Floodplain Forest Work April and May 2007

This is a summary of the areas that were worked on, the invasives removed, and future plans for the floodplain forest. "North" means upstream, even though we know that with the River Raisin, upstream can be any direction.

In the area north of the trail and between the channel and the fen all Garlic Mustard and Dame's Rocket, of which there wasn't much to begin with, was removed, along with some rose and honeysuckle. There is small rose and buckthorn remaining in the northwest corner of this section near the fen and more buckthorn on the western edge near the fen. It will be worked on next spring.

All blooming Garlic Mustard, Dame's Rocket, and honeysuckle was removed from the island. The island was also in good shape so the work here was done by individuals not on scheduled volunteer days. There is a thick patch of small rose and many garlic mustard seedlings in the southeast corner. The worst of the rose will be herbicided this summer and the garlic mustard will be herbicided in the fall and winter. Any rose and garlic mustard that survives the herbicide will receive hand pulling next spring. There is Reed Canary Grass on the south end next to the channel. The grass closest to the water will receive glyphosate and the grass further away will receive Poast Plus this summer. Poast Plus kills only grass but isn't allowed within 10 feet of open water. It would have been better to spray the beginning of June before the grass bloomed but other things were higher priority.

The tiny island just south of the bigger island had all the blooming garlic mustard removed but not all the Dame's Rocket. It has many small roses and honeysuckles. Dame's Rocket and Garlic Mustard rosettes will be herbicided in the fall and on warm winter days. Hand pulling will be used on remaining invasives in the spring.

The rest of Trillium was worked on during volunteer days. After clearing all the way to the stream in the south we started again in the north to get the ones we had missed. Some blooming Garlic Mustard and Dame's Rocket was still there when we stopped working here the end of May, more in the southern part than in the northern part. There is a little Canadian Thistle next to the path, some Reed Canary Grass in one place next to the river, and some small roses. The Canadian Thistle and Reed Canary Grass will receive one or two herbicidings this summer. Dame's Rocket and Garlic Mustard rosettes will be herbicided in the fall and winter. Those that survive this herbiciding will be the focus of the volunteer days next spring. Rose will also be pulled in the spring. Any large honeysuckle that we missed in prior years was cut down and most of the small ones were pulled. Remaining honeysuckle will be eliminated as it is found.

The heron rookery that was in big cottonwood in the river last year is abandoned. The herons nesting in Tom Turkey may be from this rookery.

Honeysuckle, rose, buckthorn, Garlic Mustard, and Dames Rocket in the floodplain forest next to the volunteer area received cutting, hand pulling and some herbiciding this spring. Progress is being made but this area is secondary priority to the north end. The large woody plants have been mostly gone since last year but there is still work to do on the smaller ones and the herbaceous invasives.