Weeding 9/11

Posted on September 10, 2016 by paulmozina • Posted in Ottawa Lake Fen SNA, Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail • Tagged 9/11 Truth, Christine Todd Whitman, Corbett Report, James Corbett, Jon Bradley, Philip Zelikow, Rudy Giuliani • Leave a comment

The Buckthorn Man and I are 9/11 Truthers. I go back and forth in my head between the reality that the official story about what happened on 9/11 is a myth, and the realization that most people don’t see it that way, or simply don’t care if it is or isn’t. It’s the later thoughts that drive me into the woods sometimes. There, when I see a weed, or a buckthorn tree, I can pull it, or cut it — make the scene more beautiful, more truthful. In the “real” world however, removing the weeds obscuring the truths surrounding the events of 9/11 is not so simple: the best I can do is share what I have learned and hope that you are reason-able and not ignore-ant.

So, let me ask you: Is there anything I could say or show you right here that could change your mind about anything you think you already know about the events of 9/11? If the answer is NO, then skip down in this post until you see JB The Explorer‘s beautiful photographs.

The last time we saw The Buckthorn Man, he was in the Garden of Weed’in enjoying the fruit of the tree of knowledge, which is rooted deeply in who, what, where, and when, and grows with understanding (why), bearing the fruits of wisdom (how). Yes, I’m talking about the trivium again: grammar, logic and rhetoric are tools people of good will can use together to discover what is true — what is real.

“I keep six honest serving men (they taught me all i knew); Theirs names are What and Why and When And How And Where and Who.”

― Rudyard Kipling

If you are still with me, then your mind is open and I’m assuming you will at least entertain these thoughts. In case you are not already familiar with his work, let me introduce you to a very talented investigative reporter named James Corbett. Like me, he is also a weed puller: the invasive species he fights include government violence, coercion, lies, secrecy and corruption. His garden is The Truth, and it bears good fruit — here, take a bite!

Rudy Giuliani, Mayor of New York (all video descriptions are from James)

Mayor Giuliani oversaw the illegal destruction of the 9/11 crime scene and is criminally liable for the deaths of hundreds of emergency workers for not passing on prior warnings about the collapses of the Twin Towers. It is no wonder, then, that the Fire Department of New York so passionately detest Giuliani for his actions in disgracing their fallen brothers and covering up the 9/11 crime.

Christine Todd Whitman, EPA Administrator

If the brave men and women who had rushed to the World Trade Center in the chaotic days after 9/11 to help with the search and rescue had done so knowing the risks they were facing, that would be one thing. But of course they did not. They had been given false assurances by Christine Todd Whitman, the EPA administrator who assured the public just days into the clean up that the air was safe to breathe.

Philip Zelikow, Executive Director of the 9/11 Commission

In January of 2003, just weeks after Kissinger stepped down, it was quietly announced that Philip D. Zelikow would take on the role of executive director. As executive director, Zelikow picked “the areas of investigation, the briefing materials, the topics for hearings, the witnesses, and the lines of questioning for witnesses.” In effect, this was the man in charge of running the investigation itself.

Remember Mort Sahl, the famous comedian? He asked a poignant question in his 1976 autobiography Heartland: “How many lies do you have to believe before you become part of the lie?”

Investigate 9/11!

That being read/seen (maybe?), it’s time for the latest adventures of The Buckthorn Man. But first, let me share some beautiful pictures and video of The Springs from Jon Bradley.

Thanks Jon, that was beautiful!

In case you have not driven lately in the vicinity of Hwy 67, where eastbound Hwy ZZ meets it (across the road from the Hotel Springs), the DNR hired a forester to harvest some of the hardwoods from the area. They did a fantastic job mowing the buckthorn and honeysuckle that was thick in the understory in preparation for the tree thinning operation.

Looking south on Hwy 67.

Looking south from Hwy ZZ

I spent the day pulling weeds like queen anne’s lace and sow thistle near the Scuppernong Spring.

Jared Urban, DNR Conservation Biologist, gave me two very cool signs to put up at the Ottawa Lake Fen State Natural Area.

I spent a couple days putting up the signs at the fen and cutting and treating black locust seedlings.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

The DNR Fisheries team did a great job dredging the muck from McKeawn Spring, which is just south of the Scuppernong Springs on the east side of Hwy 67.

The outflow is pretty substantial…

… and joins the Scuppernong River

After a road trip to Royal Oak, MI to help my friend Chris Belleau at the Art, Beats and Eats fair…

… it was back to work at The Springs. I’ve been meaning to finish clearing the watercress from the Fish Hatchery Springs and finally got to it. I knew there were some cool springs hidden there! Later that same day I worked to improve the main Scuppernong river channel near the marl pit bridge by digging out cattails and moving some logs and stones.

