McMahon Woods & Fen Saturday January 11
Missed this one due to another commitment, heard from several who were present that it was another bare-knuckle brawl with the Asian bittersweet vine besmirching this otherwise lovely site.
Large expanse of prairie in the center of the site? Got that.
Wonderful diversity of native prairie plants? Got that.
Rare fen habitat a little farther west? Ditto.
Innumerable vines ranging from small and thin, best suited to tripping passersby, to mature ones thicker than your forearm that grow up trees and shrubs and tie everything together? Yeah, we got that too.
It's tough eliminating the bittersweet yet volunteers come back time after time, making a big dent in it. Tip of the cap to all of them! On a cold morning they had no trouble keeping warm, feeding copious amounts of bittersweet, honeysuckle, and others onto multiple fires. They were joined by members of the FPCC Resource Management Palos crew whose efforts were also a great help!
Hidden Pond Woods West Sunday January 12
Arrived during a light snowfall to find three members of the Palos RM crew opening the gate. They graciously offered to start a fire while I awaited for our volunteers, and had a good hot blaze going in short order. Thanks, Graciela, Brian, and Dana. While they dealt with hazard trees - leaners, potentially 'widowmakers', volunteers went after brush.
We had a most productive day. For months we'd been nibbling around the edges of a nasty thicket of brush growing alongside the multi-use trail. Sunday we jumped right in, Jim brushcutting, Joe chainsawing, while the rest of us - Meredith, Joy, and Frank hauling and burning while Kathy herbicided - hustled to keep up. We refueled on cookies and oranges at break time, and by noon had 'most everything cut and burned giving a terrific sense of accomplishment.
Missed this one due to another commitment, heard from several who were present that it was another bare-knuckle brawl with the Asian bittersweet vine besmirching this otherwise lovely site.
Large expanse of prairie in the center of the site? Got that.
Wonderful diversity of native prairie plants? Got that.
Rare fen habitat a little farther west? Ditto.
Innumerable vines ranging from small and thin, best suited to tripping passersby, to mature ones thicker than your forearm that grow up trees and shrubs and tie everything together? Yeah, we got that too.
It's tough eliminating the bittersweet yet volunteers come back time after time, making a big dent in it. Tip of the cap to all of them! On a cold morning they had no trouble keeping warm, feeding copious amounts of bittersweet, honeysuckle, and others onto multiple fires. They were joined by members of the FPCC Resource Management Palos crew whose efforts were also a great help!
Hidden Pond Woods West Sunday January 12
Arrived during a light snowfall to find three members of the Palos RM crew opening the gate. They graciously offered to start a fire while I awaited for our volunteers, and had a good hot blaze going in short order. Thanks, Graciela, Brian, and Dana. While they dealt with hazard trees - leaners, potentially 'widowmakers', volunteers went after brush.
We had a most productive day. For months we'd been nibbling around the edges of a nasty thicket of brush growing alongside the multi-use trail. Sunday we jumped right in, Jim brushcutting, Joe chainsawing, while the rest of us - Meredith, Joy, and Frank hauling and burning while Kathy herbicided - hustled to keep up. We refueled on cookies and oranges at break time, and by noon had 'most everything cut and burned giving a terrific sense of accomplishment.
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