Curtis Prairie Restoration

Curtis Prairie at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum is the site of the world's first ecological restoration project. Begun in 1936 by Dr. Theodore Sperry, the project has been ongoing for more than seventy years and has yielded a wealth of research data about the dynamics of tallgrass prairie ecosystems and the practices most effective in their restoration and management, such as weed removal during site preparation, planting diversity, and vegetation management. Throughout its history, the Curtis Prairie project has been an asset not only for the academic community at the University of Wisconsin, but for the entire field of restoration ecology.