A few before images…

note the hidden “thumb” of springs

After images…

The hidden thumb

$I love these natural, fractal patterns!$

I love these natural, fractal patterns!

And just yesterday, I had a fine day at The Springs, mowing a couple of overgrown areas along the trail and digging in a bit further to cut and treat some young buckthorn saplings.

Finally, The Buckthorn Man is one of the recipients of the Wisconsin Wetlands Association’s 2016 Wetland Awards. Please join me at the celebration on November 10 at the UW Madison Arboretum (details at WWA).

See you at The Springs!

The Garden of Weed’in

Posted on August 25, 2016 by paulmozina • Posted in Ottawa Lake Fen SNA, Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail • Tagged Chris Belleau, Hardscabble Prairie SNA, Jared Urban, Lindsay Knudsvig, Scott Finch, Todd Nelson, Tracy Hames, Wisconsin Wetlands Association • 5 Comments

I always wondered what it would be like to capsize a canoe in the middle of a windswept lake and I recently got to experience it on Lake Nokomis with my good friend, Todd Nelson. I saved my tevas and backpack but lost my Canon G15 camera. Todd saved his guitar but lost his funky hat and iPhone. The thing I liked about it was that neither of us got upset in any way; we made it to shore, emptied the canoe and finished our voyage. It was almost a pleasure to deal with the adversity, together, in a calm way.

Todd playing his song Sleeping Man in his inimitable style

I’ve been super busy this last month helping my friend Scott Finch break down his recording studio and move to North Carolina…

Velvet Sky Studio http://scottfinch.com/

… and doing two art fairs with my friend Chris Belleau, but there is some good news and progress to share from The Buckthorn Man.

Chris Belleau at the Morning Glory Art Fair in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Summer is the season to attack weeds and in years past I focused on pulling spotted knapweed on the sand prairie. That is until August of 2014, when I introduced both flower (Larinus minutus) and root (Clyphocleonus achates) weevils to munch on the knapweed. This is their third year feasting at the sand prairie and they are really getting the job done! Now, when are they going to find an effective biocontrol for garlic mustard?

I’ve been concentrating on other weeds this summer and feeling sanguine about the prospect of significantly reducing the exotic, invasive plants, at The Springs and the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA. One of the weeds I’ve been working on is narrow-leaved cattail — in cases where it is dominating springs or blocking the main channel down the river. There are many springs on the east/right side of the observation deck at the Emerald Spring that were totally covered in cattails. Here are before and after views.

And just last week I dug out cattails and reed canary grass from the main river channel all the way from the Hotel Springs upstream to the Hatching House Springs (map here). I’ve been sprucing up the river in anticipation of meeting Tracy Hames, executive director of the Wisconsin Wetlands Association, and his entire staff, for a tour of the wetlands in the Scuppernong River Nature Preserve. We had an excellent visit a few weeks ago exploring the wetlands that we opened up on the north end of the loop trail, and wading upstream from the gaging station bridge all the way to the Hotel Springs. Tracy suggested we cut the narrow-leaved cattails as low as possible prior to the tentatively scheduled fall prescribed burn (hopefully DNR burn boss, Don Dane, can pull this off). Not only will this put more dried fuel on the ground it will increase the chances that the burned tips of the cattails will be submerged under water next spring, which would significantly diminish their regrowth. Tracy also pointed out that purple loosestrife was popping up all over the place. I explained that biocontrol agents for the loosestrife had been released at The Springs more than 5 years ago and that they had made a dramatic impact on the southwest border of the nature preserve. We speculated that the loosestrife beetles would find the newly emerging plants, but I’m probably going to pull all the isolated purple loosestrife I can find before they set seed — to be on the safe side.

It was a real pleasure to share The Springs with such an enthusiastic and supportive group!

After the meeting with Tracy and the WWA staff, I visited the Indian Springs to pull creeping bentgrass that was spreading like crazy and setting loads of seed. Here is a gallery of before and after images.

The root system of this grass is very dense and hard to remove

I didn’t want to see all of that seed drifting downstream!

After images…

I took a couple days off from pulling and collecting seed heads from canada thistle, bull thistle, sow thistle, white sweet clover and yellow sweet clover at The Springs to hang out with Lindsay Knudsvig at the Hardscrabble Prairie State Natural Area, near Hazel Green, Wisconsin. Lindsay is currently working in nearby Dubuque, Iowa and he has adopted the Hardscrabble Prairie SNA as his own. We need more people like Lindsay who care about the land, see what needs to be done, and simply do it.

