Eastern massasauga habitat in the lower Chippewa River bottoms in southwest Wisconsin. Photo courtesy of Kris Johanson, WDNR.

The Eastern massasauga rattlesnake will benefit from conservation efforts in Wisconsin. Photo courtesy of Suzanne Collins.

On April 8, 2008, an Eastern Massasauga Work Group meeting was held at Necedah NWR.  Attendees included biologists from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Green Bay Ecological Field Office, Necedah National Wildlife Refuge, the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge (Winona and LaCrosse districts), the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and the U.S. Geological Survey. 

Information was shared on rattlesnake monitoring and habitat restoration activities in the lower Black and Chippewa River bottoms in southwest Wisconsin.  Oak savanna and sand prairie habitats are being restored for the rattlesnake in the lower Black River bottoms.  In the lower Chippewa River bottoms, forested habitat is being converted to open canopy habitat to increase connectivity between suitable habitat patches to increase the carrying capacity of the snake population.  While monitoring studies in 2007 on the lower Black River turned up no rattlesnakes, 26 snakes were found (10 of which were gravid) on the lower Chippewa River.

 The USGS reported that their hydrology and vegetation study of the lower Black River bottoms found that wooded areas have decreased since 1938, marsh habitat has increased, and in general the area has become wetter over time with the predominant condition in the Black River bottoms being seasonally flooded.  Using information from the USGS study, additional restoration areas in the lower Black and Chippewa River bottoms were identified that would benefit the eastern massasauga rattlesnake.  This information will be used by land managers to guide future restoration activities. 

The conservation measures in the Draft Candidate Conservation Plan with Assurances for the Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake on the lower Chippewa River were also reviewed, and as a result of input from land managers, the burn protocol will be amended to provide a more flexible burn window.