Hognose Snakes

Posted on May 7, 2014 by paulmozina

I met my first hognose snake of the year with the tip of my brush cutter. Darn it! I watched helplessly as it writhed in pain, snarling angrily at me. I’m on the lookout for them now! When you encounter one on the trail, The Springs feel more wild.

Carl Koch captured these wild hogs at The Springs last year.

Sue Hrobar caught this hognose displaying its classic defensive posture: “When threatened, hognose snakes will flatten their necks and raise their heads off the ground, like a cobra, and hiss.” (from Wikipedia)

I’m getting more intimately familiar with every square foot at The Springs as I continue attacking garlic mustard with my brush cutter. Guiding a brush cutter focuses your attention to detail much more so than waving a poison spray wand. In many cases I found the garlic mustard amidst many diverse flowers and grasses. Using the brush cutter definitely causes less collateral damage than spraying a non-selective herbicide like glyphoste. Rich Csavoy suggested this approach and it will take a few years to judge its effectiveness.

Over 5 days I have worked at all of the locations where I sprayed garlic mustard in previous years and I have to note that, in some cases, particularly on the cut-off trail, the poison significantly reduced the amount of garlic mustard. Last year the area near where the cut-off trail merges with the main trail at the marl pit factory was carpeted with garlic mustard and this year there was barely a plant or two, and the forest floor is alive with sedges and flowers. I’ll speculate here that this area did not have as much garlic mustard seed in the soil as others areas where the mustard came back strong after spraying.

Sunday I worked on the south end of the loop trail in and around the bowl with the vernal pond.

It was a peaceful day and I did a little yoga on the marl pit bridge to unwind at the end. Here is the view from the old barn site.

I returned yesterday to work in the area around the old hotel site, then near signpost #13, and finally, along the cut-off trail. It was a blessed warm, sunny, bug-free day with fragrant breezes blowing in from the northeast.

Garlic mustard on the hillside at the old hotel site.

As I was finishing up at the hotel, I heard the sound of heavy machinery working on Hwy 67; they were taking down the black locust trees I girdled back in March. I was headed that way to signpost #13 with my wheel barrow and stopped to check it out.

I don’t know what this machine is called, but I think Hognose is a fitting description.

The operator of this hydraulic hercules was a virtuoso, and I could have watched him for hours.

I’ve never seen forestry done like this before. Below, Steve Tabat cuts the base of a tree and his partner pushes it over. Check out the snout on this hog and the way it chews off logs and spits them out at the end of the video.

I returned to admire their work after cutting garlic mustard all afternoon.

Again, the person operating this log loader was an adept and it was a pleasure to watch him drive that huge machine through tight spots and skillfully manipulate the log picker.

The corner of Hwy ZZ and Hwy 67.

I’m glad to see the black locust go and I have a lot of respect for the hard-working foresters, who were paid for their efforts in wood; the coin of the realm.

From there I headed over to the boat landing at Ottawa Lake to check out the brush and tree removal the DNR did there this past winter.

Above you can see the shadow of the mighty oak below.

These nice improvements compliment the buckthorn clearing we have been doing on the east shore of the lake, which you can see in the views from the fishing pier and boat launch dock.

My new favorite place to hang out, meditate, and do yoga after working is the observation deck at the handicap accessible cabin.

The Emerald Spring is really looking the part these days. This past winter was a hard one and I often saw ducks feeding and staying warm in the river. I wonder if the algae bloom might be fueled by duck poop?

Sunset at the marl pit bridge.

See you at The Springs!

Buckthorn Man Accepts Bitcoin!

Posted on May 3, 2014 by paulmozina

I’m pleased to announce that The Buckthorn Man will now be accepting bitcoin donations to support his work at the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail. Here is the QR code for my Blockchain.info wallet. Just scan it into your favorite bitcoin payment system and start sending bitcoins to me now!

I sympathize if this is moving a bit too fast for you. You might even be asking ‘what is he talking about?’ or, ‘what has The Buckthorn Man been smoking?’ It is no hyperbole to refer to bitcoin as a movement; it is one of the most exciting new technologies to come along since the internet. From the November 2013 ssue of BitcoinMagazine:

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer digital currency. It does not depend on any particular organization or person and it is not backed by any commodity like gold or silver. Bitcoin is a name for both: the currency and the protocol of storage and exchange. Just like dollars or gold, Bitcoin does not have much direct use value. It is valued subjectively according to one’s ability to exchange it for goods.

