By Topf Wells / April 22, 2023, Workday Report

We have reports on the superbly successful fundraiser– lots of fun, food and money. Thanks to John, Ben, Curt, David, Pat, Kyle, Hannah, Henry and many others who made it a fantastic fundraiser. (See the prior article.)

The morning  started with some great help for Black Earth Creek, always a focal point of the Chapter, and ended with a true story that demonstrates the continuity of our efforts.

About two dozen of us planted oaks along Black Earth at the South Valley Road restoration site. BEC is vulnerable to warming and over time these oaks will shade the stream, especially on the south side of the creek. Our planting occurred in moist, sometimes snowy, conditions and cold winds. That’s actually decent weather for the trees being planted if not for the planters.

Dan Oele, the DNR fish biologist for BEC, had the holes augured and the DNR nursery stock on hand. These were impressive young oaks 3-4 feet high with well-developed root systems. As has become common on these workdays, we had a great mix of veterans and newcomers. Special guests were Jessica and Harper, Dan’s wonderful wife and daughter. Harper helped water some trees that were planted yesterday, ate a couple of frosted cookies and got to see some cool fish.

We planted 90-100 trees. Planting trees provides insight into the variability of soil, even in a small area. Some holes had the rich, black, workable dirt that Black Earth Creek was named for. Some though had much clumpier soil and a few had clay. A tree in the first type of soil took just a few easy minutes to plant properly. Clumps or clay could mean lots of grunting, sweating and many more minutes of work. But they are all in and off to a great start in what we hope is a long and leafy life span.

A day prior to our planting, other trees were expertly and enthusiastically planted by the Lincoln Elementary School 4th graders on a field trip sponsored by SWTU and Madison Audubon. Sweet, wonderful, fun, hard-working kids who were a joy to plant with. Their 36 or so trees made our Saturday much easier.

Dan provided the fish for Harper and us when he electroshocked a few bends in the creek. As he approached the final bend, I told the story of Scott Stewart’s improvement on that part of the creek 25 or so years ago. The year after that project, Scott shocked it for us and at the spot Dan was approaching Scott rolled out a 26″ brown. That fish became the stuff of legend. Lots of SWTU folks fished for him; no one ever claimed reducing him to possession. As I finished the tale, Dan probed the spot and out flopped a stunning brown of 17-18″. Not 26, but impressive, fat and strong.

Special thanks to Jim Hess, who again provided a fun and productive workday. Jim is as handy with a shovel as he is a chainsaw. This gave the attendees the chance to see the restoration we helped fund. All of us agreed it looked fishy. I certainly have a riffle and run I’ll be returning to. And there is the matter of the big trout’s lair.

Thanks to all for the workday and the incredible fundraiser. Jeez, is there a better chef in Dane County than Ben?

Photos courtesy Jim Beecher.