Critical Thinking

Posted on April 28, 2013 by paulmozina

I like to fancy myself as someone who knows how to think critically, but I suffered a momentary lapse of reason recently acting on belief instead of real knowledge. Fortunately, the consequences in this case were minor and served as a good reminder. To think critically consistently, a tool like the trivium is indispensible; grammar, logic and rhetoric, these are the keys we can use to distinguish truth from fiction and knowledge from mere belief or opinion.

In my last post I reported that we have been spraying spotted knapweed with glyphosate, aka, RoundUp, on the Sand Prairie believing this was the right approach for this invasive plant. The problem is I had not researched this plant i.e. I had not done my grammar and answered the questions of the Who, What, Where, and the When as applied to spotted knapweed. Lindsay sent me the link above via which I learned that the preferred technique is to “Apply selective herbicide clopyralid during bud growth in early June for best results (48 oz per 100 gal water).” I complained in the post that I didn’t have any clopyralid without doing the grammar on this compound. Thankfully, Lindsay did and he informed me that clopyralid is the active ingredient in Transline, which we do have. So this was a good reminder for me to apply critical thinking skills as we continue to try to restore the Scuppernong Springs Nature Preserve.

The scientific method goes hand in hand with the trivium and critical thinking and I’m trying a little experiment in the Scuppernong River just a few yards upstream from the bridge across the former embankment that created the upper pond. When Ben Heussner and his team of DNR Fish Biologists recently inspected the river, he pointed out that the river was not “head cutting” at this point and that is why it is still filled with silt and marl upstream. I’m trying a little low tech experiment to encourage the river start head cutting here.

Saturday, April 27, was a very pleasant day at The Springs and I started out spraying garlic mustard along Hwy 67 north of the old barn site. The understory here is severely degraded and consists mostly of garlic mustard.

Then I spent a couple hours girdling aspen at the old hotel site. There are some huge trees here and I was skeptical about attacking them with hand tools, but the bark is separating very easily from the trunks now and I made good progress.

Around mid-day, I headed over to the Buckthorn Alley, or, perhaps tunnel is more descriptive, and got started on one of the nastiest buckthorn thickets I have ever seen.

I made a small dent and already you can start to see things, like the sky, that will make this section of the trail much more enjoyable and interesting.

The day flew by and I had a date with Pati at home, so I had to depart before the sun set. Here is a parting panorama taken from the Indian Campground.

See you at The Springs!

Buckthorn Alley

Posted on April 25, 2013 by paulmozina

“Thats all I can stands, I can’t stands no more!”

When I visited the land that time forgot on the north end of the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail, I reached into my backpack for a can of spinach and realized I had left it at home.

I rarely walk the section of trail marked in blue below because it is so dark, damp and uninteresting compared to the rest of the trail.

At the end of the day yesterday, I walked this section of the trail to make sure there were no trees downed across it and review just how badly degraded it was. Here is a tour of the first hundred yards or so.

After passing through this buckthorn thicket, I thought “Thats all I can stands, I can’t stands no more!” I’m changing my priorities to focus on this section of trail. I’ve been reminded of my old hero, Popeye, by my recent diagnosis via MRI that I have torn the head of the long biceps tendon on my left arm. I got whacked there by the branch of a red oak tree that I was clearing off the trail back in October of 2012. One solution offered by the orthopedic surgeon was to sever the head of the biceps tendon completely; apparently the Creator was confused when deciding to join this muscle with the scapula and we don’t really need it. The only downside he explained was that my biceps muscle would bunch up reminiscent of Popeye The Sailor.

My rotator cuff is torn as well, but after three months of physical therapy and Feldenkrais Lessons with Pati, the pain and discomfort has subsided and I can live with it.

Yesterday morning, Rich joined me as we continued our efforts to spray the spotted knapweed on the sand prairie that covers the Indian Campground. The site listed above explains “Apply selective herbicide clopyralid during bud growth in early June for best results (48 oz per 100 gal water).” hmmm, we don’t have any clopyralid and it is only April; so our use of glyphosate at this time of the year is not the preferred technique; nevertheless, since glyphosate attacks any green plant, I’m hopeful we will see good results (we focus the spray as much as possible to reduce collateral damage).

