Stewardship Workshops Continue

Gerry Donaldson of Hidden Lake Gardens makes a point about beetles to Joan Bailey and Bob Kellum.

he Raisin Cluster of the Michigan Stewardship Network is in the midst of its third season of workshops. The RVLT is one of the Raisin Cluster partners, and we hope that our members and friends will take advantage of these workshops to help us preserve and restore habitat that supports a wide array of native flora and fauna.

In April we got first hand experience observing prescribed burns at Storer Camps near Napoleon. Part of the Toledo YMCA, Storer Camps is integrating stewardship into their programs, and hired professionals to burn areas of their 1200 acre property this spring, including about 10 acres of wetlands and 5 acres of upland woods. We watched as PlantWise personnel read the weather and the land to achieve a safe and effective burn. Use of prescribed fire will help Storer Camps maintain and re-establish prairies and fens that support threatened plant and animal species that get crowded out, in part because fire has been prevented from working its magic. The burn was funded in part by the DNR's Landowner Incentive Program.

The month of May took us back to the Michigan Nature Association's (MNA) Broehl Preserve in Palmyra Township. The spring wildflowers were wonderful and we pulled infrequent patches of garlic mustard that have the ability to overrun this unique habitat if not held in check. MNA is aware of this threat and is grateful for our help. It is likely we will do this again next May so we can continue to enjoy and protect this special place.

In June we tackled woody invasive shrubs at Washtenaw County's new Leonard Preserve in Manchester. It was a hot, humid day, but we made a dent at beating back autumn olive and other invasive shrubs that are closing in on an open area where prairie remnants hint at their previous dominance. This is another area that will benefit from fire and the county has plans to do some prescribed burning in the coming years.

July took us to Tecumseh's Indian Crossing Trails Park to learn about controlling purple loosestrife in wetland habitats. We found small populations of Galerucella, the purple loosestrife eating beetle that has been used successfully at controlling this invasive plant. We are not sure if they were purposely introduced here, or if they just found their way from other areas, but they are certainly doing their job. We also demonstrated the use of herbicide using a custom made applicator, and other methods. We did not want to use herbicide so as not to deprive the beetles of their food source.

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