Koch Woodlands
Acquired to fulfill a request to preserve the Koch family homestead, Koch Woodlands is a quaint, 2.5-acre site. Providing valuable habitat for birds and wildlife alike, this birding hotspot has a short hiking trail loop that provides a wooden refuge where we can enjoy the sights and sounds of a bubbling creek.
<.25-mile trail to access
Migratory flyway
Connects to Oak Leaf trail system
Acquisition
Koch Woodlands (2.5 acres) was acquired in 2008 for $10,000 per the Koch family request to preserve their family’s homestead. Richard A. Koch was the first President of the Village of Brown Deer. A partial donation by his widow, Margie Koch, to match DNR Stewardship Program and Argosy Foundation grants allowed this woods to be preserved.
Protecting these woods offered another link in the Oak Leaf Trail system connecting a We Energies right-of-way with the Zip Line; bridge crossing over Southbranch Creek. Initial bank restoration was completed with a Wisconsin Coastal Management Program grant with matching funds provided by the Village of Brown Deer, a $190,000 project.
Access to explore the site is along the Oak Leaf Trail near the intersection of Teutonia Avenue and Green Bay Road, south of Brown Deer Road. Enjoy a nature walk along the less than .25 mile hiking trail loop; it’s a perfect wooded rest spot and birding hotspot to listen to the bubbling creek.
Koch Woodlands offers valuable habitat for migratory warblers; Baltimore orioles (breeding); cedar waxwings; American kestrel; belted kingfishers; American toads, coyotes; and deer. Southbranch Creek, a turbid low gradient stream over cobble, sandy silt creekbed, provides suitable habitat for state threatened redfin shiner. Are you a Bird Nerd? Check out a complete list of bird species and add your observation at eBird.
STEWARDSHIP
Record your bird sightings at Koch Woodlands on eBird
Koch Woodlands funders
WIsconsin Coastal Management Program
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Stewardship Program
Argosy Foundation
