Scuppernong River Fish Count 2014

Posted on June 6, 2014 by paulmozina

The Scuppernong Springs are “a world class site” according to Ron Kurowski, the godfather of the Scuppernong River Habitat Area restoration project. I’m humbled to be a servant of Mother Nature helping take care of this beautiful place that attracts me so; it gives me the opportunity to manifest my vision for the world:

“The aggregate of all of our free will choices, bounded by the Laws of Nature, will determine the reality that manifests in this world.” The Buckthorn Man

The attractive force of The Springs has been drawing a lot of attention lately.

I hope to post the work of landscape photographers Byron S. Becker and Kristen WestLake, who draw inspiration from The Springs.

The dynamic DNR duo, Melanie Kapinos and Amanda Prange, organized a volunteer workday pulling garlic mustard at The Springs and we were happy to have Wendy and Rene help us.

Like a martial arts expert, Ben Johnson turned the pull of The Springs into the capstone project for the masters degree in environmental studies (emphasis on environmental management and planning) he is working on through the University of Illinois Springfield. This is a 240 hour commitment and we thank Anne Korman, Assistant Superintendent of the Kettle Moraine Forest — Southern Unit, for expediting this DNR internship.

Just last week DNR conservation biologists Nate Fayram, Jared Urban and Sharon Fandel visited The Springs and they provided great feedback and ideas about how we can do the right thing here together. Jared was inspired by the visit and shared this excellent document, Biotic Inventory and Analysis of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, which is also available at forest headquarters.

I had a heart-warming encounter a few days ago at The Springs, specifically, at the hotel springs,

where I met a group of people who were conducting a meaningful, and possibly religious, baptismal ceremony. I was drawn by their energy, and surprised later, when they stopped on their way out to give me a beautiful, rose crystal, straight from the Black Hills, for my heart. Not my head; my heart. I get it!

DNR fisheries biologist Ben Heussner, organized a workday tomorrow to fill in with brush the wet areas on the outside of the coconut rolls they placed into the river late last fall.

And yesterday I ran into DNR Water Resource Management Specialists Rachel Sabre, Craig Helker and April Marcangeli, who were doing their annual fish count on the Scuppernong River.

Yes indeed, The Springs are attractive!

I started yesterday near the old hotel site taking down some of the aspen we girdled last year so that we can use the wood as fill along the riverbanks tomorrow.

After a couple tankfuls of gas in the chainsaw, I was ready to move to the north side of the river when I saw Craig, Rachel and April with their fish shocking sled in the river. I helped them last year and learned how they use electric shocks to temporarily paralyze the fish so they can catch and count them. A coincidence, or was it the law of attraction? I took a break from the chainsaw and followed them upstream.

Don’t miss the shocking interview with the DNR team at the end of this video!

I was a mosquito on a buckthorn leaf watching them sort, count, measure and weigh the fish.

4 Brook Stickleback

58 Central Mudminnow

107 Sculpin

10 Grass Pickerel

46 Brook Trout

What do the numbers mean?

I really appreciated them welcoming me into their workspace and giving me an interview after barely catching their breaths!

I commenced to taking down some huge aspen on the north side of the river and, an hour or so later, there they were again,

taking their annual habitat survey. I’ll let Craig and Rachel describe it.

I ended the workday cutting garlic mustard flowers with the brush cutter. It looks like its run is just about over at The Springs this year. I think we put a hurt on it.

Then it was off to the baths at the marl pit bridge and a sun setting headstand.

See you at The Springs!

Super Friends of the Scuppernong Springs

Posted on January 6, 2014 by paulmozina

2013 was a fantastic year at The Springs. Here are highlights from the perspective of all the Super Friends♥ of the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail. We don’t have a normal friends group; no, we have Super Friends♥

January

(photo by Tighe House)

We burned a lot of brush piles on the south side of the Indian Spring and all across the Indian Campground, aka, the Sand Prairie. My old friend from “The Quiet Company”, Mark Mamerow, was a big help.

The USGS installed a ground water flow meter at what I now call the “gaging station” bridge and Rich Csavoy and Lindsay Knudsvig were very active helping burn 173 brush piles.

Lindsay, Rich and I cut and piled buckthorn between the cut-off trail and river. DNR trail boss, and jack-of-all-trades, Don Dane, provided native flower and grass seeds that we sowed near the Indian Spring.

Lindsay, Pati and I began our Journey Down the Scuppernong River in an effort to become more intimately familiar with the Scuppernong River Habitat Area.

February

We continued exploring the Scuppernong River hiking the frozen, snow covered, banks from Hwy N all the way to Hwy 59.

The powers that be relented and I got a window of opportunity to burn the brush piles I had left behind at the Hartland Marsh. I couldn’t have done it without the help of my friends from the Ice Age Trail Alliance, Pat Witkowski, Mike Fort, John Mesching, Marlin Johnson, Glenn Ritz, Jack, Dick and the maintenance crew from the Village of Hartland. We lit over 300 piles during the month on many workdays.

Carl Baumann and Rich Csavoy helped cut buckthorn between the cut-off trail and the river. I hope to work with these righteous dudes again soon!

