Wednesday July 27, 2011 • Litchfield Wetland Management District

The Litchfield Wetland Management District staff got a complaint about having too many thistles from a nearby farmer. In response, the staff sprayed them. The thistles began to die, and then all that was left was green stems. The farmer said that they weren't dead; probably because he hadn’t looked closely, and he said they were fluffing out. They were.

One of the staff members brought in a thistle to examine for viable seed and he put several heads in front of me to examine, and we pulled the seeds out. We poked and prodded them, and the dark seed parts were flat. They were not viable. We found it very interesting that although the thistle had been sprayed, and had produced seed, that none of them would grow.

Staff at Litchfield say that thistles are, in reality, not much of a problem, contrary to popular belief, because it goes away quickly in a healthy prairie environment. It usually only grows in disturbed areas.

Guest Blogger, Ian Drobney is traveling across the Midwest Region. Stay tuned for more observations.

Tuesday July 26, 2011 • Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge

One thing about Minnesota National Wildlife Refuge is that is very close to a metropolitan area. And this close proximity causes many problems, such as wildlife disturbance, but it also helps, because many people get interested.

This helps to spread concern about natural landscapes and wildlife. One point of interest is that 98 miles of the Minnesota River go through the Minnesota Valley NWR; it is where the refuge got its name. Minnesota Valley has more than 1,000 acres of savanna, lots of floodplain forests and wetlands, and some prairie.

A lot of flooding has been happening recently, and the water is not going down. This is a major problem, because it causes fish to be able to get to places they should not be, as well as killing certain plants.

Guest Blogger, Ian Drobney is traveling across the Midwest Region. Stay tuned for more observations.

Tuesday July 26, 2011 • Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge

The first thing we discussed at Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge/Wetland Management District was the purpose of the whole thing. Some things that came up are:

1.  Provide wildlife habitat
2.  Protect natural areas from degradation
3.  Protect Minnesota valley social and educational value.
4.  Restore, manage, and protect rare and common native plants and animals.

The conversation then went to other things. A problem discussed was that there is not enough attention focused on small animals and invertebrates, and that so many invasives go unnoticed and unaddressed. These invasives wipe out many native species, which in turn hurts many other species.

Minnesota Valley NWR is in Minneapolis, Minn. There is a lot of water taken from the refuge areas and used for drinking water etc… and pouring chemicals and junk onto the refuge, causing huge problems for plants, animals and management. Fens then no longer contain enough water to stay fens, which are wet areas with many strange and rare species.

Invasive's were mentioned, and buckthorn especially. Goats were tried for buckthorn control on a small scale, but they escaped, and that idea was given up. New things are being tried, such as wet mowers which apply herbicide to plants that they mow.

Guest Blogger, Ian Drobney is traveling across the Midwest Region. Stay tuned for more observations.

Monday July 25, 2011 • Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge

The first thing we did this week was get up at 4:30 a.m. and go out with the Project Leader’s family and set dove traps. In the wee hours of the morning, we closed the top hatches and baited the traps. Later, at 11:00 a.m., we went back to check them.

In the first was one dove. We pulled it out and banded it, and let it go. In the second one was a red-winged blackbird and another dove which was already banded. We let them go. All of the next eight had only blackbirds except the last one, which had a bluejay.

This study was to check the number of doves in the area and, after getting those data, to see if there should be a hunting season for them on the Refuge. These birds were not the only ones we saw, however. We saw two swans with cygnets swimming in a line in the wetlands on either side of the rode. As we watched, they crossed over into the other side. They are not native to this area, but they are common, because people like them and feed them in the winter.

Guest Blogger, Ian Drobney is traveling across the Midwest Region. Stay tuned for more observations.

Wednesday July 20, 2011 • Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge

I am going to go back to my trip up to the top of the fire tower. The first thing is the view--it is amazing! The ground looks like a model train layout, with the cattails even making perfect walls around the ponds. The 3D-ness of the landscape is impossible to describe without experiencing it yourself. The trees were tall and swayed in the high wind.

Up in the tower, Pauline and I had death grips on the walls as we dared each other to look straight down the edge. The height was very scary. Being 100 feet in the air, was pretty vertigo-inducing; the wind was so strong it swayed the tower and seemed like it blew us across the small room. It is easy to see the effects of the management from up here and the progress of the cattail replacement using natural vegetation.

Guest Blogger, Ian Drobney is traveling across the Midwest Region. Stay tuned for more observations.

Wednesday July 20, 2011 • Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge

After a small break, our conversation continued. This time it turned to moose and other wildlife. On the Refuge, there used to be about 400 moose. Now there are about 40. They are a rare thing to see, and I was not one of the lucky few who do get the chance.

