Relief From Rhododendron

[troutbert]

RLeeP wrote:
>RLP,

Are these grassland streams maintained? In other words, are they mowed, grazed or cleared regularly? >

Hi Maurice..

They're a number of types. The three I encounter most frequently (with an off the cuff estimate of prevalence among the 100 or so streams I've fished) in the Driftless Region are working pastures-40%, abandoned, high-grass meadows - 30% and mixed woodlot and high grass meadow - 30%. With a few exceptions, the only manicuring done on any of these streams is bovine in origin.

At any rate, here is an interesting link from WI-DNR on the ecological landscapes of the state:

http://dnr.wi.gov/landscapes/

The vast majority of the spring creeks are located in the Western Coulee and Ridges province on the clickable map, with a much smaller number in the Southwest Savannas province. There are a series of maps to be found on the page for each province, including one that shows what is believed to be the original (pre-settlement) vegetation. I'm reluctant to say that this disproves what Tim had earlier asserted. I don't live there and I know how I'd feel if somebody from 600 miles away told me they knew better than I did about say, southern Erie County.

Still though, something doesn't quite add up.

From the website: "Historical vegetation consisted of southern hardwood forests, oak savanna, scattered prairies, and floodplain forests and marshes along the major rivers."

Floodplain forests. There you go. The people who prefer managing for grass still may have some good arguments in their favor, but the "environmental restoration" argument isn't one of them.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Maurice,

Here are some threads from another board showing some of the Driftless streams. As you can see there really aren't many trees along the banks. The streams aren't mowed, they are left to the native plants.

http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=570068

http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=569192

Regards,
Tim Murphy

 

[troutbert]

In Wisconsin and Minnesota streambank de-brushing has been a popular practice to remove woody vegetation and promote grassy vegetation. They used to say this had wondrous benefits.

Ray White, who used to work for the Wisconsin fisheries people, is now saying the results are mixed. He discusses this in an excellent review of the history of stream restoration practices, which I highly recommend to anyone who is interested in stream restoration. It’s a long document, and I think it’s much easier to read it you print it out rather than trying to read in on the screen:

http://www.cfb.ie/salmonid_workshop/index.htm