I’m not the first to be thankful for a November walk amidst the drooping oaks, the rain-wet sedges, the bog birch. Far from it. There are the turkeys, for one; the deer bounding off the main trails, their telltale white tails flying up before becoming lost in autumnal camouflage; the sandhill cranes gliding overhead and caterwauling in the glades.

There are active beavers at the two ponds along Wheeler Road in the South Unit of Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park.The City of Madison is working with an environmental contractor to protect the drainage culverts in the ponds without harming the beavers.Parks conservation staff will also consider how best to protect valuable trees.

Members of Scout troops 127 & 7127 spent part of a beautiful, dry day in October 2025 placing storm drain markers in Madison Northside neighborhoods that read "No Dumping • Drains to Lake"

Paul Quinlan, conservation resources supervisor at Madison Parks, has (with his colleagues and input from the Friends) completed a comprehensive Habitat Management Plan for the North Unit of Cherokee Marsh Conservation Park.