Oakological Succession

Posted on May 20, 2015 by paulmozina

What does the future hold for the Oak Savannas and Woodlands of Wisconsin? I left the 2015 Oak Savanna Alliance workshop last Saturday at Camp Timber-Lee with a decidedly unsettled feeling aka, cognitive dissonance. Am I fighting for another seemingly hopeless cause i.e., stopping the War On Drugs, or trying to get a real investigation into what happened on 9/11, when I volunteer my time and attention, my spiritual currency, to restore and preserve the oakosystems in the Kettle Moraine? Can, or rather, should, anything be done to prevent the oakological succession of the oak forests below the “tension zone” to mixed central and northern hardwood forests?

“Oak forests on medium- and high-productivity sites throughout the Midwest have been decreasing in extent for several decades. Historically, regeneration in these forests was facilitated by a periodic fire regime. Today, it is difficult to regenerate oaks on these nutrient-rich sites due to competition from native and nonnative plants that outcompete oak seedlings. Browsing by white-tailed deer also limits the survival and growth of oak seedlings. The lack of successful regeneration along with selective harvesting of mature oaks contribute to the gradual succession of oak forests to mixed central hardwoods, which includes species such as red and sugar maple, basswood, elms, green and white ash, and ironwood.” Wisconsin’s Forests 2004 United States Department of Agriculture

DNR Natural Area Conservation Biologist Matt Zine made an excellent presentation about the progress of the oak succession and the master planning process currently happening at the Lulu Lake SNA. But it appears, given the meager crumbs of financial support they get, that the Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation should be renamed to the Museum of Natural Heritage Conservation. With an annual budget of around $5 million, supporting 33.5 full time employees (of which only a handful are working in southeastern Wisconsin), to manage the endangered resources on 673 State Natural Areas comprising 373,000 acres, they are hard-pressed to do more than save a few choice relics. Matt explained that they are 10 years behind when it comes to creating master plans for all of the SNAs, and that’s excluding the SNAs above the tension zone, which presumably do not contain any endangered resources, or stand to benefit from any formal management planning. We don’t know how many, or what percentage, of the SNAs below the tension zone have master plans. This limited perspective on our endangered resources ignores the other 5 million acres of publicly owned lands in the state as well as the privately held lands (approximately 29 million acres.)

Wetlands near Lulu Lake

Matt is the messenger and I’m having trouble with the message. Am I fighting Mother Nature when I cling to the ideal of the pre-settlement oak savannas and woodlands and work to restore something that can never be again? It’s not just the trees, it’s the oakosystems and the mystique of the Native Americans who nurtured and mastered a life sustaining and harmonious balance of flora and fauna. I fear that, if we don’t preserve the oak savannas and woodlands, we will loose forever the native wisdom accumulated over centuries, that they intrinsically and beautifully embody.

Thank goodness there are people like Eric Tarman-Ramcheck, Emily Stahl and Amanda Kutka, who organized the Oak Savanna Alliance Workshop, and Zach Kastern and Ginny Coburn, who share my passion for the oak savannas and woodlands of the Kettle Moraine! Zach and Ginny have been organizing volunteer workdays in the Southern Kettle Moraine in partnership with the DNR for three years now. Zach was awarded the Land Steward of the Year award by the Oak Savanna Alliance. Way to go Zach!

Zach receiving the award from Matt Zine.

The Buckthorn Man made a decent presentation baring his heart and soul while sharing his experiences volunteering for 20 years in the Kettle Moraine.

I’m plagued with doubts as I continue my efforts at The Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail: am I doing “The Right Thing” or am I fighting the natural succession? Is it wise to abandon the management practices of the people who lived here for thousands of years, which kept the natural succession in check?

On Tuesday May 12, I spent most of the day cutting garlic mustard with my brush cutter. I am observing that in the areas where I concentrated on cutting garlic mustard last year, there is significantly less this year and the plants that are present are typically 6-8″ tall, spindly, and with relatively few seeds. I am gaining confidence that the strategy of mowing garlic mustard can succeed by focusing on keeping it out of the “best” areas and then gradually expanding the no-GM zone.

The river is starting to make a head cut at the Hotel Spring bridge location where the DNR recently excavated (scroll down to the leprechaun image in this post for more details.)