Hardscrabble Creek

There are a three different prairie areas in this SNA

We cut buckthorn, honeysuckle and sumac on a sweltering hot day

View from Eagle Point

I managed to squeeze in 5 days of camping at My Shangri-La (campsite #335 at Ottawa Lake), and took advantage of the proximity to get some work done at the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA. I had not been there since May and I was amazed at how overgrown the trail from the campsite north around the fen had become. Numerous box elder and black locust trees that we girdled a few years back had fallen across the trail and black locust seedlings and weeds of every stripe had made the trail nearly impassable. Jared Urban, conservation biologist with the DNR and the main force behind the State Natural Areas volunteer program, was planning to visit so I spent two days clearing the trail and pulling weeds.

We explored the east shoreline of Ottawa Lake and took the freshly cleared trail around the north side of the fen, celebrating the progress that has been made. Jared pointed out a few weeds like Japanese hedgeparsley and teasel that were just starting to make inroads and, needless to say, I pulled all I could find. There is still a lot more weed pulling and weed seed collecting to do at both the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA and at the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail. I started on the queen anne’s lace near the Hotel Springs and Jared tells me I’m way ahead of the DNR on this one.

Well, this has been a rambling recap of the adventures of The Buckthorn Man in the Garden of Weed’in. You know, ever since he tasted the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and learned the difference between right and wrong, he has been a missionary: shining the light of truth into the darkness; pulling out the weeds to reveal the magnificence of The Creator.

In 2013 I ran into the DNR water quality team doing a fish count on the Scuppernong River and it was fascinating. Then in 2014 I coincidentally ran into them again and documented it on my old website here. I wasn’t able to join them in 2015 or 2016, but I got the latest counts from 2016.

Scuppernong River Fish Counts
Fish	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Brook Trout	121	213	92	66	46	113	27
Brook Stickleback	59	25	11	1	4	93	94
Central Mudminnow	69	72	15	5	58	69	2
Fantail Darter	2	10	8	9	0	36	58
Grass Pickerel	0	1	1	1	10	1	1
Green Sunfish	0	1	0	4	0	0	0
Johnny Darter	0	2	1	0	0	2	7
Largemouth Bass	0	0	0	0	0	0	3
Mottled Sculpin	240	169	211	86	107	212	168
Northern Pike	0	0	0	3	0	0	0

The DNR always counts fish in the same stretch of river between the gaging station bridge and the Hotel Springs and I always see 6-8 brook trout hanging out just below the bridge that is upstream of the Hotel Springs. It is possible that all of the stream remediation work we have been doing has prompted a natural redistribution of the brook trout upstream of their old haunts. The DNR has stocked brown trout and lately, brook trout, in the Scuppernong River, so that is another factor to consider.

Here are some parting shots…

Looking upstream from the gaging station bridge

The Scuppernong Spring

The Sand Prairie

View downstream from the marl pit bridge

Ottawa Lake

See you at The Springs!

The Curse of Garlic Mustard

Posted on May 30, 2016 by paulmozina • Posted in Hartland Marsh, Ottawa Lake Fen SNA, Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail • Tagged Arrowhead High School, Garlic Mustard, Hartland Marsh, Ottawa Lake Fen SNA, Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail • 8 Comments

Once you know a thing, there is no unknowing it. Unfortunately for me, I became aware of the negative impact of garlic mustard, and around this time of year I feel compelled to try to stop it’s spread. I wish I had more time to garden in our woods and wetlands!

After all these years pulling and cutting garlic mustard, you’d think I might be an expert on it, but I just learned from my good friend, Lindsay Knudsvig, that the seeds of garlic mustard form in what are called siliques.

This is empowering information as I was previously focused only on the flowering garlic mustard i.e., preventing the flowers from maturing by cutting or pulling the plants. Now, my garlic mustard fighting season will continue so long as I can locate and collect the siliques.

I recently spent three days pulling and mowing at the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA. Check out this gallery of garlic mustard horrors.

A wall of garlic mustard at the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA

Before…

… after

I’m not using any herbicide on the garlic mustard and actually seeing very positive results just cutting and pulling. Hand pulling is definitely the best way to go when the garlic mustard is nestled in among native plants. I pulled the garlic mustard from the area around the Scuppernong Spring.

In the areas where it is carpeting the ground, like shown above, mowing is great option. Either way, eradicating invasive plants is a wonderful way to spend time in nature. Check out these morels I stumbled upon while pulling garlic mustard at the Hartland Marsh.

