By Topf Wells

The SWTU workday at Sawmill Creek on 11/9 was, per usual, successful and fun, with perhaps a bit more significance than usual.

The mission was to clear honeysuckle and box elder to improve access, streambanks, and the general health of the corridor. Steve Fabos of Indigenous Restorations led the honeysuckle and box elder removal. Much is cleared although we also girdled some of the bigger box elders. Not as much work, less debris on piles, and the dying box elders are good for a variety of wildlife. Woodpeckers should think kind thoughts of us.

As I traipsed over the little patch of land and looked at the soil and the field to the north, I thought of woodcock. With a better mix of native vegetation (and we left the wild plum, elderberry, dogwood, and one tiny, brave oak tree) this might be a great spot for a pair of breeding woodcock next spring. Despite their fondness for dense undergrowth, I never, in all my years of hunting them, flushed one out of honeysuckle dominated understory. The low, intertwined branches would make it very difficult for a woodcock to flush and escape danger. My hope is the woodcock enjoy our work as much as the woodpeckers (we should probably install a wood duck house for the woodie trifecta).

The stream looked fabulous. The spring across the road was running strong and the drain tile from the northern field was supplying groundwater (I think the watercress was indicating that). Meg Pokorny, Steve Fabos, and Kyle Olivencia might decide what to do about that in the future.

Meg and Steve are familiar and welcome names, part of the history brought to mind by this workday. Meg and Bill are the kind landowners who sold the easement to the DNR, have generously donated to SWTU, and spend many hours and dollars restoring their lands and waters to health. Meg has been a kind and hospitable host after several of our workdays. Steve has planned and implemented those restorations. He and April, his wife, introduced the idea of the easement to Meg as part of the DNR/Pecatonica Pride/SWTU landowner outreach.

Kyle is part of our future. He is the new DNR fish biologist for Dane, Rock, and Green Counties.

Let’s just stop right here and voice the corny observation that is nonetheless wholly accurate: HE’S A KEEPER.

Although this is Kyle’s first week on the job, he and Jenna Jenna Errthum, his girlfriend, spent the entire workday with us. Both are smart – Jenna is a plant pathologist – friendly and incredibly hard working. They hauled brush and treated stumps and smiled all the time. Any time something needed to be hauled out of the drainage, Kyle was there.

He also demonstrated how observant field biologists are. One of our volunteers lost his key fob. All of us groaned; how were we ever going to find that in all the mess? Kyle walked about 30 feet, bent over, and picked it up. He remembered seeing our colleague slip and surmised that’s where the fob escaped the pocket.

Kyle has superb academic, research, and field experience. Today he showed he’s hard working, fun, and respects volunteers and conservation groups. We are so lucky to have him as the biologist in our area and the newest member of the team of biologists and technicians we work with and support. He may be glad to work here too. He and Jenna mentioned that one consideration in all his field work in Florida was to keep an eye out for alligators. Oh my goodness.

More history and the future: the old trailer was a great ad for SWTU with the brook trout wrap. Thanks to Pat Hasburgh for the design and Wow Gee Graphics out of Waunakee for donating the graphics, we have an even better wrap on the new trailer. Sweet!

Lots of thanks for one of our best workdays: We have to start with Jim Hess for his planning, leadership, and hard work. He managed to burn a big brush pile, girdle box elders, oversee the removal of an old barb wire fence (future anglers will thank us for that), and make sure we worked safely. Then he hauled the load of fencing and metal posts! Dyan and Wayne brought the trailer and Diane baked killer apple muffins. Safely returned from a summer of golden trout fishing in Wyoming, Dale Osthoff collected the rod he won for helping with work days last year. As pictured at right, Dave Fowler, the generous and expert rodmaker, helped present it. I’ll try to persuade Dale and his sister to present on that wonderful summer of fishing. Meg and April had great snacks for us at the end of the day. We had a good mix of about a dozen members, who made a lot of work pretty darn easy.

Trailer photo courtesy Jim Hess. Others courtesy Dyan Lesnik.