Whooping cranes, wolves, Karner blue butterflies, and white-tailed deer call Necedah National Wildlife Refuge "home." Ringed bog hunter dragonflies live in sedge meadows, flying squirrels in upland hardwood timber. Trumpeter swans inhabit the marshes, and badgers the savanna. The habitat mosaic, maintained by prescribed burning, seasonal mowing, and timber clearing, attracts a wide range of wildlife. Each species and habitat is monitored and maintained to insure overall vigor of the ecosystem.
Ten thousand years ago, retreating glaciers left behind vast peat bogs and sand ridges, creating the area known as the great Central Wisconsin Swamp or Marsh. Native Americans re-colonized on the heels of the reclining glaciers, depending upon the game and wild edibles that the land provided. Europeans settled the area, attempting to drain and farm the sandy land. After a series of intense peat bog fires in the 1930s, many settlers abandoned the farmsteads. In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt set aside 43,656 acres as Necedah Refuge and, under the guidance of the Civilian Conservation Corps, several thousand acres of wetlands were restored. You can enjoy the wildness that was preserved by visiting Necedah Refuge.
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