It took me a bit of investigation to appreciate the revolutionary, game-changing, nature of bitcoin. From it’s roots, eloquently expressed by it’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto, it has matured into a bonafide, 21st century solution, to the corruption endemic in our current, central banker controlled, fiat money system. The Federal Reserve banks are privately owned and, with the passage of the Federal Reserve Act in 1913, the U.S. Congress bestowed on them the power to create money out of thin air; they are accountable to no one. Just listen to former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke telling Representative Alan Grayson to pound sand when he asked which foreign banks got bailed out to the tune of $550,000,000,000 during the meltdown of 2008.

But it is the bitcoin software and distributed architecture that has captured my attention. I cut my teeth programming in C++ and when I found out that bitcoin was written in this language, I had to take a look at the source code, which is open to anyone to inspect, or clone to build something totally new. I’m off on a new adventure and, if I can get my chops back, I’d love to go back to work programming for a bitcoin startup (I can hardly believe I’m saying that.)

Meanwhile, back at The Springs, my bête noire is Garlic Mustard. It’s everywhere and I’ve noticed that in the places where I sprayed it with glyphosate the past three years, it is the only thing that has survived. I committed to going organic because of my fear of poisoning the water in this sensitive location at the headwaters of the Scuppernong River, and my concern about collateral damage, and now the reality of that challenge is daunting me. I will dig it out of the highest quality locations, or where there are just a few plants, but for the majority of the infestation, I’m going to try cutting it back with the brush cutter to prevent it from going to seed; a fool’s errand perhaps.

Last Wednesday, after dropping off the Buckthorn Barrow at one of the piles Dick Jenks cut up…,

…I worked on the south end of the loop trail wacking garlic mustard with my brush cutter. Let me know if you have seen enough garlic mustard pictures.

I have no illusions that this will kill the plants, I’m just hoping that, with repeated mowings, I can prevent it from going to seed. I mowed all day and then took a walk around the loop and admired this new signpost, #9, marking the location of the hatching house (see Maps and Brochures.) Thanks to Jim Davee and Melaine Kapinos for making it happen!

Is it ever going to get warm and sunny?

Yesterday, I was back at it, this time cutting garlic mustard in the area by the old gnarly oak and the old barn site at the bend in the river.

I’m going to stick it out with this experiment and hopefully the garlic mustard cuttings won’t take root and make matters even worse. If you are walking the trails at The Springs, and you see some garlic mustard flowering, please, stop and pull it. And, send me bitcoin if you can!

See you at The Springs!

p.s. If you are interested in learning more about bitcoin, join me at the Milwaukee Bitcoin Meetup.

The Adventures of The Buckthorn Man

Posted on April 25, 2014 by paulmozina

I took a break from The Springs this past week and joined forces with other teams of land stewards to help them on their restoration adventures. I was accompanied by Jules Verne, via A Journey to the Interior of the Earth, and the fearless professor Lidenbrock, his thoughtful nephew Axel, and their imperturbable guide Hans.

It was through the character of the unflappable Hans that Verne revealed the essence of the great eastern philosophies. Surrender completely to the present moment. Of all moments past and future, the present moment is the very best; the key to being enlightened.

My journey through the Kettle Moraine began last Tuesday when I helped the DNR burn the Hwy 67 East Horse Trail.

Burn boss Don Dane conferring with line the line bosses Brian and Paul.

Staging at the “anchor”.

The predominately northwest winds were strong — on the edge of the prescription — and the DNR team was extremely careful to lay down extensive black zones on the downwind perimeter of the burn unit beginning at point 6 on the map above.

We finally tied in the lines along Hwy 67 and then the north line team ignited a raging head fire driving flames 20′ high.

I was south of the tree line and missed the show but I did see Paul Sandgren light off the southeast edge of the horse trail.

The burn was a great success!

On Wednesday I joined Natalie Dorrier and her group from Nature’s Classroom Institute shoring up a bank of the Mukwonago River on the north end of what was the Rainbow Springs golf course. Last year, the DNR Fisheries Team, led by Ben Heussner, removed 7 culverts from this stretch of the river. I blackened in a little spot on the northeast section of the map below, where there is a fork in the river, to indicate the area that we worked in.

Rainbow Springs Lake.

The golf course reverting back to nature.

Dick Jenks poisoning buckthorn that he cut the day before. This was the source for the brush used to help stabilize the bank.

We cut more buckthorn along the south side of the river shown above until we ran out of stump poison.

Below is the river bank showing the work they accomplished on Tuesday and where we would continue.

Natalie marshaling her forces.

Passing brush across the river.

We extended the brush line all the way to the rocks where the river forks.

They warmed my heart with a cheer for The Buckthorn Man.

After the work was done, I wandered the property exploring a route that Dick suggested. When I see a beautiful piece of land like this scarred by a golf course, it makes me wish the game had never been invented.

