On hillsides and in fields and along rural roads all across Wisconsin can be found pieces of a landscape that once was. These are restored prairies and they are a legacy of a worldwide movement that had its beginnings within the confines of the UW Arboretum.

There, in the late 1930s, researchers such as Aldo Leopold and the botanist John Curtis came up with the idea of bringing back the lost beauty of native prairies.

They planted what became the first restored landscapes in the world and you can still walk through them today.

There was a great sense of urgency to their work.

Though much of southern Wisconsin was once mostly prairie, dotted by park-like stands of oaks, that landscape largely disappeared beneath the plow and settlement. Only about 0.15 percent, or about 15 acres for each 10,000 acres of pre-settlement prairie, remained when Leopold and Curtis set about their task of bringing back prairies.

By patiently gathering native plants from remnant prairies and along railroad tracks, Leopold and Curtis nurtured the growth of native prairies at the fledgling Arboretum. The prairies bloomed and the discipline of restoration ecology was born.

What has changed since then?

For one thing, restoration ecology has grown into a respected endeavor. People make careers out of it now. But in another, probably unforeseen, development, the practice of restoring prairies has been embraced by ordinary people, landowners and others who long to walk through a prairie in bloom.

Consider the Prairie Enthusiasts, a private organization committed to restoring and protecting prairies and savannas. The grassroots organization, which relies almost totally on volunteers, has restored and protected more than 30 sites totalling 2,066 acres in Wisconsin and Northwest Illinois. Recently it has played a leadership role in establishing the 50,000-acre Military Ridge Prairie Heritage Area, a combination of private and public lands that are being restored and protected in southwestern Wisconsin.

Rich Henderson is a prairie expert with the state Department of Natural Resources who is a past president of the Prairie Enthusiasts. He is deeply involved in prairie restoration efforts and said that, like many who in interested in the practice, he is motivated by what used to be.

"A lot of people have come to realize what used to be here and they feel cheated,'' Henderson said. "These prairies were pretty amazing. You read the reports of early settlers and they were at a loss for words. These were wildflower gardens that went on forever.''

As important, or even maybe more important, than the work of such groups and of government agencies are the efforts of private landowners. Kathie and Tom Brock have spent their retirement years carefully restoring and tending 140-acres of prairie and oak savanna in western Dane County. The land when they bought it was worn out from grazing and farming. Now red-headed woodpeckers breed in the stands of oaks and more than 300 species of flowering plants have been recorded, some of them rare.

"This is a historical artifact,'' said Tom Brock during a recent walk through the property. "It's like restoring an old house. Here we have all of these old oak remnants and they may be degraded but they can be restored. It's a challenge.''

The work by private individuals such as the Brocks has been one of the most heartening developments in the years since Leopold first kicked the dirt in the new Arboretum and  wondered whether he could grow a prairie.

"Our  perspective is that this is a movement that continues to gather momentum,'' said Buddy Huffaker, director of the Aldo Leopold Foundation. "What we're doing is not only building restored landscapes but reconnecting people to the landscape. We see an insatiable demand from landowners for wanting to do the right thing.''