Protection of the Owen Property

On September 20, the Cedar Lakes Conservation Foundation (CLCF) completed the purchase of the 40-acre Owen Property, which lies south of the Town of West Bend Town Hall and includes a portion of the County Road Z wetland complex. The Owen Property is directly across County Road Z from CLCF’s Pick Wetland and a quarter mile north of CLCF’s Joan M. Pick Nature Preserve. CLCF sincerely appreciates Todd and John Owen for their commitment to conserving this ecologically significant property.

Todd and John Owen’s passion for conservation stems from their mother, Anna Lou. Anna Lou was a woman ahead of her time—earning a PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1952 and spending the majority of her career as a professor of Economics at the University of Colorado at Boulder.

History: The Riesch family has been in the Town of West Bend since 1855, when Peter John Riesch, Anna Lou’s great-grandfather, arrived from Switzerland. Peter’s grandson Ben owned 149.25 acres at the north end of Big Cedar Lake. By the late 1920s, Anna Lou’s mother, Amelia owned this land, and Amelia’s husband, Louis J. Riesch operated the Riesch Dairy, later known as the Cedar Lake Dairy. According to Anna Lou Owen, the grazing cattle meandered the uplands of the Owen property until Cedar Lake Dairy ceased operations. Ultimately, Anna Lou Owen owned approximately 65 acres of the former farm, including what CLCF refers to as the Owen Property. Todd and John Owen have fond memories of exploring the upland woods and lowland wetlands of the Property and felt that the best way to honor their mother’s legacy was to conserve the land for future generations.

The upland forest on the Owen Property is dominated by maples, shagbark hickory, and basswoods, with a few ephemeral ponds scattered throughout. The upland slopes down to the east, where the wetland stores rainwater throughout the year, letting sediments settle out as it funnels water underneath County Road Z toward Silver Creek. The entire property is designated as Primary Environmental Corridor by SEWRPC due to these impressive qualities.