By Jim Hess, Conservation Chair

Join us Saturday, April 6 – Kittleson Valley Creek, HR Growing Acres. Details below, and we hope to see you there.

Time: 9am to 12 noon.

Where: Kittleson Valley Creek along Dane County Rd H, at the bridge on Kittleson Road. We will be working downstream of this bridge.

From Madison there are several routes you can take. Here are a couple:

Take Hwy 69 south from Verona to Paoli, turn right onto County Rd PB, go 2 miles to Cty Rd A, turn right on A and go 14 miles to Cty Rd H, turn left on H and go about 3 miles to Kittleson Road, turn south on Kittleson Rd and go to the bridge.
Take Hwy 151 west to Hwy 78 (west side of Mt. Horeb), exit Hwy 151 and take Hwy 78 south for 18 miles (going through Daleyville) to Cty Rd H, turn left on H and go 1 mile to Kittleson Rd. If you need directions, call Jim Hess (608-288-8662).

Here is the Google Map link for this location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GpPsW33inh9H9sMu8

What: Planting 30 oaks along the stream. The county will be pre-drilling the holes this week, if they can get machinery into the area. Pretty sure it will get done. If not, we will be hand digging the holes. We are planting bare root trees, requiring smaller holes. The weather forecast looks great for a workday.

After planting the 30 trees at this location, we will be replacing 10 dead trees downstream of this easement and 10 dead trees on German Valley Branch. There are dead trees on both sides of German Valley Branch, requiring rubber boots or waders to cross. This workday may go longer than normal, hopefully not.

Bring: Shovels!!! Also work gloves, sturdy shoes, and eye protection. Also bring reusable water bottles that can be re-filled from our 5-gal water jug. Waders to cross German Valley Branch.

Parking: Park on Kittleson Rd on the west side. This is a fairly busy county road with heavy farm machinery, so it is important for everyone to park on the same side of the road for traffic flow and safety.

Next Workdays:

April 13 – Kittleson – removing willows on the Hefty Farms Easement. This is the same location as the tree planting and where we worked at last fall

CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER April 27 – Conley Lewis Creek in Iowa County. A joint workday with the Nohr Chapter. Justin Haglund, DNR Fish Biologist, and his crew will be joining us. Conley Lewis feeds into the Dodge Branch Creek just upstream from Banner Road. This is located near our previous workdays on Whitford Creek. We will be removing box elders and other invasive woodies. Plus, we will be throwing out native prairie seed to create a native buffer to this stream.

May 18 – Big Spring – joint workday with the Nohr Chapter, assisting the DNR in removing willows. Justine Haglund, DNR Fish Biologist, and his crew will be joining us again. This is a continuation upstream from last year.

June 1 – Sawmill Creek (Pokorny Easement) – removing invasive woodies and installing a brush bundle. This will be the 3rd workday at this site

Chainsaw Training Opportunities
Anyone wishing to run a chainsaw at a Workday must complete a training that meets FISTA standards to do so. It’s a rule of the county and just makes us all safer. Dane County is offering sessions, which you can register for here.