The Kiap TU Wish fiscal year runs from April 1st to March 31st. Each year Randy totals up the volunteer hours which have been spent working on our area streams for a report which goes to TU National.
Randy organized 22 brushing workdays this past year amassing just over 1,300 volunteer hours. There were also four days where volunteers assisted the DNR with their annual shocking surveys. There were three workdays centered around treating buckthorn with herbicide, one seeding mulching workday, and one lunker building workday adding another 170 hours to the total. We worked with the 3rd grade class at Greenwood Elementary to hold a brush burning day bringing total hours to over 1,600. Aside from the Greenwood service-learning day, there were 63 different individuals who volunteered their time at workdays. Thirty-four of those individuals attended two or more events.
Several individuals deserve special recognition and thanks for the number of workdays which they participated in. Leading the list is John Skelton with 21, Jim Tatzel with 20, Dave Gregg with 15, Tom Anderson with 14, Trish Hannah and Steve Cox both with 10, Dave Kozlovsky with 9, and Paul Mahler, Pat Sexton and Loren Haas with 6. Bill Farquhar, Matt Janquart, Scott Wagner, William Mahler, Ben Toppel and Jon Rock each attended 5 workdays. Pete Kilibarda, John Kaplan, Jeff Himes, Keith Stein, Jim Sackrison, and Greg Olson each attended 4 workdays. Randy also has Mark Peerenboom, Colleen Grant, Michele Bevis Rainbow Barry, and Al Hopeman listed as having attended three workdays.
Thank you all for your hard work and dedication in answering the calls that bring you out in all sorts of weather to improve habitat for trout. The next workday will start with a reset to zero. If you are one of the more than 200 on our email list who didn’t participate in a workday this past year, We hope to see you in this coming season.
Kinni Workday This Saturday March 26thThe snow might all be gone but, the rain we are receiving this week will keep things wet enough to keep cutting and burning buckthorn and box elder slash. The worksite is at the DNR parking lot on Hwy 65 between Quarry and Liberty Roads. Randy will be there starting at 7:30 on Saturday morning and plans to work till noon or shortly after. Come for an hour or two or spend the entire shift there. We need chainsaw operators who have completed the safety training and a bunch of regulars to drag, stack and burn the slash. Randy will have some portable pumps on hand to control any fires that threaten to get out of control. Hot dogs and cookies will be served up at the end of the shift. Please email Randy at randyca999@gmail.com if you plan to attend the workday. Randy reports there was a hatch of stoneflies and BWO’s starting towards the end of the shift last Saturday. Bring your fishing gear along and wet a line afterwards if you choose. This could prove to be the final ‘brushing’ workday of the season but, don’t bet on it.
Final Workday at the Current Kinni Site, Saturday February 26th
Saturday’s weather is forecast to be a little more tolerable than this past week. We want to wrap things up at the current worksite on River Drive with a workday starting at 8:00 and running till noon or shortly after. Last Saturday brought us to within about 15 yards of this project’s target goal. With any sort of turnout on Saturday, we will go beyond that mark and call it quits over some hot dogs and cookies at whatever point we end up stopping. We can say will be moving to a different site the following weekend in case any of you are getting bored with the current site.
As usual, we need chainsaw operators who have completed safety training and have the appropriate safety gear. Others are needed with good work gloves to drag the slash to the nearby fire piles. Be sure to wear clothing which will not be ruined when the occasional hot ash falls on you. Bring along some liquid refreshment to stay properly hydrated. We are getting some accumulation of snow this week. Be sure when sawing or lopping any living box elder or buckthorn that you brush the snow aside, cut the plant close to the ground, and immediately treat the stump with herbicide. There were a number of stumps left sticking 8-10″ in the air this past Saturday which needed to be revisited and cut closer to the ground and then re-treated.
Please email Randy Arnold at randyca999@gmail.com if you plan to attend the workday. The site is located at the second DNR parking lot east of the Earthworks Nursery on River Drive. There is a ferry boat set up to get volunteers across the river. We are working at least 200 yards upstream so be sure to holler and get someone’s attention if you need assistance with the ferry to get across.
Thirteen volunteers showed up on a cold Saturday and worked hard before wrapping up at noon for some hot dogs and cookies around the fire. Volunteers today were Steve Cox, Paul Mahler, Dave Kozlovsky, Tom Anderson, Jim Sackrison, William Mahler, John Skelton, Pat Sexton, Jim Tatzel, Tom Schnadt, Matt Janquart, Ben Toppel, and John Rock.
