The Arboretum Committee was formed in 1961 to investigate the possibility of acquiring some
suitable land for class study and research purposes for the UWM Zoology and Botany
Departments. The 177-acre Cedar-Sauk Field Station was purchased in 1964 through the efforts
of the Nature Conservancy. Another field station, also acquired by the Nature Conservancy,
is the Benedict Prairie, a five-acre tract of land near Kenosha. Two other university sites
for field work are the ravine by Kenwood Hall and Downer Woods. The Arboretum Committee was
dissolved in 1964 when the administration of these natural areas were placed under the
supervision of the Field Stations Committee consisting of Botany and Zoology Department
staff members. The main Station property, located in Saukville, Wisconsin, has about 2,500
acres of undisturbed, high-quality natural communities. These include the Cedarburg Bog, one
of the largest and most biologically interesting wetlands in southern Wisconsin, the Sapa
Bog, an acidic black spruce bog, and an old growth beech-maple forest. In addition to the
Cedarburg Bog Unit, the Field Station now manages five outlying properties (including
Benedict Prairie) as well as the Downer Woods.
