Crew Log 10/31

Getting ready to burn. There was an autumnal gust of excitement that swept through the Ranch today. A refreshing, spine-tingling breeze was in the air. We NAPpers are all ready to suit up and take restoration to its fiery pinnacle. I could just imagine the crackling of the oak leaves as we wound are way around the back of Ruthven, creating a break through a crowded buckthorn thicket. I could see the fire sweeping up the hill, sending its army of flame spirits into battle, engulfing honeysuckle seedlings and torching towering branches. We walked over every inch of Ruthven inspecting downed trees, looking for ones that might catch and send fire up into the canopy. Areas never seen or touched by us this year showed us their secrets. Aureolaria flava, smooth false foxglove, a partial parastie on oaks, is found all over the backside of the hill. Big oak openings seem to appear out of nowhere and then disappear just as quickly. A pocket of indian grass and big bluestem will sneak up on us.
When we went back to the Ranch we were greated with some great news. Dave and JT were on their way to Huron Parkway to check on the fine fuel moisture and the possibility of adding it to the burn list for tomorrow. And sure enough, its cookin' tomorrow! So for the rest of the day, we in the crew spent our time getting the trucks together and our heads in order.
We hope to see some volunteers out tomorrow.

Crew Log 10/30

Ok, so I missed a couple of days there! Oh well, such is life.

But what glorious weather we have today. And what a great day to work out in our natural areas. Today, as we did for the last three days of last week, we collected seed. Suze, Bill, and I went to Ruthven to finish off the grass seed that was left there. We are collecting as much seed as possible before we (potentially) burn the site. Ruthven is located on the northeast corner of Huron Parkway and Geddes. You can't really see from the street, but its basically a big, sandy hill. And its a really neat site. Take a visit and remember what you see. I have a feeling this site will change drastically over the next couple of years. We collected Indian Grass, Big Bluestem, Little Bluestem, Switch Grass, and Stiff Goldenrod.
In the afternoon we went to South Pond North, just across the railroad tracks from the paved path in Gallup, and further west along that path in Gallup proper. Same species sans goldenrod.
Just a beautiful day to be out. More thoughts on seed collecting soon...

Crew Log 10/24

For the most part, see yesterday. Exact same things, at the exact same places. We were short one person though. The notorius "Heavy B" was out of action. That left Tamara, Suze, and myself to fend for A2's natural areas. Cutting shrubs as a trio is a fairly difficult task. It really is best done as a tagteam combo; but we worked it out. Tamara had it rough at Dhu Varren however. Suze and I were brush blading and Tamara was on herbicide wand patrol. Her task was to follow Suze and I as we cut. And Suze and I have the tendency to get very, very, very into cutting shrubs! So, while we laid waste to, err, that is, uncovered a small section of the southern end of Dhu Varren (maybe even the north part of Foxfire South... who knows. no boundary lines in forests!), Tamara ran around and treated the stumps we left. What a headache that must've been. Sorry Tamara!!! She did a great job though.
Tomorrow... Maybe Airport Woods!

Crew Log 10/23

A cold but nice day at two lovely nature areas. The morning found us at Dhu Varren Woods on Dhu Varren Rd. between Pontiac Trail and Nixon. Its a medium size natural area with an overstory of BIG maples and oaks. Really pretty at all times of the year, though I've only visited since the early fall. We are sweeping the priority 1 units in our natural areas for invasive shrubs (honeysuckle, buckthorn, privet, ...). I'll tell you more about our prioritization system later. There wasn't too much in the interior. A wet area in the middle had a few larger buckthorns, not anymore. And toward the south end where a few more oaks appear there were quite a few large buckthorns. We tackled seven or eight, 20 -30 footers before our brushblade ran out of gas and our fingers froze.
Lunch.
The afternoon was spent again in our forested backyard, Black Pond Woods, sweeping for invasive shrubs. I've always like BPW. This forest is a perfect example of how well fire can work to restore a beautiful, lively, open understory. If you ever venture off trail (don't) you may find this pretty little ravene just south of the pond. There you will be met with a friendly little plant Hackelia virginia... commonly know as beggar's lice. And thus we ended our day, as the sun slowly began its descent. New friends to take home with us. Hundreds, maybe thousands of happy little friends, clinging to us so needily and honeysuckle at our feet.

Bill and Erica burnin at Furstenberg
~Jason (Frenzel, aka Jason #1)

Crew Fire Training

...but first some logistical considerations...

I, Billy Kirst, Conservation Worker II, will do my best to maintain a daily crew log. I hope to give to you a glimpse into the lives of us getting dirty restoring nature for a living. Maybe you too will be able to feel the sweat running down your boots, or the splinters of success in your hands! These posts will most likely be updated between 5:00 and 6:00 p.m. E.S.T. as I need a bit of time to get myself together after a long day in the field. Any questions, comments, and concerns are greatly encouraged. I hope to hear from all of you!

... and now on the real deal...

Friday was a short but very productive (mentally) day. We arrived at the Ranch (Dr. Leslie's house) to find that Jason Tallant (henceforth, JT) had set up the projector and was preparing a powerpoint presentation for us. The topic of the day was FIRE. Prescribed fire, that is. Ecological burns. JT gave us a nice overview of the world of fire especially pertaining to the Ann Arbor area. We saw a nice video shot last fall at the Leslie Science Center (LSC) prairie that showed Tamara and Becky lighting a ring fire. (Ring fire: Imagine two people lighting fire around the outside of a particular area, completely encompassing it... take a square, draw a circle in it, everything in the circle burns...) The entire section of the prairie burned up in just about a minute. One of the more interesting things was the behaviour of the fire as the sides of the ring moved closer together. As the fire continues to build its own heat it begans to generate its own wind. This wind being produced by all sides of the ring moving toward each other causes the flames to bend toward the middle of the area being burned. When the flames are just about to close in on themselves all the flames twist together into what looks like a mini tornado of fire. And then POOF! the fire's gone!
Maybe we can get that video up here someday.
After watching the videos and getting mentally prepared we went out to suit up Squeeky (one of our three trucks) with burn gear. That was straight forward. We went to the burn trailer, hanging out next the the Leslie Golf Course parking lot, to get ourselves some nice threads to burn in. I somehow received all new gear, including one of our fancy new safari burn helmets... you'll see if you come out. They are HOT!
We came back to the Ranch and went on a walk through Black Pond Woods to talk about fire in situ. JT showed us things we need to be aware of when prepping a site, especially trees that may catch and take fire up into their heartwood. He showed us a fine example of an oak tree that caught. And thanks to his heroic effort the tree was saved.
All of a sudden... day is done, for me at least.
We had lunch. Bill and Suze went to Argo and cut down a tree that was over the trail. And JT said goodbye for a week as he is off to Illinois for a week long Burn Boss training program taking place at the Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie...
...its rainy, hopefully we will get to burn this fall...

Podophyllum Peltatum :)

Inauguration

hey all -
City of Ann Arbor, NAPpers - www.a2gov.org/nap

always looking for volunteers to come help nature with us - and many good folks to hang out with :)

ta ta,
~the NAPpers