Morels are magical to me.

No, I did not pick any.

I hope someone else will find delight in them as I did.

Last Saturday I was joined by Arrowhead High School Instructor Greg Bisbee, and a group of young people from the school, along with Marsha and Jeff from The Friends of the Hartland Marsh, for a garlic mustard pulling party. We worked along the hillside at the Cottonwood Gazebo and north, across the village corn field, on the Waukesha County Land Conservancy property.

There is a long way to go in the battle against garlic mustard!

I spent a wonderful week camping at site #335, my favorite spot at the Ottawa Lake Campground. Thanks to Jim, Bob and Mark for stopping by to play some guitar and enjoy the campfire.

Views of the fen

The “Big Tree” at the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA

The boardwalk raising project we did last fall is looking good.

The Scuppernong River

Interesting fungus

Garlic mustard free zone

We have been pulling spotted knapweed and cutting out brush from the lupine fields on the west slope of the sand prairie for 3-4 years now. Nature is responding and in a few years the whole hillside will be covered with lupine!

I’m a point and shoot photographer and hope someday to learn how to use my camera. Until then…

See you at The Springs!

Wisconsin DNR: Super Mow Champs

Posted on February 5, 2016 by paulmozina • Posted in Hartland Marsh, Ottawa Lake Fen SNA, Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail • Tagged Andy Buchta, Ben Johnson, Dave Cox, Don Dane, Friends of the Hartland Marsh, Hartland Ice Age Marsh, Hartland Marsh, Hartland Wisconsin, Ice Age Wetland of Hartland, Kevin Thusius, Lindsay Knudsvig, Mike Spaight, Ottawa Lake Fen SNA, Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail, Village of Hartland, Wisconsin DNR • 4 Comments

Time was running out at The Marsh. Since I punted back in 2011, the Buckthorn’s offense had rallied back to take the lead and we were stymied by their impenetrable defense. Ice Age Trail Alliance coach, Kevin Thusius, got the call from the booth: offensive coordinator, Village Administrator Dave Cox, said the only hope to save The Buckthorn Man’s efforts was a “Hail Mary” pass. Kevin looked to the bench for the DNR’s special teams players Don Dane and Mike Spaight, who hadn’t seen action in the game since last March.

Don, the wily veteran, called timeout. He suggested we rent an ASV machine, mount a DNR forestry mower head on it, and then throw it to Mike, waiting upland in the end zone.

As the last seconds ticked off the clock, I snapped the ball to Don and blocked the rushing buckthorn, holding them off just long enough for him to get the pass in the air. Mike, surrounded by a thorny thicket, caught the ball and mowed the defenders down as he cleared a path into the end zone.

Touchdown!

Here is a look at the field before the big play. Note that you can open the gallery and see the pictures full-size by clicking on any of them, or, you can hover your mouse over a picture to read the narrative in the description.

Here are a couple examples of how thick the buckthorn was becoming.

“Coach” Kevin, Marlin and Rachel

A dense thicket of buckthorn on either side of the trail.

DNR Special Teams Players Mike Spaight and Don Dane

Conditions were perfect for forestry mowing.

Mike and Don scoping out the terrain

Finishing prep on the mowing head

Mike gets after it!

I was working at the Scuppernong Springs this past Monday when Don called to say that he had lined up the ASV machine and they would be ready to start the next day. We had just enough funds left in the kitty, contributed by the Village of Hartland, and we had made the decision that its best use would be forestry mowing; that was a good call, as you can see by the amazing and outstanding work that Don and Mike accomplished. But our dance in the end zone will be merely a gaudy display if we don’t get more funding to treat the cut stubs. We are debating whether to do a basal bark treatment before they get covered with snow, Don’s recommendation, or, wait until the cut stumps bush out in the late spring to treat them with foliar herbicide spray. In either case, we don’t have any money right now. We’ll get flagged with a penalty, and the touchdown will be called back, if we don’t come up with something. Here is a map showing the area they mowed in blue, followed by an “after” gallery displaying the results.

The view from the trailhead

Recall the picture of Kevin, Marlin and Rachel above, this is what the background looks like now.

Looking back east at the south side of the Village land.

