Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving week-end came and went; (personally I need to work off a few calories and maybe some field work is just the ticket). We resumed classes today (Monday Nov. 29); the last thing that I heard from students as we said our farewells last Tuesday was that some students just didn't want to stop the field work as I had originally scheduled; they just wanted to work through to the end of the semester; one group was aiming at DEC 4 (Saturday) and another group was looking at DEC 8 (University holiday); honestly this was very unexpected but if they can work through the winter chill all the more power to them; we worked into DEC last year so it can't hurt to keep going; let's see what tomorrow will bring.

Progress to Report

The field work for the fall semester is reaching a peak and, like the falling leaves that cover our trails, will soon be part of the history of the preserve; Very much like last year the field season starts slow but ends with a flurry of activity, enthusiasm and accomplishment. Yesterday (Nov. 17) we had a full field day and students started at any time they wanted between 9 and 3 and worked until the end of the day with sunset being around 5 PM. It was a very successful formula with some starting as early as 9 AM (my early birds!) and many others joining in at 10, 12 and 1. Being able to choose the best time seemed to make a difference and we always had fresh troops to throw into the effort.

'early birds"


We had a total of 30 students across the entire day (which is a new record) and they did some group projects that smaller groups could not possibly do on their own; in the morning we concentrated on some vine control and cutting out the worst sections of alien vines with some good results (some great before and after pictures are included here);

1. pick your target!

2. get to the root of the problem!!

3. smile for the camera!!!

GREAT RESULTS!!!!

debris pile of vine cuttings

In the afternoon, with more people on hand, we broke up into two construction crews and one group went east to trail segments 5 and 6 and built a terracing stairway to the top of the berm; the other crew went with me to the spring section of the trail where we had some of the heavy duty boardwalking materials stored; these are “monster” planks - 16 feet long, one foot wide- and when they are wet they weigh upwards of 200 pounds. I had everyone fashion 7 or 8 ‘rope loops’ that we put around each plank. Walking on opposite side of the plank we lifted and carried it roughly 200 yards into its final resting place; no one person was going to lift anything like this by themselves but 7 people, each carrying a small part of the weigh, can accomplish amazing things; This is a lesson to be learned and the idea of 'teamwork' and 'sharing the burden' was not lost on these fine students; Both planks and their underpinning only took us about an hour to get in place and they now span one of the wettest and softest swales in the trail.

I'm proud of the heavy work these students saw and did not shy away from and also the careful work that the other group constructing the steps on the earthen berm. These two tasks only took two hours total and with plenty of good weather and daylight still burning they opted to go out one more time and do some touch up work, some fine cutting and replace one missing marking block. I told them that whenever you return from the field “never come back with an empty wheel barrow”. On their way back they hauled out some of the worst old highway debris that they came across along the way and it makes for a great final picture!

We’ll have to take a day or two to assess where we are at this season and to see if certain things need to be wrapped up; other students are still asking if they can work in a few more days and hours before the end of the semester so if the weather holds and doesn’t change over too fast maybe there is more to do in the very near future.

I couldn’t be more proud of this particular group; I know from their reactions and their good-byes and their feedback today that they took something special away from this very long and tiring day. I did too!

CAUSE TO CELEBRATE

This season's field work is moving forward step by step; several days had wet weather and even a tornado watch so that was a bit of a slow-down; on the other hand the days that had the gorgeous fall weather like today had some great results;

so why is there "cause to celebrate” today?

Today was a STJ school holiday and so we had the chance to do both morning and afternoon field work; three work groups from the morning and two more in the afternoon move the trail project forward and completed the last part of our trail marking blocks; (see the three pictures below) this may not sound like much but we have been working on this since this project began last Oct’ we now have all 85 blocks in place and have the entire 8500’ of the trail marked approximately every 100’. That was the original plan and it is now a reality.
We still have to put the trial symbols and exact distances to each of the final blocks but they are FINALLY in the ground and ready for the final markings.

THE FINAL BLOCK

The rest of the day was spent in some heavy duty vine control (see other pictures) and in some TLC (– both Tender Loving Care and Trail Length Care-) in trail segments 4, 5 and 6. It was great working with these young students and sharing their enthusiasm.

Vine Country

l

Way to go - Peter/Nicole/Emily

In the middle of the day a former student from many years ago walked into our work site and surprised us; Chris Tomasello is a good friend and former student who now runs his own environmental consulting company and was just passing by and took the chance to stop in to the center and say hello; Chris is in the oil spill and Haz-Mat clean-up and remediation business and it was a nice chance to catch up a little.

And some TLC from Raphael

It was a tiring day. As we said our goodbyes I asked the students at the end of this long and tiring day how they felt about the project? they had all sorts of good feelings and thoughts; they had a sense of teamwork, they had a sense of accomplishment; one said it was therapeutic; and perhaps most importantly they had a sense of what this place might someday become.

Having the trail marking part of this project complete is only one step but it is an important step. Now we can ask volunteers to direct their efforts to particular tasks at particular trail intervals; we can begin to interpret the ecosystem and the plant communities for visitors and we can begin to produce trail maps and guides keyed to the trail markers that encourage people to get out and explore the park by following the marked trail. I think that will have to be my next project for the winter months when things are frozen solid and snowed over waiting for spring to arrive.

I’ve waited a long time to celebrate this day. I have to thank the students from last Oct., last April and this fall season that worked so hard to take this off the drawing board and put it into the ground.

And a final thank you and good-bye from one of the locals.