Jefferson County Parks Initiative

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Jefferson County Parks Initiative
David Heyman and Brian Wright
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Capstone Statement

The Jefferson County Parks Department and the
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources have
identified Jefferson County as a critical area to
establish more outdoor recreational
opportunities. We are proposing to enhance these
two visions by selecting the most productive area
within the county to establish a new a park area
that would be complimentary with the existing
park system, preserve natural features, and
establish a diverse amount of recreational
opportunities for the local and regional needs.
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FactorsCounty is in the fastest growing area of
the stateLand value directly affects the
acquisition of new public landContains some the
worlds beast examples of glacial drumlin
areasContains some of the best agricultural
soils in the state The county needs to act now
to acquire park and open space for recreation and
preservation of natural resources.
Jefferson County Parks Initiative
Goal Select the most ideal location that could
provide an array of recreational opportunities,
preserve unique physical attributes of the
Wisconsin landscape, and expand existing park
system within a contiguous area.
ProblemTo identify which park areas has diverse
physical attributes and recreational
opportunities that preserve to benefit to the
public and the potential to expand into a an area
100 acres or greater in size.
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The Importance of Recreation

• Background
• Opportunities to expand recreational facilities
  in this landscape are diminishing as residential
  development continues to expand into the rural
  countryside. Our study focused on areas that
  could be restored to provide a wide range of
  activities in order to meet the future needs.
• Study Area
• Jefferson County is located in south central
  Wisconsin between Milwaukee and Madison
  metropolitan areas. The county is also 70 miles
  northwest of Chicago, Illinois. These large urban
  areas greatly influence the population land use
  and recreational opportunities in Jefferson
  County.

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County Statistics

• Is .44 Recreation Land Enough?
•  
• County has 16 Townships
• 4 Villages
• 6 Cities
•  
• Total county land area (acres) 371,930
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•  
• Surface Waters 16,832 4.5
• Woodlands 24,009 6.5
• Existing Recreational Uses 1671 .44
•  The most populous counties and urban areas
  surround Jefferson
• County. Wisconsin Department of Administration
  2003.

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Wisconsin Land Legacy Report

• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Land
  Legacy Initiative Report- Draft 2003
• 228 areas were identified within 16 Ecological
  Landscapes.
• Jefferson County lies within the Southeast
  Glacial Plain and had five areas identified

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Jefferson County Land Legacy Areas
Waterloo Drumlins
Upper Rock River
Jefferson Marsh
Lake Koshkonong
A variety of terrain and land cover types,
abundant lakes and streams can accommodate a
broad range of water based recreation
activities. To determine the value of these
areas, buffering and linking to existing public
lands was a determining factor that would create
considerable amount of recreational opportunities
with the least disturbance to natural areas
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County Park Site Feasibility Study
These areas were selected by Jefferson County as
potential park acquisition because they contained
important natural features and were large areas
of 40 acres in size. These areas all contained
water and forested land that has the potential to
offer a variety of recreational opportunities.
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Relative Scoring of Areas

• Recreational Opportunities
• 1. A variety of activities that could accommodate
  the recreational needs of the public
• 2. Water features suitable for fishing, swimming,
  paddling and boating
• 3. Forested areas to provide hiking, bicycling
  and camping

Accessibility to Residents
1. Areas proximity to urban areas 2. Area's
accessibility to roads 3. Areas ability to
connect to existing public areas
Scenic Value
1. Maximize the visible and desirable landscape
within the park area
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Road Accessibility
Over half of the states population lives within
50 miles of the areas bounded by Milwaukee,
Madison, Found du Lac and Janesville.
Two of the four strongest growth areas in
Wisconsin are adjacent to Jefferson County, Dane
County to the immediate west and Waukesha County
to the immediate east (Wisconsin Department of
Administration Population trends in Wisconsin
2000-2003)

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Methods
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Conceptualization

• Where are the most productive areas in Jefferson
  County for creating parkland?
• Areas with high recreation potential
• Areas with high connectivity potential
• Areas with high landscape potential

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Site Selection

• 12 sites selected throughout Jefferson County
• 4 sites included in Wisconsin DNRs Land Legacy
  Initiative Report
• 8 sites selected by Jefferson County Park Site
  Feasibility Study
• 1000 acre buffer used to sample region

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1 200,000
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Recreation Potential

• Water Recreation
• Area of open water and length of shoreline
• Forest Recreation
• Area of forests greater than 10 contiguous acres

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1 200,000
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Connectivity Potential

• Areas that fit into existing park structure
• Higher score given from 0-3 miles from an
  existing state or county parkland
• Areas that are accessible to populous
• Higher score given from 0-3 miles from city or
  village
• Higher score given based on road hierarchy
• Interstate gt U.S. Highway gt State Road

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1 200,000
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Landscape Potential

• Area of desirable landscape (forest / water)
• 9 evenly viewpoints evenly spaced around site to
  determine visible area
• Non-desirable landscape eliminated from total
  visible area

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1 200,000
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Results
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1 200,000
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1 200,000
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1 200,000
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1 200,000
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NAME RECREATION ACCESS LANDSCAPE TOTAL WEIGTED TOTAL
Waterloo Drumlins 7.05 71.43 15.76 46.29 47.95
Upper Rock River 21.27 28.57 4.90 26.89 31.61
Jefferson Marsh 1.16 28.57 3.09 16.12 16.89
Bark / Scuppernong Rivers 46.20 28.57 16.14 44.66 52.99
Pipersville Drumlins 35.23 14.29 3.81 26.20 33.50
Hope Lake 25.18 57.14 6.81 43.79 50.01
Red Cedar Lake 86.08 42.86 6.84 66.70 85.16
Holzhueter Farm 9.15 85.71 20.84 56.84 58.70
Lake Koshkonong 71.69 14.29 89.85 86.37 89.14
Cushman Pond 100.00 14.29 10.33 61.21 81.12
Oakland Highlands 60.71 42.86 100.00 100.00 100.00
North Shore Drumlins 10.83 100.00 13.40 61.03 64.78
WEIGHTED SCORE RECREATION (0.75 ACCESS)
(0.5 LANDSCAPE)
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Selected Sites

• Oakland Highlands - A large wooded area on the
  moraine with spectacular views, oak hickory
  woods, remnant prairie, and a blue heron rookery
• Lake Koshkonong The largest lake in Jefferson
  Co. Many Native American sites and mounds are
  found surrounding the lake as well as extensive
  wetlands
• Red Cedar Lake One of the most pristine lakes
  in SE Wisconsin with several rare plant
  communities
• Cushman Pond Drumlins meet a millpond on the
  Bark River. This site has spectacular views,
  several pioneer sites and conoeing

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Prime Agricultural Land
Waterloo Drumlin Potential Site
Only .2 acres of Prime agricultural farmland
would be removed from production
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Improvements
Use defined park boundaries instead of arbitrary
buffer areas Take into account conservation
value of parklands Wildlife habitat
protection Groundwater recharge Preserve
unique biomes Use land value to propose an
acquisition schedule Geological features