our commitment to restoration and conservation

This unique property was once the lakebed of an ancient glacial lake that covered much of Central Wisconsin. In roughly 16,000BC, the ice dam protecting the glacial lake burst, causing a catastrophic flood event that emptied the entire 150-foot deep lake in just two days - thus creating what is now the Wisconsin Dells. The sandy lakebed where Sand Valley now sits became exposed and over time, it blew into the 80-foot high dunes and valleys that are seen today.

In the 19th century, the site became a pulp tree plantation with red pine trees planted in rows. The red pines were managed as "crops," planted in long rows and harvested and sold periodically. When the Keisers’ discovered the property, it was being used as a pulp tree nursery by a major timber company and lacked the diversity of plant life that is natural to the site. Prior to the land being used as a pulp tree plantation, it was naturally known as a "Jack Pine-Hill's Oak Sand Barren" with exposed sand areas, indigenous low-lying vegetation and flowers and intermittent strands of Jack Pines and Hill's Oaks. In addition to building a world-class golf resort, our goal is to restore the native Sand Barrens by removing the red pine trees and encouraging the growth of native plants. Several years after removing the majority of red pine from the property, we're happy to see a great diversity of vegetation come to life.