Yesterday we ran our monthly work party at Black Earth Rettenmund Prairie. The weather was ideal, we had a nice group of volunteers, and we got a lot done. This…

Today Susan, Kathie, and I planted seeds on the Crane Prairie road cut. This prairie had been burned in November. We prefer to plant a unit after it has been…

On one of those nice sunny days when there was still a good snow, Kathie and I walked by the Willow Creek Woods savanna on the U.W. Campus. As I…

UW-Madison has a spectacular shoreline along Lake Mendota. Including Picnic Point (seen in the background in this photo), there is over 4 miles of lake frontage. Yesterday the weather cooperated…

The Lake States Fire Science Consortium is an entity available to anyone in our area doing prescribed burns. Supported by grants, it is adminstered by Ohio State University but the…

The lack of snow this winter got me thinking about how variable our precipitation is in southern Wisconsin. I obtained from the State Climatology office data for our area that…

On a recent trip to Massachusetts I discovered that little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) is quite common in their coastal areas. This was one of the most frequent roadside plants I…

Pleasant Valley Conservancy has just posted job openings for two (2) internships in ecological restoration for the summer of 2012. Excellent opportunity to work with experienced crews doing prairie and…

Kathie and I took advantage of yesterday's fantastic weather to finish cleaning out our birdhouses, getting ready for the 2012 crop.Kathie had cleaned out her bluebird houses on a good-weather…

This snow-free winter has made the grasses on our savannas very attractive. I've been waiting for a nice sunny day so I could take some pix, and today was the…