Oak Savanna Restoration continues...

The Americorps NCCC crew is back in action following the Thanksgiving break, and we've been concentrating our efforts on one of my favorite places Whiterock Conservancy-managed lands: Long Creek Ridge. The ridge is easily accesible from the Riverhouse and campground areas, it's just a 3/4 mile jaunt north up the west side of the river.
Long Creek is the largest tributary of the Middle Raccoon River on the property, and the ridge along the north side of the creek just before it empties into the river houses both sand savannas and prairie remnants, a 85' tall sandstone outcrop, and a commanding view of two intersecting valleys. Over the last 40 years, Eastern redcedar, honeysuckle, and honey locust have invaded many of the high-quality areas on Long Creek Ridge. While prescribed fires have diminished the thick shrub cover, there are many trees too big for the fire to hurt.

Over the last two weeks, we've been out on Long Creek Ridge, in the snow, sleet, and cold wind, mechanically removing the invasive trees and shrubs. Check out the photos of Americorps NCCC crew members Kerry, Laura, Clifton, Zach, Charles, Brooke, and Whiterock Conservancy staff Sean and Elizabeth completing a 16-acre savanna restoration project on Long Creek Ridge. We are so thankful for having the crew here--but only for a few more days! .

Free the baby oaks!

The Americorps NCCC crew has been hard at work these last few weeks, and no synonym of the word miraculous would be applicable to the amount of work that has been done. We've been systematically going into the degraded prairie and savanna remnants on bluffs above Long Creek and removing Eastern redcedar, honey locust, prickly ash, multiflora rose, and honeysuckle.

Here's an image of a little baby bur oak tree (red arrow) on the side of a prairie remnant that has been completely outcompeted by a honey locust (black arrow), which is being cut down.

In the next picture, Brooke, the Americorps NCCC crew leader, is standing with the baby oak, now bathed in sunshine!

The crew has all headed home for Thanksgiving, but we'll be back at it next week!

Autumn & Americorps have arrived

After a flourish of autumnal splendor, almost all of the leaves have fallen and the blustery days of late fall have arrived. The vast acreage of woodlands in the Whiterock Valley are the best kept secret of western Iowa autumn. The abundance of oaks (black, white, red, and bur) in the valley make for a scene of crimson, golden, and tangerine. Here's a picture of the valley from last week, looking over into South Whiterock: the oaks leave are ablaze with color and after they've fallen, they'll be ablaze with prescribed fire! Sign up to come help us on burns starting next week.


It isn't just the woodlands that show off the vibrant colors of fall, the prairie remnants also show off the splendor of scenescing plant parts. At right, the changes in coloration of prairie dropseed and little bluestem are as brilliant as the woodlands October transformation!
We've been hard at work harvesting prairie seed to add to pastures and prairie reconstructions on the property, although the last few days of wind and rain have caused many seeds to drop. Now all there is to do is enjoy the beauty!


This autumn also means the arrival of Whiterock Conservancy's first ever Americorps NCCC crew. The crew, composed of 7 volunteers from 7 different states, has come to Iowa to work first on flood recovery and now on environmental conservation projects. They spent the first two weeks of this spike project near Iowa City, working on savanna and prairie restoration projects for Johnson County Heritage Trust, and will spend the next 6 weeks working at Whiterock Conservancy and for Polk County Soil and Water Conservation District doing restoration projects in rural uplands and urban watersheds.
This crew knows how to work, and have been diligently bagging prairie seed and chain-sawing honeysuckles for the last few days. We are so very excited to have them here! Check out the before and after of one day of work--you can see the amazing difference of this degraded woodland. After we finish removing the invasive honeysuckles and barberry, we'll conduct a prescribed fire on this piece of land and be well on our way to savanna restoration!

For a living example of the oak savanna work that Whiterock Conservany is doing, check out the woodland south of the pond at the Home Farm/Headquarters--you'll be amazed!

Whiterock BioBlitz 2008

Each time I walk into Whiterock valley, I generally find at least one new and amazing living thing. This spring I was able to ask myself, “what will 76 people find if they go out and walk together?” On Memorial Day weekend, participants in the first annual Whiterock BioBlitz answered this question for me— 442 different living things to be exact. On a soggy day in the middle of a very late spring, migratory songbirds were flitting through the newly leafed-out oaks, the frog orchestra was in full swing, spring ephemeral wildflowers were winding down, and folks of all ages in raingear were traipsing through Whiterock valley, binoculars and butterfly nets ready, eyes and ears peeled for signs of previously unobserved life. It was so very exciting!

The Whiterock BioBlitz, funded by a grant from the Guthrie County Community Foundation, was modeled after the first BioBlitz, an event held in 1996 in Washington DC’s Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, when National Park Service employees and participants attempted to document all of the living species on the garden property in one day. For the Whiterock BioBlitz, 14 volunteer-scientists led groups of enthusiastic participants out onto the landscape during the“24-hour snapshot” of Whiterock Conservancy-managed lands. We managed to find a handful of plants, birds, mollusks, and snails that had never been observed on the property before, the most exciting of which were probably the Northern Parula and Blackburnian Warbler, two of the most beautiful wood warblers to visit our state, in my mind. Two oak savanna remnants were also located, and have been added to the priority management area for oak savanna restoration projects that will continue this autumn and winter. Sensitive migratory songbird habitat was distinguished along two small creeks, and will be monitored next spring for other rare birds.

The Whiterock BioBlitz was a wonderful event, possible only because of the graciousness of the volunteers, the inquisitiveness of the participants, but most basically, the wild diversity in Whiterock valley. It is so simple: if we keep our eyes open, we’ll continue to find new and wonderful things. Please join us next summer for the Second Annual Whiterock BioBlitz, and until then, search on your own while scheme and dream of what we may find!