Location: Dane County, T7N-R6E, Section 5, 140 acres

Access: The Conservancy is about 4 miles southwest of the Village of Black Earth. Go west from Black Earth on County Highway F and continue south on F until Pleasant Valley Road. Turn left on Pleasant Valley Road. The preserve will be on your left. An entrance to the preserve is about ¾ mile east on Pleasant Valley Road from the junction with County F. Cars should be parked off the road facing the entrance.

A public trail is open for hiking and nature study.

Collecting seeds or plants is prohibited and hunting is by permission only.

Description: Pleasant Valley Conservancy is in the Driftless area of southwestern Wisconsin, an area of high scenic beauty. Pleasant Valley Creek and East Blue Mounds Creek are on the property. The 140 acre property contains an almost complete range of southern Wisconsin natural communities, including oak woodland, oak savanna, dry prairie, wet prairie, sedge meadow, shrub-carr, open marsh, and spring complex.

The steep south-facing ridge contains several prairie remnants on which are found big and little bluestem, Indian grass, side oats grama, prairie and bird’s foot violet, lead plant, purple prairie clover, rosin weed, prairie turnip, hoary puccoon, violet wood sorrel, wood betony, golden Alexanders, thimbleweed, and numerous other prairie species.

The oak savannas, primarily on the ridge top, contain numerous specimens of large open-grown bur and white oaks, as well as numerous grass, sedge, and forbs species typical of savannas. Of note is the presence in the savannas of the State Endangered purple milkweed (Asclepias purpurascens; see photo here), which increased considerably after management. Associated with the savanna oaks are shagbark hickory, black oak, and black cherry.

The north-facing slope is predominantly oak woodland with northern red oak, basswood, hackberry, butternut, yellowbud hickory, and red maple. Associated with the oak woodland are numerous spring ephemerals, including bloodroot, Jacob’s ladder, Dutchman’s breeches, showy orchis, yellow ladyslipper orchid, and large-flowered Trillium. Characteristic shrubs of the savannas include the native woody vine honeysuckle, hazelnut, amelanchier, nannyberry, black and red elderberry, and maple-leaf viburnum.

Common plants in the wetland include large populations of marsh marigold, skunk cabbage, swamp thistle, turtlehead, water hemlock, great angelica, swamp milkweed, Culver’s root, swamp saxifrage, ironweed, sweet Indian plantain (Special Concern), Turk’s cap lily, blue flag, and flat-topped aster. The sedge meadow is dominated by tussock sedge, within which are large populations of Joe pye weed, lousewort, great blue lobelia, and cardinal flower.

Other forbs of note in the Conservancy are the endemic glade mallow (Special Concern), upland boneset (Special Concern), cream gentian (Threatened), giant yellow hyssop (Threatened), poke milkweed, false foxglove, New Jersey tea, and shooting star. Grasses and sedges of note include fringed and prairie brome, broad-leafed and leiberg’s panic grass, prairie dropseed, and Pennsylvania sedge.

The floristic quality index for the Conservancy is 91.3, a significant value that indicates a high level of species conservatism.

The red-headed woodpecker, a bird of special concern in Wisconsin, nests in the savannas and is usually seen year-around. A breeding bird survey showed 69 resident bird species in addition to numerous migratory species. Sandhill cranes have been nesting in the wetland for many years. Management of the Conservancy includes prescribed burns, removal of weedy trees such as black walnut and aspen, control of invasive shrubs, and removal of exotic forbs. The minor amount of reed canary grass present in the wetland is being controlled with herbicide as part of a research study.

Mesic prairie has been restored in former agriculture fields. Pleasant Valley Conservancy is owned jointly by the The Prairie Enthusaists (TPE) and Tom and Kathie Brock. TPE has a conservation easement on the Brock portion of the property.

The Conservancy is open for hiking and nature study; hunting is by permission only.