of this modified equipment —

exciting enough to keep some research men coming back voluntarily for an

extra evening of experience, and to keep technical experts of member mills

dropping in day after day to watch. This project holds great promise for new

and better methods of processing spent sulphite liquor to eliminate stream

pollution, while at the same time recovering pulping chemicals and a variety

of new organic materials which we believe will open new markets for the

sulphite products industry.

A pilot plant costing more than $100,000 was eventually designed and

constructed, and it has now been in successful operation for some 18 months.

We are still busy with pilot plant studies, but gradually the findings are being

developed into practical design data which can be used as the basis for sound

decisions by industry executives on whether to build their own commercial

plants to apply this process. A display showing phases of this electrodialysis

research and the materials it produces is also available for your examination

at this meeting.

Development of a feasible commercial process is really only half of the

story. Once someone builds a plant processing 100 tons per day of electro-

dialyzed spent sulphite liquor solids, he will have an immediate need for

markets for the products he is producing. It is no real long-term answer that

some of the products might be burned to reduce stream pollution. The process

of electrodialysis is costly to operate, and so we are looking for ways to use

116 Averill J. Wiley

these wood chemicals profitably. We shall burn only those for which no known

use exists.

We need large new markets for these new products which will be pro¬

duced in large volumes , and finding such markets requires another type of re¬

search which we have carried out concurrently with the process development.

Product development and market studies were begun very early in the labo¬

ratory phase of the 6-year research program. Once the pilot plant was operat¬

ing, it yielded the new products in quantities sufiicient for testing in our labo¬

ratory and also for sending out to prospective customers for their own practical

testing of new uses for these materials.

One such product being developed for the plywood adhesive market has

already been mentioned in this paper. The lignosulfonate salts contained in

the spent liquors as they come from the pulp mill are not suitably adhesive

for plywood, and also they are water-soluble. The electrodialysis operation

modifies these organics to yield free lignosulfonic acids, which in turn are

easily polymerized to yield strong, water-insoluble adhesive resins. Some fur¬

ther research is required to obtain proper formulation of the final product, but

we now have a plywood adhesive approaching final stages of development for

practical use on a large scale.

The League laboratories are not the only research units at work on new

processes and on the new products from such processes. Such activities are

proceeding in other laboratories which are studying spent sulphite liquor. The

League laboratories expect to move on to explore other new and promising

processes when our electrodialysis research progresses to a stage that leaves us

the opportunity for such work.

So what is the net eflPect of all this research and development program

in terms of solving the spent sulphite liquor problem? The slide we are show¬

ing on the screen shows the twelve year trend in pollution abatement by meth¬

ods used by thirteen Wisconsin member mills of the Sulphite Pulp Manufac¬

turers" Research League in the period 1952 to 1963. In 1952 some 13% of the

total spent sulphite liquor produced by the member mills was being processed

in three evaporation plants, one yeast plant, and a large plant using a lignin

precipitation process. Almost all of the spent sulphite liquor evaporated at that

time was burned to recover heat values. No market existed for much of this

evaporated syrup. A small amount of liquor was being processed by mere

disposal methods in soil filtration ponds and soil irrigation areas.

All of these processing plants still are operating, and new plants have

been added. The curve showing the trend in total high-value utilization of

spent liquor has risen rather steadily and importantly over the years since 1952.

In 1958 much less of spent liquor went to low-value utilization because greater

quantities of the concentrate were finding markets at values greater than heat

recovery.

With all this progress through the years, a number of the League’s Wis¬

consin member mills have not yet been able to find ways of processing their

spent liquor by economical means. They need still other routes for processing

their spent liquor, and these member mills have been working in their own

laboratories to develop new methods as well as supporting the League research

program. To reduce their discharge of spent liquor substantially until appro¬

priate utilization processes become available, these mills have used and con-

Spent Sulphite Liquor Problem— Progress Report for 1963

117

PROCESSING OF SPENT SULPHITE LIQUOR

THE 12 YEAR TREND IN

POLLUTION ABATEMENT

tinue to use short-term disposal methods that fit their interim needs. Total dis¬

posal held steady until 1959, then turned downward as more permanent meth¬

ods of processing were applied. We look forward to substantial increases of

utihzation in future to provide more of the desirable permanent answers. Dis¬

posal operations will decrease as each new utilization plant goes into

production.

The Wisconsin pulping industry is understandably proud of its record.

The pulp manufacturers of this state have developed and installed more sul¬

phite processing plants and are non-pollutionally handling a greater proportion

of their spent sulphite liquor than those in any other state. These facilities

serve the combined purpose of eliminating stream pollution and conserving

both the water resources and the forest resources of Wisconsin.

Wisconsin has the finest, most effective state water pollution control au¬

thority existing anywhere. Public oflBcials of this state have worked closely

with water-using industries without even momentarily relaxing the oflScial

pressure for stream improvement. This attitude has gained for Wisconsin uni-

118

Averill J. Wiley

versal recognition as leading all other states in cooperative State-Industry de¬

velopment of permanent and complete answers to industiial waste problems.

This is true not only for the pulp and paper industry, but also for the canning

industry, the dairy industry, and many others.

Because of the vigorous research program of the mills and competent

administration by the public control authorities, we who work full-time at

the science of sulphite pollution abatement look forward with confidence to a

future of continuing technical progress in a favoring atmosphere of continuing

prosperity of the Wisconsin pulp and paper industry.

COMPETITIVE USES OF PUBLIC WATERS

L. A. Posekany, In Charge

Rivers Survey Section

Wisconsin Conservation Department

As one of the State’s team responsible for the protection of our public

waters, I daily see numerous proposals competing with or for public and

riparian rights in our northern public waters.

It is my considered opinion that while efforts are constantly being made

which could jeopardize public interests, the existing laws, statutory case, and

common, generally have afforded a reasonable degree of protection to these

interests. There is, however, a constant war of attrition going on requiring vigi¬

lance and determination on the part of protective authorities, complemented by

understanding and active support by the public. There is also a real need for

reasonableness and a determined effort at understanding both public and

private needs in our waters and the adjoining lands.

The irrigator with a pump capable of removing 2 c.f.s. of water who

wants to divert from a trout stream with a low flow of 2 or 3 c.f.s. must rec¬

ognize that such a removal at times of low flow, when he needs the waters

most, can result in the obliteration of the stream and its inhabitants. As long

as public rights in our waters are paramount, such an unreasonable proposal

cannot expect to receive approval. On the other hand, it would be equally

unreasonable to oppose the diversion of the same 2 c.f.s. from a trout stream

with a flow of 200 c.f.s. While both actions compete with fish and fish foods

for the available water one can be found to be materially harmful and not in

the public interest while the other cannot. In a third water also having a 2

to 3 c.f.s. low flow, the same 2 c.f.s. might be removed without materially

harming fish life. Here the stream is so shallow, warm and silted that only a

rare stickleback or darter can survive. Is the reduction of this stream to a

thread of its former self of material harm? In itself, probably not. But if this

stream serves as a source of water for a downstream farmer’s cattle, then the

harm from this water loss is at or approaching materiality. Here are two private

“rights” in conflict. In Wisconsin the domestic rights of the downstream farmer

will prevail if he makes an issue of the matter, objects, and his objections have

substance.

Only in irrigation and mining operations does the competitive use of

public water reach the extreme of using up the water. But extremes in pollu¬

tion where the water is still physically present but rendered unsuitable for

other uses might be considered equally consumptive. The tube and penstock

type of power dam by-passing all of the flow at low stages uses all of the water

in the by-passed segment of the river. In some peak and recharge power dam

ponds, lessened downstream flow for portions of a day or week diminishes

flow for periods sufficient to simulate consumptive use. Here the statutes re¬

quire a minimum of 25% of ordinary low flow be passed at all times. The

unnatural variation in water stage below this type of use has been found on

occasion to materially adversely affect downstream animal and plant life and

unnaturally erode adjacent banks.

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol 53 (Part A) 1964

119

120

L. A. Posekany

The invasion of the bed of a public water could also be considered to

consume or remove from use that portion of the bottom it occupies. Such occu¬

pations of the bottom of our navigable inland waters is not permissible except

by legislative grant for public purposes because the state holds title to such

lands in trust. Yet such invasions are not uncommon. In fact, this northern

lake land finds the landowner competing with the state and the animals and

plants that once lived in and used these areas of unauthorized fills.

One competitor here is the landowner who introduces material into the

lake to make his lot larger. This is generally done with deliberate intent, some¬

times to conveniently and economically get rid of excavation materials. There

are, however, numerous cases where title description extends apparent ov/ner-

ship into and under the water. The landowner believes he has the right to

occupy all of the lands described. Generally such fills, in addition to usurping

the lake bed and competing with the public bed, uses and interferes with the

normal flow pattern in the water invaded. They tend to collect debris and

foster plant and algae mats in quiet areas. Usually these undesirable actions

take place in front of adjacent lands, thus competing with the normal reason¬

able use of adjacent land.

Another invader of the lake bed is the usually uninformed landowner who,

when the lake level recedes at times of low water, extends the land to the

current lake edge. His counter-part is the landowner who attempts to firm

up the floating bog — wetland shore. Generally, this type of fill competes with

wildlife, plant communities, and eliminates areas for fish as well as taking an

area of lake surface out of public use.

A less extensive but similar invader is the sea wall — shoreline straightener.

Peculiarly enough sea walls are prone to being built in the water at or be¬

yond the land water interface sometimes at the expense of bass, walleye or

Esocid spawning sites and usually at the expense of the adjacent landowner

who finds it necessary to extend the wall in self protection.

