St. Croix Wetland Management District

St. Croix Wetland Management District was established in 1992 for the purpose of providing wetland and grassland habitat for breeding waterfowl. The district encompasses eight counties in west-central Wisconsin and is responsible for the management of 8700 acres of public lands on 44 separate tracts of the National Wildlife Refuge System called waterfowl production areas.

The landscape of the St. Croix Wetland Management District transitions south to north from the bluffs of the Mississippi River to prairie pothole wetlands to northern forest. The prairie pothole portion of the district is dotted with thousands of small wetlands, created by glaciers. Prior to European settlement of west-central Wisconsin, in what is now St. Croix, Dunn and Polk counties, American Indians of the Ojibwe, also known as Chippewa, and Sioux peoples found more than 200,000 acres of tallgrass prairie, wetlands and oak savanna from which to hunt, fish and gather. This complex of prairie, wetlands and oak savanna was very productive, both for wildlife and for farming. The area was a paradise for waterfowl, bobolinks, meadowlarks, upland sandpipers and other prairie dependent wildlife.

Oak Ridge Lake, found on Oak Ridge Waterfowl Production Area, is recognized as a Wetland Gem by Wisconsin Waterfowl Association. These areas are considered high quality representations of the critically important habitats that historically made up nearly a quarter of Wisconsin’s landscape.