From fairways and greens
to forests and grasslands
Nature has already begun reclaiming
former Belgium golf course, which with help
from a team of experts and stimulus funding
is in the process of being transformed into
a unique migratory bird sanctuary



STANDING ON WHAT used to be a golf course,
Ozaukee Washington Land Trust Executive Director
Shawn Graff surveyed the 116-acre Forest Beach
Migratory Preserve in the Town of Belgium Tuesday.
Photo by Bill Schanen IV

By BILL SCHANEN IV
Ozaukee Press staff
Posted 7-2-09

The once manicured greens and neat fairways of the former Squires Country Club are overgrown.

Nature is wasting no time reclaiming the Town of Belgium property now owned by the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust and named the Forest Beach Migratory Preserve.

But nature is going to receive plenty of assistance from a team of state, federal and local environmental experts and ornithologists embarking on a bold plan to not only restore the former golf course to its natural state but create a patchwork of diverse habits that promise to transform the property into a premier bird sanctuary.

“The goal of restoration projects is typically to return the land to its pre-settlement state,” Land Trust Executive Director Shawn Graff said. “We’ve decided to go in a much different direction. Our goal is to create a first-class migratory bird hotel.”

To accomplish this, existing habitats will be restored and expanded. Then new habitats, which would not naturally be found on the 116-acre property along the Lake Michigan shore, will be developed.

The result will by a premiere wayside for hundreds of species of birds that travel the flyway between South America and Canada on their migratory journeys.

“So many restoration projects have tried to simply recreate pre-settlement habitats,” said Noel Cutright, a bird expert from the Town of Saukville who is involved in the Forest Beach project. “This project is really unique because it will create a variety of habitats to attract many more migratory species.

“It’s the most exciting project I’ve been involved in.”

Federal and state agencies are also excited about the project. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency has earmarked $454,000 in stimulus money for the preserve and is helping restore the property. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is also involved, as are local organizations and corporations such as Cedarburg Science.

“The stimulus money will allow us to do in 18 months what would otherwise take 10 years,” Graff said.

Greens and fairways will become grasslands, savannas and shrub lands. Water hazards will become wetlands and mud flats. Small stands of trees will become hardwood forests.

The plants that grow in these habitats will attract what experts hope will be a large biomass of insects, creating a virtual smorgasbord for as many as 250 species of migratory birds.

Cutright noted that nearby Harrington Beach State Park is one of the premier, though often overlooked, migratory bird stopovers in the state. Forest Beach Migratory Preserve promises to become just as attractive to birds.

“Harrington Beach has a bird checklist of 258 species,” he said. “That is the goal at Forest Beach.”

Although designed for birds, the preserve will have a system of trails winding through the habitats. The property also offers access to the Lake Michigan beach.

Helping with the project is a corps of volunteers, many of them neighbors of the preserve, who are doing everything from maintaining a preliminary trail system to removing invasive plant species.

“We’ve really had great support from the neighbors,” Graff said. “There is really a lot of excitement about this project.”

The Land Trust bought the property from former Squires Country Club owners Bruce and Bonnie Bloemer in November 2008 for $2.54 million. The purchase was financed with a $2.2 million loan from Lynde Uihlein, who owns property near the golf course.

Uihlein purchased and will retain 25 acres at the far south end of the former Squires property, which is in the Town of Port Washington. She is participating in the planning for the migratory preserve and intends to restore and preserve her portion of the property so as to create a natural, though private, extension of the Land Trust property, Graff said.