On Thursday I joined: Herb Sharpless (the organizer), representing the Kettle Moraine Land Trust, Volunteers from the Lauderdale Lakes Improvement Association, and Camp Charles Allis, Students from Elkhorn High School and, last but not least, Eric Tarman-Ramcheck , who grew up on this property — to work on the Beulah Bluff Preserve. We focused on the hill immediately below the old homestead site overlooking Upper Beulah Lake to the south.

The students alternated between different tasks including: water quality testing, brush piling, stump treatment and learning how geology and prescribed burning shape the landscape. Herb provided an overview of the project and then we got after it.

Brush dragging and piling.

The Buckthorn Man, Ginny Coburn and Eric got in some good licks with their chainsaws on the steep hillside.

The view towards Upper Beulah Lake.

Who knows, maybe one or more of the young people there will be inspired to continue this restoration work, which is sorely needed.

After we wrapped up at the Beulah Bluff Preserve, I headed up to The Springs to pull some garlic mustard. I was stunned when I came around the bend on Hwy 67 and saw that the forest of towering, girdled, black locust, hulks on the south side of the Scuppernong Springs Nature Preserve property, had been laid waste.

The highway department was worried that any of these trees might fall across the road and they coordinated with Paul Sandgren, Superintendent of the Kettle Moraine State Forest–Southern Unit, to bring in contractors to remove them. They closed Hwy 67 on Wednesday to be safe. Steve Tabat was hard at work bucking up rounds of black locust when I got there. He has been cutting timber in the Kettle Moraine forests since the 1970’s — a real pro.

They plan to take down the black locust that I recently girdled in the area where westbound Hwy ZZ leaves Hwy 67 in the very near future. These are very positive steps in the restoration of the property!

Light showers fell as I took a walk around the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail.

New life in old burn rings.

Green algae invades the Emerald Spring. Is this the same species that gave this spring its name?

Brave Marsh Marigolds are blooming.

See you at The Springs!

Burn Bluff Creek East!

Posted on April 22, 2014 by paulmozina

The Bluff Creek State Natural Area is a jewel in the Kettle Moraine State Forest–Southern Unit. The rolling moraines, deep kettles, massive oaks and bubbling springs that source Bluff Creek, make this one of the most beautiful areas in southeastern Wisconsin.

The DNR’s SNA team has been prepping the east side of the Bluff Creek property for months creating clean, wide firebreaks all around the burn unit, which is no easy task on the steep moraines. This would be the second time they burned the area and everyone was anxious to get it done. Last Saturday I spent the day there with Zach, Ginny, Don, Jerry and Brandon raking the areas around dead snags and taking down some really punky ones that might have fallen across the firebreak. We worked along the eastern perimeter of the 454 acre burn unit between A and K on the map below.

Zach and Brandon reviewing the situation.

A monster dead oak that we cleared around.

I stopped at Bald Bluff on the way home hoping I would get an invite to come back the next day for the burn.

I forgot my phone and, sure enough, when I got home, there was a message from Jared inviting me to join their crew to Burn Bluff Creek East. Cool!

The team from the Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation included: Burn Boss Matt Zine, Nate Fayram and Jared Urban the north and south line bosses respectively and Jessica Renley, Alex Wenthe, Adam Stone and Bridget Rathman. Paul Sandgren, Matt Wilhelm, Don Dane, and Dennis Mclain represented the Kettle Moraine State Forest-Southern Unit. Greg Kidd and Erin Holmes, volunteering their time, represented the NRCS (Erin also works with Pheasants Forever). And, last but not least, Bill Walz, an SNA volunteer who also works with The Prairie Enthusiasts was there.

Greg gearing up.

Alex, Greg and Matt.

Matt Zine explains the burn plan.

It was a pleasure to hang out with the “pros” and be one of the team. Matt Zine attributes much of their success developing the SNA’s in the Kettle Moraine State Forest–Southern Unit to Paul Sandgren’s leadership and commitment. A lot of thought and effort went into planning this day — bringing the people and equipment together — and the conditions were perfect for a woodland burn!

Per the plan, we began anchoring the unit on the line between points B and A.

Then the south line team began lighting a backing fire from A to L while the north line team did the same moving west from B to D.

The steep moraines were not for the fainthearted to drive an ATV up and down on, and the wetlands on the northern perimeter had some deep, water filled trenches to negotiate. I was really impressed with the fortitude and level of effort and cooperation amongst everyone involved. They carried out the plan without a hitch!

This classic kettle required a bit of extra effort to carry fire through it.