The sun made a dramatic appearance late in the afternoon.

On Wednesday, May 13, I was back at it whacking garlic mustard and pulling water cress. I also spent some time weeding the spotted knapweed from the patches of lupine that are proliferating on the west slope of the sand prairie.

Sunset at Ottawa Lake.

On Saturday, May 16, Pati and I stopped at The Springs on the way home from the Oak Savanna Alliance Workshop to check out the lupine.

And finally, on Monday, May 18, I spent an absolutely beautiful spring day cutting garlic mustard, pulling water cress and digging out spotted knapweed.

I weeded quack grass and water cress from the Indian Springs.

In the late afternoon I joined Pat Witkowski and the Ice Age Trail Alliance “Monday Mudders” to do a little trail maintenance near the tower at Lapham Peak State Park.

Views from the tower.

See you at The Springs!

Volunteers of America

Posted on May 11, 2015 by paulmozina

I’ve been asked to make a short presentation about my experience as a volunteer and volunteer opportunities at the upcoming Oak Savanna Alliance workshop.

I’m a little worried that The Buckthorn Man will show up and start ranting like he is prone to do. I asked him recently what his problem with volunteering was since he does so much of it, and that really set him off (don’t worry, none of this will make it into my presentation on May 16.) The Buckthorn Man talks fast and loud when he gets excited, but I think I got the gist of it, which I will relate here now.

We need Volunteers to start a Revolution!

Make informed, free will choices, to spend your time and attention, your spiritual currency, in harmony with Natural Law

and take RIGHT actions in the world!

The Trivium: Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric, are the tools a rational mind applies to make sense — common sense — conscience (to know together) out of the world we live in. You need a conscience to volunteer. You’ve got to see the need!

If not me, who? And if not now, when? Mikhail Gorbachev

I’ve been cutting buckthorn on State owned land for 20 years because I see the need. According to the Wisconsin Realtors Association: “Wisconsin consists of approximately 34.8 million acres of land. Over 5.7 million acres of this land, or 16.5 percent, is publicly owned and used for parks, forests, trails and natural resource protection.” The lands are owned by federal, state and county governments, none of which apply the resources necessary to be good stewards.

Yes, there are caring individuals in all levels of government (especially the Wisconsin DNR), who see the needs, but they are constrained by a lack of funds to providing only a veneer of stewardship i.e., just enough to maintain good public relations and earn money to help offset the maintenance costs. I’m not a fan of government, so I’m not suggesting we plead with them: I’m an anarchist (yes to rules, no to rulers). Government is mind control. It takes away rights we have and assumes rights no one has; taxes, prohibition, licenses and malum prohibitum laws are evidences of that.

Right here, right now, we have to deal with the cold, hard facts that, of the money government currently steals from us, the vast majority is going to fight wars of aggression, build an all powerful security state and line the pockets of the titans of finance who are really running the show. We are rapidly headed towards a One World Government, a New World Order, make no mistake about it.

The opportunity to volunteer has never been better. Open your eyes! An Abrams 1 tank costs $8.5 million and Wisconsin State government plans to spend only $5 million employing 33.5 full time employees on endangered resources in 2016. We have 673 State Natural Areas on which the Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation (formerly endangered resources) focuses and they all need tender loving care but the priorities of politicians are elsewhere. The Department of Defense plans to spend $495 billion in 2015 as compared to the entire Wisconsin DNR budget of $570 million. The U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are estimated to have cost $6 trillion. We have spent almost $1 trillion on intelligence agencies since the false flag attacks of 9/11. Do you see the problem? I know I’m conflating state and federal budgets here, but the political hierarchies are just there to obscure the illegitimacy of the whole structure.

This is why the Volunteers Marty Balin sang about must start a revolution. We must say NO! and reject the whole concept of authority — that some folks have a right to rule, so long as some other folks say they do — and create a society of voluntary association. There never was a time when the politicians who styled themselves “The United States of America” were accountable to “we the people”. Read Gustavus Myers’ History of the Great American Fortunes, and see how this country was born in infamy. What, besides threats and coercion, binds you or I to the U.S. Constitution and grants jurisdiction i.e., control, to these bureaucrats?

