Swale Time

Here are some pics while working today through the Swale.  It's really a great area.  The swale meanders through the site.  It's in the middle of two hills where runoff can flow right into it.  Typically the spring rains will create heavy flowing.  It ponds up in the middle of the site in an area called Phlox Bottoms that contains a lot of great plants.  It flows east, ponds to the north, continues east, and then flows south along the eastern edge.

The difficulty working in the swale is keeping an eye out for the good plants while spraying herbicide.  It requires a good eye and patience.  You can tell by the pictures why we need to use herbicide.  Cattails and reed canary grass choke out the good plants and are very aggressive when they seed out.

Amber waves of Reed Canary!! (BAAAAD)

Cattails (Bad)

Great Bulrush (Good)

Polygonum and Carix (Both Good)

River Bulrush (Good)

When Invasives are susceptible

Let's think about how plants grow in general terms:

While in the soil, the roots store energy and keep the plant alive through winter.  Then it starts off slowly, coming up from the soil when it warms.  Then it grows at a steady pace, assuming conditions are not extreme (drought/excessive rain, temps not dramatically cold/hot).
Then the plant begins to produce flowers, and eventually goes on to produce seeds.  This part of the plants life is pretty dramatic.  It takes a lot of energy to complete this.  The root system for this plant is also very structured and strong.

Before I ask the inevitable question of when is the correct time to apply herbicide, let me tell you this:  If the plant is close to seeding out (full mature plant/seeds are almost viable) some plants have the ability to force their seeds out under pressure.  So most of the time, the best time to apply herbicide is when the plant is young and beginning to develop.

Here's an example of the other side of the spectrum:

Specific biennial plants produce a base the first year of roots, stems, and leaves.  The second year this plant flowers and seeds out.  

The mechanical treatment approach to this gets down to the nitty gritty.  In order for a successful kill, you wait until the plant is just about to seed out before you mow/brushcut/weed-whack it down.  You want to take advantage of the expending energy of the plant.  But the timing of this is very crucial.  

If you cut too early, the plant will reemerge smaller, and still produce seeds only a week after you cut it!  This is especially true with white sweet clover.  One mature white sweet clover can produce up to 350,000 seeds!!  So you can imagine what even a tiny plant could still produce.  

Below is an example...

Randy Quaid - Independence Day

Let me explain:

If Randy Quaid flies up to the laser a little too early before the ship gathers up all of its energy to deliver the blow, there wouldn't be much of an explosion, and the ship threat is still there (cut too early, and the plant will reemerge).  

Likewise, and a little more obvious, had he been a little bit late, the laser would have been sent off (350,000 seeds are dropped) and the movie doesn't end on a good note. 

Good thing the timing was perfect!!!!!

Burn Completed!

I couldn't have asked for better weather conditions to burn today.  At 5:30 this morning, the weather bounced back to what was forecasted back on Monday!!  Why noaa kept the same forecast for 3 days, changed it 12 hrs prior, only to change it back today, I don't know.

But we achieved our goals.  I'm sure we knocked back the cool season grasses and other exotics not accustomed to fire.  We burned 85% of the site last year, so this was the rest of the 15%.  As you can see from the pictures, there's quite a bit of green around.  Keep in mind, this is also a prairie in its 3rd year.  The south half was seeded 2.5 yrs ago, and the north half 1.5 yrs ago.  It would be somewhat early to burn after a 1.5 yr seeding, but we had some wetlands and remnants that lit nicely.  

I look forward to posting more posts as the Prairie year rolls on.  Follow my twitter and tumblr for some outside the prairie thoughts!

Clouds start to roll in

A nice rainfall after our burn (the dark spot way off in the distance/middle is where we burned)

And just how low the humidity got the other day, the humidity will be on the other side of the spectrum tomorrow....

The humidity has gone to where I hoped for the entire week they weren't going to go; Above 60%.

*If you think of this as a visual:  When you see clouds, there's obviously moisture in the air.  This can affect quite a few variables on a burn.  Your fuels won't combust as easily, and you'll have a slower fire (due to moisture).  This also will keep prevent the fire from gaining enough heat to push the smoke up.  The atmosphere also tends to somewhat trap the smoke by not allowing the smoke to rise.  Mixing heights are associated with this.  