Steve Brasch, Carl, Lindsay and I had a couple of brush pile burning adventures and Lindsay showed me the value of having a leaf blower handy to ignite a smoldering pile.

Pati and I continued our investigation of the Scuppernong River watershed following the outflow from McKeawn Spring to the river on a gorgeously warm winter day.

One of the most memorable days of the year was with the DNR Fisheries team of Ben “Benny” Heussner, Steve “Gos” Gospodarek, Andrew Notbohm and Josh Krall (right to left below, “Double D” Don Dane kneeing in front) as they reviewed their past efforts to rehabilitate the river and formed plans for the coming year. They made good on their promise returning for two workdays on the river, most recently with a crew from the South Eastern Wisconsin Trout Unlimited group.

March

Pati, and I and Lindsay continued our Journey Down the Scuppernong River hiking from Hwy 59 to Hwy 106. We attempted the last leg from Hwy 106 to where the Scuppernong River joins the Bark River south of Hebron, but we were foiled by melting ice.

I continued clearing brush between the cut-off trail and the river and was glad to have the help of Boy Scout Troop 131, from Fort Atkinson to help pile it up.

Lindsay and I were honored to jointly receive the Land Steward of the Year Award from the Oak Savanna Alliance for our work at the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail. I continued investigating the Scuppernong River watershed hiking the Paradise Springs Creek from it’s source to it’s confluence with the river.

Steve, Lindsay, myself and Carl had a classic brush pile burning day in the area around the Scuppernong Spring and shared a few cold brews afterwards.

I began volunteering with Jared Urban and the DNR’s Endangered Resources team and met great people like Virginia Coburn, Zach Kastern and Herb Sharpless.

Dave Hoffman and Matt Zine secured a $75,000 NAWCA grant for the DNR to continue the work on the Scuppernong River Habitat Area that Ron Kurowski had championed for over 20 years.

April

We began clearing brush in the area around the Old Hotel and Barn sites near the Hotel Springs. Rich Csavoy, Pati and I continued to clear the brush between the cut-off trail and the river; this time on the far east end.

John and Sue Hrobar (shown with Don Dane below), the “Keepers of the Springs”, began to report that they were not seeing as many brook trout as they had in previous years and attributed this to our removing too much water cress the previous spring. Indeed, Ben Heussner had warned us that the trout relied on this invasive plant for food (bugs) and cover.

DNR wunderkind, Amanda Prange, her boyfriend Justin, his mother Beth, Roberta “Berta” Roy-Montgomery and DNR Ranger Elias Wilson (who would save my life 3 weeks later!) joined me for a day installing prothonotary warbler houses and piling brush.

Rich, Berta and I began girdling aspen. This was new for me and now I realize we were a bit early.

Rich and I began spraying weeds like garlic mustard and spotted knapweed. I started having misgivings about using poisons in this delicate ecosystem.

I began working in the Buckthorn Alley.

Pati, Lindsay and I made the final leg of Journey Down the Scuppernong River via canoe and were sorely disappointed to contrast this stretch of the river to those preceding.

Jon Bradley contributed an excellent photo essay to this blog.

May

I began the month girdling aspen and working in the Buckthorn Alley.

The most exciting day of the year was when the DNR burned the Scuppernong. It was memorable in every way but it almost began disastrously. I was using a drip torch for the first time and it was leaking fuel badly from the rim of the cap. DNR Ranger Elias Wilson noticed the danger immediately and calmly said: “Put the torch down Paul.” Again, he repeated, with a little more emphasis: “Paul, put the torch down.” Finally, I came to my senses and realized the danger too. Thanks Elias, you saved my life!

This is probably a good place to thank Paul Sandgren, Superintendent of the Southern Unit of the Kettle Moraine State Forest, Assistant Superintendent Anne Korman, Don Dane, Amanda Prange, Melanie Kapinos and all of the DNR staff, including retired naturalist, Ron Kurowski and the Kettle Moraine Natural History Association for all of their help and support.

Within a few weeks, flowers and grasses were emerging from the blackened earth and I kept busy girdling aspen along the river valley and piling brush from the Old Hotel site north to where the trail turns west away from Hwy 67. Garret and Jenny interrupted their studies to help me pile brush and I hope to see them again sometime.

Spring was in full bloom and Rich helped me girdle aspen and pile brush between the cut-off trail and the river. Ticks and mosquitoes where out in force and I got infected with lymes.

June

Amanda, Tara Fignar and Melanie pictured below, along with others including Jim Davee, Kay, Barb, Berta and Rich (see this blog) replaced all of the signposts that accompany the interpretive guide. Don Dane made the new posts.

Jon Bradley built and installed this swallow house near the marl pit bridge and we are looking forward to the new tenants moving in this spring.

I continued volunteering with Jared Urban’s Endangered Resources team in Oak woodlands around Bald Bluff. Jared, Zach and Gary are great teachers!

Jon Bradley contributed another excellent photo essay.

I sprayed Habitat/imazapyr on phragmites near the Emerald Spring and no life has returned there — maybe this spring. I suspected it would be the last time I used this poison. I switched strategies and began cutting invasive plant seed heads with a hedge trimmer, or I cut the entire plant with a brush cutter.

My lymes infection kicked into gear and I had a few miserable days.

