Jerry and Kathy Busse Prairie Preserve on Raccoon Creek

7329 W. St. Lawrence Ave., Beloit, WI  53511
Acquired by Natural Land Institute on September 16, 2024

This preserve is not currently open to the public.

Stephen and Dorothy Baits Nature Trail
This trail begins at the entrance and runs throughout the preserve.

Fire breaks and Management
Busse Prairie Preserve has a Federal Wetland Reserve Program (WRP) Easement that governs it protection as wetland habitat in perpetuity. The site contains grasslands comprised of wet prairie and sedge meadow with historically a bur oak grove as the site’s only trees. The management of the site will be to control the growth of trees and protect the large expanse of grassland for its many habitat-restricted species, specifically grassland birds which are the most declined songbirds. Fire breaks will be maintained so that prescribed fires can be set and rotated around the property to promote grasslands and deter the growth of trees. Roughly no more than one-third of the site shall be burned on any given year. Note: due to equipment issues and unfavorable weather conditions, no burns were able to be conducted since NLI acquired the property.

Grassland Birds
Grassland birds are those that require open country with few or no trees as habitat to nest and raise their young.  This group of birds has declined the most with reduction in grassland habitat including pastures, meadows and prairies. The keystone grassland birds on this site include the Eastern Meadowlark, Bobolink, Dickcissel and Henslow’s Sparrow. Henslow’s Sparrows will only nest in areas that were not burned and contain duff (the residue of dead grasses and other plants from prior growing seasons). Lark Sparrows are the opposite and prefer to nest in grasslands that were burned – and have sandy soils with shorter grasses.

Vanderpoel Family Bur Oak Grove
This grove of ancient oaks were the only trees on the property when the first aerial of the site was made in 1939.  They are all bur oaks with one bur oak-white oak hybrid and they grow on a sandy rise that does not flood and is not protected by WRP. Plans are to remove the non-oak tree species here and to restore the unique community of savanna plants that would have originally grown on this site. A gathering place will be maintained in the center of the grove with a fire pit and council ring where site events can be held. (The bluebird box is cordoned off so that the young birds are not disturbed – which may cause premature fledging and lower their chance for survival.)

Raccoon Creek
Raccoon Creek is a high-quality stream and meanders through the sedge meadows/ wet prairie on the site with a sandy-gravelly bottom and a diversity of fish, mussels and other aquatic creatures. The creek is a bonanza for mussels including Cylindrical Papershells, Slippershells, Lilliputs and Creek Heelsplitters, (all unusual for this area); and the only place in Winnebago County for the River Jewelwing (a damselfly). Very few grassland (unforested) streams like this remain in the region. The creek flows south into NLI’s Lost Flora Fen Preserve and empties into the Pecatonica River at NLI’s Nygren Wetland Preserve roughly 3 miles away.

Lake AJ
Eleven wetland scrapes were created with the WRP easement on this site and this is by far the largest of them at 10-acres in size. It is named by anonymous donors for their children Andrea and Jessica who were born and raised in the area. This lake is an important stopover site for migrating waterfowl and shorebirds. Nesting birds include Sandhill Crane, Sora, Pied-billed Grebe and Marsh Wrens thrive around its wetland edges. The lake is about 8-feet deep and does contain fish – it opens up early in spring as it is spring fed which melts the ice.

Maze Enhanced Prairie/Meadow View
Donor Nancy Maze designated a naming opportunity for an enhanced prairie view and this location, near the highest ground on the site offers a good overview of the prairie. We will be placing a large boulder here. The pond in view is also spring fed but is fishless, which makes it ideal habitat for several species of dragonflies whose nymphs are not adapted to predation by fish.

Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonata) – sometimes called “Odes”
The site contains some of the largest diversity of dragonflies and damselflies in the region. These creatures require water for their immature, nymph stages where they are predatory aquatic creatures. The diversity of wetlands on the site from creek to pond, fishless pond, sedge meadows, and even crayfish burrows. 64 species have been confirmed on this preserve and its close neighbor Lost Flora Fen Preserve downstream.

Prairie Mound-Building Ants (Formica montana)
Busse Prairie Preserve contains abundant colonies of prairie mound-building ants and you will see their large mounds and active colonies of workers ants all along the various trails throughout the preserve. Seventeen species of ants have been confirmed at the neighboring Lost Flora Fen Preserve and this species is by far the most common species here.

Bobolink
Bobolinks are grassland birds in the blackbird family that are often called the upside-down bird because the male’s plumage is black underneath and light on top – the reverse of virtually every local bird’s coloration.  Male birds perform song in upward flights from a favorite perch – the song is in multiple harmonics and sound like R2D2 when played in slow motion. Female birds are creamy brown with dark streaks and blend in well with the grassland environment. Bobolinks are called the rice bird because they feed in coastal rice fields on their migration to wintering grounds in southern South America. The birds return each spring in early May and most leave by early September.

Willows (Busse Prairie Preserve is a willow wonderland)
Willows (Salix spp. – spp. means multiple species) are a diverse group of shrubs and trees found across the Northern Hemisphere. They are usually indicators of wetlands and Busse Prairie Preserve contains 10 of the 12 species confirmed locally. Two species are trees: Black and Peachleaf Willow, one is a thicket forming shrub: Sandbar Willow, while the remainder are medium to large shrubs occasionally reaching small tree size. NLI plans to remove most of the tree type species and control the aggressive and thicket forming sandbar willow.  Periodic fires will rejuvenate the other species of clumping shrub willows which are often found in wet prairies and sedge meadows. Willows bloom on the prior season’s growth with flowers in catkins — the flower catkins emerge from the stems in spring and are often shrouded in silky hairs and thus called “pussy willows”. Fire can actually rejuvenate the shrub form willows – forcing new growth with abundant flowers the following spring.  Plants are either male or female so male plants’ catkins are often yellow with pollen and female catkins produce green pods that burst with cottony seeds when mature. The seeds must land on moist bare soil and germinate immediately.  Songbirds can gather the cotton for use in creating warm soft linings to their nests. Various willow bloom from earliest spring (the true pussy willow Salix discolor) and in sequence into mid spring (shining willow Salix lucida being one of the last). The flowers are rich in pollen and or nectar and are visited by many pollinators as a first of the season source of food. There are several specialist bees that will only utilize willow.

Willows support an abundance of insects and are the host plant for many species of caterpillars so thus are very important plants for songbirds who feed their babies soft bodied insects.

The sandbar willow can bloom almost all growing season but runs by underground stems thus being a thug in a prairie setting. NLI may use herbicide to kill/control this species here.

Willow species: Black-S. nigra, Peachleaf-S. amygdaloides (both trees) Sandbar-S. interior (suckers into a thicket of small trees), Pussy-S. discolor (earliest to flower), Missouri/Heart-leaf S. eriocephala, Bebb-S. bebbiana, Shining-S. lucida (all these can become small trees); Blue-leaved-S. myricoides, Silky-S. sericea, Meadow-S. petiolaris (all shrubbier).

Name of the Preserve
Jerry and Kathy Busse gave the naming opportunity (over 50%) of the acquisition cost of this preserve. They are the founders of Rockford Toolcraft which they started in their garage and sold to their son.