The Broughton Sheboygan Marsh Park and Wildlife Area is the prominent feature in a 133 square mile watershed of the Sheboygan River, a pristine area with about 14,000 acres of land and surface water, including 7,414 acres owned by Sheboygan County and 752 acres owned by the State of Wisconsin, with the balance privately held. The marsh was created after the retreat of the last glacier that covered the region, when melt waters and successive flows were blocked by a prominent rock outcropping that served as a dam, forming a glacial lake that over thousands of years filled with decaying plant matter to become the present marsh, with up to 100 feet of marl and peat in the basin. It provides habitat for whitetailed deer, wild turkeys, coyotes, fox, great blue herons, sandhill cranes, ruffed grouse, red-tailed hawks, sora rails, yellow-headed blackbirds, rabbits, raccoons, muskrats, mink, and many other creatures and organisms, serves as an important waterfowl nesting and staging area, and supports fish including northern pike, bass, black bullhead, and panfish. From about 1870 to about 1930, several schemes sought to drain the marsh and convert it to farmland, using an enormous steam-powered dredge to dig more than 20 miles of drainage ditches that can still be seen and traversed today; although large parts of the marsh were drained, investors squandered their fortunes as sales never materialized, and the effort brought environmental devastation that turned large areas into wastelands instead of wetlands. Beginning in 1927, conservation-minded citizens led by Charles E. Broughton and the Sheboygan Chapter of the Izaak Walton League worked to restore the marsh, starting with Broughton’s donation of 80 acres to Sheboygan County, followed by the county’s purchase of 6,349 acres at a public foreclosure. In 1938, the Federal Works Progress Administration constructed a dam that quickly reflooded the area, allowing the marsh to flourish again. Continuing Broughton’s vision, the Friends of the Marsh formed in 2005 to help protect and promote the marsh, began raising money in 2006 to build the State of Wisconsin’s tallest wooden observation tower, received official non-profit status in 2008, and, with help from Jos. Schmitt and Sons after the economic downturn hurt donations, opened the 80-foot tower to the public on Christmas Day 2009.