July

Ben Heussner and the DNR Fisheries team returned to the Scuppernong River to lay down some bio-logs continuing their effort to improve the river channel.

I spent a few days working at the Hartland Marsh brush cutting along the boardwalks and mowing the trails.

I was still spraying poisons like Transline and Milestone on various invasive plants at The Springs and it bothered me. I cut a ton of huge, flowering, spotted knapweed plants with the brush cutter to prevent them from going to seed and also started digging them out.

Pati, Lindsay and I were very disconcerted when we completed out Journey Down the Scuppernong River in the Prince’s Point Wildlife Area and I followed up and got a guided tour from DNR veterans Charlie Kilian, the recently retired property manager, and Bret Owsley to better understand what was going on.

Ron Kurowski, retired DNR Naturalist and champion of the Scuppernong River Habitat Area restoration effort, met me at The Springs and helped me identify what was growing on the Sand Prairie and in other parts of the Scuppernong Springs Nature Preserve.

I was becoming more and more disillusioned with the idea of spraying poison on weeds ad infinitum and began looking for alternatives. Late in the month I met Jason Dare, the real deal when it comes to ecosystem management, at The Springs. He was doing an invasive plant survey for the DNR and I became painfully aware that I didn’t know what I was doing vis-a-vis spraying invasive plants with poison in that delicate ecosystem.

August

The Buddha said : “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”. It was Atina Diffley’s award winning memoir Turn Here Sweet Corn that finally opened my eyes and raised my organic consciousness.

I’m done spraying toxic poisons at The Springs, except for on freshly cut buckthorn, honey suckle and black locust stumps.

Ben Heussner had warned that our aggressive removal of water cress from the river in the spring of 2012 might impact the brook trout and John and Sue Hrobar observed that, indeed, they were seeing far fewer fish than in previous years. We finally got some objective data when Craig Helker and his DNR team of water resources specialists, performed their annual fish count. It was a fascinating day! Below: Craig, me, Chelsea, Rachel, Shelly and Adam.

The fish counts were down significantly this year and I don’t doubt that it was a result of our removal of too much cover and food source from the river. At the time we pulled the water cress, it had formed thick mats that damned the water flow raising the water table along the river by at least 6 inches. I thought it was important to help re-establish the river channel, and the flora in the valley, to remove the water cress dams. Until we can establish a native water plant, like Chara, which is in fact making a comeback, to replace the invasive water cress, we will allow the cress to thrive short of damning the river again.

I began attacking the phragmites and cattail that dominate the river valley with a hedge cutter loping off the maturing seed heads and leaving the emerging golden rod and asters undisturbed beneath them.

September

I learned to adjust my efforts to the plant life cycles and spent a lot of time pulling weeds by hand including: Canada Fleabane, American Burnweed (shown below), Common Ragweed , Queen Anne’s Lace and Sweet Clover.

I wonder if I’ve bitten off more than I can chew attempting to eradicate invasive weeds at The Springs without using poison. I take heart when I consider all of the Super Friends♥ that are willing to help. Sue Hrobar captured this ambitious water snake and it inspires me to keep trying!

I’m getting more philosophical these days and thank my friends Mike and Yvonne Fort for their inspirational efforts at Lapham Peak State Park.

I began pulling Japanese knotweed and purple nightshade as well as all of the other aforementioned weeds and it almost seemed like the whole nature preserve was just a big weed patch.

Pati and I usually go camping in the mountains in September and she couldn’t make it this year so I decided to camp at Ottawa Lake and see what that was like. The two walk-in sites #334 & #335 adjoin the Ottawa Lake Fen State Natural Area. Lindsay and his wife Connie and Pati joined me for my first evening at site #335 and we agreed that the wall of buckthorn on the hillside between the campsites and fen simply had to go. I divided my time over the next two weeks between working near the campsites and at The Springs.

October

I began cutting buckthorn on a stretch of trail at The Springs that I christened the Buckthorn Tunnel.

The task of weeding the Sand Prairie is daunting to say the least and I’m glad to have the help of Jim Davee, Pati and Tara Fignar. I know we can stop the spotted knapweed from going to seed and then it’s just a question of carefully digging out the plants.

Lindsay informed me that there is a weevil that attacks only spotted knapweed and I’m considering if we should try to introduce it at The Springs. That reminds me that we need to reintroduce more Purple Loosestrife beetles, as we had a bumper crop of this invasive plant in 2013.

Anne Moretti, Jim Davee and Tara Fignar helped me pile the buckthorn I had cut in the Buckthorn Tunnel. I really appreciated their companionship and contribution.

The fall colors where just starting to emerge by the end of the month.

November

The Fall season lingered long and colorful.

I spent another week camping at Ottawa Lake and continued cutting buckthorn and thinning American Hop Hornbeam near sites #334 and #335.

I began opening up a new area on the northeast end of the loop trail where it passes by an old cranberry bog; at signpost #13, the junction with the cut-off trail. And I continued piling the freshly cut brush along the Buckthorn Tunnel.

Jon Bradley contributed another post-full of beautiful and interesting photos. If you would like to contribute photos or stories to this blog, please let me know.

I spent 3 days piling the brush cut near campsites #334 & #335. I separated the good logs, suitable for firewood, from the brush and plan to return this spring to cut the logs into smaller pieces.

