Southwest Path Committee

ABOUT THE SOUTHWEST PATH COMMITTEE

Our History

The current DMNA SW Path Committee evolved from several organizations and efforts: the initial and multi-neighborhood Friends of the SW Bike Path (2001), the Replanters of the Path (2003), the Friends of the Southwest Path (2005), and our more recent focus on four sites along the path between Odana and Prospect.

We began in partnership with the Friends of Lake Wingra, the City of Madison Division of Engineering, MG&E, the UW -Madison Arboretum, Dane County (Ripple Effects & Plant Dane), and several native plant resources, and maintain those public and private relationships today.

Our Basic Goals

Because our path corridors are within the Lake Wingra Watershed areas, we stay focused on how native landscapes can promote diversity of flora and fauna as well as act as filters for rain and floodwaters.

Our Typical Projects

  • Seasonal management of more aggressive plants in our established healthy areas. We remove garlic mustard, burdock, ragweed, hedge parsley, buckthorn and honeysuckle, and identify these for new volunteers. We usually hold regularly scheduled work events supervised by a current volunteer once or twice a month. but will explore other options as well.

  • Planting and replanting of sites for diversity and any changes in patterns of sun, shade or moisture, as needed.

  • Conducting city-regulated prairie burns on rotating basis. We use certified crews, follow all safety protocols, and teach volunteers how to prepare site for more complete burning, to contain flames at edges, and to make sure all flames are out.

  • Educational tours and activities, ranging from a focus on plants, pollinators, and ecology of site in general. And we’ve hosted monarch releases, and invited young girl scouts to find and scatter milkweed seeds in Fall. More ideas always welcome!

 

Please join us! Contact Sandy with any questions about how to get involved! 

To read more about the Southwest Path and its history, peruse the documents linked below.

  • Dudgeon-Monroe Prairie Information

    General Information about the Dudgeon-Monroe Prairie

    Open

  • Glenway Prairie

    General Information about the Glenway Prairie

    Open

  • Prospect Gardens Information

    General Information about Prospect Gardens

    Open

  • Friends of the SW Path Planting History

    List of initial planting along the SW Path in the early 2000s, as well as other history surrounding the path and its flora.

    Open

  • 1998 SW Path Study Committee Report

    Detailed report of recommendations on the design of the path.

    Open

  • SW Path Construction Updates 2000-2001

    During the construction of the SW Path, updates were sent to interested parties about the construction of the path by Paul Beckett.

    Open