The lake riparian regularly competes with fish and wildlife along his

segment of the lake. Just occupying the land and living near the lake lowers

the inclination of wildlife to use available habitat. But mankind is always im¬

proving something. The whole matter of beach improvements competes ad¬

versely with fish and wildlife. The sand blanket to cover weeds or stones re¬

moves cover for fish and game and would, if permitted, occasionally cover

bass or walleye spawning grounds. In mucky areas over-enthusiastic sand

blankets, if permitted, could squeeze out less dense lake bottom muck onto ad¬

jacent property. Dredging eliminates the shallows, the feeding and living areas

of the very young fish and could eliminate or diminish spawning grounds for

muskellunge, northern pike, walleye and bass if it were not for a permit system

and surveillance for unauthorized actions.

The boat house out over the lake eliminates a portion of the lake’s sur¬

face area, prevents or obstructs in-shore use of the lake (particularly for the

wading fisherman) and competes with the neighboring scenic use. The

Florida-like lagoon dug in the upland may compete with the animal use of

the “most economic to develop” wetland northern pike-muskellunge spawning

ground, duck, muskrat and woodcock habitat. If improperly dug or designed,

the completed unit may be a fish trap in the winter or, through primitive or

inadequate sewage disposal and intensive development (including minimal lot

Competitive Uses of Public Waters

121

size), contribute significant quantities of nutrients to the lagoon and parent

water body. As competitive as the lagoons are to fish and wildlife, the num¬

bers of users it adds to a given lake puts it more in competition with all of

the existing riparian properties. The extreme here could change a small, un¬

crowded two-family lake with 10 to 20 water acres per family to a crowded

lake with less than 1 acre available per family. In the original state the chances

of most water uses becoming antagonistic competitors are low. Adding a 20-40

family lagoon makes almost all uses antagonistically competitive. In the later

case even the fisherman will compete with other fishermen over the use of

optimum habitat. The boat fisherman, pleasure boater and water skier are

likely to be violently competitive.

The lagoon on a stream is already not uncommon in Wisconsin, in spite

of the fact that it usually has available less parent water acreage than lakes.

In both lakes and streams this type of project does make available land with

water access above the flood level. As such, the land use competes with or¬

dinary upland land use. Often in reaching the high land the lagoon removes

wetland habitat for ducks, furbearers, song birds, or winter cover for upland

birds by the area it occupies.

Stream-side lagoons are presently constructed only on our larger waters.

Our smaller streams have fewer competing uses. Here individuals tend to feel

so antagonistic toward their competitors that litigation is not uncommon.

Though Wisconsin’s courts have long held that fishing is an incident of naviga¬

tion, individuals often compete with each other here for an exclusive use.

“No trespass” signs and trespass charges limit the public’s right to use an avail¬

able fish population and the relaxation and enjoyment that sometimes goes

with fishing. The fisherman in turn attempts to limit the stream riparian’s use

of adjacent upland by declaring cattle fences navigational obstruction. The

increasing use of canoes, leisure and access add to the navigation for pleasure

use on small streams to aggravate the fence-upland cattle competition. Most

streams below medium river size are too shallow to offer convenient swimming

areas. The increasing numbers of summer weekend and permanent homes on

streams put the swimmer in competition with smallmouth bass and trout

fishermen. The wading fisherman swims or drowns in the swimming hole dug

in a trout stream. Understanding and reasonableness on the part of the land-

owner to mark such an area and permit skirting trespass has kept these

uses from becoming materially antagonistic. Lagoons and boat slips offer sim¬

ilar problems in lakes. A burgeoning use of navigable streams involves what

amounts to nonuse. This is the move to relocate streams to eliminate meanders

and oxbows or to reroute the course onto least usable land and to define and

limit the flood plain. Such acts remove a material segment of stream from fish

and fish food production and adversely silt up downstream sectors. Fish spawn¬

ing areas may be eliminated or rendered unusable. Like the sea wall this action

tends to also increase the burden of the adjacent (downstream) landowner by

shunting more water onto him more rapidly.

The ultimate in stream relocation is the action to divert surplus water

temporarily or permanently out of the watershed, either to restore landlocked

or small drainage area lakes at times of low water table or to obtain relief from

high water. Since the statutes permitting these actions require a finding that

the waters involved are surplus, they should not be a competitive use. Yet the

122

L. A. Posekany

introduction of water into one northern lake to restore lake levels also in¬

troduced northern pike into muskellunge water to compete adversely with the

muskellunge.

A major competitive use of stream water involves physical and attendant

biological changes to the stream by obstructing the flow with a dam. Involved

here are competitive land and water uses. The stream is changed to a lake.

Its character within the influence of the obstruction is changed from fast

flowing and shallow to a relatively still deep water. Its summer temperatures

may change from cool to warm. These physical changes, to use extreme ex¬

amples, may completely change the biota from brook trout habitat to bass,

perch, panfish. In the course of creating the lake, upland wildlife can be elimi¬

nated or reduced. A common example in this north land is the inundated elimi¬

nated winter deer yard and attendant increased aggravated pressure put upon

neighboring yards. Species and habitat changes or loss, fast water canoe ways,

relatively inaccessible wild areas and scenic rapids or waterfalls compete here

with the serene pond, abundant, prolific lake fishery and engineering work.

In addition to river impoundment competition, the impoundment itself has

various competing water users.

There is some site competition between the hydro-power interests and the

land developer. A more striking competition exists between the impoundment

for storage and discharge at times of low flow interests and the resort-recrea¬

tion industry demand for stable full pond levels. The fish and wildlife interests

find themselves in the middle in this competition.

Not all habitat changes caused by dams result in a loss of scarce habitat;

in fact some can create such habitat. Nor do all dams create material wildlife

habitat changes. There are innumerable small structures built in the outlets of

our northern lakes to prevent throat erosion of their outlets. These devices

maintain existing levels to benefit all of the water uses on these lakes, includ¬

ing fish and game habitat.

In the time allotted for this talk, I could not hope to cover, even by a

simple list, all of the various competing uses for our public waters. I have,

therefore, deliberately limited this paper to what I feel are most of the more

important uses involving fish and wildlife interests.

In my opinion, as long as a test of reasonableness and materiality is ap¬

plied when any use of public water is being considered, conflicts will be at a

minimum, and public rights will be protected. This should also permit an

orderly and reasonable development of private land uses in our northern lake

land.

WILDLIFE HABITAT AND THE MANAGED FOREST

Forest W. Stearns, Research Forester

Lake States Forest Experiment Station

William A. Creed, Biologist

Wisconsin Conservation Department

Introduction

The future prosperity of northern Wisconsin is based on water, wood,

wildlife, and people. Several papers at this conference have discussed water

resources from the viewpoints of people, power, recreation, fish, and water¬

fowl. This paper will consider some of the relationships between wildlife and

modern forestry and explore these questions:

1. What is the present relationship between the managed forest and

wildlife?

2. How may intensive forest management change in northern Wisconsin

in the next thirty to forty years?

3. How may more intensive forest management influence the wildlife

population; and, in turn, how may wildlife influence forest manage¬

ment?

The title of this paper is particularly appropriate since the trend in the

Lake States is toward more intensive forest management— a trend that must

continue if the wood producers of the area are to remain competitive. We

wish to discuss here what lies in the future for wildlife habitat and forest

management. This will necessitate some educated guesses as to both the needs

of wildlife and the supply and demand for forest products, coupled with the

role of forest engineering. We have drawn freely on published sources and

informal talks for our look into the future.

Our major hypothesis is not new. It is this: With planning, a forest in

full production can provide adequate habitat of good quality for most forms of

wildlife.

Any land management plan to benefit wildlife must provide for maximum

diversity of forest types and adequate harvest of game populations. Many ex¬

cellent studies of Wisconsin vegetation indicate that nature once provided this

diversity through wind storms, catastrophic fires, or insect and disease epi¬

demics. Now the forest manager must do for wildlife what catastrophe once

did — and still maintain a healthy, growing forest.

Past History

In brief, the history of northern Wisconsin forests has been one of

cut, burn, and burn again, then improved fire protection, regrowth, improved

management, and a gradual trend toward a stable cut. Logging began in the

1850’s and increased rapidly until the turn of the century. As cutting for lum¬

ber diminished, logging of the second growth began for pulp wood. Fires ac-

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol. 53 (Part A) 1964

123

124

Forest W. Stearns-William A. Creed

companied the early cuttings, and wildlife habitat expanded along with much

brush land and open space. With the increase in suitable habitat, the snow-

shoe hare, ruffed grouse, and white-tailed deer populations all exploded. Market

hunting toward the turn of the century reduced the deer herd until protection

seemed the only answer. However, with continued cutting and fire into the

30 s, the Wisconsin deer herd again increased until overbrowsing became the

rule rather than the exception, and starvation was a frequent occurrence in

severe winters. Not only did the winter habitat deteriorate, but in the last

twenty years regrowth of timber stands has gradually eliminated much of the

summer range.

During the years of high animal populations, conflicts between wildlife

and forest management became severe. Excessive deer and snowshoe hare

populations frequently consumed all the reproduction of commercial forest

trees. Several preferred browse species were almost completely eliminated.

Present Habitat in Relationship to Forest Management Practice

Today the 19 more heavily forested counties of northern Wisconsin con¬

tain approximately 14,600 square miles of forest land, most of which is com¬

mercially operable. All of this area, plus about 2,000 square miles of adjacent

farmland, is assumed to be deer range. Perhaps 10% can be considered winter

range. Ruffed grouse range is roughly comparable to that for the white-tailed

deer. Bear range is more limited, largely because the black bear gets into

trouble easily when he associates closely with man. About 50% of the forest

land is in public or industrial ownership, and hence susceptible to intensive

management, while additional acres of private land are now or will be in¬

tensively managed.