Lindsay took a full-time position at UW Madison and Rich focused on his beautiful grandchildren, awesome garden and classic pottery, but the Three Brushcuteers reunited for a day piling the brush I cut near the cranberry bogs mentioned above. It was sweet to spend time with them again working in the forest.

Ben Johnson and Andy Buchta joined forces with me to pile brush right at the main parking lot on Hwy ZZ. They are both hard-working men and I truly appreciate their contributions. Both Ben and Andy have returned numerous times since then and I really enjoy working with them!

Towards the end of the month, master naturalist Dick Jenks began volunteering as well, doing everything from cutting, to piling, to burning brush piles. Dick, Ben, Andy and Jim all have great ideas and are very observant. I’m really benefiting from their experiences and perspectives.

Conditions were borderline, but we succeeding in lighting up all the brush piles we recently made in the Buckthorn Tunnel.

December

After more than 6 months delay, while we focused on other areas of The Springs, we finally got back to the obscenely grotesque and nasty Buckthorn Alley. You will not find a worse thicket of buckthorn anywhere on the planet. With the help of Dick Jenks, Ben Johnson, Andy Buchta, Jim Davee and Pati, I was eager to “get after it”!

Everyone agreed we should separate the wood suitable for campfires at Ottawa lake from the slash and we have many log piles that we plan to prep using Dick’s custom sawbuck. We’ll put some information fliers at the visitor’s center across Hwy ZZ and in the trail brochure box offering the wood to campers on a donation basis. With the 25 mile limit on transporting firewood scheduled to kick in this season, we expect campers will take advantage of the buckthorn firewood.

The snow cover was perfect for burning brush piles, and I took advantage of it burning all of the piles we had made the past year between the river and the cut-off trail.

Dick Jenks with his sawbuck.

We had a perfect day burning brush piles along Hwy 67.

I took advantage of another fine day and lit up all the brush piles remaining along the main trail.

John and Sue Hrobar informed me that Ben Heussner and the Fisheries team, along with the South Eastern Wisconsin Trout Unlimited group, had executed another workday on the river on December 14. Check out their excellent results here and here.

Ben Johnson (shown below) got his first licks in with a chainsaw in the Buckthorn Alley. And Jim Davee came out to pile brush there too.

The year ended for me with a “Big Bang“, that, given my evolution of consciousness documented in these posts over the last year, should not be too surprising.

I worked with Zach Kastern on numerous occasions over the past year and so I was really excited when he made time in his very busy life to come out and help cut some buckthorn. I hold him in high esteem! Here is the “blue V” we used as our target to open a channel through the buckthorn connecting the trail to the remnant of a cranberry bog.

Thanks to Ben Johnson for inspiring me to put together this year-in-review. And THANKS to all the Super Friends♥ who pitched in to help reveal the beauty of the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail.

See you at The Springs!

Signs of Volunteers

Posted on June 9, 2013 by paulmozina

The Springs are buzzing with excitement and I’m not just referring to the voraciously hungry mosquitoes. Last week many groups of children visited and yesterday the first class of the Wisconsin Master Naturalist program, run by the Wehr Nature Center, was here. The Law of Attraction is definitely at work at The Springs. Amanda, Melanie and their crew of volunteers were vibrating with energy as they converted their thoughts and emotions into actions installing a new set of signposts (that Don Dane made) to accompany the interpretive brochure.

Melanie and Tara digging the hole for post #3 at the marl pit factory.

They had to painstakingly pull out brick after brick from hole #4 by the marl pit bridge.

Here is the rest of the crew: Kay, Barb, Berta and Rich. Together they worked on at least 9 different signposts. Nice!

When I first arrived, I sprayed Habitat on some areas in the river valley where the phragmites and cattails were the only plants growing. I’m not going to spray anymore, anything in the river valley. In most of the valley a wide diversity of plants have emerged interspersed with the invasive ones. It would take a huge quantity of Habitat to spray the entire area and many good plants would likely be killed, not to mention the residue from the poison that would infiltrate the river. As Dana Carvey impersonating George H.W. Bush would say, “Na, Ga, Da”.

I finished girdling a clonal colony of aspen, the last I plan to do at The Springs this season, located on the east end of the cut-off trail in an area that was once cleared for farming. The views from this section of trail south towards the river will be stunning once the aspen and buckthorn are removed. There is still some buckthorn between the trail and river in this area and I plan to get after it soon.

In the afternoon I resumed brush piling on the west end of the cut-off trail. We feverishly cut and cut between the trail and the river during the early spring to lay down as much buckthorn as possible before the burn and I’m almost completely caught up piling it now. Here is a view of the area I was working at from the gaging station bridge.

And from the cut-off trail.

Here are a few scenes from the marl pit bridge.

And the marl factory.

Jill Hagen Smith, who participated in the Wisconsin Master Naturalist class, and who leads children’s nature outings at the Wehr Nature Center, was soaking her feet in cool spring water.

I wish I had known they were going to be there, I would have loved to talk to the group about our restoration efforts.

I made an early exit for home.

See you at The Springs!

