Tamarack | Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail

I hope Spring is here to stay!

It’s been crazy here on the home front. Pati, my African Queen, left for Cape Town today and I’ve been cramming for my “day in court” on Friday. Like Ian Anderson sang: “Nothing Is Easy”.

I’ll tell you what looks easy though: two experts driving forestry mowers cutting huge swaths of buckthorn in a couple hours, that would have taken, even The Buckthorn Man, weeks to do with a brush cutter.

We had absolutely perfect conditions for DNR Facilities Repair Worker, Don Dane (that title doesn’t even begin to describe what Don does!) and Forestry/Wildlife Technician, Mike Spaight, to mow buckthorn at the Hartland Marsh. This latest initiative at The Hartland Marsh, spearheaded by Kevin Thusius, property manager for the Ice Age Trail Alliance, manifested it’s first concrete result last week thanks to Paul Sandgren, Forest Superintendent Southern Unit – KMSF Lapham Peak & Glacial Drumlin Trail East, donating two full days of his best equipment and crew. Thanks Paul!

Way back on February 27th I spent a few hours at The Marsh flagging a firebreak for the prescribed burning we hope to start in 2016. How about this Oakitecture!

Last week Thursday and Friday (March 5-6) , just before this blessed thaw, Don and Mike came out and hit the buckthorn hard. They completed the firebreak, and some mowing on the uplands, on Thursday.

And on Friday, they continued working the uplands all the way back to the hillside below the Gazebo on Cottownwood Avenue.

I love those guys!

Back on Monday, March 2, I was joined by Andy Buchta and Ben Johnson as we cleared glossy buckthorn from the tamarack grove on the northwest side of the Ottawa Lake Fen State Natural Area.

Here is a panorama view taken from the middle of the fen.

Closing in around the tamaracks…

… is a thicket of glossy buckthorn.

It was a glorious day; our last of the season over there no doubt.

Last Saturday, March 7, Andy and I continue clearing the buckthorn near the old marl factory wall. Here is how it looked when I got there.

I won’t get tired of saying it was a great day!

We gutted the core of the last nasty buckthorn thicket on this wedge of land just west of the marl factory wall, and I think I can finish it off with one more day’s work.

I was pretty tuckered out when the sun went down.

See you at The Springs!

I’ll always love the Scuppernong Springs, but there is an even prettier, more pristine, more remote complex of springs at the Bluff Creek State Natural Area. There aren’t any noisy highways or bright lights nearby; just babbling waters emerging beneath old oaks in classic Kettle Moraine country.

The headwaters of Bluff Creek are a Class I Trout Stream!

It was great to get back to work in the forest and the highlight of the week was returning to the Bluff Creek Springs with Zach Kastern, Jared Urban and the hard-working, dedicated State Natural Areas volunteers.

Zach had done some preliminary work cutting and piling and he arrived early to light the fires.

Soon we were all hard at work. Thanks to Pati for these pics!

We wrapped up the morning’s efforts around noon and munched on some Valentine donuts.

A few of us continued working in the afternoon and here is how it looked at the end of the day.

That was Chris Mann and Zach Kastern talking shop after we visited the springs on the north side of the ridge. We hung out by the fire and watched the ducks and geese drift in for the night; it was blissful and none of us wanted to leave. It’s very inspiring to work with a big group of volunteers like we had yesterday. Lord knows we can’t rely on the arbitrary whims of the legislators in government to do the right thing by the land.

I got back to work last Monday cutting buckthorn amongst the tamaracks on the north west side of the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA. I can’t wait to see the tamaracks sans buckthorn this spring!

Here is the view from the pond.

The Buckthorn intertwines with the tamarack and kills it.

It will take a few more days to finish clearing this grove.

Ottawa lake sunset.

On Wednesday, I got back to The Springs to cut and burn buckthorn just down the trail from signpost #2. Here is how it looked before I got started.

I’m standing by my sled, which you can see in the picture above, for the next two shots.

I’m really looking forward to clearing this stretch of buckthorn between signpost #2 and the marl pit factory so that you’ll be able to see across the Scuppernong River Habitat Area to the Kettle Moraine ridges to the south.