Forest management today is much more sophisticated than it was 20 or

30 years ago. Some techniques aie in wide use, for example clearcutting of

aspen which results in sprout reproduction; selective cutting in northern hard¬

woods to improve quality and to encourage reproduction; planting, used at

first to revegetate abandoned farms, burns, and poorly stocked lands and now

to convert low-grade and inferior hardwoods to conifers; and finally, removal

of unwanted species by mechanical or chemical means.

Detailed management plans are now in use, developed on the basis of

forest inventory samples, aerial photographs, soil surveys, and ground exam¬

ination. In some forest types, cutting cycles are being shortened, improvement

and thinning cuts are made, and crop trees are selected for future harvest.

Tractor and truck logging have replaced four-legged animals and railroad

logging almost completely. All of this implies an increased investment in forest

production.

The continued growth of the forest, improved fire control, and gradual

replacement of pioneer species by natural succession have each drastically

influenced forest habitat conditions. The acreage cut is now less than the

acreage growing from seedlings and saplings into poletimber. In other words,

large areas of brush and open land are disappearing and are being replaced

by closed, pole-size stands of either natural or plantation origin.

Present forest management is doing much for wildlife habitat. Scheduling

of logging operations in the winter months provides large quantities of deer

Wildlife Habitat and the Managed Forest

125

browse. Sale of timber in sequential arrangements around winter deer concen¬

trations, so that all is not cut within one or two years, is highly beneficial. In

some public forests, openings are being left unplanted, and new openings are

being created to the benefit of many wildlife species. However, much more

can be done if the forest manager is convinced of the need.

The current situation is evident and reasonably well known; what then

are the future prospects in forest management, and how will they influence

habitat? We must look ahead and forestall, if possible, adverse situations which

may reach a peak thirty to fifty years from now.

Future Trends in Forest Management

In discussing the future, we will first consider silvicultural methods and

their influence on habitat without particular regard to economics. This will

be followed by a consideration of possible changes in logging techniques and

the overwhelming influence of supply and demand.

Silvicultural Techniques

Intensive forestry implies greater money input into each unit of land;

and for this reason, intensive forestry will be concentrated on the more pro¬

ductive and accessible sites. Thus, part of the plan for the future will include

detailed classification of sites for quality and quantity production.

Aspen. Management of aspen generally involves clearcutting. This fre¬

quently means that only the merchantable stems are clearcut, leaving a residual

tree cover of poor-quality stems and of other species. Future management of

aspen may involve a two-step clearcut to improve the quality of the clones

left to sprout. A thorough job of clearcutting is essential for regeneration and is

favorable for wildlife since the profuse sprout growth of the clearcut stand will

furnish browse for several years and will provide early cover and later ample

buds for ruffed grouse.

Planting and conversion. Planting has been an important management

activity since 1913 when the first Star Lake Plantations were established. Over

one million acres have been planted in Wisconsin. Much of the planting in

the future will probably be on poorly stocked lands or those in need of con¬

version rather than on open lands, now in short supply. Conversion of aspen

to conifers is increasing, and this trend may be expected to continue wherever

the site has a higher growth potential for conifers than for aspen. Conversion

usually involves planting conifers (white spruce, red pine, etc.) after a pai'tial

cut or other site preparation; this is followed in a few years by a release cutting

or by killing the overstory of low-quality aspen and other species with herbi¬

cides. If large blocks are converted, increased uniformity may result. However,

if accomplished in relatively small blocks in an otherwise uniform aspen area,

conversion can increase diversity and provide needed cover both for deer and

ruffed grouse.

Conversion is a variation on natural succession with the emphasis on pine

or spruce rather than on a mixture of pine or balsam fir and tolerant hard¬

woods. Young plantations may function in effect as refuges in heavily hunted

126

Forest W. Stearns-William A. Creed

areas, since visibility for the hunter is very poor. There is a good possibility

that increased conifer cover will serve to extend the winter range, now a

major limiting factor for the white-tailed deer. With proper manipulation of

vegetation around plantation boundaries, perhaps plantations can be sub¬

stituted for browsed-out yards. Future plantations may be expected to carry

fewer trees to the acre and will often be planted on a rectangular rather than

on a square pattern. Frequent and wide firebreaks will increase the amount of

edge.

Fire as a tool. The use of fire in preparing planting sites and in main¬

taining older stands is gradually increasing as techniques are developed. Fire

has silvicultural advantages. It removes tlie old stems of hazel and other shiubs,

reducing competition; it bares the soil, permitting the regeneration of trees

from seed; and it releases minerals for rapid assimilation. Controlled fire may

be beneficial in habitat management; it may result in vigorous and succulent

sprouts, in the growth of weedy forbs, and in establishment of pioneer species.

The type of fire and the burning conditions are of vital importance. A fire

which runs slowly may burn deeply and kill most of the shrubs rather than

merely eliminating the old tops. Wisconsin has had some success with fire

as an inexpensive tool for sharptail grouse management; undoubtedly fire can

be used more extensively.

Hardwood silviculture. Although not as evident, changes may also be ex¬

pected in northern hardwood silviculture. Cutting in the past has varied from

high-grading to selection silviculture in uneven-aged stands. For quality tim¬

ber the trend is toward a shorter cutting cycle, with cuts at 10-year intervals,

removal of stems of little merchantable value, and retention of crop trees, i.e.

stems with desirable characteristics. This procedure is not necessaiily beneficial

to wildlife; it results in little major disturbance, removes den trees, and retains

ground cover with little change. Future intensive management for high-quality

sawtimber will probably follow this pattern, save where special steps are taken

for yellow birch regeneration. Future management of such desirable species as

yellow birch may even involve planting of selected high-quality stock derived

from the forest genetics programs. In high-quality stands, management should

be designed to protect regeneration from heavy animal populations; a com¬

bination of wise location and silvicultural manipulation will be needed. Other

possibilities are evident, among them management of lower quality northern

hardwood for hardwood pulp. This would shorten the rotation and be highly

desirable for wildlife if cuts were made in small blocks. As another speaker

pointed out, market conditions may shift as new processes evolve; for example,

the demand for a particular spent-sulphite liquor product may even dictate the

species chosen for pulping.

Trends in Forest Engineering

Equally important to silvicultural techniques are the methods used by

the logger in removing timber. Most of us have seen the change from the

use of ax and crosscut saw in felling and of horses or oxen for skidding to the

chain saw and the caterpillar tractor. Raw-material extraction is still the most

Wildlife Habitat and the Managed Forest

127

expensive operation in wood production, and methods are being devised to

increase efficiency and, at the same time, reduce the waste left in the woods.

One possibility involves the use of trees to a smaller top diameter. In

principle, utilization to a smaller diameter than four inches would not be detri¬

mental to wildlife. In fact, if it involved tree-length logging, in which the tree

is removed from the woods intact, there may be more disturbance of the soil

surface and a resulting increase in reproduction both of trees and of herbs.

Development of an integrated harvest system may have considerable im¬

portance. In this system a tree snipper, capable of handling trees at least 12

inches in diameter, is mounted on a caterpillar tractor. When the tree is

snipped off at the base it is lowered into place, limbed, cut up, barked, and

chipped. Handling of the smaller limbs will be very important in regulating

the supply of winter browse and of cover. The use of integrated logging equip¬

ment, particularly if wood is field chipped, might shift the cutting from winter

to a year-round operation. This may cause more surface ground disturbance,

but would seriously reduce winter food. At present a considerable portion of

the winter diet of deer consists of fresh logging slash. Tops cut in the summer

are of little value. The integrated logging machine may have habitat advantages

in that, if reasonably mobile, it would permit sales in smaller units than at

present. Larger equipment may mean more roads. Roads provide edge and

roadside cover. Likewise, if roads are to be used at frequent intervals, they may

be kept in shape by seeding and mowing, a practice now used primarily for

ruffed grouse habitat improvement.

Today one of the major deterrents in the eonversion of aspen to conifers

is cost. Since a crop of conifer timber is more valuable than an aspen erop,

work is beginning on improved equipment for site preparation and planting.

Some of the equipment being developed for site conversion may be use¬

ful in direct habitat improvement. Michigan has already made extensive use

of the tree cutter, a sharp blade mounted on a heavy bulldozer. This machine

is used to eliminate the overstory of unmerchantable aspen and produce

browse; the sprouting that follows may also result in a merehantable stand of

aspen in the second rotation. Improved equipment will accelerate some of the

changes which influence habitat such as conversion to pine. But it will also

permit more extensive manipulation of the forest with accompanying disturb¬

ance and the possibility that, with lower costs, both direct and indirect habitat

improvement may be accelerated.

Supply and Demand

When everything is considered, the most important factors influencing

habitat changes are economic. To a large extent, economic considerations con¬

trol both the type of woods operation and the intensity of management. Man¬

agement today has the problem of planning for the quality and type of product

desired thirty to 100 years hence. To some extent, the supply available will

condition the development. Presumably this is the case with hardwood pulp,

now in more than ample supply. If the demand for hardwood pulp continues

to increase, there will be benefits both to hardwood silviculture and to habitat.

A larger pulpwood market will permit thinning of young poletimber and saw-

timber hardwood stands. Likewise, it will permit more frequent pulpwood

128

Forest W. Stearns-William A. Creed

rotations in poorer stands and on sites where wildlife pressures make saw-

timber management difficult, specifically along the edges of wintering areas.

