2008 project update

Happy March To Everyone,

Sorry I have been kind of quiet so far this year. Lots of things going on in life. Now that the rains are subsiding and we are seeing some occasional sunlight, it is time to start doing some planning for the year. Last year, we had a hard time getting many gatherings put together because of the economy and the price of gas. Hopefully we will at least get some relief from the outrageous gas prices.

But, before I start planning 2009, I want to give everyone an update on 2008.

We were really only able to manage two real work gatherings for the year. There was a two man work party which consisted of my forester, Tim and myself along with several chainsaws. The two of us walked into the Aspen grove at around 9:30 one morning and did not leave it until around 4 in the afternoon. We cut down about 35 trees and numerous shrubs and bushes that were invading the Aspens.

The first real group effort was a visit from the Corning 4H. Fifteen kids and numerous parents came up and spent a long weekend with us. The kids had a great time exploring the property, exploring the homesteads, taking many photographs and practicing their archery techniques on a temporary archery range. They also helped the project while learning and having some fun.
The first project that they tackled was to go into the Aspen grove and collect up a lot of the ground debris. This is part of getting the Aspens to propagate. In nature, the Aspens normally propagate after a fire comes through and burns off the ground debris and cover. We are trying to simulate this by removing it manually and then manually disturbing the surface soil.

During the 4H weekend, the kids and their parents also helped enlarge the irrigations system at Hanna’s spring. Then they planted 130 seedling current berry and native plum trees. Once the weather breaks, we will transplant the surviving saplings into some of the fenced in areas around the property. This will leave Hanna’s Spring ready for more seedling plantings this year.

The next group weekend was another wood cutting effort. 12 people from all around the state gathered on a weekend, we tackled the job of cutting off the limbs of the trees that Tim, and I had previously felled. We cut many limbs and made some good brush piles with them but it was a much larger job than I had thought it would be. We may have trimmed 20 % of the trees before our chainsaws and our arms gave up. Besides the brush piles, we had a good supply of firewood for the camp.

The last group effort was another small one. Tim brought in some of his crew with skidders and they pulled all of the downed trees out of the Aspen grove and drug them into the meadow across the road. That way we can finish the fence around the Aspens before the cattle come on this year. During 2009, we will continue to remove the limbs from the downed trees and then we will start using the trunks of the trees to create wildlife brush piles.

During 2008, I planted around two pounds of Bitterbrush seed. I have been experimenting with different methods of planting and spreading to see if one works better than the others. As part of the Bitterbrush planting I have produced some catch pans that I place under the existing Bitterbrush plants in the fall so that I am now collecting seeds from the native plants of the property to supplement the seeds I have been purchasing.
   
Fencing projects: Because the price of gas and the condition of the economy made it very hard to organize volunteer weekends, the three fencing projects that were part of our 2008 license agreement are still in progress and need to be finished by the end of June.


Goals for 2009:

A. I proposed to use the trees that we removed from the Aspen grove to create several wildlife brush piles in that same general area of the property. These piles will be created by placing the tree trunks on the ground, side by side and then covering them with piles of smaller limbs and debris.

B. The cattle use Horse Meadow Reservoir during the year and make it unusable by the wildlife. I propose to create a wildlife water hole up slope of the reservoir. Once the hole is created, we will fence it off to keep the cattle out of it.

C. I propose that we replace another one half mile of boundary fencing with wildlife friendly fencing.

D. I propose to seed two acres with Bitterbrush seeds.



Last year was the driest year I have ever seen on the property. The fires in the area were an indication of just how dry the habitat was. Even with the drought conditions, our springs continued to flow. In October, the water flowing across the property was the only water visible for miles around.

The deer that we saw with our trail cameras and the deer that were harvested were all in excellent shape. Nice coats and lots of layered fat.

We are seeing more wildlife, small and large every year. The rabbit and chipmunk populations were exploding last year. There is no doubt we are making a difference.

I am headed up to the property March 27, 28 and 29 for the first trip of the year. If the property is manageable and the weather holds, I will probably begin my normal routine of going up two weekends a month. I have already scheduled the perennial long Memorial Day weekend. And, I will be trying to arrange as many group weekends as possible.
The Corning 4H group has stated that they want to come up again this year. I also have been talking to a couple YMCA chapters that might try to arrange a weekend gathering. If you know of any youth organizations that might like to spend a weekend getting their kids in touch with the outdoors, please pass our info on to them.

Log piles will favor skunks, coyotes and raccoons, these would hurt your small game populations (perhaps fawns too).  On ranches I've been to brush and log piles were considered habitat degradation for that reason.

Thanks for the input PS. In that part of the country, the log base is what the biologists recommend. No skunks or raccoons up there and the logs will be placed close enough together that the coyotes won't be able to get in. The rabbits, chipmunks and various birds will be able to get into the small spaces and get away from the 'yotes.

We do not do anything up there without running it by the biologists first.