David Bart, Assistant Professor Landscape Architecture and Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies UW-Madison, contributed the next 5 pics showing the north line team in action.

Bill and I got “released” around 6:30pm and I quickly changed clothes and headed back to the burn unit to get some more pics.

A happy Matt and Erin.

Double D.

I was eager to see the blackened kettles and moraines along the line from A to L.

Then I headed west from point A and decided to try to walk the perimeter of the burn unit.

I was blown away when I saw how difficult it must have been to lay down the backing fire on the north line. Here are a couple views of the wetlands Nate, Jess and Adam lit up.

You could see lines of fire still creeping through the center of the unit.

I threaded my way through the black and brush until I came to the big open water where all the springs collect forming Bluff Creek.

There are dozens of springs flowing into the headwaters.

It’s a good thing I had walked this area once before on an SNA workday at Lone Tree Bluff and knew where I was. I had no problem picking my way through these creeping fires on the trail leading back to the parking lot on Easterly Road.

I found my way in the dark back along the firebreak at point J and came all the way around the south end of the burn unit back to point A. And reminiscent of last year’s Scuppernong Burn, I ran into Don Dane, just beginning his all-night vigil at the burn unit.

The new Statewide Prescribed Burning Guidelines require that all burning and smoking wood on “the entire burn” be extinguished before the burn can be declared “controlled”. Don watched the fires throughout the night and the SNA team returned today to complete the mop up. It is hoped that the guidelines can be amended to acknowledge the low level of risk that smoldering logs pose in the middle of a huge burn unit. It is hard and complicated enough as it is for the DNR to effectively use fire to help manage the forests.

See you at The Springs!

I Am Not Buckthorn

Posted on April 21, 2014 by paulmozina

The Buckthorn Man has been doing a lot of soul-searching lately. Could his dis-ease be caused by excessive mind-identification? Is his preoccupation with past and future at the expense of the present moment dimming the radiant light of his Being?

In an effort to help him sort out his mess, I’ve recently been listening to The Power of Now, by Eckhart Tolle.

“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you have. Make the NOW the primary focus of your life.”

“The past has no power over the present moment.”

Tolle has deep insight into what it means to be enlightened, but there is something missing it seems and I’m not sure The Buckthorn Man will be able to let go of his ego; his excessive need to be right, his belief that HE knows the truth. He might respond that we need to understand our past — the origins of the Powers That Be — to have any chance of responding intelligently to the events unfolding around us every day. The Truth — that which is, that which has actually occurred — does it matter?

The Buckthorn Man has never been one to “go along to get along”; he’s always been an activist speaking truth to power about the 9/11 cover-up, the nefarious origins and dealings of the CIA, the totally insane and misguided “War on Drugs”, the international banking cartel that pulls the levers of power etc… I fear pillow sitting and new age philosophy will never make The Buckthorn Man ignore what he knows.

Last week my mind was troubled and I tried in vain to be in the present moment. I returned to Ottawa Lake to continue cutting buckthorn on the bluff above the lake in the area around and below campsite #380. Here is how it looked when I got there.

The buckthorn were huge!

It was a cold day, hopefully the last for a while.

The views of the lake are outstanding!

I think that will be the last time I cut buckthorn all day until the Fall; I need to give my left shoulder a rest.

The USGS team came out to reset the water depth indicator in the river; someone had pulled it out.

The sights at The Springs.

Don Dane cut a lot of brush with the forestry mower on the south end of the nature preserve. Thanks Don!

I returned a couple days later still trying to adjust to the reality that I would not be going along with Pati to South Africa. I piled brush in an area just 100 yards or so down the main trail, towards signpost #1, that Dick Jenks and I cut last December while tending brush pile fires.

That was a tangled mess and it took me all morning to pile it up.

When I returned to my truck, I was greeted by Jim Davee and he willingly agreed to help me pull garlic mustard by the old hotel site.

I really enjoyed his company and we dug out 3 large bagfuls of the herb/weed and I burned them up with my torch. Ben and Karen Johnson joined us near the Indian Spring and we shared the late afternoon sun.

See you at The Springs!

The Mighty Oaks of Ottawa Lake

Posted on April 12, 2014 by paulmozina

“I got to liberate an oak tree! It felt great.” I was struck when Cameron Barker, a volunteer from the UW-Whitewater environmental group S.A.G.E., said that when introducing himself at the State Natural Areas workday at Little Kestol Prairie.

He was referring to the work he did at the Kettle Moraine Oak Opening back in February and it made me feel as John Nada, the protagonist from the science fiction classic They Live, might have when he encountered another person that could see.