The pictures were taken walking from east to west

The amount of buckthorn they cut and the area they covered is phenomenal

This is the second biggest oak at The Marsh and it was surrounded by a wall of 8′ tall buckthorn

This is the far western extent of the mowed area

Turning back and walking east now

The view of the Village land just to the west of the detention pond

Long time followers of The Buckthorn Man were probably stunned when they read this statement at the bottom of the presentation I made to the Village of Hartland Board on January 25:

The preservation, restoration and protection of the primary environmental corridor in the Village of Hartland is too vitally important to leave in the hands of ad hoc groups of volunteers, especially when considering that the Village is one of the primary land owners in the corridor.

Yup, this is coming from the same pen that wrote a post called Freedom that includes this gem:

Our Political “law” is nothing but the arbitrary WILL OF MEN and WOMEN. Government exists to direct and control our minds; the “State” is a figment of our collective imaginations.

On one hand, I’m challenging the legitimacy of the government’s claim of “authority”, and on the other, I’m asking the Village of Hartland — the powers that be, who “speak the law (exert jurisdiction)”, in these parts — to step up and take leadership. You can rightly question the sanity of The Buckthorn Man: is he schizophrenic, or just pragmatic?

I’m still trying to sort out the meaning of Village Board President David Lamerand’s response to my presentation and I have confidence that the Village will act in good faith to address the concerns I have raised. You can listen to an audio of my presentation to the Village Board on January 25, here, beginning at the 5:55 mark. Thanks to the Village Clerk, Darlene Igl, for providing the audio.

It has been an exceptionally benign winter so far, perfect in every way for cutting and burning buckthorn in the forest. On Thursday, January 28, I was joined at the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA by Andy Buchta and Ben Johnson. We had a flawless day continuing to open up the views to Ottawa Lake from Hwy 67 and the SkyDance Pet Lodge parking lot.

The northeast edge of the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA at the property line with the Skydance Pet Lodge

We lit 5 old piles and made three new ones.

I think one or two more days work here and we will have totatly opened up the view

Andy stokes the flames

On Friday, January 29, I was joined by a new volunteer, Jeff Saatkamp, a member of the Ice Age Trail Alliance at the Hartland Marsh. I brush cut buckthorn saplings on the Waukesha County Land Conservancy property and Jeff and I poisoned the cut stubs. Thanks Jeff! I’m looking forward to working with you again at The Marsh. As a bonus, Cheryl White the new executive director of the Waukesha County Land Conservancy, stopped out to visit and we had a marvelous time exploring the property. Cheryl brings a wealth of experience and skill to the job and I’m looking forward to working with her

A gorgeous morning at the old Parker Brothers Homestead site

The views of the target work area

I feel priviledged to be the caretaker/steward, along with Pati Holman, of this beautiful property.

A spring flowing into the Bark River

I hope to see the creation of the Bark River Water Trail, per the Village of Hartland Comprehensive Development Plan: 2035, recommendation

Views from the homestead site

After images.

On Monday, February 1, I was joined at the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail by Andy Buchta and Lindsay Knudsvig in the morning, and Ben Johnson later in the day. Thank you all for volunteering your time and energy to restoring our Kettle Moraine treasure!

Lindsay, just came off working 4 night shifts in a row! Here he preps the first pile.

Before image of a huge red oak.

Here is that red oak again.

A couple of other oaks we opened up.

Later that evening, around 6:30pm, as Ben and I were tending the fires, I happened to be looking to the east through spreading oak branches at Orion’s belt in the sky. Just then a bright light emerged and I called out to Ben, “Look!” and we both watched the meteor expand into a huge white ball before it disappeared at the horizon.

I’m looking forward to joining my friends at another State Natural Area Workday at the Whitewater Oak Opening on February 13.

See you at The Springs!

Tis’ the Season to Cut Buckthorn

Posted on January 27, 2016 by paulmozina • Posted in Ottawa Lake Fen SNA, Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail • Tagged Ottawa Lake Fen SNA, Phragmites, Scuppernong Springs • 4 Comments

The holidays are over but The Buckthorn Man, heedless of the wind and weather, is still celebrating before the blazing buckthorn yule with his friends. Fa la la la la, la la la la his chainsaw sings in merry measure, as the buckthorn falls fast as the year passes. Hail the new, ye lads and lasses!

It’s been a great winter season so far for cutting and burning buckthorn, with just enough snow cover and moderate temperatures. I’ve been busy at the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail and the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA and, thanks to a lot of help from my friends, we’ve freed some oaks from their buckthorn chains and opened up some exciting new vistas. It’s buckthorn cutting season, my favorite time of the year!

On Thursday, January 14, Andy Buchta and I worked at The Springs in the area marked in yellow on the map below.

I really appreciate Andy’s generous, volunteer contribution; he works hard and we make a good team.

