Arboretum effigy mounds project to begin

The university is working with the Ho-Chunk Nation and the State Historical Society to protect an important grouping of effigy mounds in the UW Arboretum.

The project focuses on the Wingra Woods Effigy Mounds, a site that features a grouping of 14 burial and ceremonial mounds. A rerouting of the trail will provide a larger buffer zone between the mounds and the nearby footpath.

The mounds themselves will be untouched, but the university plans several improvements surrounding the site, campus environmental management coordinator Daniel Einstein says. The project includes creating a disabled access trail, developing interpretive signs and improving access to nearby Big Spring Overlook.

Einstein says the campus has one of the biggest concentrations of effigy mounds anywhere in the state. This is the first step toward a campuswide management plan to highlight their spiritual and historical importance with better management and public education.

Archeologists consider the Arboretum mounds especially significant because of their size and close proximity.