What of the management and use of pine plantations and of stands which

have been converted and are being converted to pine? A projection for Wis¬

consin indicates a continued increase in demand for wood. The trend, however,

is toward use for pulp rather than for lumber, with possibly a drop in the

market for pole and posts. Presumably this will result in shorter rotations or

cutting cycles in most forest types including the plantations and converted

areas. The increased frequency of disturbance resulting from shorter rotations

usually should be beneficial to wildlife. However, young plantations are not

highly desirable for wildHfe; their greatest effectiveness as winter cover does

not come until they have reached pole size.

We may assume that annual cutting will continue on an area at least

equal to the current acreage cut. If the cut should decline, habitat will suflFer.

As with most generalities, this statement needs qualification. Hemlock in mixed

hardwood stands provides winter cover for both grouse and deer and in¬

creases the diversity of an otherwise rather uniform forest type. Thus decline

in the value and, hence-cut of hemlock is beneficial.

A major influence on habitat quality will be the size and scheduling of

the timber sales. Present sales administration and increased equipment costs

are gradually eliminating the small operators — sales are getting larger. In¬

creased use of expensive harvesting equipment will probably encourage this

trend. If harvesting equipment can be made sufficiently versatile so that small

areas can be cut in any one location, the trend will not be unfavorable. This

may be possible since a mobile and integrated unit should not require a local

center of operations. Actually, the size of the sale is not important but rather

how the sale is scheduled. If a large area of poletimber is to be cut in the

space of two or three years, no variety in habitat is achieved. But a maximum

variety can be provided with small sales or with larger sales to be cut over a

long period. Larger operators generally build more roads, and the shortening

of the cutting cycle to 10 years in many areas also requires better and more

roads. Road building will go part way toward balancing the loss in diversity

caused by cutting large areas. Once again the condition of the future habitat

revolves around planning.

Much progress has been made in cooperative planning. In fact, adjust¬

ments in timber sale schedules have been one of the most significant contribu¬

tions towards integrated forest-wildlife management to date.

Another area where planning and coordination is beginning to pay off is

in the provisions being made for openings in the forest. With reduced need

for maximum timber production (save on favorable sites) it would appear

that more land will be available for the openings essential to most wildlife

species.

Economic factors control the overall trend in land use. Forest growth is

keeping ahead of demand in Wisconsin, though not far ahead. On this basis, it

appears that only the more suitable sites (either from the point of view of

tree growth, ease of management, or location close to the mill) will be man¬

aged intensively. In many areas it may be possible to release land from maxi¬

mum timber production to allow management for wildlife.

Wildlife Habitat and the Managed Forest

129

To sum up the economic factors, it appears that forest management will

become more intensive on selected sites within both public and privately held

lands. In many of these areas, habitat requirements can be achieved with little

impact on timber production; and, in fact, intensive management may be

beneficial. In other areas, primarily in northern hardwoods, it will be desir¬

able to reduce certain animal populations. Most other forest lands, not econom¬

ically susceptible to intensive management, will be managed chiefly for pulp-

wood production at levels not much higher than those used today. On these

large acreages the land manager should give considerable thought to coordina¬

tion of uses. On public lands, at least, he can afford to sacrifice timber values

if this will bring him a wildlife return. With the great interspersion of soils

and forest types in northern Wisconsin, the areas of intensive management

will frequently be located where they may serve as the nucleus of a habitat

unit.

From the wildlife standpoint, the capability of deer production exceeds

the foreseeable demand, and effort must continue to sell the product. Habitat

management will not be justifiable unless adequate harvests, of big game in

particular, are maintained and regulated by objective evaluation. Habitat for

ruffed grouse and similar species needs to be managed in a concentrated fash¬

ion to improve utilization of the resource; here, classification of favorable areas

and the dedication of those areas primarily to grouse management is necessary.

Conclusion

Can intensive forestry and game management succeed together? We con¬

clude that they can, provided that those responsible for land management plan

together. The outlook for the wildlife resource is far brighter with intensively

managed forests than without.

LAND FOR LEARNING^ A PROPOSAL FOR A STATE-WIDE

OUTDOOR INTERPRETATION PROGRAM

James H. Zimmerman, School Forest Naturalist

Madison Public Schools

Since we have too few kinds of competitive land use, I propose another!

Seriously, what I have in mind could be called “green spaces plus,” or “land

for learning,” but the program, not the land, is the key feature.

It is only the availability of Wisconsin's natural resources that makes

existence bearable for many Chicagoans; we have an obligation to society here.

The rapid degrading of these resources will soon make vacationing a mockery

—a waste of commuting time to and from a resort or cottage whose environ¬

ment is exactly like that of Chicago. Permanent Wisconsin residents are

equally, if not more, to blame, likewise failing to analyze what is valuable

about their resources and joining the out-of-state visitor in this massive rape

of the north which involves waterfront development, drainage, damming, fill¬

ing, pollution, vandalism, pesticides, littering, noise, and picnic-table conserva¬

tion, As local communities strive to broaden their tax base, their uniqueness

disappears, usually irrevocably.

In seeking corrective action, I make an assumption based on my own

limited experience: That it is only because of lack of opportunity to learn

about the land and waters, their plant and animal life, and their human and

geological history, that their values are unappreciated, and the cost and know¬

how of their maintenance unknown. Where good interpretation is ojBFered,

adults and children alike respond with great enthusiasm and respect for re¬

source and knowledge. Not only Madison's School Forest but also our State

Parks, where a serious interpretation program was recently begun, witness

unmanageable crowds when tours and lectures are offered. The University

must hide its information resources under a bushel, for it has no full time

public service employees to handle the flood of inquiries that would result if

it advertised its specialty personnel. Background information and interesting

aspects of each field are available only to the graduate student. Integration of

specialized fields is non-existent.

This proposal is simply that Wisconsin strike out boldly and vastly extend

the National Park Service's policy of providing well-trained, skilled interpreters

for public education-recreation, so that, no matter where a resident or visitor

went outdoors, he would meet not just the resource but also a flesh-and-blood

person to tell him about it. On public and private lands alike, the user and

visitor would have available interesting and basic information, and be able to

have his questions answered on the spot. The interpreter must be interested

in the subject, able to apply basic understandings to specific instances en¬

countered, and explain principles and processes in simple terms. True stories

about plants and animals, including the interpreter's own experiences; separat¬

ing fact from fancy; tips on how to look for and detect living things and deduce

Wis.Acad, TRANS, Vol 53 (Part A) 1964

131

132

James H. Zimmerman

history; areas where knowledge is lacking and amateur detectives needed;

these are some of the interpreter’s stock in trade. He must walk the narrow

line between the “big show” P. T. Barnum and the “big word” professional

show-off; he must take the audience into his confidence and above all get them

interested in pursuing the matter of learning further on their own. Special at¬

tention should be paid to adults, to encourage family-unit learning. There must

be enough interpreters so they will not be overworked nor the audiences too

large.

The three requirements of this program, needing simultaneous develop¬

ment, are training, employment, and coordination: (1) Undergraduate and

graduate majors in land-heritage interpretation in our state college system,

with stiff requirements in breadth and depth, accelerated through in-service

research-teaching jobs, supported in part by user fees that will insure quality

and interest by trainee and audience alike, operated on both public lands and

private, wherever natural resources and considerable public use coincide.

(2) Good-paying permanent full-time employment in state, county, and

municipal parks, resorts, campgrounds, youth camps, school districts, and so

forth, to attract the most capable people away from indoor jobs. In winter, the

senior interpreters and naturalists would be kept busy training other natu¬

ralists and school teachers at workshops, while the rest went back to school or

held other jobs. Summer work for all must include time for rest and pure re¬

search, as well as technique improvement and contact with other interpreters.

Locally-initiated “heritage centers”, financed jointly by private and public

funds, would be a good way to start. While professional interpreters are being

trained, many persons with good backgrounds of knowledge and communica¬

tion experience should be enlisted now so that no public education opportuni¬

ties will be lost. Conservation Department men, school teachers, and retired

people with long field experience or hobbies should be enlisted or given more

time off from other duties in their present work.

(3) State-wide coordination to integrate training facilities, maintain high

quality and uniform user fees, advertise opportunities for interpretive services

to the traveling public, place qualified personnel, direct attention to unfilled

needs, and pool information sources for both the working interpreters and the

interested public. People should be encouraged to ask questions about any

subject relating to the land, its life and history, and be given good answers by

the appropriate specialist so that the interest is built upon rather than dis¬

couraged. In time, a series of informative publications would grow out of this;

the most-asked questions would be answered by these pamphlets. Newsletters,

both for the public and for the working interpreters, would be very useful. A

coordinating committee might well be begun by the Wisconsin Academy, with

Conservation Department and Resort Owners Association and other agencies

represented too.

What do I mean by interpretation? Here are a few examples, drawing on

plant material mainly; the same can be done with zoological and geological

subjects, and, most important, relating all the pertinent fields into a unified

story. Interpretation falls into three general categories; (a) Introduction (per¬

ception and identification), which must include the “why”. This is a black

oak tree because the black-red oak group differs from the white-bur oak group

in having sharpt-tipped lobes on its leaves and because the black oak differs

Outdoor Interpretation Program

133

from the red oak in having fuzzy, later very shiny, leaves, with “pinched-in”

lobes. The importance of identifying oaks is that each has different tolerances

and requirements and behavior. Basic structure indicates long-term evolution

from certain common ancestry; thus the main lines of descent are indicated by

the oaks, the violets, the canine mammals, the squirrels, the ladybird beetles, or

the cob-weaving spiders. But in each geological period, including the present

one, short-term rapid diversifying evolution of each group, under natural selec¬

tion tending to reduce competition, results in different species exploiting differ¬

ent ecological situations and becoming recognizable by small structural dif¬

ferences which accompany the behavioral ones. Thus both structure and site

aid in identification, and both mean something.

