| Horicon National Wildlife Refuge/Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area | |
|---|---|
IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area) | |
 A boardwalk in the marsh | |
  Location of Horicon Marsh Show map of Wisconsin Horicon Marsh (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
| Location | Dodge,Fond du Lac counties,Wisconsin,United States |
| Nearest city | Waupun, Wisconsin |
| Coordinates | 43°32′59″N88°39′21″W / 43.5497141°N 88.6559380°W /43.5497141; -88.6559380[1] |
| Area | 21,400 acres (87 km2) |
| Established | 1941 |
| Governing body | U.S. Fish and Wildlife ServiceWisconsin Department of Natural Resources |
| Website | Horicon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge[2] |
| Designated | 12 April 1990 |
| Reference no. | 511[2] |
Horicon Marsh is amarsh located in northernDodge and southernFond du Lac counties ofWisconsin. It is the site of both anational and a statewildlife refuge.
Horicon Marsh was created by the Green Bay lobe of theWisconsin glaciation during thePleistocene era. Theglacier, during its advance, created manydrumlins (aglacial landform) in the region, many of which have become the islands of Horicon Marsh. The marsh and surrounding Dodge County have the highest concentration of drumlins in the world.
During the glacier's retreat, amoraine was created, forming a naturaldam holding back the waters from the melting glacier and forming Glacial Lake Horicon. TheRock River slowly eroded the moraine, and the lake drained. As the levels ofsilt,clay andpeat accumulated in the former lake's basin, the Horicon Marsh was formed.
The Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area is one of nine units of theIce Age National Scientific Reserve system, being considered to contain unique, representative evidence of the Ice Age of the Pleistocene era.[3]
The Horicon Marsh area has been inhabited by humans, including thePaleo-Indians, theHopewellian people and theMound Builders, since the ending of the last Ice Age. Dozens of 1200-year-oldeffigy mounds were built by the Mound Builders in the surrounding low ridges.[4] Arrowheads have been found dating to 12,000 years ago. Later the region was inhabited by thePotawotomi, primarily to the east of the marsh, and theHo-Chunk to the west. Seven well-traveled Native American foot trails met at the southern end of the marsh at the present location ofHoricon.
WhenEuropeans first arrived in the area, they named the marsh "The Great Marsh of the Winnebagos". The first permanent modern settlement along the marsh was the town ofHoricon. In 1846, adam was built to power the town's firstsawmill. The dam held the water in the marsh, causing the water level to rise by nine feet. The "marsh" was called Lake Horicon, and was, at the time, called the largest man-made lake in the world.[citation needed]In 1869, the dam was torn down by order of the State Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of landowners whose land had been flooded.[5] The area became a marsh once more. In 1883, two sportsmen's clubs reported huge flocks of geese in the marsh, and stated that 500,000 ducks hatched annually, and 30,000 muskrats and mink were trapped in the southern half of the marsh.[6] Bothbirds andhunters flocked to the area, and the localduck population was devastated. From 1910 to 1914, an attempt was made to drain the marsh and convert it into farmland; these attempts failed, and afterwards the land was widely considered to be useless.[7] In November 1933, an accidentally caused wildfire would destroy much of Horicon Marsh; necessitating a restoration project.[8] It was re-opened to the public in April 1935.[9]
In 1927, theWisconsin State Legislature, after pressure fromconservationists beginning in 1921, passed the Horicon Marsh Wildlife Refuge Bill, providing for the construction of a dam to raise the water to normal levels and for the acquisition of the land by the government. During the 1940s, theUnited States Fish and Wildlife Service bought the northern portions of the marsh.[10] Today the northern two-thirds, approximately 21,400 acres (87 km2), forms the Horicon National Wildlife Refuge. It is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Presently, the marsh is 32,000 acres (130 km2) in area, most of it open water andcattail marsh. The southern third, approximately 11,000 acres (45 km2), is owned by the state of Wisconsin and forms the Horicon Marsh State Wildlife Area, which was established as a nesting area forwaterfowl and resting area formigratory birds. It is managed by theWisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Millions of waterfowl, including over 200,000Canada geese, migrate through the marsh.[4]
The refuges are habitats for many species ofbirds, especially ducks, pelicans,great blue herons, andCanada geese (which have become increasingly common since the 1980s), as well asfish,frogs,snakes,turtles,muskrats,insects andplants.
Horicon Marsh was designated aRamsar site on December 4, 1990.[11]
In 1976, the brass band ofWalden III Middle and High School inRacine, Wisconsin was named the Horicon Horns Band after school co-founder and co-director Jackson Parker compared the new band's sound to the honking of geese at Horicon Marsh. The band would improve greatly over the years, and went on to become a staple of musical entertainment in Racine, even performing at the state capital forKimberly Plache and atDisneyworld.
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This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theUnited States Fish and Wildlife Service.
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