Phragmites Update

Posted on June 6, 2013 by paulmozina

Last year we began attacking the phragmites that was rapidly spreading in the Scuppernong River valley area around The Springs. It had grown thick and tall with year after year of accumulated stalks providing support for each new year’s growth. In one area we tried gathering handfuls, tying them, and clipping the bunches at around 24″ high and daubing the the cut ends with Habitat. This worked very well as you can see in the video below taken by the Hillside Springs. Unlike other areas of phragmites that were not treated, only cut and burned, we see very little regrowth here.

In this area by the Hidden Springs, we cut the phragmites in early summer and in mid-October Lindsay sprayed the fresh new growth with Habitat. Again, we see excellent results with little new growth after the fire.

The following videos show the area just to the west of the observation deck at the Emerald Springs and then the area adjacent to the deck on the south and east sides, where the phragmites was cut last summer and burned this spring, but not treated with Habitat. You can see it is coming back like gang-busters.

In the next month we will be spraying phragmites and cattails with Habitat, focusing on the areas where these two plants dominate. In areas with more plant species diversity, we will not spray and instead, we’ll use the bunching, clipping and daubing technique; or we may just cut it. The goal is to open a window of opportunity for native wetland plants to re-emerge.

I dared the threat of showers yesterday and got a full days work in at The Springs. I wonder what creature made these holes on the sand prairie.

I continued girdling aspen; this time on the north side of the scuppernong river just west of the old barn site. Per Robert Duerwachter’s excellent history, The Ponds of the Scuppernong, this area was cleared and planted in corn. The opportunistic aspen and buckthorn have since moved in and removing them will give room for oaks and hickory to return instead.

In the afternoon I continued piling brush finishing the area on the east end of the cut-off trail between the trail and the river. The forest floor here is lush with grasses, geraniums, columbine, may apple and other flowers.

The view from the hotel site.

Last spring I was scolded, for good reason, by a man who complained that I was cutting down all of the wild plum trees along with the buckthorn. I noticed the difference myself and have made a concerted effort to discriminate between the two. I’m hoping to enjoy some of these fruits by the gaging station bridge.

There are wild plum trees by the old barn site and along the loop trail heading north from there near the cranberry bogs.

See you at The Springs!

South Branch Scuppernong River

Posted on June 3, 2013 by paulmozina

“I’m more ‘here’ when I’m here, partly because I’ve learned more about the river.”, that is how Milton Bates described his deepening present moment awareness in his fantastic book, The Bark River Chronicles. We drew inspiration from Mr. Bates to embark on our own Journey Down The Scuppernong River, and it has been a wonderful, enriching and, unfortunately, a bit disturbing, learning experience. From the pristine headwaters at the Scuppernong River Nature Trail to the final, completely degraded, drainage ditch, that passes through the mud farms west of Hwy 106, the journey has taught us a lot about natural history and the impact of white settlers with their insatiable, often short-sighted, desire to convert natural resources into money — which continues to this day.

On our journey downstream we tried to document all of the tributaries and water sources that feed the Scuppernong River but we missed one of the most significant; the South Branch of the Scuppernong River. I remember now exactly when we encountered it on the second leg of your journey, as we approached an abandoned farm just east of Hwy Z, and I assumed at the time that it was just an irrigation canal.

(full image here)

I even mentioned in a previous post the brook trout that were released into the south branch, but it did not register:

Waukesha SOUTH BRANCH SCUPPERNONG RIVER BROOK TROUT 83

John and Sue Hrobar visit The Springs often, and we discuss, fish, flowers and the pros and cons of intervening to attempt to restore native habitats. Lately, our discussions have focused on what has happened to the brook trout in the stretch of river near the headwaters since we have begun clearing the springs and river. John concludes, because we don’t see trout in the river like we used to, that our efforts have disturbed a critical balance making the river unsuitable for trout. The major change being the removal of water cress, which was literally damming the river and causing it to overflow its banks, but which may have been providing the habitat for bugs and insects on which the trout depend. He suspects that our clearing of all the feeder springs has not increased the flow of water and has only released more mud and sediment into the river. I respect John’s ideas and I’m trying to understand what is going on with the fish. What is good trout habitat and what should a healthy, natural, spring-fed river look like? Here is what the WDNR considers suitable habitat for trout fishing on the Scuppernong River and its tributaries.

(full image here)

John and Sue enlightened me as to the existence of the South Branch of the Scuppernong River and I really appreciate that. The source is the Stute Springs, just south of forest headquarters. You can follow its course north and west by zooming into this map:

It was really peaceful yesterday morning when I arrived at The Springs and encountered this wind blown cherry tree blocking my access to the parking area at the terminus of a DNR, 2-track, access road at the south end of the trail.

Coincidentally, this happened to be an area where some black locust stumps where protruding in the road and I shaved these as well as removed the downed tree. I continued spraying first year garlic mustard seedlings on the south end of the loop trail using a 2.34% solution of glyphosate and then proceeded to the north side of the scuppernong river to girdle some aspen.

I spent the afternoon piling buckthorn between the north side of the river and the cut-off trail and made another dozen or so piles. John and Sue arrived to say hello and we had a great conversation regarding the restoration effort and then they lead me to this rare patch of kitten tails.

Golden Alexander is in full bloom.

