Central Sand Plains Landscape

Map showing the Central Sand Plains Ecological Landscape

General Description

The Central Sand Plains Ecological Landscape, located in central Wisconsin, occurs on a flat, sandy lake plain, and supports agriculture, forestry, recreation, and wildlife management. The Ecological Landscape formed in and around what was once Glacial Lake Wisconsin, which contained glacial meltwater extending over 1.1 million acres at its highest stage. Soils are primarily sandy lake deposits, some with silt-loam loess caps. Sandstone buttes carved by rapid drainage of the glacial lake, or by wave action when they existed as islands in the lake, are distinctive features of this landscape.

Vegetation

The historic vegetation of the area included extensive wetlands of many types, including open bogs, shrub swamps, and sedge meadows. Prairies, oak forests, savannas and barrens also occurred in the Ecological Landscape. An area of more mesic forest with white pine and hemlock was found in the northwest portion, including a significant pinery in eastern Jackson County. Today, nearly half of the Ecological Landscape is nonforested, in agriculture and grassland. Most of the historic wetlands were drained early in the 1900s and are now used for vegetable cropping. The forested portion is mostly oak-dominated forest, followed by aspen and pines. A minor portion is maple-basswood forest and lowland hardwoods.

Hydrologic Features

The Wisconsin River is the largest river that flows through the Ecological Landscape; other significant river corridors include the Black River, East Fork of Black River, Yellow River, and Lower Lemonweir River. There are no large, naturally-occurring lakes. The lakes and rivers of the Ecological Landscape are relatively unpolluted. Groundwater rankings by the Wisconsin DNR indicate that this Ecological Landscape is quite polluted as compared with other areas of Wisconsin. Only the Central Sand Hills has a more severe groundwater pollution ranking.

Land Use

The total land area for the Central Sand Plains Ecological Landscape is approximately 2 million acres, of which 56% is classified as timberland. Approximately one-quarter of the Ecological Landscape is publicly owned. Most of these lands are in county and municipal ownership, but they also include the Black River State Forest and the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge.

Socioeconomics

Socioeconomic data are summarized based on county-level approximations of the Ecological Landscape (referred to as a "region"). Economic data are available only on a political unit basis with counties as the smallest unit. The counties included in this socioeconomic region are Adams, Clark, Jackson, Juneau, Monroe, Portage, and Wood ("Central Sands Region"). The principal land uses within this region are agriculture, cranberry production, and timber production. Three counties are top producers of several crops and together produce half the state's potatoes. Jackson and Wood counties are the top cranberry producers in the state. Agriculture is relatively important compared with other regions, and the forest products and processing industries account for 17% of the region's industrial output compared to 8% statewide. Compared to other regions in the state the Central Sand Plains Region is nearly average in most socioeconomic indicators with some exceptions. The population density is slightly less than half (44 persons/sq. mile) that of the state as a whole (96 persons/sq. mile). Its population is comparatively younger and less racially diverse than the other regions, and it has the second lowest number of high school and college graduates. Economically, most of the indicators are around the statewide averages with a somewhat below-average per capita income.

For any questions regarding the maps presented on this site or the "DNR Ecological Landscapes of Wisconsin" handbook, please contact Jeff Schimpff at Jeff.Schimpff@wisconsin.gov. Suggested Citation for Handbook: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. In Prep. DRAFT Ecological Landscapes of Wisconsin. State of Wisconsin, Dept. of Nat. Resources, Handbook. 1805.1. Madison, WI.

Last Revised: Thursday February 08 2006