It comes down to this: my problem with volunteering on publicly owned land is that it tends to make it look like the current system is succeeding. As a society, formed into bodies corporate and politic (governments), can we continue giving short shrift to being good stewards of the land in favor of exploitation and continued degradation while relying on expanding the army of volunteers to make everyone feel good about it? It ain’t RIGHT!

Remember, “You are the Crown of Creation, and you’ve got no place to go.”

Well, thanks Buckthorn Man, that was interesting, but I wouldn’t dare bring any of that up next Saturday at the Oak Savanna Alliance workshop. Personally, I volunteer to help restore the quality and diversity of “the commons” as a way to preserve my sanity in a world gone mad. Making a positive difference, no matter how small, means everything to me.

Way back on April 27th, I enjoyed the opportunity to help the Kettle Moraine Land Trust on a workday with young people from the Elkhorn Area High School at the Beulah Bluff Preserve.

Herb Sharpless introduces the plan for the day

Views from the bluff before we set to work

The view at the base of the bluff where we began working

It was a great day!

I’ve been super busy cleaning the house from top to bottom and preparing for my adventure in legal land, which is still ongoing, and I haven’t gotten out to The Springs nearly as much as I’d like to. But, I did find time to join Pat Witkowski and her team of “Monday Mudders” on a beautiful late afternoon working on the Ice Age Trail just east of The Springs. There is a short section of trail that was rerouted a couple years ago and Pat was not happy with the results, so she is moving the trail up the slope a little to improve the drainage.

Part of the team worked on a stewardship zone, just a bit up the trail, that Dave Cheever has had his eyes on. There is a cluster of 10 or so massive, native white pines, that stand out conspicuously from the surrounding red pine plantation, once you know what you are looking at, and Dave thought it would be a great idea to clear the buckthorn from around their bases. Right on!

I hope to join Pat and the “Monday Mudders” again soon!

Last week I finally got back to work again at The Springs and spent a morning pulling weeds in the area around the Scuppernong Springs. This patch of garlic mustard is history!

Last year Ben Johnson and I weeded the lupine patches on the west slope of the sand prairie and I returned to get any spotted knapweed that we missed. There is going to be a stunning outburst of lupine this year!

Some curious friends stopped to see what I was up to and show off the beautiful morels that they found in the river valley on the east side of the sand prairie. I went looking myself but came up empty.

The spring flowers are in full bloom!

Last Saturday I was planning to join Zach, Ginny and Jared for a State Natural Areas workday at Bluff Creek West, but I’m faced with fields of flowering garlic mustard at The Springs. Instead, I spent the day brush cutting garlic mustard. Now you may scoff at the idea of mowing garlic mustard but I am seeing great results in some areas. It depends on how much seed is dormant in the ground and how thoroughly you can prevent new seed from maturing. This was an unusually busy spring for me and I’m way behind on the garlic mustard, but I see that this approach, as opposed to foliar spraying poison, is going to work in the long run.

Late in the afternoon, I donned my chest waders and pulled watercress from the river. I’m not trying to get it all out, I just want to keep a channel open.

It was past 6:00pm when I finally called it quits.

See you at The Springs!

Bluff Creek West

Posted on March 20, 2015 by paulmozina

Thanks again for coming to visit me at The Springs!

The Sand Hill Cranes are back and I’m wondering if we have opened up enough new habitat for a second family to take up residence in the area. It has been an exceptional winter season for cutting buckthorn and, thanks to the Kettle Moraine Natural History Association funding the efforts of Chris Mann and the Kettle Moraine Land Stewards, LLC, we have opened up many acres of wetlands.

Prime real estate is available for ducks as well and on April 2, Brian Glenzinski, former DNR Wildlife Biologist now working with Ducks Unlimited, will be joining me to tour The Spings. You might recall that Brian is the artist who carved The Acorn given out by the Oak Savanna Alliance for their Land Steward of the Year award. We plan to list with Brian and he was very positive about building some new “upscale” duck homes in the neighborhood.

By the way, don’t miss the Oak Savanna Alliance workshop on May 16th. Contact Eric Tarman-Ramcheck (TR Natural Enterprises, LLC) for details and be sure to let him know who you think deserves The Acorn this time.

