By Coggin Heeringa, Program Director/Naturalist, Crossroads at Big Creek, Inc.
During the Sunrise Elementary School Earth Day last week, 219 students became “Crossroads Habitat Healers” by pulling buckthorn plants from the conifer forest near the Council Ring. They also participated in stream studies, viewed a program on “Dark Skies” in the Door Peninsula Astronomical Society’s planetarium, created outdoor art and viewed a program on invasive species.
Actually, the fourth-grade students already were Habitat Healers, having helped plant ferns near the new North Bridge during THE BIG PLANT earlier in the season. And anyone, regardless of age, background or experience can also become a Habitat Healer by participating in our Saturday morning work parties between 9:30 and 11:30 (even on June 18, the day of the Crossroads Trail Run). Now that it is summer, tree planting has temporarily ended, but volunteers will have many other opportunities to plant plugs and to remove invasive species. All of these activities help heal the land.
As the Sunrise students learned, invasive species are organisms that come from elsewhere. Understand that not all plants from foreign lands are harmful. For example, our wild asparagus is actually not “wild” but “feral,” a European plant that has escaped cultivation since European settlement.
But many non-native plants are undesirable, and if they cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health, they are considered “INVASIVE.” One student was quite upset that we were killing any living things, but invasive mitigation really is necessary for a sustainable ecosystem.
Another student asked if other countries have invasive species. Oh yes! Most countries are cursed with invasives, but Australia is one of the hardest hit. And we have a chance to hear about invasives “down under” this week at Crossroads.
Patsy Stierna, an active member of Friends of Crossroads, a Master Gardener, and the volunteer who for years oversaw the removal of garlic mustard at the Woodside Wildflower Preserve (across from Sawyer School) was visiting in Australia when the Pandemic Quarantine prevented her return.
Not surprisingly, Patsy volunteered for a conservation project where she met fellow conservationist. now her partner, Robert Bender. Bender ran a project on Australian microbats for over 20 years and led a group called Friends of Wilson Reserve that does bush restoration on the Yarra River in Melbourne for 25 years.
On Thursday, June 16, at 6:30 pm at Crossroads, Bender will present the lecture, “A Suburban Volunteer Conservation Project on a Riverside Reserve in Melbourne, Australia.” He will share amazing slides showing how Melbourne’s main river, the Yarra, flows through the city’s eastern suburbs, through the CBD (downtown), and out to the bay. Suburbs extend out to 40 km and much of the riverscape is very degraded.
A reclaimed dairy farm, now densely forested, has been the focus of his group’s work since 1996 – 20 hectares with 3 billabongs to be weeded (over 100 weed species) and replanted (restoring ground flora and impoverished shrub layer). Its flora and fauna – birds, frogs, bats, invertebrates – need recording and litter needs cleaning up both on ground and in the river. Bender will touch on aspects of this work during his talk. A short reception will be held during the intermission.
The Water Research Team from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Environmental Research and Innovation Center has moved into the lab at Crossroads and will be testing beaches and doing water-related research this summer. The team also will test private wells. The hours of the Crossroads lab are Monday through Thursdays, 12pm-3pm. The testing program at Crossroads runs into late August.
Crossroads at Big Creek Learning Center and Nature Preserve is located at 2041 Michigan. Crossroads is a 501(c)3 organization committed to offering education, conducting research, and providing outdoor experiences to inspire environmental stewardship in learners of all ages and from all backgrounds. We welcome your support! Become a member of Crossroads by mailing a contribution to P.O. Box 608, Sturgeon Bay, WI 54235, or donate online at crossroadsatbigcreek.org
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