Keeping it natural: Conservancy buys Elk Creek Bottoms

Andrew Dowd, The Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis.
·3 min read

Dec. 27—EAU CLAIRE — Natural forest land where Elk Creek joins the Chippewa River in Dunn County has changed ownership and is poised to become more accessible to the public.

Located just west of Eau Claire in the town of Spring Brook along 960th Street, the 69 acres of land will be permanently protected from development under new owner Landmark Conservancy.

"This particular property is really the best of all worlds water," Rick Remington, the conservancy's conservation director, said in a YouTube video this month that announced the land acquisition.

Elk Creek — a cold-water trout stream — runs a half-mile through the property. The creek empties into the warm-water Chippewa River, which Remington called "the most diverse river system in western Wisconsin."

Landmark Conservancy, a nonprofit organization serving 20 counties in western and northwestern Wisconsin, bought the property this month from a cultural organization that had owned it for decades.

The Midwest Institute of Scandinavian Culture, a small Eau Claire-based nonprofit, purchased the land in the 1960s with the aim of building a Nordic Cultural Center there. There were some improvements made to the property in the '70s, including hiking trails and stairs, but the vision of a full-fledged center was not achieved.

Tim Sivertson, president of the institute, said in the YouTube video that the cultural group's board approved selling the land to the conservancy so it would remain available to the public to visit.

The sale of the property closed on Dec. 17.

A $118,500 grant from the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund went toward the purchase. That grant means the land will be open to activities including hiking, skiing, fishing and hunting. More high-impact uses such as mountain biking and camping will not be allowed due to their potential impacts to the natural state of the land and water.

The new conservation area, known as the Elk Creek Bottoms, is joining other spots nearby that are being used to preserve nature.

On the opposite side of the Chippewa River is the Lower Chippewa River State Natural Area, a concentration of native prairie and savanna owned by the state Department of Natural Resources. And to the east of the Elk Creek Bottoms and just into Eau Claire County is the Town of Union Conservancy, also along the Chippewa River.

Paul Kaldjian, a geography professor at UW-Eau Claire who also serves on the board of the Midwest Institute of Scandinavian Culture, noted the new conservancy area is only a 10- to 15-minute drive from Eau Claire.

"People throughout the region have easy access to this piece of property that hasn't been disturbed at least 60 years," he said in the YouTube video.

In 2023, Landmark Conservancy plans to evaluate visitor access, map existing trails and add signage, according to a news release on the land buy.

Landmark Conservancy, based in Menomonie, was the result of a 2018 merger of the West Wisconsin Land Trust and Bayfield Regional Conservancy.

Landmark Conservancy projects in the Chippewa Valley include improving public access to the Devil's Punchbowl in Menomonie, using government grants to buy the Meridean Barrens from Xcel Energy, and establishing a conservation easement for Sherman Creek in the town of Union.