By Topf Wells

Fourteen intrepid SWTU members, veterans and rookies, young and old, showed up on Saturday, 4/30 to wrestle piles of limbs, logs, and brush into brush bundles at the Davidson site on the Sugar River.  With storms forecast, we would have got a lot done but some of us felt pressed for time and a bit overwhelmed.  Help arrived from on high and via several vehicles.  The Big Guy in Charge of Weather delayed the rain and Scout Troop 104 of Midvale Lutheran Church showed up in force.  Over a dozen Scouts and their adult leaders were eager to learn the art of brush bundling.

What superb students and hard workers!  By noon, we had constructed another long and stable brush bundle using just about all that material.  Jim Hess and Bob Brewer provided expert instruction and examples to the other folks who donned waders and braved the Sugar to drive the brush into the mud.  A special shout out to Milo, one of the Scouts, and Elizabeth, a Scout Mom, who were in the water for hours.  Underneath that water was silt, which made footing and work difficult.  The waders also reported feeling gravel not too far under that silt.  The brush bundle should have the gravel exposed quicker than one might expect.

A huge, double trunked box elder overhung the top end of the bundle.  We had checked with Kyle Minks and Matt Diebel of Dane County (now in charge of the County’s trout program) and Dan Oele whether dropping the tree on the bundle might anchor it better and provide more varied woody cover.  They agreed but noted that the trunks should remain hinged and anchored on the stump (a DNR standard).  Bob Harrison, one of our best sawyers, accepted the challenge and dropped the tree perfectly – as pictured (and see more pictures below)!

Leading the list of thank yous is Jim Hess.  This is Jim’s first work day since retiring as SWTU President (btw, thanks, Jim, for your brilliant work in that role, all conducted in the shadow of COVID) and he’s working as hard as ever. The work and equipment were well organized.  Jim shoved a lot of those branches in.  Many invertebrates and little fish, including trout, owe their new home to him.  Our TU folks worked without a break– they watched those clouds and knew we might be pressed for time. And, finally, the Scouts– I wish they would have heard what we said after they had left.  “We couldn’t have done it without them!”

Brush bundles are one of our most fun projects because of the sense of accomplishment you have as the bundle grows and grows.  The next work day will be fun for some other good reasons.

The next workday – Help plant trees
On May 14, we’ll travel to Willow Creek on the massive and new restoration below the confluence of Smith Hollow and Willow.  We’ll help the DNR and the Coulee Chapter plant oak trees (about 60 in PRE-DUG HOLES) to finish the project.  SWTU helped fund this project.  Before the work, this section of stream was a jungle of high, eroding banks, box elder, reed canary, and a variety of thorned shrubbery.  Ex haustion and blood were the typical results of trying to fish this stretch.  Early reports are the project was fabulous.  It’s a long drive but think of how many trout streams you’ll be near at the end of the morning, with hours of fishing time left.

And two more after that:
May 21 – Smith Conley Creek at 2800 Cty Rd H, south of Barneveld – clearing box elders and invasive woodies
June 4 – Smith Conley Creek at 2800 Cty Rd H, south of Barneveld – clearing box elders and invasive woodies