Land Resources

The La Crosse-Bad Axe River basin covers nearly 1,000 square miles within the driftless, or unglaciated, portion of the state. Typical terrain consists of ridges with steep slopes and narrow stream valleys, characteristic of the coulee region. An elevation difference of 700 feet from valley floor to ridgetop is not uncommon. Soils are silt loam (loess) and sandy loam over sandstone and dolomite.

Aside from agricultural crops, vegetation in the basin consists of oak forest, degraded oak savanna, grassland, dry prairie, and bottomland hardwoods. Exposed sandstone and dolomite cliffs are common throughout the basin. The major land use is agriculture, including dairy and beef farms, located on ridge tops as well as stream valleys. Highly erodable lands, common in the driftless area, are either in hardwoods or in set-aside programs such as the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). Wooded slopes are often managed for oak/hardwood production, however due to high tax assessments of non-agricultural land, more wooded slopes are now being grazed.

For more information about the land resources found in the La Crosse-Bad Axe River Basin please visit: http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/gmu/balax/badaxe_ch2.pdf