I’ve had that liberating feeling as well these past two weeks cutting buckthorn on the steep hillsides between Ottawa Lake and the campground. Dick Jenks and I started in the area just below the handicap accessible cabin and worked our way south past site #388 to where the bluff gives way to the beach.

We continued this past Wednesday and Friday, working both south and north of the cabin. On the map below, the upper red line represents the area we cleared last year, and the lower line shows where we have cleared this year.

Alfred Korzybski said: “The map is not the territory”, but the bird’s eye view below will help bring it closer to life. Zoom in and note the contrast in water color near the shore. I thought the map was fuzzy there, but it is the surprising emerald color of the water that threw me off.

The views of the lake from the bluff, sans buckthorn, are simply beautiful. I wish I could show you the pictures I took on Wednesday, but I unconsciously deleted them somehow. Below are before and after videos and they do capture some of it.

It was a gorgeous, sunny day with a steady west wind pushing waves across the deep blue center of the lake into the emerald eastern shore.

There are some mighty oaks indeed along the shore and bluff below site #388 and I couldn’t wait to get back there yesterday to finish liberating this regal specimen, which, until Wednesday, had been completely encircled on the north side as well.

The buckthorn look puny compared to the massive oak, but they were huge for their kind.

It’s hard to capture a big tree in a single photo. I’m going to have to learn how to stitch multiple shots together into a panoramic view to do justice.

I then moved to the hillside below campsite #382 to continue the clearing we began in front of the cabin.

There were some massive buckthorns at the base of the hill.

Yes, “I got to liberate an oak tree. It felt great!”

The view from the deck in front of the cabin is glorious; and what a great place to watch birds from! I accidentally deleted the incredibly classic “sun setting over Ottawa Lake” pics I took on Wednesday, so I’ll leave you with the return of garlic mustard instead.

I’m not spraying any poison on the garlic mustard, so I’m hoping you will come out and help pull it.

See you at The Springs!

The Ruby Spring

Posted on April 7, 2014 by paulmozina

Melanie’s brow furrowed focusing energy from her third eye as she studied the weather beaten old sign she found in a closet at the DNR maintenance shop. It was done in the style of the signs at the Scuppernong Springs that she replaced last year with her volunteer trail crew and it read: The Ruby Spring. “Hmmmm…” she thought, “I’ll bet The Buckthorn Man knows where The Ruby Spring is.”

There are stories behind each of the springs you’ll find along the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail and I invite you to share yours on our new Facebook Page. You may have grown up with The Springs like Pete Nielsen or Steve Brasch, or you’ve been coming for a long time, like John and Sue, or Dick and Shirley, or Terry and Lisa. Share your favorite memories and pictures of The Springs on our Facebook timeline.

“Ruby Spring”, “Ruby Spring”, I thought “…is this in the Land of OZ?” Melanie and I made a date to meet with Ron Kurowski, at the Kettle Moraine Natural History Association‘s annual meeting, to learn the story of this spring. The amphitheater at Forest Headquarters was alive with many excited faces and voices when I arrived.

Ben Johnson and Zach Kastern.

Ron Kurowski, retired DNR naturalist, and Chris Mann, owner of Kettle Moraine Land Stewards LLC.

My spiritual father, Mike Fort.

Don Reed, Chief Biologist with the SEWRPC, making opening remarks.

Ron Kurowski and Paul Sandgren, Superintendent of the Kettle Moraine State Forest — Southern Unit drawing lucky numbers.

Matt Zine, a conservation biologist and longtime leader of the State Natural Areas crew in southern Wisconsin, took us for a walk down memory lane, or rather, through an oak savannah landscape, as he explained what God and Man have wrought to put us in the state we are today, and why it is important to understand and take action. Thanks for the great presentation Matt!

It was a pleasure to meet Dan Carter, a member of SEWRC’s environmental planning staff after Matt’s presentation. Ben Johnson joined us and that led to the parking lot, where Dan identified the seed/spore heads of a fern that Ben and Karen found in the wet prairie just west of the Indian Spring. Just then, DNR trail boss, Don Dane, arrived to take me into the inner sanctum of the maintenance facilities to pick up two huge seed bags: one with a dry mesic prairie mix, and the other with a wet prairie mix. Thanks again to Don Dane and Amanda Prange for organizing and leading the seed gathering volunteer workdays!

After Don left, Ben and I wondered if we needed to wet the seed or mix it with anything prior to sowing. I couldn’t reach Don, who was already engaged on a project with the Ice Age Trail Alliance, so we headed back to the amphitheater to get some expert advice. I invited Melanie to join us and we found Ron busy in a back office. He explained that we could just sow the seed as is, and we talked about lightly raking afterwards, and then Ron shared the secret of The Ruby Spring.

