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3975 County Highway T in Barneveld, WI 53507

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Site Steward

Connect with the site steward to see how you can care for this rare habitat at an upcoming work party.

This site is stewarded by The Prairie Enthusiasts Empire-Sauk Chapter.

Site Steward: Andy Sleger (Email)

What Makes Thomas Tract Special

Once common in southern Wisconsin, prairies are very rare today. The 95,000-acre Military Ridge Prairie Heritage Area in Dane and Iowa counties contains one of the highest concentrations of native grasslands in the Midwest. It provides important habitat for plants and animals like meadowlarks and other grassland birds, which have disappeared in more developed parts of the region. The federally-endangered prairie bush clover occurs on The Nature Conservancy’s (TNC) land to the south. Because there is similar habitat on The Prairie Enthusiasts’ land, the population of this rare plant is expected to expand as restoration progresses. The adjacent land owned by TNC also has a population of the State Endangered regal fritillary butterfly, we expect it to move on to this portion of land as well, especially as restoration proceeds. 

How was Thomas Tract Protected

In 1860, the Thomas family arrived from Wales in southwestern Wisconsin and settled among the rolling hills, beginning a multi-generational history of tending to the land as farmers. Stonemasons by trade, they built a stone barn from local materials, completing it in 1880. Nearly 150 years later, the barn is still standing, listed in both the Wisconsin and National Register of Historic places and watched over by the great grandson of the people who built it with their own hands, Doug Thomas. 

Doug had a front-row seat as the land around him began to change over the years. Subdivisions went up with large houses on land that his neighbors once farmed. Trees began to rise across the landscape that had been clear only a generation before. A golf course was constructed just over the hill to the east. As the last of his family still living on the land, he knew that he wanted to honor the deep connection that his family had built with the place: “My father and his brother, they never wanted this to be developed.” 

Protecting the land was a team effort that took place over time. With the Thomas family land located in the Military Ridge Prairie Heritage Area, it’s in one of the highest-priority regions for conservation statewide where multiple state and non-profit actors have worked alongside one another for decades. The Nature Conservancy initially purchased 79 acres from the Thomas family back in 1997 directly south of the Thomas Tract, and Driftless Area Land Conservancy had worked with Doug to place a conservation and historic preservation easement on these 190 acres in 2005 to ensure that the barn and the land would be protected in perpetuity. Finally, in 2014, The Prairie Enthusiasts and The Nature Conservancy worked in collaboration to purchase the property, and the remainder of the Thomas’ family’s land was protected in one form or another.

How You Can Help Thomas Tract

The Empire-Sauk Chapter has been stewarding the site, taking their time slowly restoring portions of the site. For Andy Sleger, Land Manager for the Empire-Sauk Chapter and Site Steward for the Thomas Tract, the first step has been to control the invasive species that are abundant on parts of the site, including Burnet saxifrage, sweet clover, and spotted knapweed. He’s proud of the progress that’s been made in the past few years and shared his excitement over the way that native species such as needle grass have responded with the reduction in invasive species pressure. With consistent fire being returned to the site, Andy can see the native species that have survived beginning to flourish once again. Doug, for his part, is relieved to see that the legacy of his family’s care for the land will continue on: “It’s the best feeling knowing that it will stay the same, knowing that somebody can’t build a house over this.”

The primary goal is to restore the Thomas land back to its original open prairie, which is important for declining grassland birds and other wildlife. This will be a volunteer effort for the most part, and the Empire-Sauk Chapter welcomes new volunteers. In the future, we hope to work with the community and our partners to form a “Friends of the Thomas Stone Barn” group to contribute the knowledge and expertise with historic buildings that we lack, and help make the barn a place where people can gather and experience our prairie and agricultural heritage.

Check out our Events Calendar to see upcoming work parties or contact the site steward to get involved.