Next, we continued the effort to control aspen around the Indian Springs girdling the rest of the clonal colony in that area.

Roberta “Berta” Roy-Montgomery joined Rich and I and we finished girdling the aspen in this bowl.

Rich and Berta had other commitments for the rest of the afternoon and I headed over to the area north of the old barn site to continue cutting buckthorn between the loop trail and Hwy 67.

This is probably as far as we’ll get in this area for now as our focus is shifting to the Buckthorn Alley.

Here are a couple of views of the area just cut. You have to walk amongst the oak, cherry and hickory trees in here to really appreciate their size and beauty.

I couldn’t stay for the sunset but did grab these parting shots.

See you at The Springs!

Frog Celebration

Posted on April 22, 2013 by paulmozina

Welcome back to The Springs! I was lucky and fortunate to spend both this past Saturday and Sunday at the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail. I don’t know if the health benefits derived from the fresh air, sunshine and cold spring water can be objectively measured, but by the end of the day yesterday, I was in a blissful state.

Rich Csavoy joined me bright and early yesterday morning and we loaded up our backpack sprayers and got after the garlic mustard in the area around the old barn site. Rich showed me what the seeds look like when they first emerge and we tried to hit some of these, which literally formed a carpet in some areas. The DNR intends to burn here if conditions permit, but “the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray”, and we are not assuming this will happen. We also sprayed some spotted knapweed on the Sand Prairie that covers the Indian Campground.

After spraying we commenced girdling aspen trees at the old barn site. I refer to them as “clones” in the video below, but the correct term is clonal colony.

We are refining our techniques but this type of hand work is laborious. This is my first attempt at girdling aspen in this way, without using poison, and I want to give it a fair shot. I must confess though that the prospect of girdling the clonal colony of huge aspen at the old hotel site by hand is a little daunting. When I was working at the Hartland Marsh, I used my chainsaw to girdle a clonal colony of 40-50 huge aspen and I sprayed some glyphosate into the cuts. This worked perfectly and to this day there is nary an aspen in sight. I’m inclined to use the same approach at the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail except for switching from Glyphosate to Transline, which the DNR uses for black locust, which spreads by putting out suckers from it’s roots . We’ll see how it goes.

After dispatching that clonal colony of aspen, we grabbed some heavy duty garbage bags and picked up litter on both sides of Hwy 67 south of where east-bound Hwy ZZ leaves Hwy 67. I had noticed a lot of trash when I was spraying garlic mustard along the highway on Saturday. This was a good opportunity to get some nice views of the springs and river.

Finally, Rich loaded his van with cherry, oak and buckthorn firewood and I headed over to the cut-off trail with my chainsaw. Here is a view of the area from across the river at the old hotel site. You can see a swath of buckthorn amongst a large sugar maple tree.

I was chomp’in at the bit to finish this last stretch of buckthorn between the cut-off trail and the river and slashed and flailed with impassioned vigor. Three tankfuls later…

The view across the freshly cut area from the cut-off trail.

And the view from the old hotel site.

By the time I loaded my gear back in the truck and began my ritual walking tour, I was very relaxed. The Marl Pit bridge is one of my favorite places to hang out. In the summer, I always take a bath here in the river and do a little yoga to relieve any muscle stress. Here is panorama video from that location.

The highlight of the day however was the sound of the frogs; a veritable din! Listen to the Spring Peepers and Western Chorus frogs in this video.

The frogs are very active in the wetlands and old cranberry bogs along the cut-off trail. Last spring it was so dry, there was barely a peep from the frogs. Check them out if you get a chance.

The Indian Spring.

Sunset at Ottawa Lake.

See you at The Springs!

Let the Sun Shine

Posted on April 20, 2013 by paulmozina

I was starting to feel the signs of Vitamin D deficiency. Thankfully, the Creator blessed us with a gorgeous sunny day and I was happy to spend it at The Springs. The agenda for the day included spraying garlic mustard, girdling aspen and cutting some buckthorn,

I interrupted a pair of geese in a pool just below the Scuppernong Spring as I was fetching some drinking water for the day.

With the light snow and chilly temps, I decided to try girdling some aspen down by the Indian Springs until the sun could do its work. Here is a view of the two groups of aspen clones I wanted to get.

