RESTORING PRAIRIE, WOODS, AND POND

The Eagle Nature Trail in Eagle, Wisconsin, spans vast acres and centuries, although the idea of restoring it was conceived only in 2009. The gradual transformation of an impassable wasteland choked by invasive species into three discrete and diverse ecosystems frames Lawlor’s research into the area’s history. In accessible language, she chronicles the glacial origins of Eagle, the arrival of Indigenous peoples, “Euro-American” colonization and agricultural expansion, and the area’s eventual devastation and renewal. Although her descriptions of past happenstance sometimes fill the proverbial gaps a bit fancifully, the relish with which this research has been undertaken rings clearly in every word, holding reader attention throughout. Returning to the nature trail, a waltz through the four seasons explores how the trail brings the local community together, acting as a natural classroom and drawing volunteers from all walks of life to maintain the sanctity of the land they helped the wilds reclaim. Peppered with bright, almost bucolic photographs and quotes from local sources and free from the burden of proselytizing, this is more than a simple account of a wilderness restoration project. This is activism at its most accessible: the beautiful struggles of a region and community to make a large difference in a small world.

A magical and timely story of ecosystems restored to their former glory.