When you step into Wisconsin, you enter Packer Country, America's Dairyland, and Geological History Central. You may encounter “Buck Nation” in Milwaukee or the many vibrant Indigenous cultures so abundant across the state. This place, this melting pot of people, history, and unparallelled natural sites, is truly teeming with knowledge and beauty.
With endless hiking trails, river gorges, ski hills and magnificent forests all around us, it can be easy to take them for granted. If it hadn’t been for influential scientists, researchers, writers, educators, and thinkers, though, our state would be a much different place. We have an obligation to honor those before and beside us who have forged paths towards community with the land.
In this part of Wisconsin—Leopold Country—we pay tribute to Aldo Leopold, known internationally as a philosopher, forester, educator, writer, and avid conservationist. His most famous book, A Sand County Almanac, gives a glimpse into his passion for attentive scientific research and his desire to do best by the land. His reflections prompt us to see the land’s potential through his hopeful eyes; from the desolate landscape he purchased in 1935 to the complex ecosystem the Shack property supports today, we are reminded of the foundational changes Leopold is responsible for.
But Leopold was not alone in his conservation endeavors. Many other incredible folks reached new heights in the conservation field, discovering, protecting, challenging, and educating on an abundance of topics. Frederick and Frances Hamerstrom, former students of Leopold at UW-Madison, forged their own conservation path as they spearheaded research focused on prairie chickens, or “boomers” in some circles, that were nearly extirpated from Wisconsin in the 1930s and 40s.
In Aldo Leopold: Mentor, a book written by his graduate students, Frederick recalled seeing Leopold for the first time at the annual North American Game Conference in New York: “This man, totally unknown to me, towered above the others in his personality, in his grasp of the subject and in his ability to communicate. And I knew that–remote as the possibility was–if it could ever be in my power, I would do my best to learn from this man who had set me afire: Aldo Leopold–a stranger in a room full of strangers, the one man who outshone all the rest.”
Years later, the Hamerstroms would find themselves as Leopold Research Fellows, studying everything from pheasant nesting and winter ecology of the bob-tailed quail to dominance in winter flocks of chickadees and raptor food habits.
These passions started in childhood. From early on, Fran had taken a keen interest in animals and their relationship to the land in her own backyard. But it was not always smooth sailing for Fran during those initial years; she flunked out of Smith College in New York because she felt more could be learned from the natural world than from a classroom. Despite her academic background, she grew strong in her desire to grow intimately connected with the world around her, leading her to be the first woman ever to obtain a graduate degree in the field of wildlife management—and under Leopold no less. Frederick followed a year later by being one of three men to ever receive a doctorate under Leopold.
Together, the Hamerstroms studied prairie chickens and sharp-tailed grouse, making many new discoveries along the way. Among many notables in their decade's worth of invaluable research, the team pioneered the tactic of imping male prairie chicken feathers. This process involved removing a part of a prominent feather and replacing it with a brightly colored dyed feather, which helped the team identify male birds in the field. In doing so, the team was able to note different behaviors between males, like dominance, prevalence to the area, and behavior changes when a female is present. On this topic Fran wrote a poem, which Leopold is said to have delighted in! Read it for yourself here:
In 1949, Frederick Hamerstrom was employed by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (formerly known as the Conservation Department) as Project Leader of the Prairie Grouse Management Research Unit in Plainfield, Wisconsin. Fran was Assistant Leader and only the second woman ever employed as a wildlife professional in Wisconsin! However, as she recalls in her book My Double Life, Memoirs of a Naturalist, her position was “distinctly shaky because of my sex... I was to be permitted to work full time–without salary!”
Regardless of the challenges, this dynamic team in both science and life made strides for prairie chicken conservation, both strengthening the species’ population and improving its habitat. They constructed a management plan to ‘save the prairie chickens ’in Wisconsin, published as “A Guide to Prairie Chicken Management” which received many awards, including The Wildlife Society's award for best publication of the year in 1957. The pair sought to maintain grassland sites for the Buena Vista Marsh area in Portage County by combating the regrowth of shrubs and trees that were attempting to reclaim the area. Ever-dedicated stewards of the land, the Hamerstroms held firm that grasslands and open prairie grounds were highly needed for grouse lek sites, where male grouse “boom” to attract females. The Hamerstrom team issued an urgent plea to both private and government landowners to preserve and restore grassland habitats. Through this dedicated research and activism, prairie chickens and other grassland species are still prevalent today! If you are interested in visiting a lek site where research is still ongoing, check out the Namekagon Barrens Wildlife Area or Crex Meadows Wildlife Area, both in northern Wisconsin!
Apart from being devoted scientists, they also were adamant about getting interns, or as Fran sometimes called them, “gaboons”, out conducting their own field research, assisting in management, and publishing foundational articles. The Hamerstroms, as Aldo and Estella Sr. often did, welcomed many people into their home. Many graduate students followed in their footsteps and published important work on many topics.
In addition to prairie chicken research, the Hamerstrom team had a passion for raptor research, including hawks, owls, and eagles. Notably, Fran compiled 25 years of northern harrier research into the book Harrier, Hawk of the Marshes: The Hawk That is Ruled by a Mouse. Fran and Frederick also dedicated their time to the Raptor Research Foundation, which is now internationally known, but had its first meeting in Madison, Wisconsin in 1965. The initial goal was to create avenues for managing, researching, and preserving these species, which the foundation still does to this day! The dynamic duo were also adjunct professors at UW-Stevens Point for many years. During their time there, they mentored many and inspired many more.
Both the Leopolds and Hamerstroms conducted ground-breaking field and observational research on habitat restoration, land conservation, and species preservation. Because of motivated people like them, we can reflect with fondness and gratitude on their unrelenting passion and persistence in so many conservation channels. The grasslands the Hamerstroms worked diligently to conserve, and the ‘wasteland’ Leopold restored into a multi-faceted habitat speak volumes about the power of teamwork, determination, and care for the land and animals around us. It cannot be understated—without the work of these folks, and many more like them, we would not have many of the habitats, species, values, or management plans we utilize today.
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Greater prairie chickens are hitting the headlines in Wisconsin due to a proposed solar farm―the state's largest―that would abut the Buena Vista Wildlife Area, home to the greatest concentration of prairie chickens in the state. The conservation history of these threatened birds and the Buena Vista Marsh goes back to Leopold and the Hamerstroms, who were instrumental in creating a wildlife management plan for the site. You can learn more about the proposed solar project here: https://www.wpr.org/news/regulators-urge-scaling-back-solar-project-due-to-concerns-over-prairie-chickens.
The Aldo Leopold Foundation was founded in 1982 with a mission to foster the land ethic through the legacy of Aldo Leopold, awakening an ecological conscience in people throughout the world.
