No Winter Conservation Slow-Down

Winter may seem like a time for conservation efforts to slow down. But at Bur Oak Land Trust, this is not the case. Recently I focused on conservation easement monitoring with 14 conservation easements. I also worked with a number of volunteers, including Big Grove property steward Ken Lowder, to work on our nine properties. We started with the removal of a tree stand at Big Grove Addition and then moved to Shimek Ravine to remove woody invasives on the south end of the property. We had a great crew at Pappy Dickens who worked to remove honeysuckle. I teamed up with some Kirkwood students to collect and remove trash and metal, which had been left in piles at all but one of our properties during 2016 workdays. I’ve also been working on coordinating with AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) and CCI (Conservation Corps Iowa) for work crews in 2017 and look forward to getting these hard-working crews scheduled for intensive work on the properties.

I’ve been working on incorporating GPS (Global Positioning System) data onto our easement maps. Using online GIS (geographic information system) software hosted by Esri, I was able to create multiple maps with the picture points and trails needed to follow for yearly monitoring of conservation easements. I’ve been very happy with our enclosed trailer purchase, which, along with our truck purchase, will help tremendously with tool storage and work efficiency for 2017. To take advantage of these two larger purchases, the Bur Oak Land Trust logo has been put on both trailer and truck – a great way to get our name out into the community!

Don Bolin, Big Grove property steward, along with Ken Lowder, helped work on removing interior fencing at Big Grove, which we loaded on the trailer to transport to the landfill. I also had a tree stand removed to save the tree. Many of these activities have been shared on Facebook, especially photos, so if you are on Facebook, take a look. And stay tuned for next month’s report on this great conservation work!