Know Your Madisonian: John Kessler restoring little-known prairie remnant
CHRIS HUBBUCH
Updated
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John Kessler walks the Empire Prairies Ashton Unit state natural area west of Madison. Kessler, who tends the 12-acre prairie, was named state natural area volunteer of the year by the Department of Natural Resources.
JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
John Kessler surveys the Empire Prairies Ashton Unit state natural area, where he has volunteered since 2018 clearing brush, pulling weeds and collecting seeds to restore the prairie remnant.
JOHN HART, STATE JOURNAL
With steep slopes and shallow bedrock, the Ashton Unit has never been farmed. A relic of a vast prairie that once covered Dane and Columbia counties, it now sits in the middle of farm fields.
John Kessler walks the Empire Prairies Ashton Unit state natural area west of Madison. Kessler, who tends the 12-acre prairie, was named state natural area volunteer of the year by the Department of Natural Resources.
John Kessler surveys the Empire Prairies Ashton Unit state natural area, where he has volunteered since 2018 clearing brush, pulling weeds and collecting seeds to restore the prairie remnant.
With steep slopes and shallow bedrock, the Ashton Unit has never been farmed. A relic of a vast prairie that once covered Dane and Columbia counties, it now sits in the middle of farm fields.
