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Natural Areas

The Regional Natural Areas Plan seeks to identify and protect what remains of the Region’s landscape as it existed pre-European settlement and identifies other areas vital to maintaining endangered, threatened, and rare plant and animal species.

Regional Natural Areas Plan Update

The Regional Natural Areas and Critical Species Habitat Protection and Management Plan was adopted by the Commission as an amendment to the Regional Park and Open Space Plan in September 1997. The planning effort was undertaken to identify the most significant remaining natural areas—irreplaceable, biodiverse remnants of the pre-European landscape—as well as other areas vital to maintaining endangered, threatened, and rare plant and animal species in the Region.

Promoting biodiversity, the plan represents an important additional element of the evolving comprehensive plan for Southeastern Wisconsin. It also provides an important supplement to the open space preservation recommendations of the regional land use and park and open space plans. The proposed update to the plan identifies a total of 478 natural areas, 412 critical species habitat sites, 87 geological areas, 15 archeological sites, and 11 sites for largescale grassland and forest interior re-establishment. Significant revisions were made to the aquatic area assessment scheme, which identified 91 stream reaches and 53 lakes for a total of 144 aquatic areas.

 

Natural Areas Explorer Webtool

This interactive webtool provides access to data and site information used to develop Planning Report No. 42, 2nd Amendment to the Natural Areas and Critical Species Habitat Management and Protection Plan for the Southeastern Wisconsin Region, preliminary draft December 2024. This revised inventory and assessment was completed by Commission biologists to update the natural areas, critical species habitat sites, aquatic (lake and stream reaches) areas, archaeological sites, and geological sites.

Screenshot of Natural Areas Explorer

The following data and maps are available through the Commission’s Natural Areas Explorer Webtool:

  • Natural areas sites, boundaries, and detailed site profiles
  • Critical Species Habitat sites
  • Aquatic Lake and Stream Rankings and locations
  • Archaeological Sites
  • Geological Sites
  • Aerial maps
  • Environmental Corridors
  • Invasive species management information and much more…

Explore Maps

 

The Commission completed the draft amendment to Planning Report Number 42 under the guidance of the Technical Advisory Committee and the Aquatic Habitat Subcommittee for the Protection and Management of Natural Areas. The amendment updates the regional inventory, modernizes data curation and mapping through the creation of webtools, creates detailed site profiles for natural areas identified in the plan, and revises and updates the aquatic area assessment scheme and inventory.

Read the Draft Plan