Open house meeting to discuss Cross Plains Ice Age Trail complex
MADISON -- The public is invited to attend open house meetings to review and comment on the types of experiences and management they would like to see at the Ice Age National Scenic Trail and Ice Age National Scientific Reserve located in the Town of Cross Plains in western Dane County.
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the National Park Service are beginning to plan for the future of Ice Age Trail lands they own in the Cross Plains area and will cooperate in developing a joint general management plan for them.
“Federal and state Ice Age Trail lands tell an important story about continental glaciation and how episodes in geological history molded the landscape,” says Dana White-Quam, DNR South Central Region park and recreation specialist.
Cross Plains Ice Age Trail complex
Cross Plains Ice Age Trail complex
The public open house meetings will be held August 27 and 28. The National Park Service and DNR will be collecting data on the kinds of experiences the public is looking for that are consistent with preserving Ice Age features. The meetings will be from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Town of Middleton Town Hall on Tuesday, August 27 and on Wednesday, August 28 at the Town of Cross Plains Community Center.
In addition to discussing the planning process, presentations on the Geology of the Ice Age Complex will be offered at 6 p.m. both nights. More information on the general management planning process and the meetings is available on the National Park Service Web site at [parkplanning.nps.gov] (exit DNR) or by contact Tom Gilbert (NPS) at 608-441-5610 or Dana White-Quam (DNR) at 608-275-3302.
Background on the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve and National Scenic Trail
In 1964, a federal law established the Ice Age National Scientific Reserve in order to “assure protection, preservation, and interpretation of the nationally significant values of Wisconsin continental glaciation, including moraines, eskers, kames, kettleholes, drumlins, swamps, lakes, and other reminders of the Ice Age” (quote from Public Law 88-655).
Lands in the town of Cross Plains were selected as one of nine areas that best illustrate continental glaciation in Wisconsin. The nine units of the Reserve are managed by the DNR with financial and technical assistance from the NPS. In 1999, Wisconsin expanded the boundary of the Cross Plains Reserve Unit to its present boundaries. It is designated as Cross Plains State Park, but has not yet been developed for public use.
In 1980, federal legislation added the Ice Age National Scenic Trail to the National Trails System. The trail extends approximately 1,000 miles through Wisconsin, tracing the terminal moraines and other landscape features formed by the advancing and melting continental ice sheets. The trail also links together six of the nine reserve units. The NPS administers the trail and works closely with the DNR and the Ice Age Park and Trail Foundation on its development, marking, and maintenance.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Dana White-Quam (DNR) at 608-275-3302 or Tom Gilbert (NPS) at 608-441-5610