All week long the forecast was calling for lower to mid 50% (which is still high).  Even earlier today it remained.  Now it has changed : (  I have a feeling this trend as well as cloud cover will continue to rise throughout the night into morning :((

I realize that needing an easterly wind usually is more than likely always associated with precip.  I just figured I'd be lucky enough to get the SE wind, and no precip.

...I hope to be posting pics of the burn tomorrow!!

Red Flag Day

Red Flags are posted in an area when there is a high danger for fire.  High winds and low humidities had everything to do with this.  Our prairie sits within a highly residential area. If we were out in the middle of nowhere, I think we'd be rocking and rolling.  With the winds and humidities burns would more than likely get out of control.  They move very fast, and the possibility of spot fires elsewhere on site are great.

Forecast:
Backing winds are forecasted to lift northward Wednesday night into Thursday morning for our region.  The south winds will turn to southeast.  This is the wind direction we need.  However with these backing winds could be followed by precip, as any low pressure system is associated with.  This isn't a conventional low pressure system though.  We have a window in the morning to get the burn done.  Rh looks to be in the 50s by 9am with the right wind direction, and still awaiting the mixing height/ventilation forecast tomorrow for thurs.

NOAA quote from today:
"UNREAL. THAT IS ABOUT THE ONLY (AFD FRIENDLY) WORD THAT COMES TO MIND WHEN TRYING TO WRAP MY MIND AROUND THE CURRENT WARM SPELL. IT IS REMARKABLE ENOUGH TO WATCH LONG STANDING ALL TIME RECORD TEMPS BE THREATENED...BUT THE TOTAL SCOPE (DURATION AND INTENSITY) OF THIS WARM SPELL ISSOMETHING THAT HAS HISTORIC AND UNLIKELY TO BE MATCHED IN OUR LIFE TIME."

Everyone knows how warm its been.  Chicago has broken every temp record for 11 days straight!  This also leads into another variable with the burn.  With everything greening up, this creates more of a smoke issue.  A burn shouldn't hurt the natives too much due to an established root system they carry.  Cool season grasses do not carry this trait, and they will suffer which is good.  It all depends on your burn objectives.

What does a Project Manager do on a Prairie??

When I tell people what I do for a living, I get a variety of reactions.  One question usually always leads to another.  Here's an example:

Me:  I work on a prairie restoration.
Q:  What is that?
Me:  Mass agriculture and development have diminished our native prairies greatly.  We are now trying to restore these plots of land with what was once originally there.
Q:  Why would you do that?

------
Once they ask this, the person should:
A. Touch my left shoulder if you'd like to hear about Native Flora and Diversity
B. Touch my right shoulder if you'd like to hear about local/native Entymology (insects)/Fauna
C. Wiggle my right ear if you'd like to hear about Ornithology (birds)
D. Tap my forehead if you'd like to know how a prairie can bring communities together, get kids playing outside again(!!), and educate    
E. Spin around if you want to hear of Environmental advantages
F.  Give me a hug if you'd like to hear about the Aesthetic qualities of a prairie
G. Do a handstand (yep a handstand) if you'd like to know how it affects the aquifer we all get our drinking water below ground
H. Sit down if you'd like to hear about Below Ground Biomass/soil...cuz this is going to be long.

All of these together (with invasive plant control and fire management) would create a healthy landscape.  A very healthy landscape.  Imagine if we had healthy prairies all around us like we do crop fields.  Instead of deer getting in the road getting hit by cars, we'd have bison!!  So much diversity!!!!  A lot more fire as well.....!!
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 Me:  Well, take a walk through a prairie some time, and notice what's going on around you.  You'll never be in a place that has so much activity/interactions going on.  And it's all for the better.

Lobelia cardinalis & Lobelia siphilitica

Papilio glaucus

NWS issued Weather Fire Watch

Earlier in the week, forecasts had favorable r.h.'s for the burn.  That's changed now with potential humidities below 30.  WATCH OUT!!

The preferred R.H.'s you want are between 40 and 60.  