Spider Wort is prolific on the sand prairie.

Our good friend, the north wind, blew into The Springs and it was cool and cloudy most of the day, but when the sunshine finally broke through, it was glorious.

Another spring may have started flowing, check this out:

Views of the Scuppernong Prairie from the Sauk Campground…

… and the marl pit bridge.

My sweetheart, Pati Holman, road her bike the 40 or so miles from Milwaukee to join me and we took a nice walk around the loop trail before heading for home.

See you at The Springs!

Ticks and Mosquitoes

Posted on May 31, 2013 by paulmozina

The sensation is like that of a feather vaguely wandering across the skin. Slowly, like ripples spreading in a pool of consciousness, the mind awakens to the touch; there is something crawling on me! Out at The Springs we are under attack from the ground and air by ticks and mosquitoes. Good Lord! The ticks are thick and “questing” and, along with their airborne allies, they share an affinity for the same flesh to satisfy their wanton blood lust. The ticks leave a memory upon the surface of the skin that comes to mind again and again; long after they have moved on. Every itch and tingle is a tick! They are in My Truck, waiting for me!

Despite the little things that try patience and distract from the pure joy of living, I spent two Happy Days at The Springs this past Wednesday and Thursday (May 29-30). Rich Csavoy joined me on Wednesday and we had a marvelous time girdling aspen, pulling garlic mustard, piling buckthorn and discussing the first principles of philosophy. Here is a video tour of the north side of the Scuppernong River, just west of the old barn site, where we made around 13 piles.

The view downstream from the work site.

Looking at the new brush piles from the hotel site.

We are seeing a green heron quite frequently at the marl pit bridge.

The Sauk Campground as seen from the marl pit.

The pit.

The valley.

Lindsay, and his mate, Connie, stopped over and shared a delicious bottle of Zinfandel from the Lewis Station Winery wine with me and we surveyed the prairie as evening descended.

I was back at it again on Thursday with a stop down at the Scuppernong Spring to get some drinking water.

Here is a walking tour of the Sauk Campground with the advantage of the morning sun behind me.

I took a chance that it would not rain and sprayed 8 gallons of glyphosate on first year garlic mustard seedlings, which literally carpet many newly cleared areas. Then I girdled a clonal colony of aspen on the west side of the river across from hotel site. The goal is to keep the boundary areas along the river valley free of aspen. And finally, I returned to the north side of the scuppernong river, west of the old barn site, between the river and cut-off trail, to pile buckthorn.

Check out this patch of geraniums!

The water level is up to around .4′ from the early spring levels around .34′ and it seems like the river channel is getting more narrowly defined, i.e. some of the marl and muck is getting washed downstream.

The Emerald Springs are constantly changing their configuration.

I recently discovered John Muir’s writings and just listened to The Story of My Boyhood and Youth. I don’t think anyone can describe clouds like John Muir. From The Mountains of California:

When the glorious pearl and alabaster clouds of these noonday storms are being built I never give attention to anything else. No mountain or mountain-range, however divinely clothed with light, has a more enduring charm than those fleeting mountains of the sky–floating fountains bearing water for every well, the angels of the streams and lakes; brooding in the deep azure, or sweeping softly along the ground over ridge and dome, over meadow, over forest, over garden and grove; lingering with cooling shadows, refreshing every flower, and soothing rugged rock-brows with a gentleness of touch and gesture wholly divine.

Scuppernong Storm Clouds.

See you at The Springs!

Spring Cleaning

Posted on May 26, 2013 by paulmozina

It was around this time last year that we met Don Dane and Tim Peters at The Springs and expanded the scope of our restoration effort to include opening up all of the springs that feed the Scuppernong River, and clearing the river itself. Like Neo in The Matrix, who followed the white rabbit to discover the truth, we are also on a journey of exploration and learning to discover “the truth” of what the Scuppernong Springs area was like before the invasion of the white settlers. Terence McKenna coined the term Archaic Revival and it strikes a chord with me.

I had the pleasure of spending Friday, May 24, at The Springs. The northeast winds that arrived the day before continued to blow and the sky was impeccably blue. DNR naturalist/guide Melanie Kapinos and long-time Ice Age Trail Alliance member Barbra Converse, who gives tour of The Springs, stopped out to chat.

Barb asked ‘why do you do it?’ and I really appreciated the opportunity to explain myself. It will take a long time to “revive” this area after many, many years of neglect. As I walk the land and observe the recovery from the burn, I see tons of weeds amongst the good native flowers and grasses. Much of the green you see in the post-burn pictures I have been posting is from buckthorn seedlings, thistle and burdock patches, phragmites, cattails, garlic mustard, spotted knapweed and other invasive plants. The journey back to health for the Scuppernong Springs Nature Preserve and the Scuppernong River Habitat Area will be long and I take every step with joyful anticipation.

Barb led us to these distinctive Oak Gall specimens on the Sauk Campground sand prairie.

As I was spraying spotted knapweed at the sand prarie, I noticed this attractive White Spotted Sable Moth.

And this vibrantly green Lady Fern.

I continued girdling Aspen on the slope behind the Hidden Spring. The fresh air made every breath a pleasure!

