James Hall Zimmerman | Wisconsin Conservation Hall of Fame

1924 – 1992
Inducted 2003

“Wilderness is defined as a place where man is only a visitor. However, it is more than that; it is a place where man can renew his ancient bonds with nature, seek his place in the scheme of things, and find inner peace.” – James Hall Zimmerman

“A prairie is not JUST grass, nor a forest only trees. They are complexes of hundreds of competing, dependent, or cooperting organisms – herbs, grasses, shrubs, trees, fungi – all struggling and working for survival.” – James Hall Zimmerman

James Hall Zimmerman was known as “Jim Zim” to legions of friends and admirers across the state of Wisconsin. Zimmerman was a brilliant naturalist and environmental activist whose communication skills enabled him to reach broad audiences.

Born in Chicago, Jim Zim spent much of his life bringing nature alive in Wisconsin. He was cut from the old cloth when it came to research: He went to the field, and often. His wife, Libby, often accompanied him as a colleague and research partner. He took people of all walks of life on field trips and reached an even broader audience in a wide range of publications, ranging from scientific surveys to newspaper columns.

“Certainly he was a botanical genius, knew birds and their songs extremely well and had unusually in-depth knowledge of each surrounding natural environment in which we found ourselves,” wrote naturalist Roy Lukes of Egg Harbor about Zimmerman.

Zimmerman was a naturalist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum for more than a decade, beginning in 1966. There he developed
his vision of arboretum teaching and management. Later he became a member of the UW-Madison Department of Landscape Architecture, where he developed a course in wetland ecology. He and Libby also wrote a weekly newspaper column on environmental topics in the Wisconsin State Journal.

In 1956, Zimmerman began to offer a weeklong class to Madison area teachers called “Reading the Landscape.” Thousands of educators took the course over the years.

Zimmerman also raised public awareness about the importance of wetlands. He was a founding member of the Wisconsin Wetlands Association and considered the spirit behind the creation of the group. Calvin B. DeWitt, a professor at the UW-Madison Institute for Environmental Studies, called Zimmerman “the finest wetland conservationist and naturalist of the state of Wisconsin.”

Jim Zim also emerged as a leader in defending the Kickapoo Valley from a hydroelectric project threatening one of Wisconsin’s great areas of natural beauty. His work in Dane County was credited with encouraging preservation of Cherokee Marsh and other high quality sites in the area. He directed wetlands research resulting in the publication of “Wetlands of Dane County.” He also did extensive work in Door County, including developing maps of environmental corridors, urging their preservation.