Project: Statewide Wildlife Areas
County: Multiple
Project Start Date: 03/01/2019
Project End Date: 03/31/2019
By Mike Alaimo, Lead AWA Volunteer
This is the time of year when everything is in high gear. It is hard to prioritize the “honey do list” from all of our other passions. Spring banquet prep, clearing projects, wood duck box maintenance, dusting off the camera to take in the spring migration, preparing for Turkey season, getting the boat ready for open water, maybe hitting the spring walleye run….and the list goes on.
Picture of our buddies arriving in full plumage on Fowler Lake in Oconomowoc on March 30, 2019.
Big Muskego AWA: The crew dedicated their Saturday on March 16th to chainsaw training. This DNR-sponsored training was in support of future clearing projects at Big Muskego Wildlife Area with the necessary skills to take down trees with a focus on safety, planning, saw maintenance, and some new techniques. The day was perfect for the field portion of the training. Below are Scott Hopper, Nick Smart, Chameron Hatzinger, Ian Bartelmez, Bruce Ross, Jim Olive (instructor), AJ Kimball, and Stephen Regenfuss. Congrats on your completion of the training!
Jackson Marsh AWA: In a similar fashion, WWA members, along with DNR staff and PF volunteers, went through chain saw training on March 30th. The day was a little more challenging with the cold front that streamed in, but the training was completed! Congrats to Jim Freck, Dennis Gutmann and Mike Depies, who completed their chainsaw training, along with Eric Kilburg, biologist from Pike Lake DNR Office, 2 PF members from Ozaukee County and 2 PF members from Sheboygan County.
Rome Pond AWA: The Wood Ducks are here! We raced out on Sunday March 24th to maintain boxes and were pleasantly surprised that we could get out to all of them! No three-peat this year chasing retreating ice. Better yet, out of the twenty-one boxes, we had success in eighteen boxes, egg dumps in 2 and only 1 that was void of duck nesting; but it must have hatched a ton of wasps!
Paradise Valley AWA: Fresh off the press and with a full “post clearing lunch” belly, I am adding that the Waukesha team of Mike Alaimo, Don Guenther, Ron Churchill, Chris Scheder and newly chainsaw certified Nick Smart, cleared fence lines on the smaller School Section parcel of Paradise Valley AWA on March 31st. If anything was learned, it was that removing old fencing is not the the best pre-cutting warm-up and big willows need twice the hinge! Although windy, the conditions were perfect for the task. Thanks to the crew for spending their Sunday morning helping out! In the picture are Don Guenther and Chris Scheder.
Learn more about our Adopt A Wildlife Area program and how you can get involved, here!