After THE PONDS OF THE SCUPPERNONG were drained in the early nineties, the DNR began the slow process of rehabilitating the Scuppernong River stream bed, which had been submerged under 3-5 feet of water for over 100 years and was thus thoroughly silted in with marl. It was quickly apparent that they needed to name the springs to facilitate planning, meeting and, bringing them to life in the mind’s eye.

In the middle of the valley left when the upper pond was drained, they found the largest complex of springs on the property. A red algae made its home there giving the waters a distinct ruby color, hence the name: The Ruby Spring. As the restoration work progressed and the environment changed, the red algae disappeared and the bubbling spring pools located at the end of the observation deck took on an emerald hue, and were rechristened The Emerald Springs. The names evoke ruby slippers and emerald cities for me.

Ben and I headed straight for the sand prairie, aka, the Indian Campground, and began sowing the dry mesic prairie seed at the intersection of the main trail with the spur trail that leads down to the Indian Spring. This is an area where we dug out a lot of spotted knapweed last year and the soil is bare.

The plant below has heretofore escaped my identification skills. I suspected it was an invasive plant, but which one? Ben suggested we send a picture to Dan Carter.

Dan responded quickly that it was motherwort and advised us not to worry too much about it because it will give way to native plants as we introduce them or they re-emerge. It’s not fair to characterize this plant as a weed, which, according to Ralph Waldo Emerson, is: “A plant whose virtues have never been discovered”, given its long history of use as an herb.

We had enough seed to cover a huge area of the sand prairie and it will be exciting to watch the results develop.

Upland/Dry seeds:
Prairie dropseed
Sand dropseed
Rough Blazingstar
Wild rose
Boneset
Prairie smoke

Wet/Prairie mix:
Prairie blazingstar
Brown-eyed susans
Bottle gentian
Blue valarian
Swamp sunflower
Cord grass
Little bluestem
Big bluestem
Compass plant
Prairie dock
Indian plantain

After our labors were done, we went for a walk intending to explore the trail south along the marl pit. Along the way we met Jill Bedford, who works with the Tall Pines Conservancy, and switched gears to give her the grand tour of The Springs. Jill is involved in writing grants to conserve and restore land and it was exciting to hear of all the developments in her world. We got up to the sand prairie just in time to watch the sunset.

My weekend at The Springs was only half over and I returned on Sunday to sow the wet prairie seeds in the many, many burn rings left from our work in the Buckthorn Alley and the Cut-off Trail.

After the last seeds were sown, I returned to the cabin at Ottawa Lake, where Dick Jenks and I cut buckthorn last week, to “mop up” with my brush cutter.

I tried using a little sponge to daub poison on the little buckthorn stubs and it worked pretty well; a lot less waste than if I would have used a sprayer. The view from the deck is really nice.

See you at The Springs!

Adventure in South Africa

Posted on April 3, 2014 by paulmozina

When The Buckthorn Man retired early from the Quiet Company back in February 2012, he made a deal with his mate that he would help her with her business. Pati always dreamed about taking her work as a Guild Certified Feldenkrais® and Anat Baniel Method™ for Children practitioner on the road, and she recently accepted an invitation to work with special needs children in South Africa. I’m going to put my chainsaw down for the month of May and help Pati on her big adventure. We’ll be staying at the beautiful Umtamvuna River Lodge, just upstream from the Indian Ocean on the eastern side of South Africa. We plan on doing a week of touring after 3 weeks of Pati’s intensive work with the children. I can’t wait!

Is it just a coincidence that I was listening to Tarzan of the Apes, by Edgar Rice Burroughs when Pati first heard about the opportunity in South Africa and decided to pursue it? And was it just a coincidence that I listened to Mark Twain’s classic time travel novel, A Connecticut Yankee In King Aurthur’s Court, just prior to embarking on my own trip through time? Think twice before you pick out your next book!

Well, I’m going to get my licks in on the buckthorn that is crowding the hillside on the east shore of Ottawa Lake before I go. Anne Korman, Assistant Superintendent of the Kettle Moraine State Forest–Southern Unit, asked us to focus on the area below the handicap accessible cabin at the Ottawa Lake campground.

I’m trying to learn how to use my Canon G15 camera and accidentally left it on a weird setting, so all of my “before” shots are hopelessly blurry. But, Dick Jenks can back me up when I say there was a lot of nasty buckthorn there.

It was a gorgeous day; perfect for cutting buckthorn! Ben Johnson and I are planning on returning this Saturday with a brush cutter to clear the little stuff and do some piling. The “after” pictures below are of the area around and below the cabin panning from north to south.

