Restoring The Shack and Farm

View from the east of the Shack's new roof.

Three years ago, we kicked off a two-year effort to protect and secure the Leopold Shack and farm in Baraboo, an essential project that would not have been possible without generous support from 783 of you, including key funders listed in box below.

We thank you all! Now that the Shack's historic restoration elements have had a year to settle, we think it’s a good time to give you a little peek at the results and how everything looks now. Spoiler alert: It’s even better than we could have hoped for, and, as ever, regular maintenance work continues and will continue as long as the Shack’s well-being is our responsibility. Forever, in other words.

Enjoy this little photo-stroll around the Shack for now—we hope you can come down for a visit soon!

Our inspection of the Shack and farm was guided by Arik Duhr, Site Manager and project supervisor, who points here to the restored patina of the Shack's exterior. A specially-formulated oil sealant was applied around the Shack's exterior which had dried and grayed over the years.

We asked Arik to reflect on his overall experience of the project. As always, his eloquence set the tone for a lovely day:

"What I realized after spending a few years on the Shack campaign might be distilled to this single point or axiom, if you will: It isn’t about what we did to the Shack; it is what the Shack did, is doing, and will always do to us.

The Shack is catalyst to the land ethic conversation. Every visitor that I interacted with while I was doing work wanted to tell me what this place meant to them. Where they first read *A Sand County Almanac.* How they have restored their back yard into pollinator habitat. The list goes on. Our due diligence in maintaining the Shack is guarantee that the conversation of the land ethic goes on in perpetuity. And while it feels good that the roof won’t be leaking any time soon. It feels really good, that because of the spirit of the Shack and farm, we have a common place to gather and share about what we are doing to pay our dues in the biotic community.

I wonder about an environmental ecumenical code. If such a thing was to ever exist, it is surely being preached from this little repurposed building on the banks of the Wisconsin River. And here is the kicker, it is the layperson in attendance that seems to be doing the preaching. What a refreshing draught to drink in."

‍

A new "French drain" as it appears at the base of the front door. The pebble-filled moat runs all around the Shack's base, directing water through a drain tube (tile) that then carries moisture away from the Shack, eliminating the potential for heaving that may destabilize the field rock foundation. Remember the large, gray rock as we move to the next image.

Just inside the front door, the cement platform poured by the Leopolds has slowly crept toward the front yard. The gap between it and the Leopold-build floor shows how far the platform has moved sinc the 1930s. (The large rock at top is the same rock in the previous picture.) The French drain will slow or eliminate this movement.

Not far from the front door platform, this edging around the Leopold's fireplace shows how tightly the front door platform had once fit (photo's upper right corner in particular). The center area of the Shack has been very stable for decades.

The newly-painted interior spruces-up the indoor experience, as severely chipping old paint has been scraped away and latex-based, non-toxic paint restores its homey quaintness—*a credit to the outfit*, as Aldo might have put it in 1948. (BTW, that's Bennett Artman doing the dirty work, a 2023-24 Land Stewardship Fellow.)

The old stalwart white pine off the corner of the Shack has been pruned through the years, and we continued this practice to reduce threats to the Shack's structure and reduce accumulation of needles on the replaced cedar shingles on the roof.

The new cedar roof will last longer with less accumulation of pine debris.

Looking toward the Wisconsin River from the Shack one now sees…the Wisconsin River! Our goal for the restoration project was to restore the Shack and its surroundings to their 1948 condition, how Aldo would have remembered it. While there are many things in nature that cannot be set in reverse, we can re-open the vista between the Shack and river to its nearer-native condition when annual ice flows from the river kept vegetation subdued. Since local dams were built upriver, according to Arik, the ice flows no longer occur and woody growth has taken over the "river barrens." We will continue to work to open more and more of the barrens around the Shack.

Notice the new permanent sign. This is one of twelve signs (and an elegant booklet) developed through the generosity of donors to the Shack campaign, that make the new self-guided tour experience richer, as QR codes allow tourists to download video of the Leopolds, and much more educational material. Check out the before and after images below.

Looking to the east from the sign in the previous picture, the Leopold Pines were thinned (by 60 trees) to improve the future health of the remaining trees, which will live for at least one-hundered more years.

To the south of the pines, the Shack Prairie was cleaned up (volunteer trees were removed) and a regular prescribed burn schedule continues. A rain-heavy summer this year has the prairie in tip-top shape! Note: this prairie is the world's second restored prairie. The first such restoration was at the UW-Madison Arboretum, which was also overseen by Aldo Leopold.

Hugely significant, and not quite finished, is our transcription of 1000+ pages of "Shack Journals" kept by the Leopold family during their years at the Shack. Once complete, this online, entirely searchable document will be a profound resource for scholar and layperson alike.

Also less than picturesque but hugely significant to our Shack upgrade is the installation of a state-of-the-art security system, including live, solar-powered cameras and motion-sense detectors. It's all connected to the internet via bluetooth for instant notification and quick reaction.

We'll leave you with a view into the Leopold Pines south of the Shack. We will continue our maintenance and care of these world-famous trees so the Shack and farm will be "catalyst to the land ethic conversation" for many generations to come.

‍

‍

In case you can't make it out for an in-person tour, check out the Shack Virtual Tour HERE. (Its developed was also funded through gifts to the Shack restoration campaign.)

For general information on Shack Tours through October 31, click HERE.

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

sign up for our newsletter

Stay in Touch With ALF