| WORK DAYS |
Volunteer Creek
Conservation Weekends
December 2, 3, 4 & 9, 10, 11
Friday 10-2; Saturday 2 PM-to dusk;
Sunday 10-2 |
Meet at: Fox River Drive off of Hart Road, by the little park/
culvert to the creek
Please dress appropriately and bring gloves
Please also print out, sign & bring a
WAIVER
Warm drinks and dimples donuts will be provided
|
| Other area cleanups: |
Saturday, December 3
Kane County workday at
Glenwood Park
9 AM to Noon |
Saturday, December 10
Kane County workday
along the Fox River at the Fabyan Prairie Rock
Shelf
9 AM to Noon
|
| |
 |
|
Click Here for a larger, pdf file of this
illustration |
|
Messages from Robert
to Friends of Volunteer Creek |
11-29-11 Message:
Wow! I think that I speak for the group when I
share my amazement in the amount of work we have
accomplished down on the creek this month.
26 Volunteers labored for a combined 204 hours!
Thank you all for the hours of time and energy
that you have contributed -- on the ground, in
the kitchen, or in spirit!
This past weekend made for a great finish to the
month, as 13 volunteers put in nearly 50 hours
into pulling brush from the West side of the
creek to the parkways for brush pick-up. I
admit that I was nervous about completing this
task, but the volunteers came out as strong as
ever and we got it done! We all feel relief,
having met the deadline for brush pick-up...
neighbors especially!
Looking at the attached map, we have cut and
applied herbicide to roughly 2/3 of the site's
invasive species area; 1/3 of the invasive
species are curbside for brush pick-up and
another 1/3 is stacked in piles awaiting frozen
ground for the wood chipper. This leaves a
rough 1/3 of the invasives still standing on the
far east side (hashed in yellow).
The end of November marks the start of December,
and in turn, a final push to rid our space of
honeysuckle and buckthorn... |
|
The Ballad of the Buckthorn by John Haugland |
|
October Message:
I invite you to join part in a conservation
weekend in November. The primary focus of this
month will be to cut down honeysuckle and
buckthorn brush beginning at the North-end of
the project site. We will be cutting our way in
from the Fox Trail Drive stream culvert and
working South toward the retention pond.
Depending on the volunteer turn-out, chainsaws
and handsaws may be utilized. Volunteers will
be meeting around the stream culvert across the
street from the toddler park on Fox Trail Drive.
I am pleased to report that the City of Batavia
has agreed to further assist in the removal of
brush from the site. In addition to the
project's participation in the city-wide brush
pick-up (last day November 28) the city will
schedule a few days of a wood-chipper to reduce
the amount of brush dragging required of the
volunteers. The wood chips will provide an
ecological benefit to the restoration of the
soil in areas heavily invaded by buckthorn.
Workdays are weather dependent, rain or melting
snow creates unnecessary risk for application of
herbicide to unintended targets and so we will
not mix the two. |
| |
|
