MOUNT PLEASANT, Wis. — The Village of Mount Pleasant, Racine County and the Root Pike Watershed Initiative Network have teamed up to protect Campbell Woods in perpetuity.

This comes six years after a failed attempt to turn the remaining undeveloped land into high density senior housing.

After that plan fell through, a new commitment emerged to make sure this land was never developed.

Dave Giordano is the Executive Director of the Root-Pike WIN.

“These natural wooded areas with wetlands in southeastern Wisconsin are becoming more and more rare,” said Giordano.

Giordano said about 90% of the wetlands in southeastern Wisconsin are either gone or altered. That’s why he believes it’s essential to save places like Campbell Woods.

“Wetlands are like earth’s kidneys. They process pollutants,” said Giordano. “They absorb stormwater. They provide an incredible habitat and when you lose wetlands, you lose the ability to hold water and you lose the ability; the natural ability to process pollutants.”

Mount Pleasant Village Trustee Nancy Washburn explained that back in the early 1900s, the woods were a part of the farm called Fink Farm.

Then it was sold to the Campbell family, who developed some of the land into a neighborhood.

Washburn said even though the Fink family doesn’t own the land anymore, they are still happy to see the area maintained in its original form.

“It means a lot to the family. There is an environmental corridor that stretches to the west off of this property,” Washburn said. “There [are] 10 acres to the west on the property that they still own, so knowing the family history here and the farm life they enjoyed and seeing it preserved does mean a lot to them.”

Village President David DeGroot also played a role in making sure Campbell Woods was preserved.

He explained the owner of the property wanted to develop the final undeveloped part of woods into high density senior housing, but that proposal drew the ire of nearby residents.

After the owner ran into financial troubles a few years later, DeGroot said they didn’t want the future of the property to remain in limbo.

“Between us and the county, we were able to come up with two-thirds of the costs which was an important number because that enables us to allow root-pike win to leverage that amount to do what they do best, which is grant writing,” said DeGroot.

Racine County Executive John Delagrave said it was also a simple decision to invest in the protection of the woods.

“Campbell Woods is something that’s always been important to Racine County residents and especially Mount Pleasant and to preserve that for the future of that area for the county and our residents is anytime we can add quality of amenities to our county taxpayers at really no cost or leveraging taxpayer money is a great thing for us,” said Delagrave.

The Root-Pike WIN plans to raise the money for the remaining third need to purchase a conservation easement to make sure the rest of the land can not be developed.

As for the future of the woods, Giordano envisions a hiking trail and an effort to remove invasive species.

“I think it’s super important to have those that aren’t built that are native that are essential to our ecosystem because it’s not just about this generation anymore. It’s about the next generations that follow,” said Giordano.

Giordano said he expects no shortage of developments around Campbell Woods in the future, but natural spaces will still be in short supply.

For him, it’s important that Campbell Woods remains preserved to maintain the natural beauty of the part of Wisconsin he and so many others call home.