Tiffany Wildlife Area

Download a map of the Area (PDF)

Ice Age Legacy
Imagine the impact of a melting ice-cube about one mile thick and 250 miles wide! That’s exactly the kind of force that shaped Tiffany Wildlife Area about 10,000 years ago, only the ice cube was called the Wisconsin Glacier.

While the glacier’s advance stopped northeast of the Tiffany, the rushing meltwaters created massive rivers that formed the fertile Chippewa River valley and delta located at the site of the Tiffany Wildlife Area. The glacier-created delta also plugged drainage into the Mississippi River and formed Lake Pepin just west of Tiffany. The lush, bottomland hardwood forest and varied topography found today at Tiffany, resulted from this glacial legacy.

Early People
It is likely that pre-historic Indians lived beneath the shadow of the glacier at Tiffany beginning about 11,000 years ago. More recently, a Winnebago Indian camp was located on the Chippewa River delta. During the late 1800s, the lumber industry began logging the towering red and white pine of northern Wisconsin. Lumberjacks floated the logs down the Chippwa River to Beef Slough for sorting before heading them to sawmills along the Mississippi.

The Chippewa River floodplain was used for a variety of agricultural activities during the early settlement of Buffalo County, in the late 1800s, including farming and cattle raising. By the mid-1930s, all farming ceased because the land became too wet due to the navigational dam system now operating on the Mississippi River. Between 1920 and 1940, the timber on the property was logged by the area’s namesake, H. O. Tiffany; most of today’s timber dates from that time. The initial acquisition of property was made in Buffalo County from Mr. Tiffany in 1946.

Grasslands, Timber and Wetlands: Management for Wildlife
Periodic mowing and controlled burning maintain meadow and grassland habitat at Tiffany for waterfowl nesting cover and a number of other upland birds. Burning also maintains native prairie and savannah plants that existed before settlement. In addition, hand-made wood duck houses dot wetland habitat to help maintain these birds.

Timber harvests help maintain aspen and oak in a diverse pattern of size classes that provides food and cover for deer, ruffed grouse and beaver, as well as many non-game animals. Obvious den, dead, and superior acorn producing trees are preserved to provide wildlife cover and food. Beaver dams on sloughs and old river meanders create a maze of ponds and wetlands. Together, these activities maintain the diversity and abundance of habitat present on Tiffany’s more than 13,000 acres.

Hunting of Fishing Anyone?
Hunters who relish a natural setting will like Tiffany. It contains one of the state’s largest, continuous bottomland hardwood forests. White-tailed deer, ruffed grouse, turkey, squirrel and waterfowl are common game species at Tiffany. Furbearers such as beaver, otter, muskrat, and raccoon are also common. Note: Beaver and otter protected from trapping in an 8,000-acre closed area. Popular game fish include panfish, walleye, smallmouth bass, channel catfish, and northern pike. Please follow all hunting and fishing regulations carefully.

Silent Sports and Watchable Wildlife
You don’t have to hunt or fish to enjoy the area. Tiffany attracts many people who canoe, camp, raft, hike and cross-country ski as well as those who watch wildlife, pick berries, take photographs and educational field trips. Bird watchers are attracted because of its varied topography and plant communities. A number of endangered and threatened species are also present. These include the massasauga rattlesnake, blandings turtle, red-shouldered hawk, bald eagle, great egret, and three fish: the crystal darter, river redhorse and the blue sucker. The early spring showing of wild flowers, which includes marsh marigold and spring beauty, also draws visitors.

Special Rules at Tiffany
Motor Vehicles: Please leave your automobile, RV, motorcycle, ATV, etc., at designated parking areas – motor vehicles are not allowed anywhere else at Tiffany. Trails: Trails are not marked at Tiffany, but the area is open to hiking, cross country skiing and nature study. Please be careful.

Camping: Primitive camping is allowed, by permit only, within Tiffany’s interior – No developed sites are available. Camping permits are available at the DNR office in Alma.

Tree Stands: Hunters must remove their tree stands at the end of each day. Tree stands which damage
trees are prohibited.

Your wildlife management staff thanks you in advance for your cooperation.