The moose are being wiped out, and they haven't yet figured out why. One majorly supported theory is that an animal like that cannot stand even the slightest increases in temperature, and that is what is making it hard to survive. Climate change doesn't only effect moose, it also effects ground nesting birds, who are drowned out of their nests by the rising water and food not being available at the right time. Time almost seems out of synchrony with the rest of the world for them.

You can learn more about the moose at Agassiz: http://www.fws.gov/news/blog/index.cfm/2011/5/17/Minnesota-Warmer-Temperatures-Take-a-Toll-on-Minnesota-Moose

Guest Blogger, Ian Drobney is traveling across the Midwest Region. Stay tuned for more observations.

Wednesday July 20, 2011 • Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge

When we sat down to do the needs assessment on Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge, I looked out the window at the storm. Lightning flashed, lighting up the crazily swaying trees. Inside, the conversation was on a similar topic, the rain that is causing the floods. After yesterday, it is easy to see what they are talking about. The ponds, streams, and dammed streams were overflowing with excess water. Farmers on the edges of the Refuge were complaining about the water on their fields not draining onto the Refuge fast enough, or, on the other side, water was pouring out of the Refuge too fast.

“I remember when a farmer used to come on to the Refuge and turn the ditch valves,” said one employee. “He was on the lower end, so he closed them, and caused flooding for us and the farmers upstream.”

They took care of the problem by putting locks and cameras on the valve, although they never did figure out for sure who it was. This just kind of shows how people have different views of the situation, depending on where they are.

Guest Blogger, Ian Drobney is traveling across the Midwest Region. Stay tuned for more observations.

Tuesday July 19, 2011 • Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge

Today was an interesting day for me. We (Pauline and I) are currently at Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge. On our current trip, we have begun to take journeys through the refuge land that we are discussing, meaning we get to see the wildlife more. When we got to the first spot, we demonstrated how to do transects for grasses, forbs and shrubs, and canopy cover reading.

Later, on the next area, we pushed our way through tall shrubs to observe many great savanna species. On the third and last spot, we went a short ways into a degraded open savanna that had been burned to get rid of aspens. Aspens, after they have dried out, are very light. You could probably pick up a log with a slightly larger diameter than a softball and as long as a small car with ease.

When we got back to the bunkhouse where I am writing this, we went up the 100-foot-tall fire tower. The wind was strong at that point, so the tower, though sturdy, swayed greatly. It didn’t help that the steps had sort of water drainage holes in them, so you could see right down to the bottom, not to mention their steep angle.

Guest Blogger, Ian Drobney is traveling across the Midwest Region. Stay tuned for more observations.

Thursday June 30, 2011 • Fergus Falls Wetland Management District

I am currently at Fergus Falls Wetland Management District and we are discussing the impacts of climate change. Increased rainfall would cause water level to rise and over flow, letting fish into almost all of the lakes and wetlands. Fish would eat frog and salamander eggs and that would wipe out their populations. The fish would also stir up mud, which kills water breathing larvae and water bugs, causing population to go down the tubes. Because mallards and other ducks feed on these bugs, their population would go down too.

They are restoring many wetlands from farms that were previously drained; this is very hard and expensive work because the ditches have to be scraped of the silt, sand and clay that currently plug them. It is too bad that people didn’t protect the good wetlands, so that they didn’t have to be restored. They are also doing prairie reconstruction/restoration and this is helping birds whose habitat is being destroyed elsewhere.

If they can, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acquires areas near already existing Refuges, Department of Natural Resources (DNR) sites or other protected places, because bigger places survive better than little places.

Check out photos of the Fergus Falls area and learn more about Grady Mann, the father of the USFWS' Small Wetland Acquisition Program, and others doing the good work Ian references visit the USFWSMidwest Photostream.

Guest Blogger, Ian Drobney is traveling across the Midwest Region. Stay tuned for more observations.

Wednesday June 29, 2011 • Minnesota Private Lands Program

The Minnesota Private Lands Program is doing wetland restoration, stream restoration and bird habitat restoration across the state. They also work with private land owners to create “wildlife corridors,” passages between refuges and other habitats for birds and other animals to cross the landscape. In addition, they also plug ditches and dredge out sediment to restore wetlands and take out dams to let fish migrate up and down streams safely.

The refurbishing of the wetlands and streams and stuff that they do is really very amazing. They can take a grazed, eroding, cliff-like stream and turn it into a beautifully winding creek with rocks in just the right places and create an amazingly fine-tuned hill angle instead of the eroding cliff. The water also gets clearer, and the plants seeded in the disturbed area cause the area to become much brighter than the drab, brown original. Plants regrow in about a year and make it look like it was like that all along.

Guest Blogger, Ian Drobney is traveling across the Midwest Region. Stay tuned for more observations.