*Think of it as how much water moisture is in the air.  If water moisture is up in the air while you're trying to burn, the fire reacts slower.  If water moisture is low, the fire has a tendency to "rip" through fuels.  The fire moves very fast.

If the fire is below 40%:

This is always a risk.  The reason for the NWS to give out a fire watch is a warning for fire departments, land managers and communities.  Fire dept and land managers will be on alert.  Communities will need to be weary of things like throwing out cigarettes, lighting fireworks, or having a bon fire near an open grassland...

The burn boss on a prairie burn usually always takes the R.H. before the burn out in the middle of the prairie.  Then the crew will conduct a test burn to see how the fire will act.  As the fire continues, the B.B. will conduct a field test every 30 min for r.h. or as he/she sees fit according to the forecast.  R.H.'s tend to be high early and late.  Middle of the day has a tendency to have the lowest readings.

Communication is always key.  While an igniter is lighting, (or anyone on the burn) notices a shift in fire activity, the B.B. will be notified, and the B.B will assess the situation.  If everything needs to come to a halt, the easiest way to get the fire out, is to circle the fire around to burn itself out.  

*When rounding a fire out:  The crew will set a back fire (light against the wind while the fire creeps forward) with enough area burned off the 2 igniters will begin to circle around the fire, and start a head fire (lighting fire with the wind) for the fire to meet up with itself and extinguish itself out.

If the fire is above 60%:

The fire will be slow and potentially won't get hot enough (produce enough B.T.U.'s) the goal for your prairie burn.  

*This will be talked more about later in detail.  Goals may include stimulate native seed, stimulate invasive seed (to rid the seed bank), injure invasive plants, rid dead plant material/shading, adding nutrients to the soil, stimulate growth in spring.

Another issue with a slow fire and not producing enough heat, is smoke management.  If you don't get the fire hot enough, the smoke won't rise enough, and you'll create havoc amongst concerned citizens of your community with smoke everywhere.

Attached is a pic I took when we burned around a wetland with phragmites and cattails.  These get extremely hot.  Every now and then you'll catch a picture with the "fire monster" within the fire.  You'll see what I mean in this picture as you can see a head, arms, and legs...Fire Monster!!!

Precip Ponder

Welp startin' early.

Already need to begin banking off what the weather's going to do and it's early March!!  With the warm winter (might as well say spring has already begun) it'll be interesting to get our burn done.  Usually we get a typical cold hard winter (frozen soil below 4 inches), and then in the spring it takes a little while longer for the soil to warm, the plants to come up, and a larger window to burn.

This year plants will want to begin "greening" up soon.  The more green there is out in the field, the more you have to worry about smoke management.  Live tissues create a heavy black smoke that is a little trickier to deal with.  This is still a young prairie so there's not a lot of a live/dead ratio.  A live/dead ratio relates to plants that are green, but still have enough dead plant material on the ground to carry the fire.

*Note
In order to injure cool season grasses/forbs, you would want to play off the idea of the live/dead ratio.  Typically these cool season grasses are exotic (all exotics come up before natives, and stay up longer than natives during the growing season).  This is a HUGE advantage for restorationists.  Running a fire when the natives are down in the fall, and the grasses are still up, allows you to injure the grasses while the dead plant material from years past is able to carry the fire through.  Likewise if you burned before the natives come up, and the exotics have already sprouted.

A couple chances seem to be next week with R.H.'s (relative humidity) hovering around 60%.  Nothing better.  Depending on how much rain we'll get tonight will depict a lot with burning next week.  The cold front coming in from the northwest seems spotty now, but will probably all form together for a solid rain.  At least that's what the forecast is calling.  

Mary Oliver - "Sleeping in the Forest"

I thought the earth remembered me,

she took me back so tenderly,

arranging her dark skirts, her pockets

full of lichens and seeds.

I slept as never before, a stone on the river bed,

nothing between me and the white fire of the stars

but my thoughts, and they floated light as moths

among the branches of the perfect trees.

All night I heard the small kingdoms

breathing around me, the insects,

and the birds who do their work in the darkness.