The highlight of the last two weeks was the morning I spent with the Southern Kettle Moraine SNA Volunteers at the Bluff Creek West State Natural Area, just south and east of Whitewater, WI.

For sanity’s sake though, I’m going to recollect the events of the past few weeks in chronological order.

After weeks of cramming to prepare my defense against the band of thieves and robbers known as government, for my “day in court”, I needed a day in the woods with my chainsaw to settle my nerves. I returned to the marl factory on March 12th to attack the last stand of buckthorn on the wedge of land between the Tibby Line railroad tracks (signpost #2) and Marl Pit Bridge (signpost #4). Below, the area as seen from signpost #4.

Now, imagine you just stepped forward to the treeline shown above and looked right, straight ahead and left.

We carved a hole in the middle of this buckthorn thicket and now was the time to finish the perimeter. I had a fine day cutting and stopped early to help my friend Scott, and his buddy Mr. Schnuddles, collect some firewood.

The view from signpost #4.

I love to take a walk around The Springs at the end of a hard day’s work!

Hmmmm, why is that monster parked in the DNR lot above the Hotel Springs?

The bubbler at the Emerald Springs was especially active.

Ben, dude, we need to build a bridge here man!

On Saturday, March 14th I joined Zach Kastern, Ginny Coburn, Jared Urban, and a great crew of SNA volunteers clearing buckthorn from the transition zone between the calcareous fen and the oak uplands at Bluff Creek West. The area we worked is at the base of the forested ridge shown in the upper right hand corner of the Bluff Creek Prescribed Burn plan shown below.

Zach and Jared introduced the agenda for the day…

… and we got after it!

We made tremendous progress thanks to volunteers like this team from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Ecology Club.

I got a chance to talk to Zach Kastern about the project.

I really enjoy these events and you might like it too!

I spent the afternoon at The Springs finishing the last patch of buckthorn near the marl factory that I described above.

Ben, dude, we gotta fix this boardwalk!

Sunset at the Sand Prairie.

On St. Patrick’s day I found evidence that leprecons had visited the springs the night before!

I had NO IDEA they could operate heavy equipment!

Abe Wittenwyler, heavy equipment operator with the DNR, wasn’t looking for a pot of gold under the Hotel Spring bridge; he had come to excavate the riverbed to address the hydrology issues that Ben Heussner identified as a result of the elevation survey the DNR conducted last year. I called Ben for an update, left a message, and got to work cutting buckthorn in the wetlands just down the trail — to the left — from the main parking lot on Hwy ZZ. Here is how it looked before I got started.

When I broke for lunch, I got Ben’s message and headed over to the Hotel Springs to meet him. We walked along the river and reviewed the results of our efforts last year while Ben waited for Michelle Hase, DNR Water Regulations and Zoning Engineer, to review the project.

Ben Heussner, Steve Gospodarek and Abe Wittenwyler.

Michelle recommended they distribute the “spoils” excavated from the river slightly differently than Ben had in mind. They regraded the slope on the east side of the river, sowed a crop of annual grass, and then covered the area with straw. Ben was genuinely proud of the bridge he built there back in 1992 and he’s looking forward to building the replacement this summer. Me? I’m going to watch the river make a head cut.

I returned to my work site and cut buckthorn, like a mischievious leprecon, for the rest of the day.

And later visited my favorite haunts.

Yesterday I returned to the area and continued to open up dramatic views into, and out of, the very interior of the Scuppernong River Nature Preserve. I completed clearing the area shown below to totally open the views into the interior wetlands.

Then I moved much closer to the parking lot to take on this wall of buckthorn.

It was a flawless day and I cut down a hell of a lot of buckthorn. Views into the interior wetlands are now revealed.

And, looking back towards the parking lot, that wall of buckthorn is not so formidable anymore.

I’m going to cut as much buckthorn as I can before the garlic mustard and other weeds start to emerge.

I got my first call of the season from DNR Burn Boss, Don Dane. Let’s get it on!

See you at The Springs!

p.s. I did not prevail against the agents of the state in court on Friday the 13th. It ain’t over yet!