It’s getting easier and I was able to girdle around 15-20 trees in a couple hours.

The garlic mustard, spotted knapweed and other weeds are just emerging and it’s a perfect time to spray them with glyphosate. The plants are small, so they require less spray, and the weeds are the only things that have leafed out so there is very little collateral damage. I finally got a couple of decent backpack sprayers and that made it a lot easier. I ended up spraying the rest of the day using 12 gallons of mix and covering the south end of the trail including the Indian Campground, Indian Springs and Marl Pits. No doubt there will be additional weeds emerging from these areas, but our efforts over the last two years are paying off and the weeds are on the run.

This is a great time to visit The Springs if you are a birder. Ruby crowned and gold crowned kinglets are migrating through and they are fun to watch. Sand hill cranes, great blue herons, ducks, hawks, vultures and pileated woodpeckers, amongst many others, are active as well.

Here is a view of the Hillside Springs. Last June, these springs were completely covered with water cress and the surrounding hill was a thicket of buckthorn and honeysuckle; you couldn’t even see the boardwalks.

John and Sue Hrobar hike at The Springs frequently and they are keen observers of flora, fauna and fallenover. They reported that the pole holding the antenna at the stream gaging station had broken free and was leaning against the bridge. Anne Korman, Assistant Superintendent Kettle Moraine State Forest – Southern Unit, came out to investigate and within a day or two, Mike Parsen, Hydrogeologist with the Wisconsin Geological and Natural History Survey and Rob Waschbusch, from the US Geological Survey got it repaired.

There were a lot of people at the springs today and I had a great time meeting and talking with them as I was taking a leisurely walk.

The frogs are back!

See you at The Springs!

Pile on many more layers

Posted on April 14, 2013 by paulmozina

Welcome back to The Springs! Yesterday, Saturday, April 13, I was joined by a group of volunteers organized by DNR Visitor Services Associate Amanda Prange. We started the day with a walk around the springs looking for places to install Warbler houses that the volunteers, including Rich Csavoy, made. It was a great feeling to share the appreciation I have for the Scuppernong Springs with other like minded souls. DNR Ranger Elias Wilson and Amanda settled on this spot under a weeping willow by the Hotel Springs.

Roberta “Berta” and Amanda.

We continued our walk around the springs but did not find another suitable location. Warblers need lots of space! Then we headed over to the cut-off trail and were joined by Amanda’s boyfriend Justin, and his mother Beth, and we began piling brush.

I was amazed that we made 13 piles in a little over an hour!

Here is the crew from left to right Beth, Amanda, Justin, Berta and Elias.

In the afternoon I relocated to the area just north of the old barn site to continue cutting buckthorn around the perimeter of another spring that is at the base of the slope below Hwy 67. This one needs a good cleaning out, which we plan to do once the weather warms up. Here are a few shots of the area before I began cutting.

Three tanks of gas later.

Here is the view of the old barn site as seen from the bridge over the Scuppernong River at #5 on the trail map, where the stream gaging station is.

The sun made a few brief appearances that were much appreciated, one of which occurred as I was passing the Hatching House Springs.

I can’t wait for warm, sunny, green days to arrive.

See you at The Springs!

Let it Rain

Posted on April 12, 2013 by paulmozina

“Let it rain, let your love rain down on me.” It’s been a long time since we had a good soaking rain! “Only love, can make it rain”; the love of The Creator that is. As of February 2013, we’re still in a moderate drought in Southeast Wisconsin and the recent rains are much appreciated. I caught a break from the showers today and cut 8 cubits of buckthorn just north of the old barn site.

The Kettle Moraine Natural History Association is holding its annual meeting at 10am, Saturday, May 4, 2013 at the Kettle Moraine State Forest-Southern Unit Headquarters, located 3 miles west of Eagle on Hwy 59.

