Driftless Area Land Conservancy Logo
DONATE
A rolling prairie hill with trees and blue sky in the background.

About Us

Driftless Area Land Conservancy protects and manages land in Southwest Wisconsin.​

But conservation today means more than drawing lines on a map. It means preserving the places where wildlife thrives, communities connect, and memories are made.

The Driftless is changing. Trails, farms, forests, and prairies face growing pressure. Each year, more of what makes this region extraordinary is at risk. That’s why we act now. We listen to neighbors, guide landowners, and engage with local voices to find collaborative solutions. 

We prioritize long-term goals and fiscal responsibility because protecting land in perpetuity demands bold action. The choices we make today will shape the Driftless for generations to come. That’s why Driftless Area Land Conservancy is committed to leading with vision, collaboration, and urgency. 

A sketched drawing of an oak tree.
Your Gift Protects Tomorrow

Our History

Before 2000, private landowners in Southwest Wisconsin who wanted to protect the places they loved were out of luck. Although other land trusts worked to the east and west, they couldn’t expand their reach to the heart of the Driftless Area. Wanting to protect natural resources in their own community, a group of local land stewards came together and created the Driftless Area Land Conservancy, also known as DALC.

The amount of protected land in Southwest Wisconsin began to grow, and so did DALC! In 2003, DALC hired its first staff member and completed its first conservation agreements to protect private land from development. In 2012, DALC acquired its first nature preserve. Today, we have a staff of eleven and a variety of programs that serve both the human and natural communities of the Driftless Area. 

2000-2005: Establishing Roots

  • 2000: The idea of DALC was born during a meeting at Jordahl Farm.
  • 2001: DALC officially established with founding members, including Tim Freeman (President), Doug Booth, and Harald Jordahl.
  • 2003: First staff member hired (Doug Cieslak as Executive Director). DALC completed its first conservation easements in Richland and Iowa Counties.
  • 2005: Collaborated with The Prairie Enthusiasts and the DNR to protect farmland using NRCS funds for the first time.

2006-2010: Building Momentum

  • 2008: Despite the Great Recession, DALC maintained steady progress.
  • 2010: Protected its largest contiguous parcel (Schuelke CE) and launched efforts to connect properties in the Military Ridge Prairie Heritage Area.

2011-2015: Expanding Conservation Efforts

  • 2011: Protected six contiguous conservation easements (Dry Dog CE’s); Dave Clutter became Executive Director.
  • 2012: Acquired the Erickson Conservation Area, DALC’s first-owned preserve, and completed its first projects in Green and Lafayette Counties.
  • 2013-2014: Achieved significant land donations, including the Boley CE (637 acres) and protection efforts in Sauk County.
  • 2015: Completed the Lowery Creek Watershed Plan, signaling a growing focus on community and ecosystem-level conservation.

2021-2025: Advancing Conservation Leadership

  • 2021: Began the first land protection assist with Ringelstetter Wetlands, later donated to the DNR.
  • 2023: Secured “Grasslands of Special Significance” NRCS funding for the Williams Farm, a first in Wisconsin.
  • 2024: Hired DALC’s first Development Director to further its mission and donor engagement
  • 2025: Celebrating 25 years of conservation success, with a focus on expanding land protection and stewardship initiatives.

What is the Driftless Area?

Many people think of the upper Midwest as flat. Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois were all ironed out by more than a million years of glaciers scraping over them, depositing ‘drift’ like boulders, sand, silt, and clay as they melted. But in the heart of this region, there’s a place the glaciers missed – what we now call the Driftless Area.

What is commonly referred to as the Driftless includes the hilly region of southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and northwestern Illinois. It spans about 24,000 square miles – an area the size of West Virginia. This region has a unique topography of rolling hills, wide plateaus above sandstone bluffs, and narrow valleys carved by coldwater streams.

Geologically speaking, only southwest Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois are truly “driftless” – meaning the glaciers never touched them. The area west of the Mississippi River was covered by the first of three glacial events in this region, so from a geological perspective it is not strictly “driftless.” However, the landscape, ecosystems, and human communities are similar, and all feel a part of a colloquial “Driftless Area.”

The Driftless Area is Unique

The broader Driftless Area served as a refuge to plants and animals when thick ice sheets covered much of northern North America, and still harbors rare and fascinating species. Since European settlement, as much of the Midwest has been converted to agriculture and development, the steep, rocky slopes of the Driftless have become a modern-day haven for dwindling native species such as grassland birds. The region’s clear, cold, spring-fed streams also provide phenomenal habitat for native trout, which are threatened by warming waters caused by climate change.

But the Driftless Area isn’t just defined by lack of glacial deposits, geography, or ecosystems. It also has a long history as unique and valued place for human residents. Today, the Driftless is full of productive farms, groundbreaking architecture, local food movements, art communities, state parks, hiking trails, and people who love and steward the land.

For these reasons and many more, the Driftless Area is a special place.

A topographic map highlighting the Mississippi River valley and the Driftless Area of Wisconsin and Minnesota.

This map is from “The Driftless Area: The extent of unglaciated and similar terrains in Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota” (Carson et al, 2023), a publication of the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey. You can read the full pamphlet here.