Randy believes that we will have one or two more workdays at this site before moving on to another location. Watch for an email midweek with details about the next workday. Don’t miss the opportunity to make a workday before we wrap up the brushing season in late March or early April. If you have questions about workdays contact Randy Arnold at randyca999@gmail.com
Buckthorn and box elder removal work will continue this Saturday (29th) at the Lee/Gibson site on the Kinni located at the River Drive DNR parking lot, with the handicap fishing pier, just down the road from the Earth Works Nursery. Work will start at 8:00 and go until noon or 1:00 with a lunch of hot dogs and cookies to follow. Thanks again to last week’s volunteers. Two fire piles are already set up and ready to provide some immediate warmth to the mornings chill. The current forecast is calling for a low of 13 and a high of 23 for the day with relatively mild winds, perfect conditions for the type of work planned. Randy can use the help of chainsaw operators who have completed the safety training and have a full complement of safety gear. Others with loppers or just some good work gloves are needed to further cut up the slash and drag it to the fire piles for burning.
We really could use a good turnout of volunteers on Saturday since there is much work to be done. There is some massive buckthorn growing at this site and, we would like to be able to finish up work here in the next couple of weeks and move on to another project site. Come for the entire time or just an hour or two if that is all that fits your schedule. Remember to wear old clothing which will not be ruined when the occasional hot ash falls on you. We are working on the far bank and have a Jon boat ferry set up to get workers and equipment to the work site. Please email Randy Arnold at randyca999@gmail.com if you plan to attend the workday.
Driftless Bus Tour: A number of Kiap-TU-Wish members took part in the recent Driftless Tour which featured four projects in our area this year. Organized by Duke Welter and Jeff Hasting and funded by TUDARE, the packed bus and caravan of several other vehicles made stops at Wilson,Hay, and Gilbert Creeks near Knapp before wrapping things up at the Von Holtum easement on Plum Creek. As a chapter, we should feel proud of the amount of volunteer effort which went into each of these projects.
A good mixture of Brooks and Browns.
CPR/First Aid Safety Training: In order to be in compliance with WIDNR regulations while conducting volunteer workdays on state owned lands, CPR/First Aid Safety trained individuals need to be present to help with any accidents or emergency situations which might arise. The certifications which a number of our volunteers achieved during training two Octobers ago expired, and another certification class was held on Saturday, October 25th at Juniors in River Falls. Fourteen volunteers went through training in order to ensure compliance for holding workdays again this season and next.
Nate Anderson, Lead Habitat Technician for the Lower Chippewa River Basin, explains how the ERO structure works. The “Elevated Riparian Optimization” (ERO) structures are an experimental structure designed by Loren Haas of the Kiap-TU-Wish Chapter. Under high flow, the river rises through the constriction greatly accelerating flow. Once the structure is overtopped, the flow curls in and creates a directed scour forming a long deep pool.
Von Holtum Easement on Plum Creek: The original plan for the Von Holtum easement on Plum Creek was for it to be a three-year project. Nate Anderson’s WIDNR crew finished more than anticipated this year, and are now entertaining plans of completing the remaining stretch of stream next summer. Having used up all the rock which he had on site for this year’s stretch, Nate and his crew shifted gears and used their excavators to continue clearing box elders from the banks downstream from the restored section. Nate has plans to continue this clearing for a few more weeks, weather permitting. Have no fear, there will still be plenty of box elders for us to cut when we begin our winter brushing work.
Senior Fisheries Biologist, Kasey Yallaly, and crew answering questions on the various aspects of shocking and the Gilbert Creek fishery.
Greenwood Elementary Service Learning Day: I have been in contact with Steve Papp, a fourth-grade teacher at Greenwood Elementary in River Falls. Steve would like to have a service learning day for the entire fourth-grade class at Greenwood where the students would help out with a brushing project by dragging and stacking box elders or buckthorn which would be cut in advance by Kiap-TU-Wish volunteers. I am currently working with Kasey Yallaly and Steve to come up with a suitable site somewhere in close proximity to River Falls where we could reasonably manage a group of 60+ students, plus their teachers and parent chaperones.
An example of one of many root wads anchored into the banks to provide cover.
