Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie State Natural Area protects a small but exceptionally diverse dry-mesic prairie in Wisconsin’s Driftless Area, west of Black Earth in Dane County. Set on a low knob and ridge, it preserves one of the state’s few remaining examples of this prairie type, with 130 documented native plant species and several rare plants and insects. Surveyor records show the land was treeless prairie before settlement. It was never plowed, though grazing likely occurred and old tractor furrows remain visible. Protected for decades by private owners, the prairie was acquired by The Nature Conservancy in 1986, later transferred to The Prairie Enthusiasts, and remains a refuge and reminder of Wisconsin’s former grasslands.