By Topf Wells/ April 29, 2023, Workday Report
The workday on Sawmill began with blustery weather that gave way to lustrous work, food, fun, and, soon, a new place to fish.
We worked on almost a new easement on Sawmill Creek in lovely Green County down the hill from the York Prairie State Natural Area. Meg and Bill Pokorny are reclaiming some prairie on their land and want to keep their section of Sawmill healthy too. About 20 SWTU volunteers showed up to help by cutting, stacking and treating box elder and invasive honeysuckle. In addition to the usual excellent leadership provided by Jim Hess, Steve Fabos helped direct our efforts.
Steve owns Indigenous Restoration, a wonderful ecological restoration service that works in the Green, Iowa, Lafayette, and Dane Counties. He and April Prussia, his spouse, are also dedicated to stream conservation and public access. Steve has worked for the Pokornys to restore their prairie and helped persuade them to sell an easement to the DNR. They were happy to do so because they are great believers in stream conservation. Meg and April monitor stream water quality on Sawmill.
Steve is a superb sawyer. Bob Harrison and he dropped trees with labor-saving accuracy. Having Steve or Bob drop a tree 5 feet from a pile brings a smile to every hauler’s face. Jim broke out the pole saw to take down a tree on a precariously steep bank. Finally we might enter an SWTU tug of war in the State Championship at Mt. Vernon this summer. Several volunteers pitted themselves against box elders which really wanted to land in the creek. Our crew won every time. As usual on these workdays, we surprised ourselves with how much we got done. The Pokorny’s stream banks and prairies are going to be healthier.
Meg and April then treated us to a great lunch of ham, cheese, pickles, olives, crackers, popcorn, cookies, and brownies. The centerpiece was the ham, courtesy of April and one of her Gloucestershire Old Spots. This is a rare, British, heritage breed acclaimed for its docility, hardiness, and deliciousness. We can verify the last trait and April attested to the other two. April is one of the Midwest’s most important breeders of the GOS. She sells her pork at the Mt. Horeb farmers’ market and directly from her home on Erickson Creek near Blanchardville.
A note about the easement: it is in the final stages of closure. It’s not yet open for public fishing but will be soon. Watch the newsletter or SWTU social media for the notification.
Even more thank yous are in order than usual. Thanks to Meg and Bill for the easement and Dan Oele’s great work with them. Thanks to Steve and April for the expertise, food, and dedication to healthy and accessible streams. Thanks to our great volunteers. And finally huge thanks to Jim for his leadership and organization.
Photos courtesy Jim Beecher.
Bluster and Luster: Sawyers and Stacking on Sawmill
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Last Updated: May 3, 2023 by Drew Kasel
By Topf Wells/ April 29, 2023, Workday Report
The workday on Sawmill began with blustery weather that gave way to lustrous work, food, fun, and, soon, a new place to fish.
We worked on almost a new easement on Sawmill Creek in lovely Green County down the hill from the York Prairie State Natural Area. Meg and Bill Pokorny are reclaiming some prairie on their land and want to keep their section of Sawmill healthy too. About 20 SWTU volunteers showed up to help by cutting, stacking and treating box elder and invasive honeysuckle. In addition to the usual excellent leadership provided by Jim Hess, Steve Fabos helped direct our efforts.
Steve owns Indigenous Restoration, a wonderful ecological restoration service that works in the Green, Iowa, Lafayette, and Dane Counties. He and April Prussia, his spouse, are also dedicated to stream conservation and public access. Steve has worked for the Pokornys to restore their prairie and helped persuade them to sell an easement to the DNR. They were happy to do so because they are great believers in stream conservation. Meg and April monitor stream water quality on Sawmill.
Steve is a superb sawyer. Bob Harrison and he dropped trees with labor-saving accuracy. Having Steve or Bob drop a tree 5 feet from a pile brings a smile to every hauler’s face. Jim broke out the pole saw to take down a tree on a precariously steep bank. Finally we might enter an SWTU tug of war in the State Championship at Mt. Vernon this summer. Several volunteers pitted themselves against box elders which really wanted to land in the creek. Our crew won every time. As usual on these workdays, we surprised ourselves with how much we got done. The Pokorny’s stream banks and prairies are going to be healthier.
Meg and April then treated us to a great lunch of ham, cheese, pickles, olives, crackers, popcorn, cookies, and brownies. The centerpiece was the ham, courtesy of April and one of her Gloucestershire Old Spots. This is a rare, British, heritage breed acclaimed for its docility, hardiness, and deliciousness. We can verify the last trait and April attested to the other two. April is one of the Midwest’s most important breeders of the GOS. She sells her pork at the Mt. Horeb farmers’ market and directly from her home on Erickson Creek near Blanchardville.
A note about the easement: it is in the final stages of closure. It’s not yet open for public fishing but will be soon. Watch the newsletter or SWTU social media for the notification.
Even more thank yous are in order than usual. Thanks to Meg and Bill for the easement and Dan Oele’s great work with them. Thanks to Steve and April for the expertise, food, and dedication to healthy and accessible streams. Thanks to our great volunteers. And finally huge thanks to Jim for his leadership and organization.
Photos courtesy Jim Beecher.
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