(b) Relationships, which include three types of ecology- — ^life history,

natural communities, and changes in time. Structure and function of a tree

trunk’s parts are revealed by the location of the first fungi that attack a felled

oak log-— eating the easily-digested sugar that was stored in the sapwood and

soft bark layers. Oaks form natural communities (assemblages of plants and

animals that coexist without a caretaker) in which specific (indicator) trees,

herbs and animals are mutually tolerant and often interdependent. The older

open-growth oaks indicate the youth and short life history of many present oak

stands. Multiple- trunked oaks indicate the origin of many Southern Wisconsin

oak stands from fires set by Indians and stopped by white settlers. Old (light-

loving) pines overtopping shade-tolerant hemlock-yellow birch-sugar maple

forests in Northern Wisconsin likewise reveal behavioral differences that cause

plant succession and show the relation of fires and availability of seed trees to

the course and cause of succession. Forest composition also relates to the oc¬

currence of tip-ups, good seed years, and the intensity of deer browze. Boy

Scout ‘"survival” plants like Solomon’s seal has an astonishingly slow growth

rate as compared to corn; the difference, explainable by examining the types

of natural communities in which each evolved, in turn explains why modern

civilizations, by exploiting the “ecological weeds”, enjoy high population densi¬

ties and suffer from high soil erosion rates as compared with primitive peoples

that did not have the tools to work the land. Crab spiders on flowers illustrate

not only protective coloration for successful ambush of prey, but also show

how “eating” (re-use and cycling of space, materials and energy) permitted

life to diversify further without increasing the carrying capacity of the land.

(c) Management of land resources, which involves understanding the

economics of productivity and renewal. Woodpecker holes in dead trees illus¬

trate the fact that, due to energy leakage, there is a limit to the length of food

chains and food webs and hence to the mass of life supportable by even the

richest land; and that management of land (defined as attempting to obtain

maximum production of a single land product) must be at the expense of other

products and hence requires zoning. You can no more manage a forest simul¬

taneously for wood production and for woodpeckers and other wildlife de¬

pendent on dead wood for food and dens than a farmer can manage land for

com and alfalfa simultaneously in the same field. Examples of successful zoning

involving more than one landowner and the cooperation of many persons is

the fencing of Mt. Vernon Creek by Paul Olson’s four- week summer work-

learn program for high school boys. The boys obtain experience and course

credit in return for contributing the labor. The farmer is spared bank erosion of

134

James H. Zimmerman

his pasture land and the need to wash his cows of mud, in return for applying

for federal funds to buy the fence materials. The angler can use a land

product whose space requirement is too negligible to compete with farm food

production. (Incidentally, the uncatchability of the trout that hatched after

stream improvement here was an unexpected bonus in the way of “multiple”

land use; many anglers were able to “enjoy” each trout! ) Many other situations

of land waste and conflict of land use cry for ingenuity in working out zoning

to the benefit of all. One of the toughest and most crucial is watershed and

waterfront planning to maintain unspoiled, diverse and semi-wild environments

for people, at negligible cost in terms of land space, but very high cost in

terms of cooperation of many interests. But let’s have faith in people’s good

sense and ability. Show them the results of attempts at management-— the fail¬

ures as well as the successes — and give them the knowledge they need to work

out the proper solutions that are in accord with the long-term natural processes

and laws that run the world of life. Lands suitable for learning must include

wilderness and scientific areas — each protected by a resident custodian-inter¬

preter — but they must include all types of managed lands and waters too,

with people with broad backgrounds available to interpret them.

The three aims of this proposed outdoor interpretation program, all urgent

in point of time, are: (a) To raise, in 15 years (when perhaps half of the

present natural resources will be gone) to a hopefully adequate 2%, the per¬

centage of landowners, developers and users who take an active interest in

their natural heritage and its maintenance cost. By an active 2%, I mean some¬

one in every four city blocks who is qualified to answer questions intelligently,

who works at cooperative land management and teaches others, who leads the

community in the combined intellectual and emotional approach to land

stewardship.

(b) To bring a new kind of tourist money into the areas having the most

abundant natural resources and yet often the poorest economies, while using

these resources in non-depleting ways, namely those related to education.

This could easily become the most popular form of recreation yet devised.

(c) To provide food for thought and new horizons for starved lives and

minds in this new age of freedom from the slavery of labor, and help raise

scholarship and knowledge to the deserved rank of status symbol as the distinc¬

tive quality of man.

We have the intense interest in nature which people are born with. We

still have the resources that could inspire people. On-the-spot interpretation,

available to all, is the vital link that can bring need and opportunity together,

if done soon enough, and well enough, and on a large enough scale.

THE NORTHERN WISCONSIN SETTLER RELOCATION

PROJECT, 1934-1940

L. G. Sot den. Assistant to the Director

Agricultural Extension

University of Wisconsin-Madison

The era from timber to tinder to trees brought overwhelming problems

and difficult adjustments in Northern Wisconsin. The important adjustment

took place in the minds of men. But that was slow in coming.

Let’s go back to the end of the logging period — that was in time of

destruction by fire of the cut-over. We the people let fires destroy more of our

timber resources than loggers ever destroyed. This era was black on the land¬

scape and black in spirit. It was complicated by depression and drouth.

The first signs of change in the minds of men came with the acceptance

of an educational program carried on under the leadership of the Agricultural

Extension Service and other public and private agencies.

Then came in increasing tempo the development of National, State,

County, School, Community, industrial, and private forest — the CCC Camps

—providing equipment and manpower to stop forest fires — the taking of tax

deed by the counties to stablize ownership — the tree planting program —

the enactment of county zoning ordinances which classified land into its best

use and kept man oflF non-productive agricultural land — and the removal of

some of the non-conforming users, isolated settlers living on submarginal land

under the county zoning ordinance.

By 1940, twenty-four Northern Wisconsin counties had restricted five

million acres of land against future agricultural settlement.

This paper concerns itself with the first 299 cases of 416 isolated settlers

whose holdings were purchased and the families relocated under the Resettle¬

ment Administration Program called the Northern Wisconsin Settler Relocation

Project. This project was carried on from 1934 to 1940. These 299 families all

lived in the seven counties of Bayfield, Florence, Forest, Langlade, Oconto,

Sawyer, and Vilas. The total program was carried on in twenty northern and

central Wisconsin counties. Individual counties removed about 200 isolated

settlers through purchase or trade in addition to this Federal program.

Here are some of the conditions under which these families existed. One

family lived eighteen miles from a school, a market, or a road that was snow

plowed during the entire winter period. Their two sons were boarded out at

public expense to attend school. In three different families, mothers taught the

children at home as there was no school in the vicinity. One mother of two

bright boys did not see another woman for a four month period. In several

cases the schools operated for only one or two families. One widely published

incident related the death of a woman in an isolated area during a severe

snowstorm. A trapper reported the death and a county employee on snowshoes

hauled out the body on a toboggan twelve miles for burial. One community

of about ten families cost the county $35 each time a doctor was called. They

lived thirty -five miles from the nearest doctor and it cost $1 per mile for the

doctor to call.

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol. 53 (Part A) 1964

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136

L. G. Sorden

While these and many other similar cases were some of the worst, all the

settlers whose farms were purchased were living on submarginal land which

was either too light and sandy, too stony and rough, or so isolated from markets

that they were definitely uneconomic farm units. In some of the counties, as

many as 80% of the families whose farms were purchased received public aid.

In Forest County, 124 tracts were purchased for $99,268. In the five-year

period prior to May 1, 1937, this group of people received, in direct relief,

$52,000 plus $25,000 from the WPA for a tota lof $77,000. Adding commod¬

ities and other emergency relief costs would more than equal the purchase

cost of the land of the isolated families.

Not all of the people whose holdings were purchased became self-support¬

ing. From the information available, however, it is estimated that at least one-

half of those originally on relief become self-supporting.

In addition to the purchase of the submarginal farms, a resettlement pro¬

gram was carried on to assist these families in relocating to better farm land in

established communities. The Land Buying Program preceded the Resettle¬

ment Project. About 45% of the settlers moved from their farms before the re¬

settlement work was started. Prior to that time, however, considerable help

was given their families to help them find new locations. Somewhat less than

one-half of the families whose farms were purchased were actual farmers or

had a background of farming experience. Only 38% relocated on farms to make

their living from the soil. Fully one-third of the families were too old for farm¬

ing, or for industrial occupations. A few returned to industrial centers and

obtained work similar to that which they were doing before moving to north¬

ern Wisconsin.

The following is a tabulation of the occupations in 1938 of the relocated

families:

1 14 — Farming

20 — Woodworking

67 — General Labor

47 — Retired

7 — Resort Work

23 — Business — largely mercantile, but includes 2 school teachers

4 — Conservation work

6 — Deceased

II — Not yet moved from the land

299

Of the 299 families living on the land at the time it was optioned, forty-

three moved to other states, and the remainder relocated in Wisconsin. The

number going to other states was as follows: Indiana, eleven; Oregon, eight;

Michigan, five; Washington, four; Minnesota, three; Ohio, three; Alaska, two

(Matanuska Colony); Illinois, two; California, two; Iowa, Kentucky and South

Dakota, one.

