The Avon Bottoms Wildlife area was established in 1960 as part of a federal wildlife restoration project, specifically to improve duck and pheasant populations in the area to attract hunters.[2]
The area was established to improve and preserve wildlife and habitat diversity along the Sugar River, a popular destination for kayakers, canoers, and tubers.[3][4] The area's preservation has led to the Wisconsin Wetlands Association to declare the floodplain forest a "wetland gem".[5]
The main feature of the wildlife area is the bottomland hardwood forest, making up over one third of the total area. There are also many notable examples of large swamp white oak trees in the floodplain areas, mainly in the Avon Bottoms natural area sector. The 1986 WDNR master plan for the Wildlife Area states that some of these trees are near record size, and important to the biodiversity and the environment.[6]