The requisite conditions for a safe and effective burn coalesced on Saturday, November 7, 2020, bringing major activity at the Arboretum. Chief Dick Franz of the Town of Two Rivers Fire Department arrived at 9:00 am with multiple pieces of equipment and a dozen firefighters.
The scheduling had remained tentative until that morning, as the weekend prior had been too windy, and the start time required that it be late enough in the day for frost and dew to be off the grass. We had waited until after several hard seasonal frosts to minimize the presence of insects, burrowing animals and amphibians in the fire zone, and were very happy to have found a suitable day before the onset of winter snows.
This burn was not a management practice, but a preparation for planting the Prairie and Pollinator Meadows in 2021. The existing turf grass on the Arboretum site is too dense and the thatch mat too thick to obtain good ground contact with the new seeds. Although we will use a no-till seed drill, that equipment is designed to penetrate the much less dense groundcover typical of agricultural fields, and the burn and some ground preparation is still required. Fortunately winter snow will soon cover the blackened acres.
With very generous support from the Manitowoc County NRCS and assistance from Pheasants Forever, VDBA will seed 44 to 50 acres of Prairie and Pollinator Meadow in 2021. This will be one of the most extensive plantings of this type of conservation practice in Eastern Wisconsin. After the prairie ground plane is established, we will begin the tree installation.
We thank the City of Two Rivers and Chief Steven Denzien and Assistant Chief Dave Murack for allowing the burn and helping coordinate the event. As always, we thank the neighbors of VDBA for their patience as we transform the land.