A surprisingly small number returned to the locahty in which they orig¬

inally lived before moving to their submarginal farm. On one project, almost

one-half of the lands purchased were owned by people originally from Ken¬

tucky who had come here to work in the woods. At the time the land was

The Northern Wisconsin Settler Relocation Project, 1934-1940

137

optioned, most of them indicated that they planned to return to their native

state, but when they finally relocated only one family returned to Kentucky.

Definite assistance was given in relocating 123 of these families. Reset¬

tlement farms were provided for twenty-five, and eighteen were provided tem¬

porary loans from the Wisconsin Rural Rehabilitation Corporation to purchase

farms or homes until they received the money from their submarginal farms.

The resettlement farms were located and appraised by the project staff.

The prospective resettlement family was shown a number of these farms and

chose the one most to their liking. Money for the purchase of the farm was

loaned by the Farm Security Administration, rather than the Government tak¬

ing title to the farm. All of the twenty-five resettlement farms were purchased

from families who wished to retire because of age or disability, or where farms

of estates were being closed. In no case was the family on the farm inconveni¬

enced by the purchase.

In addition to the real estate loans, funds were also loaned to make minor

repairs on buildings and to purchase livestock and machinery, to establish an

economical income-producing farm. Most of the families had some livestock

and machinery and some had a small amount of money from the sale of their

submarginal farm, which was used as part repayment on the real estate or

chattels. The average price of the resettlement farm was slightly under $3,000,

and the average chattel loan about $1,000, making the total debt about $4,-

000. With the supervision given in their farming operations, most of these peo¬

ple succeeded on their new farms.

In order to take care of those people who were too old or were physically

handicapped and therefore incapable of caring for themselves, nine “Retire¬

ment Homesteads” were constructed. All of these houses were occupied by

people who presented serious medical and relief costs in their former locations.

Three of the houses, located at Antigo, were completely modern and built at

a cost, including land, of less than $2,400 each. Six of the houses, in Crandon,

were less modern and were built at a cost of less than $2,000, including land.

All were well constructed and had three or four rooms.

Funds for the construction of these “Retirement Homes” were furnished

by the Wisconsin Rural Rehabilitation Corporation, a predecessor of the Farm

Security Administration. An annual rent contract was signed by the counties

affected whereby they agreed to pay 3% of the construction cost per annum,

plus necessary repairs. This provided a good comfortable home at a cost of

less than $7 per month for the county. At the Crandon unit, a small barn was

constructed to house milk cows owned by the families. Sufficient land was fur¬

nished to provide a large garden for each occupant. The people occupying

these houses took excellent care of them and at that time they all indicated

contentment in their new homes.

In addition to those given financial assistance, eighty submarginal land

families were assisted in finding new locations. Farms were found for many

of them, on which they used the proceeds from the sale of their submarginal

land to make a down payment. In a few cases, credit was arranged for them

to make the purchase of either a farm or a home in town. Most of this credit

was in loans from local banks, until such a time as they received their sub¬

marginal land purchase money. More than one-half of the families had plans of

138

L. G. Sorden

their own and made re-adjustments, although most of these counseled with the

project staff.

In all areas of purchase the local county and town officials cooperated in

making most of the decisions as to which settlers should be relocated.

Since these submarginal farms had little production value, arbitraiy values

for appraisal purposes had to be established. Buildings were appraised on a

square foot basis depending on the type of construction — cleared land so much

per acre depending on quality. United States Forest Service values were used

for cut-over land. Timber was appraised separately. No land was optioned in

excess of the appraised value.

On the average, $1,000 was paid per farm. These “farms” ranged from

a tar paper shack in the woods to a few quite well developed farms. The land

purchased by this project was later transferred to the Federal, State or County,

depending on its location and is being used for productive forestry.

The question most often asked about this project was — were the people

willing to sell? When the project was explained and when the families were

given time to think it over and talk it over with other people in whom they

had confidence, 98% of these isolated sellers were willing to sell and relocate.

The results of this Isolated Settler Relocation Project made possible im¬

mediately a saving in school costs of more than $15,000 per annum by closing

twelve rural schools. In addition, several thousand dollars worth of school

transportation cost was eliminated. Road costs were reduced by the elimination

of maintenance and snow plowing. Relief costs were cut materially by placing

many of these families in a position to make their own living.

More important, however, than these financial savings to local and state

government, was the renewed hope given to these people by their removal

from isolated areas to established communities where they and their families

had a chance to start over again with a more secure financial and social future.

DETERGENTS IN WISCONSIN SURFACE WATERS

Gerald W. Lawton, Professor of Preventive Medicine

State Laboratory of Hygiene

Theodore F. Wisniewski, Director

Richard Zimmerman, Chemist

State Committee on Water Pollution

Detergents are defined as substances that aid in the removal of dirt^^\

Until recent years, soaps were the universally used detergents for most cleaning

purposes. Synthetic detergents have now displaced soap as the common cleaner

and represent over seventy-five per cent of detergent sales^^\

Synthetic detergents were produced experimentally in France before the

middle of the 19th century and were further developed in Germany during

the first World War^^\ Not until the 1930’s were chemical processes developed

which made production in quantity feasible in any country. A variety of these

surface active agents, often called surfactants, are now produced. They are

classified as non-ionic, cationic, and anionic detergents. The latter are most

widely used as laundry detergents, and are mainly sodium salts of alkyl ben¬

zene sulfonate (ABS). They may be represented by a typical formula such as

C12H25 — C6H4S03Na. The alkyl group varies but usually consists of a branched

chain of 10-15 carbon atoms. The type of carbon chain is the important factor

which determines whether the compound may be degraded or broken down

biologically. In general, a non-branched chain is readily biodegradable, a

branched chain is less degradable, and if a tertiary carbon exists at the end of

the carbon chain the detergent is practically non-degradable^®\ (CH3)3C(CH2)8-

C6HiS03Na. The finished detergent as marketed, also contains “builders” such

as polyphosphates which aid in soil suspension and hardness sequestering.

During the past year there has been considerable agitation to ban the

sale and use of the “so-called” non-degradable detergents. The 1963 Wiscon¬

sin Legislature enacted into law a bill prohibiting the sale and use of non-

degradable detergents containing alkyl benzene sulfonate on and after Decem¬

ber 31, 1965^^k A similar bill was introduced in the last session of the United

States Congress, but no final disposition of it has been made. Dade County,

Florida, has banned the sale and use of these detergents. Several states have

considered similar action.

The Soap and Detergent Association has promoted several study groups to

determine the effects of detergents in water. One such study is being carried

out at the University of Wisconsin, College of Engineering. The data pre¬

sented in this paper were obtained at the State Laboratory of Hygiene in close

cooperation with the above study. Detergent manufacturers have developed

linear alkylate sulfonate (LAS) detergents that are appreciably more degrad¬

able than the ABS type. They are presently becoming available in limited

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol 53 (PaH A) 1964

139

140

Gerald W. Lawton, Theodore F. Wisniewski, Richard Zimmerman

quantities. It is expected that by December, 1965, essentially all of the deter¬

gents on the market will be of the more readily degradable type.

ABS type detergents have produced a number of problems as their pro¬

duction and use increased. The major problem is associated with the foaming

caused by the surfactant in water supplies, in rivers, and in sewage as it is

being treated. It is not unusual in activated sludge sewage treatment plants to

have huge banks of foam develop along the aeration tank. On windy days, the

foam frequently blows about the area, leaving a grease coating wherever

it lands. Some rivers which have an appreciable detergent content develop

considerable foam at falls or rapids areas. For example, along the Rock River

at Beloit in 1963, masses of foam were observed blowing about at a distance

several hundred yards from the river. Water from many private wells will foam

profusely when shaken or when discharged from the tap, mainly due to the

presence of detergents.

The United States Public Health Service^^^ recommends a maximum of

0.5 mg/1 of ABS in drinking water. At that concentration no appreciable foam

will develop; and no taste or odor is detectable. Walton^®^ notes that the odor

of ABS is seldom detectable at concentrations less than 1000 mg/1 and that

only very sensitive individuals can taste it in water at concentrations of 16

mg/1. Fifty per cent of a panel were able to detect the presence of ABS in

water at 60 mg/Y'^\ Studies on man and animals have shown that they can

tolerate relatively high concentrations of ABS in their drinking water without

ill elfect^®\

Nichols and Koepp^^^ found that in Wisconsin private shallow well, 32.1

per cent showed the presence of detergent. They noted a high correlation be¬

tween unsafe waters and detergent content, and suggested that the presence of

detergent in a well’s water might be a possible indicator of the presence of

virus in that water. The finding of detergent in a ground water supply is evi¬

dence that waste water or sewage is entering the well, and warns the user that

a problem exists or is developing.

The State of Wisconsin Committee on Water Pollution and the State

Laboratory of Hygiene have been carrying out a monthly monitoring program

of Wisconsin surface waters at 37 locations for several years. In January, 1963,

the determination of detergents (ABS) was included in this program. The data

presented here cover the period through March, 1964. The stations selected

for this program generally are near the mouth of the stream or near the border

of the state, as shown in Figure 1. One station is located on Lake Michigan

near Carrolville. A list of the stations and their locations are given in Table 1.

The analytical procedure for detergents in this study is a modification of

the methylene blue method given in “Standard Methods for the Examination

of Water and Waste Water”^“\ This method is based on the formation of a

blue salt when methylene blue reacts with anionic surfactants. The salt is

soluble in chloroform, and the intensity of the blue color is proportioned

to the concentration of the surfactant. The color intensity was measured

spectrophotometrically. Various substances that occur in water may interfere

in the test. Most interfering substances produce positive errors; thus results

are in all probability greater than the true value^^/ For that reason ABS data

are here expressed as apparent ABS. The minimum concentration detectable

bv the procedure as used is about 0.03 mg/1.

