Landowner Services Coordinator Dan Carter writes about some special moments from the highly successful first year of The Prairie Enthusiasts’ Landowner Services program.

Dan’s schedule for 2021 is almost full. Email landowners@theprairieenthusiasts.org as soon as possible to discuss a visit to your property.

For each of us in our own way, it’s been a tough year. We’ve shelved the activities we love, seen less of the people we care most about, and suffered loss. The future seems more uncertain and the world less recognizable. That’s why getting out and visiting landowners this season has been such a privilege. The wild has never been a more important sanctuary. Each visit has been a reminder that there are people out there with whom we share values, who are doing what they can to carry forward our natural and cultural heritage. The successes are moving, and the challenges are sobering. We have community in the prairie. And there is room for that community to grow.

I was unsure early on how much interest there would be in the Landowner Services program, but the work picked up quickly. Between late May and mid-October, I visited 66 properties belonging to private landowners in three states and in every chapter’s domain. My goal was 50!

The Bennett property in central Wisconsin. Photo by Dan Carter

Visit content was extremely varied. Some landowners are considering new prairie plantings; others are restoring (or considering restoring) existing prairies, oak savannas, oak woodlands, sedge meadows, or fens. Many properties have yielded new discoveries, both good and bad. For just about everyone, though, invasive alien species and aggressive native species are burdens. Getting enough fire on the land is also an obstacle. 

This summer, I shared some of my early travels on The Prairie Enthusiasts’ blog. There have been more since that time than I have room to share, but here are a few highlights from various corners of The Prairie Enthusiasts.

In mid-July, I visited Kurt Peters and Elizabeth Hopp-Peters at their property in far western Green County, Wis. The main focus of that visit was the ongoing conversion of a sandy old field into prairie and the restoration of some black oak woodland and savanna. As I walked the perimeter of the old field, an interesting plant caught my attention between the path and the woodland edge. It turned out to be hairy pinweed, a special concern species with only one other known occurrence in the state. This plant, though it may look nondescript, is among the rarest native plants in Wisconsin. The only other known occurrence in the state is in Iowa County.

Historically, the woodland adjacent to the old field had been an open savanna or barrens. The hairy pinweed presumably happened to have been among the species that managed to colonize the edge of the old field before the savanna canopy closed and brush moved in. Other remnant vegetation included goat’s-rue, narrow-leaved pinweed, bird’s-foot violet, and hoary frostweed.

Hairy pinweed. Photo by Dan Carter

In September, I visited Barb and Dan Le Duc, who have a somewhat similar property in Eau Claire County, Wis. They’re also working to augment the diversity of a sandy old field next to a Hill’s oak woodland. The old field had been colonized by many interesting native species including fork-tip three-awn grass, narrow-leaved pinweed, hoary frostweed, Great Plains sand sedge, and rock spikemoss. 

In late July I went to Brad Gaard’s property near New Ulm, Minn. The main foci of the visit were some existing and planned conservation plantings, but the highlight for me was a small bluff-top bur oak woodland above the Cottonwood River. There, an abundance of hairy meadow-parsnip (state special concern) grew at its northern range limit at the top of the bluff. The woodland also supported some particularly nice grass species, including black-seeded ricegrass and long-awned wood grass (farther southwest than any documented occurrences in the state).

A fruiting hairy meadow-parsnip. Photo by Dan Carter

Among my last several visits was the Dale and Kim Karow property near Fort Atkinson, Wis., well-known for its exceptional remnant prairie, calcareous fen, and sedge meadow communities. (See the Fall 2020 issue of The Prairie Promoter to learn about Kim Karow’s legacy of stewardship.) Despite being a well-botanized property, the site offered up several new finds including new county records of Greene’s rush and large path rush, both firsts for me. And as I walked the site with Walter Mirk and Dale, there were four kinds of gentian blooming: greater fringed, lesser fringed, stiff, and bottle. Several dozen Great Plains lady’s-tress orchids were also in flower. These orchids typically flower in late September and have corolla lips flushed with yellow (variable), with lateral sepals spreading and curving upward. They are leafless when flowering, and have bracts that usually overlap on the upper stem.

Great Plains lady’s-tress orchid. Photo by Dan Carter

My other photos are from Laurel and Alan Bennett’s property in Marquette County, Wis. (where they have successfully controlled reed canary grass in lower areas using Craig Annen’s systems approach, which in this case involved grass-selective herbicide and burning) and the Brian and Sheila Schils property in Pierce County, Wis.

If you’re considering a new project or simply want to walk and talk about your property, email landowners@theprairieenthusiasts.org soon to schedule a visit. My schedule for next year is already about one-third filled. In your initial email, include a little bit of background and location information for your site. Also, if you have success stories dealing with common problems like brambles, Canada or tall goldenrod, warm-season grass dominance, and the many varieties of invasive species, accounts of your successes would be welcome. Published science informs a lot of restoration and management, but anecdotes are where much of our collective knowledge resides. 

