About

The Nature Conservancy first came to the Baraboo Bluffs in the early 1960s at the request of local residents and university professors who knew how ecologically unique this area was and who wanted the Conservancy's help in protecting the area. Today the Conservancy has 900 members in the Baraboo Hills area. We have five office staff and more than 40 volunteers in the area who help us manage our land. The Baraboo Office is located at 107 Walnut Street by the river in Baraboo.

The Nature Conservancy is a private, non-profit conservation organization. Our mission is to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.

Our Conservation Goals

- Protecting the large block of forest from scattered rural residential development (the Conservancy concentrates its efforts on the forest block west of Devil's Lake State Park).

- Managing our preserves to support healthy populations of wildlife, in particular, songbirds that need to nest in large blocks of forest.

- Providing information about the plants and animals of the Bluffs forest and compatible forest management to area residents and other interested parties.

- Working with other organizations concerned with the health of the Bluffs forest.

- Working to protect the forest block while balancing human needs and economic health in the region.