Detergents in Wisconsin Surface Waters

141

FIGURE I-MONITORING STATIONS

142

Gerald W. Lawton, Theodore F. Wisniewski, Richard Zimmerman

Table 1. Monitoring Stations

1 . Rock River, west side about 1 mile above Lake Koshkonong.

2. Rock River, town bridge at Afton.

3. Fox River, C.T.H. ’‘C" bridge at Wilmot.

4. Des Plaines River, C.T.H. "C” near Pleasant Prairie.

5. Root River, State Street bridge at Racine.

6. Lake Michigan, Carrollville water intake.

7. Milwaukee River, Brown Deer Road North of Milwaukee.

8. Milwaukee River at Milwaukee near mouth and junction with Kinnickinnic River. Composite sample.

9. Sheboygan River, 8th Street bridge at Sheboygan.

10. Manitowoc River, U. S. Highway 10 at Manitowoc.

1 1. East Twin River, Highway 42 at Two Rivers.

12. Fox River, Highway 54 at Green Bay.

13. Fox River, Highway 21 at Omro.

14. Wolf River, Highway 10 at Fremont.

15. Wolf River, town road at Neopit.

16. Oconto River, Highway 41 at Oconto.

17. Peshtigo River, Highway 41 at Peshtigo.

18. Menomonee River, upper dam at Marinette.

19. Wisconsin River, Highway 51 bridge or dam at Wausau.

20. Wisconsin River, Petenwell Dam near Necedah.

21. Wisconsin River, Prairie du Sac Dam.

22. Wisconsin River, Highway 35 bridge at Bridgeport.

23. Sugar River, C.T.H. "T” near Brodhead and Illinois border.

24. Pecatonica River, C.T.H. ‘‘M’’ near Browntown and Illinois border.

25. Galena River, C.T.H. "W” between Benton and Illinois border.

26. Mississippi River, Lock and Dam #11.

a. Gate 1 — Iowa side Dubuque.

b. Gate 7 — At center of river.

c. Gate 15 — Wisconsin side of river.

27. La Crosse River, Highway 35 at La Crosse.

28. Black River, Highway 35 near Galesville.

29. Trempealeau River, Highway 35 near Centerville.

30. Buffalo River, Highway 35 near Alma.

31. Chippewa River, dam at Chippewa Falls.

32. Chippewa River, Highway 35 near Pepin.

33. St. Croix River, Highway 10 at Prescott.

34. Bad River, Highway 2 at Odanah.

35. Montreal River, Highway 122 near Saxon on Wisconsin-Michigan border.

ABS concentrations were obtained each month at each station with a few

exceptions. A summary of the results are shown in Table 2. The mean value,

the range, and the frequency that the USPHS standard was exceeded are

shown for each station for the fifteen month period.

Of 502 samples examined, only 17 showed concentrations above the

USPHS drinking water standards. This number represents only about three

per cent of all samples. The Root River, which flows from near Hales Corners

to Lake Michigan at Racine, showed consistently high concentrations of ABS,

with values ranging up to 3.1 mg/1. This stream receives considerable treated

and untreated sewage, which readily explains the high detergent concentra¬

tions. Omitting the Root River from consideration, only six samples have ABS

concentrations above 0.50 mg/1, or slightly over one per cent. Seventy-eight

per cent of the stations showed ABS concentrations of less than 0.3 mg/1 at

every sampling, while 83 per cent had average concentrations below 0.2 mg/1.

The Milwaukee River, which flows through a heavily populated area,

shows an ABS concentration at Brown Deer which exceeds drinking water

standards only two times during the sampling period. At the sampling station

in Milwaukee, the concentration did not exceed 0.5 mg/1 in any sample.

The small streams in lightly populated areas generally contained very low

concentrations of ABS, as expected. The Mississippi River which highly dilutes

the entering wastes showed relatively low detergent concentrations, with maxi¬

mum values of only 0.26 mg/1.

Detergents in Wisconsin Surface Waters

143

Table 2. Apparent ABS Content of Wisconsin Surface Waters

A typical example of the gradual decrease in the ABS content of a stream

due to dilution, degradation, absorption, and other causes is found in the Bad-

fish, Yahara and Rock Rivers. The Badfish River receives the sewage plant

effluent from the Madison metropohtan area. This waste is pumped to an open

ditch and permitted to flow into the Badfish River. Various small streams enter

the Badfish before it empties into the Yahara River. The Yahara, in turn, emp¬

ties into the Rock River. The detergent contents in these streams are indi¬

cated in Figure 2. The value at each station represents the mean ABS content

in mg/1 during the study period.

For a short distance below its junction with the Badfish River, the Yahara

has a relatively high average detergent content, 1.18 mg/1. As the Yahara

empties into the Rock River, the value drops to an average of 0.36 mg/1 and

gradually decreases as the water moves downstream.

It is interesting to note that the ABS content in the Madison Metropolitan

Treatment Plant effluent decreased appreciably following the completion of

additional aeration facilities about midyear, 1963. Prior to that time, the mean

ABS content over a five month period was 5.1 mg/1, and following the ex¬

panded operation it dropped to 3.3 mg/1. The stream waters generally reflected

the reduced detergent load at the various sampling stations.

144

Gerald W, Lawton, Theodore F. Wisniewski, Richard Zimmerman

METROPOLITAN

TREATMENT PLANT

FIGURE 2- ABS CONTENT IN BADFISH,

YAHARA AND ROCK RIVERS ^

Detergents in Wisconsin Surface Waters

145

Responsible representatives of the Soap and Detergent Association have

given assurance that the detergents being marketed by the end of 1965 will be

bio-degradable, mainly of the LAS type^“\ As the percentage of bio-degrad¬

able detergent increases during the next twenty months, the detergent content

of our streams should materially decrease. The LAS detergents are not ex¬

pected to be completely degraded before they reach our streams, but their

breakdown will proceed as they move downstream; thus no appreciable build¬

up should occur.

The detergent problem is but one of many pollution problems. Concerted

effort to reduce these problems are a necessity if we are to maintain our streams

and other water supplies in a satisfactory condition.

Summary

1. Only the Root River in the monitoring program shows an ABS con¬

tent that is consistently above the accepted drinking water standards of 0.50

mg/I.

2. The mean detergent contents of 97 per cent of the streams in this

program are below 0.4 mg/1.

3. The ABS content of our streams will decrease as the biodegradable

detergents replace the present type.

4. No health hazard has been found in Wisconsin surface waters due to

the presence of detergents.

References

1. The Columbia Encyclopedia. Vol. 1, 2nd Edition, p. 533, Columbia University

Press. Morningside Heights, N.Y. (1950).

2. Synthetic Detergents in Perspective. Soap and Detergent Association, 295 Madi¬

son Ave., New York 17, N.Y. (1962).

3. Swisher, R. D., “Relation between Structure and Biodegradation of Surfactants”

(A paper presented before the Soap and Detergent Association, New York,

Jan. 24, 1963.)

4. Laws of 1963, State of Wisconsin, No. 404, S.

5. U. S. Public Health Service, “Drinking Water Standards” U. S. Dept, of Health,

Education and Welfare, Washington 25, D. C. (1962),

6. Walton, G., “Effect of Pollutants in Water Supplies. ABS Contamination” Jour.

AWWA 52, 1354-62 (1960).

7. Cohen, J. M., “Taste and Odor of ABS”, Dept, of Health, Education and Wel¬

fare, R. A, Taft Engineering Center (February 1962).

8. A.A.S.G.P. Committee Report, “ABS and the Safety of Water Supplies”, Jour.

AWWA 52:786-9 (1960).

9. Nichols, M. S., and Koepp, Elaine, “Synthetic Detergents as a Criterion of Wis¬

consin Ground Water Pollution”, Jour. AWWA 53:303-6 (1961).

10. Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Waste Water. American

Public Health Association, Inc., 1790 Broadway, New York 19, N. Y. (1960).

11. Task Group Report, “Determination of Synthetic Detergent Content of Raw

Water Supplies”, Jour. AWWA 50:1345 (1958).

12. Statements presented at the Wisconsin Senate hearing on Bills No. 63-S and

404-S. April 25, 1963.

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FORTY YEARS AMONG THE TREES

Edward W. Blackford

Wisconsin Tree Expert Company

Wausau, Wisconsin

It is with some reluctance that I present this paper because of the per¬

sonal references. However, after more than forty years of work with shade

trees, it is hoped that some of these observations and experiences may be of

interest to persons who make a living from trees, pursue a hobby or scientific

study of trees, or merely appreciate their aesthetic value.

Within the span of more than forty years of shade tree work, a consider¬

able evolution has taken place. In 1923, shade tree crews traveled largely by

Model T touring car, with pole saws tied on the side and tool box strapped

on the running board, often traveling a hundred miles or more between jobs.

Ladders were not used by tree men of the old school, not until about 1930.

Every day and every tree was part of a physical fitness program. A rope was

tossed over the first limb on the tree and the rope was climbed, sixty feet being

not uncommon. I surmise that some tree owners had their trees cared for in

order to witness the agility of the workmen. It is feared that now there may

be some evolution in reverse.

