By Topf Wells
Jim Hess, Workday Chair, continues to surpass himself.  We had maybe our best work day yet.  Read on for details and pictures!

Jim and Bradd organized the day wonderfully.  We were able to drive within 50 yards of the work site.  A portable DNR bridge made safe, dry access to the other side of the creek easy.  And a good thing too.  The Steiner Branch was carrying way more water than usual and had holes and runs over the top of waders and hip boots (as the 12 or 13 year old youngest member of our work group found out the wet way).

We had a good ratio of sawyers and brush haulers and cleared a huge amount of willow.  If there is any bear in the Wisconsin Yellowstone valley, any of our piles would make a cozy hibernation site.  The only problem was that the gas-powered brush saw broke down, which made it impossible to cut one stand of willows that were on the very edge of a stream bank, where they could not be safely cut with a chainsaw.  My guess is that we thoroughly cleared and treated over 100 yards of stream bank.  That may not sound like much but I don’t think I’ve seen denser stands of willow.

I think Bradd was pretty happy with our work, especially because the DNR Wildlife Management’s brush cutters cannot work in this location.

We worked for a solid three hours.  While the Wells family flat feet kept Uncle Henry out of World War I, I’ll probably limp for the next two days.

Pat’s superb brats and hot dogs were most welcome.  Hard work and cold winds will create an appetite.  I have here my only criticism of Jim’s brilliant work – Jim, Michigan apples!?! Really!!??!!

Bradd then donned the backpack shocker and spent the next two hours leading us through the brook trout spawning water of Steiner Branch.  About a dozen of us were able to stay for all of that and it was informative and joyful.  Bradd showed us that he is a great biologist and loves his job.  He knows the different places where the spawning females and males should be at this time of year.  Probably because of the high water they were not in their usual spots so Bradd wanted to find out where they were.  In the process of his search we saw lots of ready to spawn females and males, many, many yearling brookies, and a fair number of young of the year brook trout. The first mature, ripe female was gorgeous.  The female’s colors are not a bright as a male’s but she has a subdued iridescence that is stunning.  The first ready to milt male we found was as bright as a brook trout can be.  I told Sally, who is a painter, that I could not imagine a more beautiful orange as was on his flanks.  The steam itself was as lovely.  It meandered over perfect spawning gravel and seemed to have the perfect combination of bends, riffles, and pools.  And by this time we were about 1.5 or 2 miles from the road and surround by wooded hillsides, oak savannas, and prairies.  Bradd thought the stream’s population of brook trout was in great shape.

We probably had about 20 TU members out today.  All deserve our thanks with, again, special gratitude to Jim and Bradd (and Pat – the best brats and hot dogs ever!).

Many thanks to Mike Burda, Jim Hess and Pat Hasburgh for the pictures.