DNR Fisheries Biologist, Ben Heussner, will present a program on “Fishes of the Mukwonago River.” Learn about the tremendous diversity of fish that can be found there and what is being done to preserve this fishery,

The DNR is stocking Wisconsin waters with trout. Here is the statewide report. Zeroing in on the Scuppernong River watershed we see:

Waukesha Ottawa Lake RAINBOW TROUT 1071
Waukesha PARADISE SPRINGS CREEK BROOK TROUT 125
Waukesha Paradise Springs Headwater Pond RAINBOW TROUT 250
Waukesha Paradise Springs Headwater Pond BROOK TROUT 200
Waukesha SOUTH BRANCH SCUPPERNONG RIVER BROOK TROUT 83

Hopefully some of these trout will venture over to the Scuppernong Springs. I have not seen any trout in the river since last fall. John Hrobar suspects that all the disturbances to the river in the past year have chased the trout away. Say it ain’t so John!

I dallied this morning waiting for the rain to stop and tested out one of my new aspen tree girdling tools. The bark came off better than last time, but I think it will get even easier in the next few weeks. This one took 10-15 minutes.

I visited the stream gaging station and uploaded .33 to Crowd Hydrology site. You can see the correlations with the USGS data.

The rain let up and I wheeled my gear along Hwy 67 to the work-site, just north of the old barn ruins.

It was a fine day to cut buckthorn!

The rain returned as I was loading up my gear, but I still enjoyed a walk around the nature trail.

There is an interesting pond of primordial ooze by the Hatching House Springs.

The garlic mustard, catnip and spotted knapweed are starting to show some green. Skunk cabbage and marsh marigolds are coming up too but it’s still mostly dormant. Hopefully the DNR will get a chance to burn the Scuppernong Springs Nature Preserve this spring; it is definitely on the agenda.

See you at The Springs!

Buckthorn cut on the east end of the cut-off trail

Posted on April 8, 2013 by paulmozina

Hi, welcome back to The Springs.

Serendipity is not only fun to say, it’s fun when it happens to you! I had a serendipitous experience last Friday when Pati and I were hiking off trail on the east side of Loew Lake. There are many, many stands of aspen clones in the Scuppernong Springs Nature Preserve and they tend to spread and dominate areas, thus we do want to keep them in check. The preferred control method is to girdle the trees and for this, you need the proper tool. I’ve heard and read that a sharpened truck spring is just the thing so it was a pleasant surprise when we stumbled upon an old rusting animal trap on a hill above Loew Lake that had the springs I needed. I sharpened up three of them with my angle grinder and tested one out at the springs yesterday. It is a little too early in the season and the bark is not quite ready to yield, but the tool performed admirably. I’ll keep testing to see when the trees are ready.

The last time out we were working at the site of the Scuppernong Spring House and I posted a short video of a gnarly old oak tree. I’m a forester wannabe at heart and on my way past the tree yesterday morning, heading to the work site, I noticed the hickory and cherry trees that were growing right up into the canopy of this classic oak; they had to go. With a tree this big it’s hard to capture the scene with pictures, but here is one before shot followed by two after.

Sunday, April 7th, we continued clearing the area between the cut-off trail and the Scuppernong River. The views from the trail south to the river and beyond are getting better and better. Looking across the river from the foundation of the old hotel you can see the thicket of buckthorn that we planned to cut.

The location.

Here is video tour of the work site before the cutting started.

Rich arrived with a heavy heart deeply concerned about his granddaughter who was born after only 24 weeks in the comfort of her mother’s womb. We hoped the hard work and fresh air would provide a respite for his worried mind.

Pati came out too and helped us pile brush after we were done cutting.

The view from the hotel site.

We really enjoy walking the trails after a hard days work savoring the fruits of our labors and imagining the results of the next step of the restoration. Here is a view from the hilltop we cleared last autumn just above the Hillside Springs.

Tired and happy Pati and I took in a beautiful, wine-soaked, sunset from the Indian Campground.

See you at The Springs!

Scuppernong Spring House

Posted on April 3, 2013 by paulmozina

The headwaters of the Scuppernong River were coveted by early settlers to harness as an economic engine. Chester Smith built a saw mill there around 1847 and Curtis Mann and Talbot Dousman created THE PONDS OF THE SCUPPERNONG for their trout farm and built a cheese factory in 1870 at the site of Chester’s mill. As the reputation of ponds, trout and serene location grew, so did the number and frequency of visitors, prompting Mann and Dousman to convert the cheese factory into a hotel, which they called the Scuppernong Spring House. You can read all about it in Robert Duerwachter’s great book, THE PONDS OF THE SCUPPERNONG where he explains “The Last relic of the Scuppernong Ponds, the building which at one time had been a saw mill, a cheese factory, a hotel, a restaurant, and a club house, was destroyed by fire on August 21, 1972, the work of an arsonist.”

