Sand Valley Restoration Trust

The Keiser family’s love and commitment to the outdoors are rooted in early lessons from Mike’s father – Norman Michael Keiser – to “leave every place better than you left it.” Norman, a decorated Navy WWII veteran and Eagle Scout, led countless family trips to the Adirondacks to explore the rugged beauty of untouched mountains and lakes in upstate New York by foot and canoe. Mike Keiser, the patriarch of the family, carried on his father’s tradition by spending summers in Michigan and planning hiking trips to the Adirondacks, Dolomites and other far-flung destinations for his own family.

In 2013, Michael and Chris Keiser purchased the land that Sand Valley sits on today. This unique property was once the lakebed of an ancient glacial lake that covered much of Central Wisconsin. In roughly 16,000BC, the ice dam protecting the glacial lake burst, causing a catastrophic flood event that emptied the entire 150-foot deep lake in just two days - thus creating what is now the Wisconsin Dells. The sandy lakebed where Sand Valley now sits became exposed and over time, it blew into the 80-foot high dunes and valleys that are seen today.

In the 19th century, the site became a pulp tree plantation with red pine trees planted in rows managed as "crops," harvested, and sold periodically. When the Keisers discovered the property, it lacked the diversity of plant life that is natural to the site. Before it was a tree plantation, it was naturally known as a "Jack Pine-Hill's Oak Sand Barren" with exposed sand areas, indigenous low-lying vegetation and flowers, and intermittent strands of Jack Pines and Hill's Oaks. In addition to building a world-class golf resort, our goal is to restore the native Sand Barrens by removing the red pine trees and encouraging the growth of native plants. Several years after removing the majority of red pine from the property, we're happy to see a great diversity of vegetation come to life.