Early shade tree workers were usually referred to as tree surgeons and

their work as tree surgery. These terms still follow us to this day. Much tree

work then consisted of cutting out decayed areas and filling the cavities with

concrete. Chiselling may be a more accurate term, in that it was too often done

to the tree owners as well as to the trees. The additional bolting and cabling

made necessary by extensive excavation often brought the total cost per tree

up to hundreds and even thousands of dollars, and that in pre-infiationary

days. Shade tree crews seemed to vie with one another for the dubious honor

of putting the most concrete in one tree. The writer recalls working on one

large oak on an estate in Washington, D.C., now known as Dumbarton Oaks.

This particular oak had a filling of concrete made up of 102 sacks of Portland

cement, a little over two parts of sand, and a large number of boulders. Ap¬

proximately 500 feet of rod and 2000 feet of cable had previously been ap¬

plied. The present condition or existence of the tree is unknown.

Much of this extreme, so called tree surgery, brought discredit to the

work. The writer and his colleagues eventually found that in reaching a larger

clientele of middle class people, and overcoming an economic condition of the

nineteen thirties, preventive care made the average tree last longer than it

would have with extensive surgery, and also at much less cost. They were pro¬

tected from insects and disease. When they were structurally weak, they were

bolted or cabled to protect them from being destroyed in a storm. They were

kept healthy. This is the basic principle of good tree service today, although

diagnosis and treatment have technically advanced.

After training and apprenticeship in most of the states from Texas to

New England, it was the writer’s good fortune to gravitate to Wisconsin in

the spring of 1930, and the privilege of working on the trees in Capitol Park

Wis. Acad. TRANS. Vol. 53 (Part A) 1964

147

148

Edward W. Blackford

and at the Governor’s Residence in Madison. In the course of this work, which

consisted largely of pruning, it was noted that several Pin Oaks on the north

side of the Capitol Building were suffering from iron deficiency chlorosis. The

leaves were a pale yellowish green, with darker green along the veins. A test

of the soil around the trees showed an alkaline condition. Upon inquiry into

the history of these trees, we found that when they were planted some years

before, horse manure had been placed in the bottom of the planting holes.

This had aggravated an akeady alkaline soil. Iron in the soil had been tied

up in an insoluble ferric form and unavailable to the trees. We decided to inject

a ferrous sulfate solution directly into the trunks of the trees. A solution of

one ounce of ferrous sulfate in one pint of distilled water was injected into

four /s" holes near the base of these 6" to 8" Pin Oaks. Within ten days the

leaves had a much darker green between the veins.

This was not a permanent thing because it did not change the condition

of the soil, and it has not much present day application except to prove the

need for an acid soil and available iron, as in soils where pin oaks are growing

in their native habitat. A better long time approach would be to change the

soil condition. It has been said that one gram of chelated iron around a tree

provides as much usable iron as a pound of iron sulfate. Incidentally, iron

chlorosis deficiency is not found to be a problem in Marathon County.

After several weeks in Madison, I received word from my firm to go to

Wausau. Neither I nor my assistant knew of this place. After consulting a

map and making inquiries, we found that Wausau was a good town. Among

other things, it was reported to have thirty-four millionaires, all of whom in

one way or another had made their fortunes from the products of the forest.

However, I don’t have any documentary evidence to support this statement.

The large trees were gone and the whistles had blown for the last time on the

big sawmills in Wausau.

We were intrigued by the remnants of a once mighty forest. Large logs lay

where they had fallen, knots along the length of them, reminding one of stories

of the bones of bison on the plains where wanton hunters had left them. My

assistant wrote to his father who lived on the Rio Grande in Texas, and told

him we were in Wausau, Wisconsin. His father wrote back that he had logged

in the Wausau area when he was a young man of twenty-one, back in the

eighteen eighties, mostly near Ringle. We went out there to see where his

father might have helped cut the big pines fifty years before. One section

particularly attracted our attention and speculation. The stumps were all

about four feet high. Had these been cut during a winter of deep snow? Had

they been cut by long legged lumberjacks? Had fire gone through many years

before they were cut, leaving injuries and decay near the base? Or had this

at one time been a swampy area producing trees with an irregular butt cut

like the “knees” of the southern swamp cypress?

In this summer of 1930, we learned of the discovery of Dutch Elm Disease

in this country. I have here a letter from the Davey Tree Expert Gompany,

Kent, Ohio, for whom I worked, dated August 27, 1930, describing the disease,

and asking us to send in any specimens showing symptoms. Also enclosed was

a copy of a release by the Office of Forestry Pathology, Bureau of Plant In¬

dustry, United States Department of Agriculture entitled, “Dutch Elm Disease

Found in America”. Quote in part: “The Dutch Elm Disease was never found

Forty Years Among the Trees

149

in this country until this summer when Mr. Curtis May, of the Department of

Botany & Plant Pathology of the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station at

Wooster, Ohio, isolated Graphium ulmi from four wilting American Elm trees

at Cleveland and from one at Cincinnati. So far, no common center has been

found from which the disease has spread in this country. Scouting for the

Dutch Elm Disease presents many difficulties because of the wilting of elms

from other causes.”

Since no mention is made of the scolytus beetle, it probably was not

known then just how the disease was spread. Had everyone been diligent, this

scourge might have been wiped out completely and millions of elm trees

would be alive today. It is certainly one of the greatest natural tragedies since

the passing of the passenger pigeon and the American Chestnut.

By learning from the mistakes and apathy of other states, and by the

diligence and research of the University of Wisconsin and the Wisconsin De¬

partment of Agriculture, the State of Wisconsin has a good chance of saving

most of its elms.

It is interesting to note that trees go through crises and times of stress.

The drought years of the nineteen thirties were difficult years for trees. By

1935, tops and large branches were dying in hardwoods and hemlocks, nature’s

way of balancing the top or leaf area with the supply of moisture from the

roots. While all of Wisconsin suffered from the drought, some areas appeared

to be harder hit. In Barron County, along Highway 53, large groves of hard¬

woods had more dead wood than live. It may be well to also note here that

when trees are weakened by drought, they are more susceptible to insect

attack, both by leaf feeding and wood boring insects, and also by disease. In

Barron County, in 1932, 1933, and 1934, canker worms denuded trees of their

foliage in June as though it were late autumn. The attack seemed worse along

the Red Cedar River and particularly bad on islands in Red Cedar Lake. In

Marathon County, thousands of large hemlocks died. We may assume the

drought to be the primary cause, and the subsequent ravishing by insects the

secondary cause. Many trees of both hardwood and softwood species, dead and

stag-topped, stood out as a stark reminder of the drought well into the forties.

On September 8, 1939, Mr. C. C. Yawkey, famous Wisconsin lumberman,

took me to one of his forest holdings about three miles south of Minocqua to

show me the results of an unusual lightning strike. At that time, the National

Shade Tree Conference was making a survey of lightning damage to trees.

These notes are from that report:

One Norway Pine and a small maple were somewhat shattered

in the center of a circle of 110 feet diameter. Fifty-three pines in this

circle were completely dead. At least a dozen more on the outer

fringe of the circle were almost dead. None of these dead or dying

trees showed any dying sign of physical injury. A number of small

maples and birch within the circle were healthy. The dead trees

had been healthy, as indicated by surrounding trees. They were

about evenly mixed white and Norway evenly Pine, 12" to 14"

D.B.H., 85 feet and up in height, and with a 10' crown

spread. The struck trees were small. The area was flat but slightly

lower than the surrounding rolling area. The top soil was sandy loam.

150

Edward W. Blackford

with a gravel subsoil. It was 80 rods from the lake and any house. |

The caretaker of this pine forest first observed this in the spring of

1939 and presumed it had happened in the fall of 1938. He cut the *

dead trees in the winter of 1939-1940 and reported the number of

65, and all sound trees, except that they were dead.

It is interesting to note that some trees are seemingly immune to insect,

disease, and man made forces. Such a tree, an elm, stands on the northeast

corner of Third and McClellan Streets in Wausau. It is virtually surrounded by >

concrete and blacktop. In about 1940, a storm sewer was dug in the street and

the roots were cut close to the tree on the curb side. It was predicted that this

was the end of one of the most beautiful and healthy trees in town. However, it

has remained vigorous throughout the years, probably due to some unknown

source of food, water, and air supply to its roots. It leafed out late in the

spring of 1963, but was one of the very last to lose its leaves in autumn. In this

connection, reference should be made to the observation that all elms leafed

out late in the spring of 1963. Although this was an early spring, judging from

the above normal temperatures in April, most of the elms did not leaf out in

the Wausau area until late May. I have only one explanation to offer for this.

The winter of 1963, January and February, was one of the coldest of record,

little snow and frost, veiy deep. The natural elm range does not normally ex¬

tend much beyond northern Wisconsin. When our weather is as severe as

Winnipeg weather, the elm is out of its natural weather zone. This dormancy

until near Memorial Day may have been due to low soil temperature, extreme

cold on bud cells, or a combination of these factors. At any rate, it did not seem

common to other species.

In closing I would like to pay tribute to the scientific effort of so many

persons in the field of entomology, soils, plant physiology, and pathology.

These men and women by avocation or assigned research, in universities and

industry, on shade tree problems and their active membership and papers for

the International Shade Tree Conference and related organizations have made

the field of arboriculture so useful and interesting.

Cover Design by Jeffrey Homar

Title Page Design by Gail Mitchem

School of Fine Arts

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

‘ai'

TRASSiCTIOSS OF THE

WISFOKSIAI itCilDEMY

OF SCIEIES, iRTS

m LETTERS

i X':

LIV — 1965

.s

S

Editor

GOODWIN F. BERQUIST, JR.

SMITTO'

iNstituhon

m fi

EDITORIAL POLICY

The Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters

is an annual publication devoted to the original, scholarly investigations of

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or its people are especially welcome, although papers by Academy members on

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