This area is just down the trail 100 yards or so from the parking lot on Hwy ZZ

We spaced out three fires along the west edge of the thicket.

On the right you can see the effects of two huge cottonwood trees that crashed down among the thicket on the right side.

My sprayer sprung a leak — Andy got the spare from my truck

The first pile burning down

Second pile ready to light

Third pile started

Andy works the third pile

We cleared out around one really nice oak

Thanks again Andy!

Sunset over the Scuppernong River Habitat Area

On Saturday, January 16, we returned to the north side of the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA to work on the south side of the SkyDance Pet Lodge property. Thanks again to Dennis Lutynski for agreeing to let us clear the buckthorn on his land and integrate the open space with the state natural area. Our goal is to open the views into Ottawa Lake from Hwy 67 to show off this beautiful landscape; hopefully, this won’t cause any accidents by drivers rubbernecking to take in the scenery.

I was joined by Andy Buchta, Lindsay Knudsvig, Ben Johnson, Chris Mann and Steve Brasch; Thanks Guys!

Four view of the work area looking north from the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA border into the SkyDance property — west to east.

The view from the parking lot at the SkyDance Pet Lodge

Steve, Lindsay, Chris and Andy

We accomplished quite a bit!

It turned out to be a gorgeous day.

Various views looking north from the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA acros the SkyDance property.

The new view from the SkyDance Pet Lodge parking lot

Ben and Lindsay discussing fertility cycles…

The blazing Yule Log

On Friday, January 22, Dr. Dan Carter, Senior Biologist with the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, led a field trip at The Springs to teach us how to differentiate between exotic and native phragmites. Dan organized his analysis into an excellent post on his Prairie Botanist blog.

Dr. Dan Carter, SEWRPC; Eric Tarman-Ramcheck, DNR; Maggie Zoellner, KMLT; Lindsay Knudsvig, Kilkenny Family Project; Mariette Nowak, Wild Ones; Cheryl White, WCLC

Dr. Dan Carter, SEWRPC; Eric Tarman-Ramcheck, DNR; Maggie Zoellner, Kettle Moraine Land Trust; Lindsay Knudsvig, Kilkenny Family Project; Mariette Nowak, Wild Ones; Cheryl White, Waukesha County Land Conservancy

I captured his work in the field in a series of videos, which are concatenated below. The exotic identification comes first and then we visited two sites to see all of the characteristics of the native species.

This patch of native phragmites is just west of the gaging station bridge over the Scuppernong River

Almost all of the phragmites in the valley encompassing the headwater springs of the Scuppernong River is of the exotic variety, while the huge expanse of phragmites in the Scuppernong River Habitat Area, that is visible from the marl pit bridge or the Indian campground, is native. The later information was a revelation, as we had always assumed that it was exotic phragmites, and had considered it as such in the NAWCA grant proposal.

Exotic Phragmites australis ssp. australis, John Hrobar standing on the deck at the Emerald Spring, photo by Sue Hrobar

Native Phragmites australis ssp. americanus, view into the Scuppernong River Habitat Area from the marl pit bridge over the Scuppernong River

Native Phragmites australis ssp. americanus, view into the Scuppernong River Habitat Area as seen from the marl pit bridge over the Scuppernong River

I really need to get more science in my life; that was fun!

Finally, on Saturday, January 23, I was joined by Andy Buchta and Ben Johnson at The Springs. We worked in the area marked in red on the map above, near signpost #1. Anne Korman, the new Superintendent Kettle Moraine State Forest – Southern Unit, Lapham Peak Unit and Glacial Drumlin Trail – East, stopped out to visit and thank us for all of our hard work. You’re welcome Anne!

Imagine a burning pile of buckthorn in the foreground of this shot

and another pile here

and a third pile here,

We carved space in the thicket right up to the two huge oaks behind Andy and Ben

Ben and Andy comparing notes

The Buckthorn Man

Well, it’s time to don my gay apparel and cut some buckthorn, Fa la la la la la la la.

See you at the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA.

Sky Dancing

Posted on December 28, 2015 by paulmozina • Posted in Ottawa Lake Fen SNA • Tagged Bluff Creek SNA, Ottawa Lake Fen SNA, SkyDance Pet Lodge, Southern Kettle Moraine SNA Volunteers • 4 Comments

Winter’s first blizzard is raging outside and I can’t wait for spring and the return of the Sky Dancing American Woodcock to The Springs. The past few seasons The Keepers of the Springs, John and Sue Hrobar excitedly asked The Buckthorn Man: “Have you see the woodcocks?” The joy and wonder brightly illuminating their faces was not enough to spark a glow in The Buckthorn Man’s dimly lit bulb. It took a serendipitous encounter with Dennis Lutynski, owner of the SkyDance Pet Lodge, at the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA to turn on my learning switch.

