L.H. Barkhausen Waterfowl Preserve

Suamico - Green Bay (Brown Cty)

Somehow this post got away from me and you, Gentle Reader, will never see the amount of heavy editing I did just to stay on topic. I've been fighting the flu bug and it's made me a little rough around the edges.

Barkhausen happens to be a pretty well established preserve from what I saw during my visit. Conservation efforts are only as good as the communities that support it. For instance, the nature center in Dundee (Washington Cty) is very elaborate, as in the Gordon Buboltz (or as I call it Gordon's Blueballs) in Appleton (Outagamie Cty) is fair, and the one in West Bend is..... oh yeah, there is none unless you are referring to Lac Lawrann Conservancy (Washington Cty), which no one visits except for school children who wouldn't go there willingly.

Back to Barkhausen. Of the facts that I can share, it is 920 acres containing at least 9 miles of trails, some groomed for cross country skiing. Home of West Shores Interpretive Center, which is one of the nicer ones I've encountered (referring again to analysis in above paragraph). Of my own experience, the nature center was the best part of the visit. The trails were very nice, but suburbia was always present in one way another. The best part was the amount of muckwalking that I encountered when trying to hike off the beaten path. I will always remember fondly the memory of my daughter's shoe being left in the mud as we realized that we mucked ourselves into a minor predicament and the ensuing trek back to the trail, defeated by mud.

According to the historical data, Suamico was once home to prehistoric Indians though nothing is mentioned of this on the village site. Unless I am wrong, Suamico is an Indian name and most towns want to share its Indian history... so with the lack of information, Suamico must probably mean White Toast Urbanization. Admittedly a loose translation, but a fair guesstimate if you look at the demographic breakdown (I dare you try and find it).

When in doubt...look for the areas historical society...the official keepers of local conscience.
Suamico is from the Menominee name Mäte Sue'mako Tusi'nini, or 'Great Sand Bar People'.