I spent the afternoon pulling watercress, phragmites and cattails from the Hatching House Springs and the Hillside Springs. These springs have nice, stony bottoms and look like great trout spawning habitats. I harvested a healthy dose of watercress at the Scuppernong Spring, which has the sweetest cress of them all.

Pati joined me for the rest of the day and we reveled in the beauty.

If you love clouds, check out this site! I tried to capture the wisps floating by.

Sunset at Ottawa Lake.

See you at The Springs!

The Sauk Spring

Posted on May 25, 2013 by paulmozina

After a couple days, I start to miss The Springs. They draw me away from the present moment into a dreamy future, which became reality for me last Thursday as I worked, wandered and wondered in a Garden of Eden. This place is flowing with living waters and I drew some for the day at the Scuppernong Spring.

I crossed the Indian Campground on my way to an area at the bottom of the slope to girdle some Aspen trees.

It wasn’t until I started working with real Indians, I mean people born in India, that I started to become frustrated with the common use of the term here; a case of mistaken identity. Language is so powerful! Who were the “First People”, the “Native Americans”? If only we could have learned from them how to live in harmony with the land and honored them with their own names.

Watercress and quack grass are two non-native plants that can really take over an area. Lindsay pulled a ton of these invaders from the Indian Spring, or maybe we should call it the Sauk Spring after the tribe, along with the Fox, that ceded over 50,000,000 acres of their tribal lands to the United States in the Treaty of St. Louis back in 1803. Cede — to surrender possession of. We didn’t expect these deeply rooted plants to disappear and I thought it would be a good time to clean the spring again.

After girdling aspen for a while, I donned some rubber knee boots and pulled the new batch of water cress and quack grass that were rapidly spreading. Here are a series of videos and photos taken later in the day that give a tour of the Sauk Spring.

I love the sound of the water.

This view is a bit downstream from the source where an earthen dam was blocking the channel.

There is a second spring source that merges with the main channel on its way to the Scuppernong River.

The Sauk Spring is a relatively quiet place to hang out with a great view of the prairie.

Next, I headed to the old barn site, which is quite a bit noisier, to pile some buckthorn. Garrett and Jenny, two new volunteers, joined me and we did some stacking. I’m hoping to work with them again soon!

Finally, it was time for some fun and by this time the clouds had been blown away by a refreshing north wind.

This vernal pool as at the south end of the loop trail.

The Sauk Campground is a sand prairie that really comes alive with color in the spring. The Hoary Puccoon is in full bloom.

And so are the Wild Lupine!

On my way to the marl pits at the north end of the Sauk Campground…

At the pits looking east towards the Sauk Spring area.

May Apple on the cut-off, aka “lost”, trail.

It was a lovely, cool, bug-free, full-moon evening and I watched the sun go down from the Marl Pit bridge.

See you at The Springs!

Oaken Word

Posted on May 13, 2013 by paulmozina

Siddhartha taught me to listen to the river. Time is an illusion; the “present” moment is an embraceable gift to us. Instead, we often treat time as a commodity to be spent, or saved, or wasted. The past haunts us, we fear for the future, all the while missing the gift of the present moment.

I was lucky to spend some time with the oaks this past weekend; paying attention, listening and feeling the gentle vibration of their subtle speech. The last few weeks I’ve been distracted with the burn, inmates and doctor visits but I found calm again in the present moment amongst the oaks.

On Saturday, May 11th, I joined Ginny Coburn and DNR Conservation Biologist Jared Urban for a workday at the Lone Tree Bluff Scenic Overlook to girdle some aspen trees. Jared leads the Endangered Resources (ER) team in southeastern Wisconsin. His crew varies in size from 3-5 people and they are responsible for approximately 20,000 acres.

Jared hobbled to the top of Lone Tree Bluff on crutches due to an ankle sprained while lighting a 90 acre prescribed burn at Lulu Lake on May 6th. This was after the ER team spent the bulk of the day helping to burn the Scuppernong. The expression “Still waters run deep”, was coined with Jared in mind; I calm down just being around him. But, you should have seen his face when he described the fires he lit at the Scuppernong; the tone vanished as his jaw dropped and I could see the 40′ flames reflected in his widened eyes. Below, Jared gives us a natural history lesson and explains the science behind girdling aspen trees.

When you contrast the billions and billions of dollars the government spends on the military, security industrial complex, versus what it spends to nurture the land, it recalls to mind TreeBeard’s lament in The Lord of the Rings that, ‘no one cares about the trees anymore’. The war mongers misleading us, our Saruman’s if you will, have propagandized us using the old divide and conquer strategy, demonizing Muslims, and distracting us from what our real priorities should be here in the homeLAND.

Whew, I’m ranting again. I’ll try to be more calmly passionate (sounds like something Joseph Conrad might have written, not to suggest I could have even sharpened his pencil). We had a lot of fun working together and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

In the back row Diane, Carol, SwordMan, Princess and Ginny and in the front row, Carol, Thayer and Jared.

I’m new to this area so I stayed to explore a little. Here are a few shots of the bluff.

The Bluff Creek Springs emerge from the north side of the moraine and feed Bluff Creek. I had to check them out.

I found another set of springs on the east side of the moraine.