I was glad to have Dick Jenks and his dog Zeus there to help!

I had scheduled a week camping at My Shangri-La in April and May, but with the trip to South Africa, I’ll have to wait until August for my next reservation. I’m looking forward to seeing the stars, skies, sunrises and sunsets from the perspective of the southern hemisphere; I’ve never been south of the equator.

From Ottawa Lake I headed over to The Springs to rake out ash rings from all the brush piles we burned. DNR trail boss, Don Dane, is going to give us some seed to sow on the barren soil. He also has seed for the sand prairie that we will be sowing. Is there anything more fun than sowing seed?

I took a nice, meditative, walk after my labors were done.

See you at The Springs!

The Buckthorn Barrow

Posted on April 1, 2014 by paulmozina

Don’t miss the Kettle Moraine Natural History Association’s annual meeting at 10:30am on Saturday, April 5, 2014 at the Kettle Moraine State Forest-Southern Unit Headquarters, located 3 miles west of Eagle on Hwy 59. We couldn’t do the work we do at The Springs without the support of the KMNHA! Come and see what this great organization is all about.

Conservation Biologist Matthew Zine, Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation (formerly the Bureau of Endangered Resources), will present a program on “State Natural Areas in the Kettle Moraine”. The program will cover the 12 State Natural Areas found throughout the area of the Southern Kettle Moraine and describe their special qualities and their management concerns.

This program is open to all members and their guests (If anyone asks, tell them The Buckthorn Man sent you.) Membership applications are available at the State Forest Headquarters.

A short business meeting will follow the program.

Refreshments will be served and door prizes awarded.

The brush pile burning season at The Springs is finally over and, unfortunately, Matt Wilhelm, a volunteer with the North Prairie Fire Department, who also works for the DNR in the Kettle Moraine State Forest–Southern Unit, had to put out the last fire. I was wandering around the sand prairie watching the sun go down, and Marty driving his skid steer loader north, home bound on Hwy 67, when I saw the lights of his 4-wheeler heading to the site where Dick Jenks, Rich Csavoy and l burned piles earlier in the day.

It was a calm night and there was no chance of any of the fires spreading, but the glowing embers from a few of the fires were visible from Hwy 67 and someone called it in. That prompted a call from Paul Sandgren, the Superintendent of the Kettle Moraine State Forest–Southern Unit, and he explained that the DNR was reviewing their prescribed burning procedures and that no more burning should be done until that review is complete. That’s OK with me, the conditions this past Sunday were a little dicey and we stopped lighting piles early because of our safety concerns. Thanks to Matt for completing the mop up!

We are looking for a wheelbarrow donation! If you have one, new or used, we’d like to leave it at The Springs near the buckthorn firewood piles that Dick Jenks is preparing.

I want to paint The Buckthorn Barrow on the sides and hopefully campers from Ottawa Lake will utilize it to haul the buckthorn firewood to their vehicles. Thanks Dick!

Sunday was a busy day at The Springs and I met many new and old friends. I was on my way to clear a large red oak that had fallen across the trail near the Emerald Springs (thanks to John Hrobar for notifying me!) when I met Lester Crisman. Check out his photos, including this beautiful shot of the river just upstream from the gaging station bridge.

I was soon joined by Dick and Rich and we commenced to prepping, lighting and tending brush piles along the north east rim of the loop trail between the old barn site and signpost #13.

Ben Johnson, and his wife Karen, stopped to visit on their tour of all the birdhouses to collect fresh GPS points. Ben was not satisfied with the accuracy of the data he got the first time around. Let us know if you spot any birds moving in!

As we broke for lunch, I happened to look up and see a line of flames spreading east into the woods from one of the brush piles. We put the creeping fires out quickly and focused on tending the burning piles from that point on.

As I was mopping up, I was greeted by the friendly faces of Mark Duerwachter and his daughter Karri. Mark is the son of Robert Duerwachter, the author of THE PONDS OF THE SCUPPERNONG and Karri helped Robert format and edit the book. Mark agreed to help me persuade Robert to meet me at The Springs for a video interview!

As I was taking my equipment back to my truck along the trail near the old barn site, I saw someone standing in the river. Who was that? I loaded my gear and drove over to the main parking lot on Hwy ZZ just in time to meet Scott C., the trout fisherman. That was the first time I saw anyone fishing in the river!

After chatting with Scott, I headed down the trail for my evening stroll.

When I got into the the upper river valley, I could hear the sound of Marty’s skid steer loader and I hastened to the south end of the trail hoping to talk with him about his plans to repair the damage done by his heavy machine. Marty, with lots of help from Carl Baumann, has been harvesting dead black locust trees for firewood.

