Lake Koshkonong Wetland Association:
Program Notes from 2/28/06 Meeting
February 28, 2006 at 6:00 pm
Janesville DNR Station
The meeting was called to order at 6:10 pm by Rick Persson. There were 18 persons in attendance.
Penny Shackelford distributed and discussed the Annual Report for 2005 and the Annual Financial Report for 2005. Our organization has grown in membership and has a positive net worth. In 2005 we accomplished an Organizational Assessment, worked to have Lake Koshkonong designated as an Important Bird Area and completed work on three research grants.
Roger Martin reported on traffic to our web site which is growing fast. Aside from the home page, the most popular page is the wood duck/bluebird house page. Also popular are the wetland studies and wildlife sightings. The information on the early Wisconsin shooting clubs was a popular download.
Buck Sweeney briefly reviewed the situation with respect to the contested case hearing. Public testimony will be March 28 and 29. Certified parties will testify March 30. Additional certified parties and expert testimony is scheduled for April 3-5 and 10-14.
Please be sure to review the Environmental Assessment of the DNR (especially the summary) and Environmental Impact Report of the RKLD (on our web site). The RKLD website has a lot of information about the hearing – all the written expert testimony is available, including that of Scott Storlid and Jeff Kraemer.
Susan Yates discussed upcoming meeting programs:
March – no meeting because of contested case hearing
April 25 – Report of grant results – Jeff Kraemer
May 23 – To be determined
The meeting adjourned at 6:50 pm.
Ron Martin of Midwest Prairies presented a program called “Prairies Planted, Lessons Learned”
Ron started by saying that every prairie is a new experience. You are dealing with a complex biological process and so the unexpected often happens.
Our area historically was prairie (no trees) and savanna (a landscape that has 30-50% tree cover).
Why plant a prairie? It attracts wildlife, including insects, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals. It is non-polluting (compared to lawns), and low maintenance. It changes over time and is a great joy to look at and to walk through.
Process: First assess the sun, soil, moisture and weed history of the site. Decide on whether to use seeds or plants. Plants get going much faster, but are expensive and usually used only for small areas. Select the seed mix, keeping in mind the site conditions, the height of the plants and their time of bloom. Seed with as much diversity as your budget allows. Prepare the site to get rid of weeds and to provide soil contact for the seeds. If you plant in the fall, soil contact will be accomplished naturally by freezing and thawing and snow cover. Seed can be planted either by hand broadcast or with a special seed drill.
After planting: Mow frequently for the first 2 years to keep the annual weeds from shading the little prairie plants and to keep the weeds from going to seed. By the 3rd growing season, it will begin to look like a prairie. By the 3rd or 4th year, you can burn the prairie in the late fall or early spring. This encourages the prairie plants and discourages the weeds. A prairie should be burned about every 3 to 5 years and you should try to burn only part of it in any one year. This is to avoid damaging all the insects in the area. They are need for pollination and for your enjoyment of the prairie. Persistent invasive plants may need mechanical removal. Chemicals (herbicides) should be used very sparingly and should have selective activity for the target weed.
A variety of consulting companies are available to help you to establish a prairie.