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What is the Big Hill? The Big Hill Environmental Learning Center is an area rich in diverse plant and animal communities and habitat: wetland, prairie, oak savanna, and woodland, owned jointly by the DeForest Area School District and the Town of Windsor. Since 2004 it has been a Wisconisin School Forest.
What is going on at the Big Hill? - Student activities led by experienced teachers of environmental education.
- Student seed gathering and planting activities.
- Maintenance of facilities: benches, dock, shed, shelter, birdhouses, soil pits, trackign boxes, pond bank reinforcement, etc.
- Classroom extension opportunities for New Reflections, the high school alternative education program.
- Quarterly community clean-ups, control of invasive plants, and brush removal.
- Water quality observations.
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back to top What is the Big Hill's History? - Survey records of 1834
indicate a rolling prairie thinly timbered with bur, black, and white oak.
| - During the Civil War it was used for target practice.
| - Because of its location near wetlands, native Americans may have used this hill as a camp or lookout.
| - In the 1990's Cecile and Bernadine Smith and Fred and Helen Chase generously established 62 acres as a nature preserve and environmental learning center for the local schools and community.
| - The next century it was a University of Wisconsin ski hill. Later a gravel quarry was started to the south of the hill; the north end is cultivated farmland.
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back to top How can I get involved? - Volunteers should look for bulletins in the local newspaper and in school newsletters.
| - E-mail
This E-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
| - Call Barb Bauer at Windsor Elementary - 842-6300.
| - Click
 here for Big Hill regulations.
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back to top When can you go to the Big Hill? - Open to the public: Sunrise-Sunset
What has happened at the Big Hill so far? Back to top Teachers who are interested in going to the Big Hill - Click here for Big Hill guidlines.
| - Click here for a teacher checklist in planning a Big Hill visit.
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back to top What are the Big Hill's rules? Picnics, vehicles, bikes, camping, and hunting are not permitted. Leave your pets home; seeds collect and spread from their coats. Protect natural areas by staying on trails. Leave animal burrows and nests alone. Leave plants, plant parts, animals, rocks, and artifacts where you found them. Take your trash with you.
Main Goal: Insuring that the property is maintained as an environmental, learning outdoor classroom. back to top
Instructional Services Home Page
842-6530
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Last Updated: Tuesday, 21 December 2010
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