I missed him and was surprised to see him from the sand prairie driving his machine slowly north on Hwy 67 to his home some 3 miles away. Marty called me last night and assured me that as soon as the frost is out of the ground and things dry up a bit, he will return to clean up the slash and repair the skid steer scars.

As I was watching the sun go down, I heard the call of a sand hill crane behind me to the east and turned to watch in amazement as two birds glided overhead not more than 20 feet above me. I watched hundreds of cranes lazily floating north in wave after wave all afternoon. It is remarkable to contrast the apparent effort exerted by cranes versus that of geese.

See you at The Springs!

Order Out Of Chaos

Posted on March 27, 2014 by paulmozina

When I returned to work at The Springs almost 3 years ago, I found it in a state of utter chaos. Buckthorn crowded every trail and cloistered every view. The Indian Springs were hard to find amidst an impenetrable tangle of brush. The Sand Prairie was spiked with half burned, dead and dying, red and black oak and black locust trees. The Scuppernong River was choked with water cress and the Hillside and Hidden Springs were lonely places no longer visible or visited. The river valley was dominated by phragmites, cattails and brush, and aspen encroached from every side. Weeds like garlic mustard and spotted knapweed forced the native grasses and flowers to cower and hide.

Slowly but surely, the Super Friends♥ of the Scuppernong Springs are working diligently to bring order out of the chaos. Yesterday, Rich Csavoy and I finished burning the brush piles in the Buckthorn Alley; it looks like a war zone, and I can’t wait until it greens up (skunk cabbage is already emerging.) The south end of the trail, where Carl and Marty are harvesting black locust trees with chain saws and a skid steer loader, looks like a war zone too. The transition from chaos to order is a little like making sausage, and what, exactly, do I mean by “order”? Tom, one of the birders (he’s a snow bird himself) who keeps his peepers peeled, warned me a couple years ago, “now don’t go turning this place into a park!”

Do we equate “order” with a return to a natural state? That’s not possible; human hands have worked the land for thousands of years. For me, and, if I dare speak for my Super Friends♥, our goal at The Springs is to return the landscape, and its flora and fauna, to the pre-settlement condition that the first inhabitants of the land defined as “order”. I think they were on to something.

Getting rid of the buckthorn is an obvious first step to bringing order out of the chaos and I returned to the buckthorn alley again yesterday to put a torch to piles that Andy Buchta made. I can’t thank Andy enough for the work he did this past winter. He closely monitored when we cut, and when the next snow was forecast, and consistently worked in nasty conditions to pile the brush, thus setting the table for us to complete the cleanup effort.

Here is what we faced at the east end of the buckthorn alley.

Rich Csavoy arrived just as I finished documenting the “before” scene and he had his own “Order Out Of Chaos” story to tell. Rich, along with others from the Jerusalem Presbyterian and Rock Prairie Presbyterian churches joined HOPE (Helping Other People Everywhere) on a mission to help the people of Peking and Washington, Illinois, rebuild from the devastating tornadoes that ripped through their homes last November. Rich’s crew was assigned the task of “car siding” the interior of a cabin.

Rich is the tough looking dude second from the left below.

That’s Rich in the bibs front row center.

I knew it was going to be a good day with Rich at my side! We burned a lot of piles and made it all the way to end of the buckthorn alley.

While we were working Andy Buchta came by looking for the last couple spots that needed piling. I directed him to the area under a beautiful oak on the east side of the wetland by signpost #13 and he got after it.

Thanks again Andy!

This past Sunday, I ran into Super Friend♥ Jim Davee armed with tools and a replacement sign for the spur trail that leads to the Emerald Spring. I was thrilled to see his handiwork!

Thanks for bringing order to the chaos Jim!

At the south end of the trail I ran into Carl and Marty harvesting black locust trees for firewood. This is a win-win situation; they get great firewood and remove the eyesores that these dead hulks are. The land will heal quickly from the scars of the skid steer loader.

Finally, I made my way to the south point of the Scupernong Springs Nature Preserve property to take a look at the progress that DNR trial boss, Don Dane, has made with the forestry mower (see the end of this post to see the results of his first day mowing.)

What a day! As I headed back to my truck, I had a wonderful feeling thinking of the many people contributing to transform The Springs from chaos to order. Thank you all!

See you at The Springs!

p.s. I just got the notice for the Kettle Moraine Natural History Association’s Annual Friends meeting at 10:30am on Saturday, April 5, 2014 at the Kettle Moraine State Forest-Southern Unit Headquarters, located 3 miles west of Eagle on Hwy 59. This is a lot of fun, hope to see you there. Click image below to read the details.