Richard Bong State Recreation Area is a 4515 acres (1,827.2 ha) unit of the state park system of the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Wisconsin

Wisconsin

Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

. It is located in the town of Brighton

Brighton, Kenosha County, Wisconsin

Brighton is a town in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,450 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated communities of Brighton and Klondike are located within the town.-History:The first settlers in Brighton, a Dr. Johnson and a Mr...

, in Kenosha County

Kenosha County, Wisconsin

-Demographics: As of the census of 2000, there were 149,577 people, 56,057 households, and 38,455 families residing in the county. The population density was 548 people per square mile . There were 59,989 housing units at an average density of 220 per square mile...

. This managed prairie

Prairie

Prairies are considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the dominant vegetation type...

 contains 8.3 miles (13 km) of mountain bike

Mountain bike

A mountain bike or mountain bicycle is a bicycle created for off-road cycling. This activity includes traversing of rocks and washouts, and steep declines,...

 trails. Other recreational activities include high power rocketry

High powered rocket

High-power rocketry is a hobby similar to model rocketry. The major difference is that higher impulse range motors are used. The National Fire Protection Association definition of a high-power rocket is one that has a total weight of more than 1500 grams and contains a motor or motors...

, dogsledding, falconry

Falconry

Falconry is "the taking of wild quarry in its natural state and habitat by means of a trained raptor". There are two traditional terms used to describe a person involved in falconry: a falconer flies a falcon; an austringer flies a hawk or an eagle...

, ATV

All-terrain vehicle

An all-terrain vehicle , also known as a quad, quad bike, three wheeler, or four wheeler, is defined by the American National Standards Institute as a vehicle that travels on low pressure tires, with a seat that is straddled by the operator, along with handlebars for steering control...

 sports, land sailing

Land sailing

Land sailing, also known as sand yachting or land yachting, is the act of moving across land in a wheeled vehicle powered by wind through the use of a sail. The term comes from analogy with sailing. Historically, land sailing was used as a mode of transportation or recreation...

, horse

Horse

The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...

back riding, hunting

Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing any living thing, usually wildlife, for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to applicable law...

, camping with amenities, including ultralight aviation

Ultralight aviation

The term "ultralight aviation" refers to light-weight, 1- or 2-person airplanes., also called microlight aircraft in the UK, India and New Zealand...

. There is a wildlife preserve where great egret

Great Egret

The Great Egret , also known as the Great White Egret or Common Egret, White Heron, or Great White Heron, is a large, widely-distributed egret. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, in southern Europe it is rather localized...

s, sandhill cranes

Sandhill Crane

The Sandhill Crane is a large crane of North America and extreme northeastern Siberia. The common name of this bird references habitat like that at the Platte River, on the edge of Nebraska's Sandhills in the American Midwest...

, and great blue herons are known to nest.

The park is on land once intended for the Richard Bong Air Force Base

Richard Bong Air Force Base

Richard I. Bong Air Force Base is the name of an unfinished Air Force Base built during the late 1950s. It was named after the famous aviator, Major Richard Ira Bong, of World War II fame....

, whose namesake is World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 veteran aviator Maj. Richard Ira Bong

Richard Bong

Richard Ira "Dick" Bong is the United States' highest-scoring air ace, having shot down at least 40 Japanese aircraft during World War II. He was a fighter pilot in the U.S. Army Air Forces and a recipient of the Medal of Honor...

. Part of what was intended to be the 12500 feet (3,810 m) main airstrip is still visible from aerial photos of the site.

Largely due to its name's coincidental allusions to marijuana use, Bong Recreation Area is a frequent target of sign theft

Street sign theft

Street sign theft occurs when street signs are stolen, often to be used as decorations, but also sometimes to avoid obeying the law by claiming later the sign was not there. Although the theft often seems arbitrary, signs that are unusual or amusing tend to be stolen more frequently...

. This has led to the manufacturing of T-shirts and sweatshirts bearing the highway exit sign.

The Richard Bong SRA is one of the centerpieces of the proposed Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge

Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge

The Hackmatack National Wildlife Refuge is a proposed United States national wildlife refuge that would include noncontiguous properties, especially tallgrass prairie patches and wetland properties, located in the northwestern region of the Chicago metropolitan area and the southern part of the...

.

External links

• Richard Bong State Recreation Area