Oakitecture

Posted on March 3, 2015 by paulmozina

My favorite scene from The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies was when Thorin Oakenshield spotted Bilbo Baggins intently gazing at the Arkenstone. Confronted by the deranged king of the dwarfs, who was desperate to posses the stone, the wily Bilbo produced an Acorn from his pocket instead, and he soothed the savage beast with tales of The Shire and his dream to plant the Acorn there.

In Middle-Earth, they called those who were skilled at building with oak: Oakitects, and there were many fine examples of their Oakitecture in The Shire. For me this mythical place is a touchstone in my dreams: a place of beauty and harmony, love and peace.

I can say with all honesty and sincerity that the closest place I’ve ever been to The Shire is The Holtz Farm. It all started when Lindsay Knudsvig and I received the Land Steward of the Year award from the Oak Savanna Alliance back in 2012 in the form of an Acorn, beautifully carved by retired DNR Wildlife Biologist Brian Glenzinski.

Years passed by and I never got the call saying it was time to return the Acorn so, finally, I contacted Barb Holtz, and asked if I could return the award to her for save-keeping until the next Oak Savanna Alliance workshop. Now, I’m not making this up… literally a few days later I got an email from Eric Tarman-Ramcheck (TR Natural Enterprises, LLC) saying that he had just received a grant from Camp Timber-Lee to hold another OSA workshop, which is scheduled for May 16th.

I had heard a lot about the work Andy and Barb have done removing invasive plants from their 360 acre farm and I was very impressed with the presentation Barb made at the Oak Savanna Alliance Workshop back in 2012, so Pati and I were excited when Barb graciously agreed to give us a tour when we dropped off the Acorn. The homestead is in the upper right, or northeast corner, of the map below. Their oak savanna encompasses 140 acres on the west and south ends of their property. That is Jericho Creek, a Class II Trout stream, flowing on the west edge of the property and they have a perfect, picnic, pond on the south end.

Their homestead is so cozy, it would make Bilbo Baggins jealous.

And the outbuildings? They rival anything you would see in The Shire: neat as pins.

Before we ventured out, Barb gave us an overview of their restoration efforts over the last 5 years, describing how they got started using funds from the grants they received from the DNR’s Landowner Incentive Program.

Barb got hands-on experience working for three months with famed Oakitect, Jason Dare (Dare Ecosystem Management), whom they hired to get them started on the right track.

In contrast to the The Buckthorn Man‘s hyper-aggressive slash and poison technique, Barb has been very successful using a slower, calmer, basal bark spraying approach to killing buckthorn, which you can learn more about here. You can’t argue with her results.

We survey the landscape below before starting off.

Let’s take a look at the classic, pre-settlement, Oakitecture on The Holtz Farm. We made our way west to the ridge overlooking Jericho Creek.

And there we saw this ingenious contraption that they use to apply insecticide to their cattle as they lick mineral salts. A reservoir of bug dope and oil soaks the sleeve that surrounds the lick and also permeates fabric enclosed by gnarly chain extending to the ground on the right side. As the cattle push under the sleeve to get at the mineral lick, or rub their bodies against the chain, they get a light coating of sanity preserving insecticide.

Barb and Andy’s daughter, Helen, explained that they have learned the value of allowing their sheep and cattle to graze in the oak savanna to help keep the invasive plants down. Ben Johnson has been bugging me to do the same at The Springs, with goats, and I’m going to investigate that possibility.

This is the largest Oak Savanna remnant on private land in Southeastern Wisconsin. Barb is quick to point out however, that at this point, the “structure” is there, but they still have work to do to re-establish the native plant community in the understory. Check out this stunning Oakitecture!

Here is the pond on the south side of their property.

While we frolicked amongst the oaks, Andy was hard at work clearing brush. Below, Helen works the pile.

I’ve been a vegetarian for 3 years now, but when Barb said she had made a lamb stew for us, I had to make an exception. It was delicious!

We hated to see the visit end, but we had to go and they had work to do as well. Thanks again Andy, Barb and Helen for welcoming us into your home and little slice of heaven, we had a great time! Stay tuned for more updates on the Oak Savanna Alliance Workshop scheduled for May 16th. Who will win the Land Steward of the Year award this time?