Take care this fall and winter, get outside, and kill as much invasive woody vegetation as possible.

Above: In late September I visited Brian and Sheila Schils. We were joined by Abby Mueller, intern with the St. Croix Valley Chapter. The Schils’ bur oak woodland has been impeccably prepared for seeding by cutting and treating buckthorn throughout. Photo by Dan Carter

This article appeared in the Fall 2020 edition of the Prairie Promoter, a publication of news, art and writing from The Prairie Enthusiasts community. Explore the full collection and learn how to submit your work here. 

This article was a collaboration with Rich Henderson.

We in the Empire-Sauk Chapter are dreaming of a day when more red-headed woodpeckers, regal fritillaries, and other grassland- and savanna-loving species will use Schurch-Thomson Prairie. That dream is one step closer now, as 25 acres around the Schurch-Thomson barn have been freed from a Managed Forest Law contract.

Woods in a sea of grass at Schurch-Thomson. Photo by Eric Preston

After many years of waiting, we’re now able to undertake the tree and brush removal that was prohibited by the contract. This is a crucial step for prairie and oak savanna restoration at this site, which is part of the Mounds View Grassland Preserve. Finally, the work has begun — and what a transformation!

In late August, with the generous loan of a forestry mower from The Nature Conservancy, we started clearing dense brush from the area. The next step was to harvest the larger walnut trees for sale. We engaged the services of Adaptive Restoration (located in nearby Mount Horeb), who brought their team of draft horses to the property. Rosebud and Duchess worked hard, providing excellent photo opportunities for at least one TPE volunteer.

Horse power. Photo by Eric Preston

The remaining walnuts under 12” in diameter, and some other non-oak species of all sizes, will be removed. We plan to give them away for firewood or small-dimension lumber over the winter, then pile and burn the tops. This will clear the way for follow-up brush and weed control. Next fall, we’ll seed in prairie and savanna species. The profits from the timber harvest will most likely pay for this follow-up work. However, the more work can be accomplished by volunteers, the more land management projects at Schurch-Thomson can be covered by the income.

If you would like to help clear the tree-tops and remaining trees, sign up for the Empire-Sauk Chapter’s weekly email notices. Look for work party announcements there and in the work party flyer on our webpage. Also, if you’re in need of firewood or free logs for lumber, or know someone who is, contact site steward Rich Henderson (608-845-7065, tpe.rhenderson@tds.net).

Soon, visitors to Mounds View will once again be able to appreciate the grandiose oaks that have been here for over 150 years.

Red-headed woodpecker in an oak savanna. Photo by Eric Preston

Incoming TPE Executive Director Debra Behrens tells the story of her journey into her new role.

Debra wrote this additional greeting for our newsletter, The Prairie Promoter:

It started as a wish. As a child visiting my grandparents in rural Minnesota, I fell in love with the vast prairie skies and the steady hum of insects on summer nights. Only later did I realize that this place filled with wonder had long since lost the complex beauty that once thrived there. This growing awareness gave me a sense of responsibility to do what I could to heal the land. But finding an answer to the question of what I can do has been a 20-year journey.

The actual seed of an idea wasn’t formed until I met my husband and realized we shared the same dream: to become stewards of the land. We nurtured our seed along through the lean early years of our marriage until we were able to afford a small homestead near Viroqua.

We thought we had achieved our goal, but as part-time residents we weren’t making much progress. And it was becoming harder and harder to leave the beauty and tranquility of our rural home to return to the city for work. We resolved to find a way to make this our permanent home and spent the next year rearranging our lives to make that possible.

I first discovered TPE while researching what to do about our problem with wild parsnip. I followed your progress through the years with interest. When the Landowner Services program was announced, we reached out to Dan immediately for advice on the projects we were finally ready to undertake on our land. Then I saw your job posting for an Executive Director, and my heart skipped a beat. Here it was: my ideal job! The more I learned, the more I became convinced that my 20-year career in nonprofit development, combined with my values and my connection to this mission, were a match. 

You have built a strong organization, and you have the ability to grow. Some of the most rewarding work I’ve done involved helping nonprofits through the next phase in their organizational growth. I’ve developed an entrepreneurial approach to solving problems, focusing collective energy, and building momentum. Together, we’ll pursue strategies that improve our overall health and viability so that what we leave for those coming after us is a thriving organization.

It all starts with having clear goals. We will need to work together to define what we want for our future. This is a grassroots organization, with all the beauty and messiness that entails. We won’t always agree, but we need to be willing to trust one another and commit to pursuing our strategic goals together.

There is much to learn. In the coming weeks and months, I will be reaching out to gather your stories, ideas, and advice. But please feel free to share your suggestions at any time. There will be challenges ahead, and we’ll be prepared to meet them through the strength of our commitment — not just to our mission, but to one another.