Get After It! Interview with Dave Hoffman

Posted on October 5, 2012 by paulmozina

It’s good to be back at the Springs! Pati and I had a great time on our road trip out West, which included Yellowstone, The Tetons, Glacier, Crater Lake and Mt Shasta. I know this will sound crazy but I am able to share our experience ala John Coffey, the death row prisoner featured in the movie “The Green Mile”, so be sure to visit me out at the Springs so I can lay my hands on you!

Out West, when you want to get something done, you “Get After It” and that is going to be our new motto out at the Springs.

Lindsay and I “got after it” yesterday, 10/4, and the day started with removing a huge Red Oak that snapped off at the base and fell across the trail just up the hill from the Scuppernong Spring.

Then we went down to the river just below the Scuppernong Spring to attack a patch of Phragmities that we are treating as a test plot. We want to see how the technique of bundling, cutting and poisoning with Habitat works. Lindsay learned the technique while volunteering with the DNR (Jared Urban) at the Bluff Creek Site. Here our a few pictures

As we were “getting after it”, Dave Hoffman, DNR Bureau of Endangered Resources Specialist, who is currently working to secure a grant via the North American Wetland Conservation Act to continue the restoration efforts in the Scuppernong River Habitat Area begun by Ron Kurowski, paid us a visit. What a coincidence! With the departure of DNR veteran Tim Peters, Dave is stepping up to fill the gap in coordinating the DNR efforts to execute the master plan for the Scuppernong River watershed. We toured the site with Dave and captured a short interview with him, which you can listen to here Dave Hoffman Interview 20121004.

After our visit with Dave, we resumed our efforts to prepare the Sand Prairie at the Indian Campground site for mowing. DNR Trail Boss, Don Dane, is planning to mow this area soon. We worked in the area South of the spur trail that leads to the Indian Spring.

We still have some prep work to complete in this area and plan to “Get After It!” on Saturday.

Buckthorn Clearing Continues at Indian Springs

Posted on August 28, 2012 by paulmozina

It’s been a while since we cut Buckthorn at the Indian Springs. Lindsay took a bite out of it on Saturday 8/25 and I did some cutting yesterday 8/27. Here are some before shots.

At the work site as the fog was lifting.

And the view from the scenic overlook.

6 tanks of gas and bar oil later the view from the work site.

And the scenic overlook.

And from the Indian Spring.

We are focusing on cutting now to allow the Buckthorn to dry out as much as possible. We’ll pile it later to finish preparing it for burning this Winter, when we get some snow cover.

On his last visit, Ron Kurowski showed me where a spring was hidden by the old hotel site. I have marked it with a white line on this map.

I forgot to take some before pictures, but all you could see was a bit of water cress. Below are pictures of the “new” Spring after I cleaned it up. When I found the 4″ pipe that was originally installed to collect and channel the outflow of the Spring and unplugged it, the water began flowing at a much higher volume. Thanks Ron for pointing out the location of this Spring!

The view from the trail. The outflow pipe is hidden under the big flat stone.

And the view from the river.

It was another beautiful day at the Springs. Here are a few closing shots.

The scenic overlook and Indian Campground after the recent clearings as seen from the Marl pits.

Evening.

Indian Campground

Posted on August 10, 2012 by paulmozina

There is a wonderful Sand Prairie at the Indian Campground location along a crest on the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail (see #6 Scenic Overlook on the map below).

Some years ago the DNR burned and mowed this area in an attempt to beat back the encroachment of Red Oak, Cherry, Black Locust, Sumac, Hickory, Buckthorn and other woody plants that had begun to fill it in. During the burn many large Red Oak and other trees came down. Their unburnt remains littered the Sand Prairie and would make it difficult to mow or burn the area again. Many thousands of saplings from the parent trees had sprung back as well. Ron Kurowski suggested we cut, pile and burn the downed wood to pave the way for Trail Boss Don Dane and his crew to mow the prairie again this Fall. We hope to burn it next Spring if the conditions are right.

Here is a view from the scenic overlook looking West.

I cut the downed wood until the afternoon when Lindsay, Don Dane, and Dave, who also works with the DNR came out to join me. I had a close encounter with a hornet’s nest at the base of a dead Cherry tree and had to take a break to nurse multiple stings. Good thing Pati keeps our First Aid kit well stocked! A closer look at the work at hand…

Examples of the woody plants making a comeback on the Sand Prairie.

The short boardwalk below is at the Indian Springs. We discussed the best way to shore this up with Don and Dave and came up with a plan. Hopefully, we’ll get to this some time in October or November.

Take another peek at the map shown above. There is a trail shown that bisects the loop trail heading Northeast from #3 Marl Pit Ruins to join the main loop just to the right of the #13. This trail has gotten so overgrown it is literally gone. When Ron took a tour with Lindsay and I a couple months ago, he pointed out the general area where this trail intersected the main trail in the vicinity of #13 on the map. We asked Don and Dave to help us relocate the path for this trail so we could open it up again and it didn’t take them long to find it. Don is planning to come back soon and flag the trail precisely and we hope to reopen this route sometime this Winter. It passes by some magnificent White Oaks, the biggest trees on the property. Needless to say, we are chomping at the bit to reveal these beauties.

After Don and Dave left, Lindsay and I piled the wood I had cut in the morning at the Indian Campground. We enjoyed working in the rain for a change! There is still a lot of prep work to do there before it will be ready for mowing and burning.

Burning Brush Piles

Posted on June 29, 2012 by paulmozina

We didn’t have much of Winter in 2011/2012 season, but we did manage to burn 185 brush piles. Here are a few pictures from the Indian Springs location at the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail.

Our good friend John Mesching helped us out.

Lindsay and I met in November of 2011 while taking the Basic Wildland Fire Series offerings S-130, S-190 and L-180 at the Madison Area Technical College www.madisoncollege.edu and he fell in love with the Springs the first time he came out to help me burn.

You may have noticed new brush piles along the Nature Trail. We plan to burn them this Winter.

Here is the latest, as of 11/11/12 info on Basic Wildland Fire Series offerings.

COURSE OFFERING 1 – NUMBER: 34464 / TERM 1134

COURSE LOCATION: MATC Fire Service Education Center

1750 Pearson St., Madison, WI

COURSE DATES: Saturday and Sunday, December 1 & 2, 2012 AND Friday, Saturday and Sunday, December 7 – 9, 2012; 8:00 am – 5:00 pm.

In order to complete the class you need to attend ALL of the course sessions.

————————————————————————————————————

COURSE OFFERING 2 – NUMBER: 62049 / TERM 1138

COURSE LOCATION: MATC Protective Services Center

1701 Pearson St., Madison, WI

COURSE DATES: Saturday and Sunday, February 9 & 10, 2013 AND Friday, Saturday and Sunday, February 15-17, 2013; 8:00 am – 5:00 pm.

In order to complete the class you need to attend ALL of the course sessions.

COURSE FEE: $138.15 – you will receive an invoice that needs to be paid by date indicated. You can go to myMadisoncollege account and pay on-line once you have registered. You will NOT receive a 2^nd notice.

COURE PRE-REQS: There isn’t any! – You can register on-line at http://www.madisoncollege.edu. If you need help creating your student log-in, contact the enrollment center at 608-246-6210.

Class in December will be at the Fire Center, Class in February in new protective services center.