We have been burning our oak savannas at Pleasant Valley Conservancy "annually" for the past 20 years. They have always been dormant season burns, either late fall or early spring.…

Since my post yesterday, Wisconsin DNR Forestry has canceled burn permits for natural areas. (Burns for agricultural purposes are still permitted.)

These are fearsome times, with a modern plague raging  across the land. Unfortunately, the full significance of the epidemic only became evident in late March, just when burn season was…

The end of January is when we start planning our spring burns. Lately, we have been burning earlier than we used to. (Sometimes even late February). We need WiscDNR permits…

Kathie and I have been running the Labor Day trip at PVC annually since September 2002 (17 years). If the weather is good, attendance is fairly high, generally 25-40 participants.…

As I discussed in a 2017 post, black walnut (Juglans niger) is one of the bad guys in oak savanna restoration. As that post also discussed, walnut trees are fairly…

The wetland at Pleasant Valley Conservancy is small but diverse, and a lot of it can be reached with (relatively) dry feet. As part of some management activities, Craig Annen…

We have been doing burns at PVC for 22 years and we burned more acreage this year than ever. We always have ambitious burn plans but conditions are not always…

We've had quite a few favorable comments about the history of Pleasant Valley Conservancy that Kathie and I have been preparing. Volume I has been available for several months. If…

 The south-facing slope at Pleasant Valley Conservancy is a good example of a bluffprairie. Such bluff prairies are common in the Driftless Area. However, although most of these sites are…