RECLAMATION SUCCESS

Dousman Sand

The Dousman Sand and Gravel manufacturing facility is composed of 32 acres of diverse habitat. The plant’s products include asphalt aggregate, concrete aggregate, and natural sand. In 2003, the quarry marked its twelfth consecutive year employees have participated in managing a wildlife habitat enhancement program on-site. The Dousman Wildlife Habitat has progressed into a diverse wildlife habitat that provides a protected ecosystem for many species in Wisconsin. Through the years, several existing wildlife habitat activities have been expanded, while some new and beneficial programs have been added. 

One of the major focuses been a naturalization project on the southeastern portion of the property. In this area, a native savanna and prairie is actively managed through natural land grading practices. Other prairie enhancements involve removing non-native species, seeding desirable natives and implementing a prescribed burning program. This portion of the property also contains a leg of the Glacial Drumlin Trail, part of the Ice Age Trail, a 1,000-mile nature path originated in 1971 by the U.S. Department of the Interior. 

The company’s wildlife team continues to enhance a 40-foot by 50-foot pond and adjoining marshland in the northwestern portion of the property, which was created in 1998. The pond provides habitat for aquatic and semi-aquatic species and a central water source for all wildlife. The shorelines were cleared, graded and seeded with native prairie plants. An established prairie has extended to the banks of the pond over successive seasons, providing continuous prairie from the pond to the southern portion of the habitat. The pond is providing a new source of water for animal populations dependent upon a fresh water supply. In addition, frogs, aquatic insects and emergent plants populate the waters.  

Additional native flora propagation was recently the focus of the wildlife team. The peripheral property was graded to establish a more natural slope, and native prairie plants were seeded. As the habitat maintains, it is the goal of the company to maintain habitat consistency, and minimize any disturbance of the habitat’s development.