Hooray for new parks!

This news is most welcome:

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk today announced the purchase of approximately 172 acres, the largest park purchase ever, in the North Mendota Natural Resource Area, calling it one of the most picturesque and most accessible of all the new county parks.

Rolling terrain of woodlands, pasture and wetlands, with some steeper slopes offering postcard panoramic views of surrounding landscape -- including the State Capitol – mark the property. Large, ancient open-grown oaks still are prominent on the slopes adjacent to Six-Mile Creek that runs through the property. The open-grown nature of the oaks presents a clear vision of the once-common savannas in this part of the state.

The property also provides a link for the proposed North Mendota Bicycle Trail, a regional trail similar to the Capital City Trail on the southern half of the county that will link Schumacher Farm County Park, Governor Nelson State Park and Pheasant Branch Conservancy.

This is great, and I applaud Falk and whoever else was involved for making the move. As far as I can tell, they're talking about the large stretch of land just north of Governor Nelson State Park and highways K and M.


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Not only does this add to the open space around the city, provide environmentally sound recreational, educational and research opportunities, but the fact that it could be used to help provide a link for the proposed North Mendota Bicycle Trail is excellent.

The more we do to preserve our natural resources and help keep sprawl to a minimum, the better. I'm now of a mind to go and check out the land to see for myself what the county has just bought for itself.