Looking south from the site of the Scuppernong Spring House.

Since the fire, the hotel site has been colonized by huge aspen trees and buckthorn. There are some very fine oak and hickory trees on the slopes above the site and these too were under assault from buckthorn. Here is a view of the area as seen from Hwy 67.

Down at the hotel site there was a buckthorn thicket laced with huge fallen aspen and cedar trees; a lot more work than I thought!

I took my time with this mess and when I finished the 6th tank of gas it was almost 4:00pm.

A strolling tour.

Revisiting the view from Hwy 67.

A close up study of the gnarly oak.

I enjoyed a nice walk around the trails and stopped at the stream gaging station to upload .30 to the Crowd Hydrology site. The sunset was beckoning, but I was tired and a little chilled so I headed for home back in Milwaukee.

See you at the Springs!

WDNR Awarded $75,000 NAWCA Grant

Posted on March 30, 2013 by paulmozina

There was quite a buzz at the South Kettle Moraine State Forest Headquarters as news of the $75,000 North American Wetlands Conservation Act award echoed in the surrounding oaks. Phase IV of the Scuppernong River Habitat Area restoration effort will proceed full speed ahead thanks to the efforts of Project Officer Matt Zine and Grant Preparer Dave Hoffman, who did an excellent job on his first grant proposal. The majority of the $75,000 matching funds required to secure the grant is being provided by the Kettle Moraine Natural History Association. Our volunteer efforts are as good as gold and will also be used to help make the match.

The NAWCA grant represents another step in the leadership transition at forest headquarters as they try to do the impossible and fill Ron Kurowski’s shoes. Dave Hoffman was a limited term employee when I ran into him at the Scuppernong Springs last October and since then he has accepted a full-time position as an Wildlife Technician (Advanced) working for the Bureau of Endangered Resources in the Southern Unit. He is back “home” in Eagle and couldn’t be happier. I think he deserves a raise!

Here are a couple pictures of the north and south sections of the Scuppernong River Habitat Area showing the work described for Phase IV in the grant proposal.

We share the “buzz” with the DNR staff and look forward to seeing the Phase IV goals realized!

Meanwhile, back at “The Springs”, there is plenty of buckthorn that needs cutting. There are a couple of gaffes in the narrative below: Robert Duerwachter wrote THE PONDS OF THE SCUPPERNONG (not William!); and no, this was not the last of the buckthorn that needs to be cut.

Lindsay and I cut a heap of buckthorn and Pati helped pile the brush.

Later, Pati and I took a dreamy walk visiting all the springs.

The cut-off trail has some wet spots so be prepared if you want to take that path. Hopefully, the DNR will be able to make improvements to complete the resurrection of the “lost trail“.

See you at the Springs!

Burnt Offering

Posted on March 28, 2013 by paulmozina

It was Ash Wednesday yesterday as Rich Csavoy and I donned our priestly garb (yellow, fire resistant jumpsuits) and offered 22 brush piles as burnt offerings to the sun god; the dominant visual and physical reminder of the work of The Creator.

Here are some before shots from the Temple of the Springs taken near the Hotel and Emerald Springs altars.

I was really happy to see Rich coming down the trail just as I was lighting the first couple of piles. We almost had to call tech support to figure out how to attach the suspension system on the inside of his brand new fire helmet. Thanks again to the Kettle Moraine Natural History Association for funding our gear!

The snow cover was a little sparse and we had to keep a close eye on the perimeters of the fire rings. There were a few cases were the fires began to escape, but, thanks to Rich’s help, we are able to easily contain them. I have had sporadic problems with my torch characterized by extremely low btu output and it happened again yesterday. I resolved it by tightening one of the joints in the torch hose and now I think I finally understand how to keep the torch working perfectly. Here are some after shots.

After a cloudy day, bright blue skies moved in from the northeast; a welcome invitation to take a few late afternoon pictures of the Springs and a sure sign that The Creator accepted our offerings.