I wanted to hear what the oak were saying up at Lapham Peak, where Mike Fort and the Lapham Peak Friends have been restoring the prairies, oak woodlands and oak savannas for over 20 years. They have perfected techniques for cutting, stacking and burning buckthorn that are models of efficiency. This past week they did a 75 acre prescribed burn in the area marked in white on the map below and they burned approximately 177 acres total in the park this spring burn season.

This huge swath of the north flank of the peak extends from “the big slide” cross country ski trail east to the tower hill road. I was in awe taking in the scope of the effort as I well remember this hillside was thick with buckthorn.

The oaks were swaying and singing gratefully with the blustery north wind, giving thanks for the tender loving care of the Lapham Peak Friends.

Approaching the tower.

A bird’s eye view from the tower (I need a wind screen for the camera mic).

If you haven’t visited Lapham Peak lately, or ever, consider paying attention to what the friends have accomplished and spend some present moments there.

On Sunday, May 12th, I was back at The Springs. Wow, I wonder how long it will take for the forest floor to become green again. I wonder if the native flowers and grasses will have enough strength in their roots to push up fresh growth this year; or next. I began the day spraying garlic mustard, which appeared in isolated patches that escaped the fires.

I was pleasantly surprised, and heart warmed, to see Lindsay, his wife, Connie and her granddaughter Sophia, arrive to pick up a load of wood.

When I talked to Don Dane after the burn he mentioned that this would be a great time to attack the spotted knapweed on the Indian Campground. Loaded with the recipe I got from Lindsay, I started that application. Spraying herbicide is my least favorite thing to do in the woods and I limit how much I do in a day. There is plenty more garlic mustard and spotted knapweed proliferating out there and I’ll be spraying for the next two months.

Some scenes from the Indian Campground.

Looking down into the river valley from the Indian Campground.

Next on the agenda was girdling aspen. I intended to continue working at the old hotel site, but I thought better of it as I was walking down the river valley, and I attacked a few isolated clonal colonies that were spreading into the valley.

A quick stop at the Scuppernong Spring.

Finally, I started piling buckthorn just north of the old barn site. I have been a cutting fool for the last couple months thinking that I would get a crew of inmates from the Sturtevant Transitional Facility to help me pile, but I don’t think that is going to work out, so I’ll be piling for the next few weeks to catch up. I made around 10 piles and it was very relaxing work with a great view down the river to the west.

DNR Visitor Services Associate extraordinaire Amanda Prange is leading an effort to install a new set of signposts to match the trail brochure.

The Hatching House Spring is looking great.

I followed the channel of the Indian Spring’s towards it’s junction with the Scuppernong River and caught this panorama video. The marl pit factory ruins are just to the right of the sun.

Speaking of which!

See you at The Springs!

Spring Dreams

Posted on May 5, 2013 by paulmozina

The seasons progress slowly giving us time to appreciate the changes as they unfold. I like to watch the tips of the oak branches as their buds open and flowers emerge.

Spring is a great opportunity to use fire to control invasive plants and it has been a long time since the Scuppernong Springs Nature Preserve has had a prescribed burn. Buckthorn seedlings are thick in many places, especially the slope along the trail below Hwy 67 on the left side of the video below.

The alternative to fire is repeated brush cutting and poison application, which is a loosing game. So I am very thankful and excited that the DNR has prioritized the Scuppernong Springs for a prescribed burn this year. In fact, assuming the weather forecast for tomorrow, May 6th, doesn’t change, we should have perfect conditions. DNR veteran Don Dane is the burn boss and he has been working on the plan for months. The scope is approximately 900 acres covering an area south of Hwy ZZ and west of Hwy 67. I’m really looking forward to participating!

I wasn’t able to get to The Springs last week so I was eager yesterday to see the progress of Spring.

I started the day girdling aspen down by the Hotel Springs. This is an extensive clonal colony with huge trees and a lot of work remains.

I took a break mid-morning to attend the Kettle Moraine Natural History Association’s annual meeting at forest headquarters. Susan Beyler, fisheries biologist and NR Region Team Supervisor with the DNR, filled in for Ben Heussner and made an excellent presentation on the “Fishes of the Mukwonago River”. She also covered the restoration efforts being made on the old Rainbow Springs golf course, which the DNR recently acquired, to remove all of the culverts that were installed to control the river. This area comprised a wide diversity of unique habitats before the bulldozers arrived and they are hopeful that some of this diversity will re-emerge. I hope to meet with Susan at the Scuppernong Springs to take a tour and get her unique perspective.

After the meeting I headed over to the buckthorn alley to resume cutting there.

The buckthorn trees here are tall and thick so it was slow going.

Later, I took a walk on the cut-off trail and noticed lots of flowering plants emerging. It will be interesting to see how they survive the fire.

The frogs were calling from the bogs on the north side of the loop trail.

John Hrobar sent me this link to an interesting article:

New scientific studies reveal Midwestern frogs decline, mammal populations altered by invasive plant
Researchers say this is a call to action to remove European buckthorn from the region

Amen!

More May Apple in front of the old barn site.

The Hatching House Springs have been hidden for years and it is really interesting to see what is coming up there now.

As we head towards the summer solstice, I find I have to locate myself farther and farther south on the Indian Campground to get the best view of the sunset.