==============================================================================
TOPIC: Rockwoods Reservation/Earth Day
http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees/browse_thread/thread/fec3862b05ec4987?hl=en
==============================================================================

== 1 of 2 ==
Date: Sat, Apr 19 2008 4:17 pm
From: Beth


ENTS,

Today for Earth Day I went to Rockwoods Reservation to help with
habitat restoraton (invasive weed pulling). I only discovered this
place 2 days ago coming home from Babler State Park. This is 1880
acrea park that was established in 1938 making it the oldest Missouri
Department of Conservation area. Unlike Babler State Park this area
doesn't have old growth forests. The area was extensively logged up
to 70 years ago. This logging was mainly clearcut and thus allowed
for erosion on the hillsides. We, workers and volunteers, met at the
park office and then drove to the Creekside Picnic Area. Here there
was about 1/2 - 3/4 acre of what looked like nothing but garlic
mustard and bush honeysuckle amoungest the trees. One here a creek
but you couldn't see it due to the honeysuckle. We started pulling
the garlic mustard out and found several native plants including but
not limited to trillum sp., Duthman's breechs, Spring Beauties,
Bluebells, and bloodroot. We also found a flat-headed and northern
red-bellied snakes along with a redback salamander. We also noted
that there were more buckeye trees (more than likely Ohio) than we had
seen any where else. I would roughly guess, and this a very wild
guess, that it was 1 buckeye to 3 other trees. I did see box elder,
american elm, and bur oak here in this little area.

Here is a website for a map of the place.
http://mdc.mo.gov/documents/area_brochures/5405map.pfd

Here is a website of a summary of Rockwoods Reservation
http://mdc4.mdc.no.gov/applications/moatlas/AreaSummarryPage.aspx?txtAreaID=5405

I hope that you guys are having fun at the gathering. I look forward
to your posts about it.

Beth

== 2 of 2 ==
Date: Sat, Apr 19 2008 7:16 pm
From: Randy Brown

On Apr 19, 2008, at 7:17 PM, Beth wrote:
> Here there was about 1/2 - 3/4 acre of what looked like nothing but
> garlic mustard and bush honeysuckle amoungest the trees. One here a creek
> but you couldn't see it due to the honeysuckle.

Ugh.. this sounds like most of the river corridors where I live
(Columbus, Ohio). Pretty hideous once you know what it is.

== 2 of 4 ==
Date: Sun, Apr 20 2008 4:34 am
From: Beth Koebel


yes, when we done for the day the area looked 1000%
better.

--- Randy Brown <rbrown0093@wideopenwest.com> wrote:

"Information is moving--you know, nightly news is one way, of course, but it's also moving through the blogosphere and through the Internets."
Washington DC, May 2, 2007 George W. Bush

== 3 of 4 ==
Date: Sun, Apr 20 2008 7:45 am
From: Ren


Beth,
You found what I've noticed in similar sites that the invasives have
an initial strong showing, but under them is a whole understory of
shade tolerant young perrenials and trees, and as time and canopy
trees take over the invasives will get shaded out. We have a Tree farm
on the Salt River in KY that has 50 acre thicket of bush Honeysuckle
that took over a clearcut done in the 80's. However 20 years into the
growth pattern lots of nut trees and Oaks are starting to dominate and
the woods are returning to a native habitat. Ren

== 4 of 4 ==
Date: Sun, Apr 20 2008 8:24 am
From: Beth Koebel

Ren,

This is encouraging news. We also found just a few
honeysuckle that was suckering from a clearing last
year and this is also encouraging.

Beth