The Future of Boreal Forests

By Coggin Heeringa, Interpretive Naturalist, Crossroads at Big Creek, Inc.

At Crossroads at Big Creek, our restoration team is completing the grant close-out reports for our multi-year restoration projects at The Cove Estuary Preserve and the Big Creek Preserve. This week, the Climate Change Coalition will bring Lee E. Frelich, the Director of the University of Minnesota Center for Forest Ecology to present the program “The Future of Boreal Forests.” 

We have a remnant boreal forest at Crossroads, though we are not sure why. Maybe the extremely thin soil is moist because its drainage is blocked. Or maybe cool air settles in this protected micro-climate. But the grove is very small, and getting smaller with every winter ice storm because the spire-shaped trees are broken and regeneration is not taking place. (Join us on for Wandering Wednesday this  to enjoy this unique habitat.)

When we look at the 1835 Sylvester Sibley Land Survey of Wisconsin, it appears that conifer forests predominated at both the Big Creek and Ida Bay preserve. So….is our restoration goal to return the land to that condition? 

It is important to understand that when Europeans first explored the Great Lakes Region, the Earth was in a cool period, dubbed the Little Ice Age. During this difficult time between 1650 and 1850, although there were no global glacial advances, both Europe and North America experienced longer winters and cooler summers which resulted in crop failures, economic hardship and human mortality.The climate then would have resembled what we now find in northern Canada, and at the time Europeans arrived on the peninsula, many of the mature trees were probably boreal species.

Clearly, we are not going back. We can’t. The climate has changed and will continue to change.

This past summer, Crossroads offered a series called Resources for Landowners. The first guest speaker was  Mike Grimm who explained that the initial step in land restoration is to develop a vision. (By the way, his  inspiring lecture and other videos of  the series is available on You Tube -Crossroads at Big Creek)

 Our long-term vision is for Crossroads to evolve into a coherent landscape of healthy, diverse, and largely self-sustaining ecological communities, providing wildlife habitat for a variety of species. Ecological resilience is a priority in all of our planning, and that includes using climate change modeling to help inform our efforts. 

So we are pleased to be hosting the Climate Change Coalition’s Fall Planet Potluck which begins at 5:00 with a shared meal. At 6:30, the program featuring the renowned forest ecologist Lee Frelich will focus on the “Future of Boreal Forests.”

In addition to our Monday and Wednesday after school programs and Saturday Science, we soon will offer the Junior Nature Club, a free, six-week series of classes aimed at connecting pre-school aged children and their families with nature. Through storytelling, games, activities, and outdoor play, the Junior Nature Club classes promote physical well-being, social engagement and curiosity in both children and their parents or guardians.

Junior Nature Club classes start on October 4, 2024, and will be offered  every Friday morning from 10 to 11 a.m. through November 8. This is a family program so parents or guardians are expected to remain with the group throughout each class. Siblings and family members are welcome to participate. For more information and to register, please visit the Crossroads at Big Creek (www.crossroadsatbigcreek.org) website Events Calendar.