Week Five- Maintenance Week 6/12/17 - 6/16/17
This week was primarily composed of spraying more musk thistle and mowing/weed eating trails. Early in the week, we got the opportunity to do some work on the out door education center. We started by weed eating all the Japanese Knot weed that was taking over the area. Then, with the help from John Keith and his tractor, we were able to spread wood chips all around the area. Later on in the week, the whole crew was assigned the task of finding some wood duck boxes deep in the river bottoms. If they were in use, we had to leave them be, but we had to get the boxes out that were damaged or underwater. Using waders, we made our trek out to the river bottoms to search for the boxes. We found 4 out of the 5 boxes, but one was too deep in the brush to be removed safely. We ended the week by spending some time and getting a tour at Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell, IN. This trip included seeing an old growth forest, a pioneer village, and a cave boat tour.
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Week Six
Week Six- Boyd's Tree Trail 6/19/17 - 6/23/17
Week six is the half way point for my internship and it is flying by. During this week, we got to handle a variety of different tasks that include: checking water levels at Cane Ridge, working with the DNR measuring trees and growth patterns, building an archway for Boyd's Tree Trail, and looking at wild flower production in post-prescribed fire sites. The task of building the arch way was a big project that would help educate visitors about native trees and shrubs that were on the trail. There is a box on the trail with pamphlets inside that give numbered descriptions of the trees and shrubs with coordinating signs all along a short hiking path. This is meant to help educate the public on how to identify a tree and provide some interesting facts. The smaller task that was given this week was to learn about prairie productivity after a prescribed burn. Learning how to tell if the property is successful or not is an important skill to learn when dealing with restoration of habitat.