Cedar Chop

Come help Justin Nooker restore a bluff prairie about one mile east of Choice, MN (~15 minutes south of Rushford or ~15 minutes north of Mabel). Justin has begun restoration on about 5 acres of bluff prairie and needs your help! For intrepid souls, there will be plenty of cutting, rolling, or hauling cedars downhill to burn piles. For those more adapted to flat land there is the option of clipping/cutting buckthorn near the roadside. Sturdy boots and crampons are suggested for both activities, depending on personal preference. This beautiful bluff has Leonard’s skipper, prairie racerunner, prairie-associated underwing moths, and about 7 MN state-listed plants.

The work day will begin at 9:30 on Saturday, January 28th, and will go on until people are ready to leave based on their own preferences and schedules. Justin will likely work until dark.

Justin will provide all herbicide and herbicide application equipment. Justin will also have a few extra hand clippers and loppers. Participants should bring a sack lunch (there will be burn piles that can be used for lunch), plenty of drinking water, winter work gloves, eye protection, hearing protection, sturdy winter boots and sturdy crampons (Kahtoola), and hand clipper or loppers if they have any. Only certified chainsaw operators will be allowed to operate so if you’re certified, you can bring your own chainsaw, PPE, fuel-oil mix, and bar oil.

Participants will meet at 43696 County Road 13, Mabel, MN 55954. This meet-up location is at a neighbor’s place where parking is available and the work site is just around the corner. The photo of the work site below was taken south of the work site from 441st Avenue, and County Road 13 runs along the base of the pictured bluff. The meet-up location is just out of view in the photo, near the base of bluff on the right.

Here’s a Google Maps link to the meet-up location (https://goo.gl/maps/qkinqmug2eH2f91E8), and you can see where the bluff clearing has already been done a little to the west. You likely won’t have mobile phone coverage in this valley, so print a map of the location you can use as you drive, download the Google Maps route to use offline, or tweak your phone’s settings to use satellite GPS.

For more information and to RSVP, call (920-639-3470) or email (just.nooker@gmail.com) Justin. If you plan to help, be sure to RSVP so you’ll be notified if there are any change of plans.