Lindsay Knudsvig and I were relaxing yesterday in front of one of our blazing brush piles on the north side of the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA when Dennis emerged from the woods. Although we had never met, I knew it was him; I had introduced myself at SkyDance a couple weeks earlier to let them know about the NAWCA grant application and review where the property line was. The Buckthorn Man is a notorious interrupter and I could barely restrain myself as we began sharing information about how the restoration effort might impact SkyDance and how Dennis and his family took ownership of the property 12 years ago.

The SkyDance Pet Lodge is immediately north of the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA and completely surrounded by DNR land. We talked about the need to preserve the privacy of the dog kennels, sans the buckthorn, black locust and box elder, and about the potential impact the removal of all that cover would have on the local American Woodcock population. Dennis is the only woodcock bander in southeast Wisconsin and his face lit up as he described the sky dancing performances they put on right in their front yard.

In Dennis’ words:

“There is magic in experiencing the sky dance of the male woodcock during his courtship.

A series of spiraling flights and ground strutting mixed with musical loud buzzy bzeeps! Sky dancing as he plummets back to earth, twittering as he descends, inviting you to wonder about this unique spring ritual and the rotund little shore bird that rarely sees the shore! We invite you to experience the magical dance in the open fields surrounding our property in the Kettle Moraine Forest.

Banding the woodcock chicks is required to aid in research of the rapidly declining population. English Setter’s are frequently preferred for locating the nesting chicks. The English Setter’s careful footsie ghost-like motions set the woodcock, enabling the banders to net, record and band the chicks.”

Dennis named their kennels after the unfathomably mysterious flight of this beautiful bird.

Aldo Leopold wrote eloquently about the American Woodcock in A Sand County Almanac essay: Sky Dance.

I get it now! and plan to be front and center near the parking lot of the Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail, where the American Woodcock will be performing again next spring.

It was a real pleasure to meet Dennis and he could not have been more supportive and cooperative. We are looking forward to working closely with him during the restoration to insure that a suitable visual and sound border is established between the trail on the north side of the fen and the SkyDance Pet Lodge kennels.

Dennis returned a few minutes later with a large aerial photograph circa 1967 of the property, which has been utilized as a dog kennel for over 50 years. “You got a lotta work to do!”

Yes indeed there is a lot of work to do at the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA and throughout the Kettle Moraine Forest; everywhere you look invasive plants are spreading and dominating the native flora. I want to thank everyone who has contributed to support The Buckthorn Man’s efforts — it means a lot to me and I do appreciate it. Most of all, I thank people like Andy Buchta, Lindsay Knudsvig and Ben Johnson, who have consistently volunteered their time and energy to help me on these restoration projects.

Andy and Lindsay joined me at the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA yesterday, December 27, 2015 and we lit our first brush piles of the season. There was no snow cover so we avoided the brush piles that were nestled in the edge of the marsh and instead we lit piles that were well upland. This worked out great as there were plenty of massive buckthorns on the hillside to cut and throw into the fire. We had a safe and very effective first outing with fire on land this winter season.

We lit the three piles on the right

ditto for this picture

The view south from the worksite

The buckthorn thicket just up hill from the brush piles we lit.

Andy Buchta stoking the fires

Lindsay makes an adjustment

Dennis Lutynski

with Lindsay

I love hanging out by a buckthorn fire on a winter night

In case you have not noticed the events on the front page of this website, I’m posting all of my volunteer workdays on a iCalendar which you can subscribe to by visiting the Volunteer page. I’m really looking forward to the next State Natural Areas workday at the Bluff Creek SNA on January 9th. Visit the State Natural Areas Volunteers DNR site to see their workday schedule and get on their mailing list. You can also follow the action on Facebook at Southern Kettle Moraine SNA Volunteers.

See you at The Creek!

NAWCA Grant Proposal for Ottawa Lake Fen SNA

Posted on December 14, 2015 by paulmozina • Posted in Ottawa Lake Fen SNA • Tagged Abe Johnson, Ben Johnson, Don Dane, Eric Tarman-Ramcheck, Lindsay Knudsvig, NAWCA Grant, Ottawa Lake Fen SNA • 2 Comments

Eric Tarman-Ramcheck has been on his new job as a Conservation Biologist with the Wisconsin DNR for over a year now and he is definitely making his impact felt. Eric works out of the Kettle Moraine State Forest — Southern Unit and he is as handy with a pen as he is with a chainsaw. He recently submitted a North American Wetlands Conservation Act (NAWCA) grant proposal for the Scuppernong River Habitat Area and the Ottawa Lake Fen State Natural Area.

