Dane County’s Nine Springs E-Way Is an Important Local Natural Resource

by Jacob Dunn, age 15

The Lewis Nine Springs E-Way is a natural area located in Madison, Fitchburg and the surrounding area. It is Wisconsin’s first E-Way.

An E-Way is a protected corridor that connects nature to the urban areas around it. Nine Springs E-Way provides opportunities for environmental education, exercise, and outdoor recreation. This E-Way, an ecological conservation area, is crucial for local wildlife and is open to public.

These thriving environmental habitats stretch from around Lake Waubesa to the Dunn's Marsh area and include parts of urban Madison. The Lewis Nine Springs E-Way was developed to preserve natural ecosystems within and around the urban areas of Dane County.

The planning of this E-Way dates all the way back to 1969, when UW Madison professor Philip Lewis, a conservationist that helped develop the Dane County parks system, proposed the idea of an E-Way to “show how a community can identify and capitalize on existing natural and manmade resources.”

Later, in 2012, the E-Way was dedicated to Phil Lewis and his wife Elizabeth. Elizabeth served on the Dane County Parks Commission. Their vision was to provide access to nature and its study in a growing urban area. Dane County brought his project to fruition by creating the Lewis Nine Springs E-Way in 1987.

This E-Way is a significant ecological resource. It contains a variety of habitats like wetlands, forests, and prairies. Nine Springs Creek and the wetlands in the E-Way are significant because they provide flood control and filter pollutants from stormwater runoffs, thus protecting surrounding lakes and rivers from contamination. The ecological and esthetic diversity included in the E-Way make it a haven for native wildlife.

For the people of Dane County, this E-Way provides many recreational opportunities like hiking and biking trails. The trails connect to and through many other trails, one being the famous Capital City State Trail. This natural area is commonly used for birdwatching, photography, and exercise. Nine Springs E-Way brings a peaceful and beautiful setting to an urban area like Madison.

This first ever E-Way benefits the wildlife and people of Madison by serving as a local natural laboratory. Phil Lewis’s dream lives on through the E-Way, as it connects nature and people. The Lewis Nine Springs E-Way is a beautiful and accessible environmental space for the people and wildlife of Madison and the surrounding area. It is a sustainable resource for our community, now and for the future.

[Sources: Dane County Parks; Friends of Capital Springs Recreation Area; Visit Madison]