All night I rose and fell, as if in water,

grappling with a luminous doom. By morning

I had vanished at least a dozen times

into something better.

Alice and the White Rabbit

I was out on the site last year (a 1000 acre prairie restoration),  driving my ATV up and down, through the prairie as grass hoppers fly in front by the hundreds.  I was out checking for certain flora exotics.  Passing the marshlands I always try and count the great egrets and blue herons before they fly away.  Usually the count is around 20+ great egrets and between 9-12 Blue Herons.

I stop at the top of the hill and glance around for the dickcissel whom I usually see on top of a metal post which is the only thing left of a house foundation.  I hear his mechanical sounding call, but don't see him.  Two golden warblers are chasing each other around...They're actually more likely to be finches, but I'll just say they're warblers.  Very flighty.

I start up again and head down the hill.   I look up to the sky and see 3 red tails looking for some something to eat.  One of them gets a heat vent, and shoots higher, higher into the air.  I take a sweeping right off the path into the flora where 30 or so barn and tree swallows eagerly begin their assault.  Sweeping in front of my atv as I stir up bountiful insects.  The robber fly attaches to my shirt...1. so he doesn't get run over.  2. he knows the swallows won't come near me.  3.  He'll jump off my shirt, grab an insect, and come right back for the meal...The limping coyote also makes an appearance far off to my right.  Shit.  I don't come over this way too often.  Hate to bother him.  He's been around since we've been here.

--Whoa--

At first I seriously wonder if there's really a person dragging what looked to be a wagon behind him.  They're about a hundred yards away.  I don't see too many people out on my site.  Especially out where I was.  It looked like someone was riding in the wagon.  How'd they get out here?  I mean, you have to go over the hill, down the hill, through the swale/mud, and that's only half way to get to where he is.  He waves largely at me.  I'm skeptical.

I speed off to meet them...

"Hi," I said as I largely walking towards them.

The man has a scraggly white/grayish beard w/a ponytail.  He's also wearing a hat you'd swear came from your neighbor Mrs. Klellen the gardener.  There is a little girl he's pulling along in an old red wagon.

"Perhaps you can answer me something," he said with a slight lisp and eagerness.  I continue walking towards them.  "Where are all the butterflies?"

I breathe deep as I need to spell onto him what I have to tell every curious soul that comes up to me wondering what we're up to.

"Well, this is a restoration.  It will take some time for our native plants to come up, and then the butterflies will thrive."

"Well I came here 3-4 weeks ago, and the plants were everywhere.  As were the butterflies.  Where are they?"

The sun was blaring, and it was hot.  I didn't know what he was talking about, and was trying to configure how much time/energy I would want to spend with my guests.  Everything out on a prairie is determined by energy efficiency.  Even us.

Pondering this, I looked at the wagon and the little girl.  I never really noticed particularly what she was doing.  She was sitting indian style with her head down, and her arms out in front of her in the wagon.

She shoots her head up smiling while the man is still looking at me, and raises a water bottle in the air with one motion.

"I can't open this."  The sun was in her eye as she cocked her head and squinted smiling.
The man who I now notice has pretty bad teeth, peered at me with his hand shielding his eyes waiting for an answer to his query.

I take the water bottle and open it, hand it back.

He spoke without waiting for me.
"I just don't understand how that's possible that there were butterflies, and now there are none."

I decide to tell him about our remnants where you can find some butterflys over on the other side.  They can go that way I suppose.

The little girl laughed as she twisted the cap back on.  She put her head back down.

"I can tell you where you can find some."

He looked at me with earnest.

"The place is back up and around.  Follow the tree line all the way back west.  You'll find what we call Prairie Pass, a place that looks over one of the marshes.  You'll be able to find them around there."

Without saying much of anything else, he mumbles under his breath and began turning the wagon around.

He left for the area with the wagon wheels rambling along.  I watched them for whatever reason for a while.  Looked around for the tree swallows which were hunting somewhere else.  I looked back as the girl pulled her head up and turned around.  Waved to me. I started to raise my hand but didn't.  Felt something tap my chest.  I looked down and the robber fly caught a leafhopper.  Nice I thought.  I watched them until they went out of view around and down the hill.