If you have been following the adventures of The Buckthorn Man, you will recall that I participated in the 2013 Phase IV NAWCA grant for the Scuppernong Springs Nature Preserve and the Scuppernong River Habitat Area. The Buckthorn Man was on the hook for $37,500 worth of labor at $15/hour and, along with help from my super friends, we actually contributed over $80,000 worth of labor over the 2 year grant period. I’m proud of our contribution and very excited that Ben Johnson and Lindsay Knudsvig have joined me in committing our labor to generate matching funds as part of Eric’s new NAWCA grant proposal. Visit the Volunteer page to learn more about how you too can make a contribution and subscribe to my iCalendar to get notified of all the upcoming volunteer workdays.

I recently published the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA Volunteer Project page on this site, so check it out for more details about the history of the land and the work done so far by volunteers and the Kettle Moraine Land Stewards, LLC.

You are probably wondering what’s up with the thick black line on the map above. Ben Johnson called me last week and said his brother, Abe, was in town and we should go investigate the NAWCA grant area. That was a brilliant idea, and just my speed, as I’m still healing from surgery on my right hand for Dupuytren’s Contracture. We headed due west from the dog trial grounds parking area and made a loop over to the western boundary and then south and around Ottawa Lake.

Heading west from the parking area

There are a lot of Aspen clonal colonies

There are some nice red oaks

But most of the area is a…

horribly degraded buckthorn thicket

it’s thick as theives

massive, multi-stem 40-50 year old buckthorn

Emerging into the open areas on the west side

Looking at the Kettle Moraine

We finally got to the property line

Abe, heading south

The outflow of Ottawa Lake

Joins the Scuppernong River

Just south of Hwy ZZ

It is crystal clear!

Deep in the buckthorn thicket.

I experienced a happy coincidence on November 10, when I drove out from Milwaukee to cut some brush (one of my last workdays before the surgery) on the north end of the loop trail at The Springs, and noticed a plume of smoke rising near the visitor entrance to the Ottawa Lake recreation area. Burn boss, Don Dane, and his DNR crew managed to execute a few prescribed burns this fall season, and I caught them doing one in area #2 marked in green on the map above. I took a series of 4 videos capturing the conflagration that you can watch via the youtube playlist below.

This is on the north east end of the burn unit

near the Ottawa Lake visitor entrance

They laid down a backing fire

to create a black zone around the unit

the center of the burn unit

closer to the west end of the unit

See you at The Fen!

Return to My Shangri-La

Posted on December 5, 2015 by paulmozina • Posted in Ottawa Lake Fen SNA, Restorations • Leave a comment

One of the perks The Buckthorn Man gets for cutting brush in the Kettle Moraine is free camping at Ottawa Lake. My friends in the DNR, who work out of the Kettle Moraine State Forest — Southern Unit, have always supported me with tools, herbicide, advice, and most importantly — a shared love for the land and commitment to do the best we can with scarce resources. They forego a little camping revenue to thank me for volunteering and I do appreciate it.

There are two walk-in sites at the Ottawa Lake Campground (#335 and #334) and they are the prettiest camping spots around. The view from #335, My Shangri-La, favors Ottawa Lake, while the view from #334 looks out over the Ottawa Lake Fen State Natural Area. I explored the east shoreline of Ottawa Lake on that first camping adventure in the Fall of 2013 and realized what a beautiful oak woodland was there, albeit infested with huge, old, gnarly buckthorn. Over the last two years, with a little help from my friends, we have cleared the buckthorn from the beach, north along the east shore, and all the way around to the tamarack grove on the northwest side of the fen.

Visit my old Scuppernong Springs Nature Trail website, here, here and here for more stories about My Shangri-la.

Things haven’t worked out quite the way I had planned this year, but I did manage to get a week of camping in at site #335 at the end of October. Here are a few images from that visit.

Ottawa Lake

Tamaracks on the west side of the fen

The pond at the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA

We spent a lot of time last Winter…

clearing buckthorn from these Tamarack groves.

Tamarack Bog

The North side of Ottawa Lake

The fen

Lindsay Knusdvig has helped me many times at the Ottawa Lake Fen SNA, and he joined me again during my recent camping trip to help finish cutting the last stretch of buckthorn on the east shore of Ottawa Lake. Thanks Lindsay!