U.S. Congressman Paul Ryan toured the Lulu Lake State Natural Area on Thursday, October 19 to view first-hand an area that benefits from the State Wildlife Grant program. Joining the Congressman were representatives with the Department of Natural Resources, Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and The Nature Conservancy (TNC).  

Susan Foote-Martin, Teaming with Wildlife Coordinator for the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation, noted “Congressman Ryan is an ardent hunter and outdoorsman and supportive of conservation projects, including State Wildlife Grants.  We appreciate having this time with the Congressman to thank him for his support.”

Congress created the State Wildlife Grant (SWG) program in 2001. Through it, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has since distributed about $360 million to states and territories that identify where habitat needs protection and make plans to protect the species of greatest conservation need.  This funding supports state programs to protect wildlife before at-risk species become endangered and while it is cost-effective. Over the past five years, Wisconsin’s share of the national money averaged about $1.1 million a year. This year, using a mix of federal and state funds totaling $1.5 million, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources was able to fund 29 programs,

DNR Conservation Biologist Matt Zine said these funds fill a huge gap between money traditionally used to manage game and waterfowl and paid for paid for through license fees, excise taxes on sporting goods and Wildlife Restoration funds and funding to preserve endangered species.

“Endangered resources, largely protected by donations, focus on species that are already on the path to extirpation or extinction.  A huge number of birds, fish, insects, mammals, herptiles, mollusks and crustaceans fall in the middle and are overlooked unless their numbers drop so low that they become endangered,” Zine said.  “The State Wildlife Grant program called a halt to this piecemeal approach. It allows states to conserve nongame wildlife species and their habitat before they become endangered.”

Under Wisconsin’s SWG program, several projects across the state receive state and federal funding to support work to help keep at-risk species from becoming endangered   “A large part of these grants will be funneled to our partners, who in turn will match the grants with their own funds and volunteer time. I’m hopeful we can make great strides in protecting what’s left of some decimated plant communities and the wildlife species that depend on them,” Zine said.

Lulu Lake State Natural Area has received $33,500 in SWG funding that has been used to restore 30 acres of prairie/oak savanna with plans to restore an additional 30 acres. This 1,806-acre property, located in Waukesha and Walworth counties, is a natural community of exceptionally high quality and diverse wetlands and uplands featuring Lulu Lake, a 40-foot deep, hardwater drainage kettle lake fed by the Mukwonago River and situated at the base of glacial deposits.

This natural area is an assemblage of exceptionally high quality and diverse wetland and upland communities on glacial topography in the Kettle Moraine region. Many of the natural communities protected here have been virtually eliminated from southeastern Wisconsin. The focal point of the area is the 95-acre Lulu Lake, a 40-foot deep, hardwater drainage kettle lake fed by the Mukwonago River and situated at the base of glacial deposits. The clear waters harbor a diverse fish, amphibian, and reptile fauna including the threatened long-ear sunfish, pugnose shiner, Blanding's turtle and pickerel frog.  A large wetland complex with patches of calcareous fen and shrub carr embedded within a sedge meadow matrix surrounds the lake on the north and west. An inlet stream contains many rare species and a small bog surrounded by tamarack forest is also present. Scattered patches of prairie grow within the oak opening and woodlands and harbor the state-threatened and other rare species. 

Lulu Lake is owned by the DNR and The Nature Conservancy and was designated a State Natural Area in 1977. Access to The Nature Conservancy property is by permission only. Field trips are held the 4th Sunday of each month. Contact TNC at (262) 642-7276 for more information.