Category Archives: Restoration

Restoration

IMAGE GALLERY: Native Plants Returning to Restored Areas along Starkweather Creek

The Friends of Starkweather Creek has recently decided to take a more active role in rejuvenating and restoring the historical ecosystems in our watershed through restoration work parties. Work parties have been a great way to practice ecological restoration, learn about plant communities, and make friends. 

Throughout winter, spring, and summer–volunteers have cut, pulled, pushed, carried, and stacked dozens of bags of garlic mustard and dame’s rocket and stacked hundreds of buckthorn trees into brush piles for wildlife. 

Recently, our volunteer’s hard work has become evident–especially along the Starkweather Woods area. Numerous uncommon native plants previously choked out and suppressed by a wall of invasive species have, for the first time in many years, begun to flower! 

Including on this list is the State Special Concern plant–Glade Mallow which is only grows in high-quality remnant habitats. See the gallery below for pictures, including seven different native plant species documented in this area as restorations have progressed.

Volunteer restoration work parties take place throughout the year so please sign up for our mailing list by sending your email address to restore@starkweatherfriends.org. You can also stay up-to-date with our latest events by joining our Friends of Starkweather Creek Facebook page. RSVPing for events is helpful for planning purposes.

Friends of Starkwather Creek hopes to see you at our next work day!

Pictured, in order of appearance: Hairy Wood Mint (Blephilia hirsuta), American Lopseed (Phryma leptostachya), Bottlebrush Grass (Elymus hystrix), Tall bellflower (Campanula americana), Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), Sweet Joe Pye (Eutrochium purpureum), and Glade mallow (Napaea dioica).
Community, Restoration

New Volunteer Growers Network to Help Restore Watershed

The Friends of Starkweather Creek (FSC) is encouraging those that are interested to sign-up for their new Volunteer Growers Network. If you love growing plants from seed or want to learn how, now is your chance. No previous experience is necessary and all materials are provided! 

FSC volunteers are currently collecting seeds from remnant wetlands and sedge meadows in the Madison area. Once seed collection is completed this fall, FSC will mail you seed packets of species desired for restorations along Starkweather Creek along with instructions on how to best care for them until the young plants are large enough the following year to be transferred to their new home. Space requirements are also minimal. A little shelf space in an unheated garage or an empty corner in your garden or cold frame and can provide some protection from rodents is all that is necessary. 

Interested? Email the FSC Volunteer Growers Network Coordinator at restore@starkweatherfriends.org with your name and mailing address to sign-up.  

This is a great opportunity to study valuable seed growing techniques, learn a new hobby, and give back to our watershed. 

Restoration

Restoration Sun. 6/21 9 to 11am


Hello land stewards!

As we continue to be faced with the heavy burden of mounting societal frustration, many of us are feeling a strong desire to give back to our community. While the future will continue to be uncertain, there is much we can accomplish from an ecological perspective.

Aldo Leopold says it best with this quote about ecological certainty: A thing is right when it tends to preserve the integrity, stability and beauty of the biotic community. It is wrong when it tends otherwise.

This should be a call to action for many of us as we look out across our community’s large, underutilized public lawns. Friends of Starkweather Creek has been given a rare opportunity to reclaim some of our natural heritage and help it recover.

I would like to invite all of you to take part in this restoration and investment in our ecological future.

Here are the details:

Sunday, 6/21 from 9:00-11:00am: Native Planting at Starkweather Legacy Park: 

Bring: gloves, face covering, a small trowel if you have one, and other necessities (water, sunscreen, repellent, etc)

Directions: You can find the new Starkweather Legacy Park located on the corner of McCormick and Commercial Avenue (2998 Commercial Ave). 

This is an extremely exciting project with many moving parts including collaboration from Friends of Starkweather Creek, Eken Park Neighborhood Association, City of Madison Engineering, Bird City Wisconsin, and–hopefully, you!

We have acquired approximately 300 native plants to create a new wildlife (and human!) sanctuary along Starkweather Creek. City Engineering has already performed the site preparation and the plants are ready for the new home in our watershed. This is the first stage of many future stages for this area (100 state-endangered Wild Hyacinth bulbs arrive next month and we have received a grant for purchasing native seed that will need to be broadcast).

Our groups continue to remain small and we will be adhering to social distancing requirements. Hand sanitizer will be available for volunteer use.

Hope to see you all on this minor ecological historic event!
Thanks!
Jeff Steele-FSC Board Member

Restoration

Pollinator garden MAINTENANCE: Sat 6/6

Challenging, uncertain times call call for hope and ways to give back to the world around us. Our activities may seem small in the grand scheme of problems facing society–but I assure you, they fall directly in line with environmental justice. The spot you pull an invasive plant  today may be the spot a prairie seedling grows tomorrow and when that seedling turns into a mature plant it will provide for literally hundreds of species. I’m reminded of a quote from John Muir:
“When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.”
Hopefully John Muir’s inspiring words have motivated you to help with some cathartic weed pulling! Here are the details for this Saturday morning’s activity:
Saturday, 6/6 from 9:30-10:30am: Pollinator Garden Maintenance at Washington Manor Park: Well, the mosquitoes are back in full force so I thought I would use this opportunity to tackle some of FSC’s more manicured areas (well away from bloodsucking nuisances). Various non-native grasses have invaded an otherwise beautiful new-ish pollinator garden at Washington Manor Park. The more hands we have pulling, the faster this activity will go. Bring: gloves, face covering, your favorite weed pulling tool (if you have one), and other necessities (water, sunscreen, repellent, etc)
Directions: You can find the pollinator garden by walking east through Washington Manor Park (801 N Oak Street). Can’t miss it.
Our groups continue to remain small and we will be adhering to social distancing requirements. Hand sanitizer will be available for volunteer use. Hope to see you all on a (relatively) crisp Saturday morning! 
Thanks!
Jeff-FSC Board Member

Restoration

Continuing to steward Starkweather

To our Starkweather volunteer stewards,

In accordance with Madison Parks’ recommended volunteering activities, the Friends of Starkweather Creek Board would like to encourage you to continue to help our watershed. There is still lots of work to be done! 

The following volunteer efforts may be done solo or with members of your immediate household only. Volunteers will need to provide their own supplies, as the Friends of Starkweather Creek Board is not able to disinfect all tools properly in a timely manner or provide guidance on their proper use and safety. 

  1. Garlic Mustard Removal:
    Please see UW-Extension guidance for identification and removal (hand pulling only). The Starkweather Woods will soon be full of this flowering invasive. You can find the Starkweather Woods by walking directly west of the Carpenter-Ridgeway Park (1220 Carpenter Street). Please bag this invasive plant and dispose of the bag in the park trash receptacle. If you do not bag a flowering garlic mustard plant, it will seed out (even if pulled) and continue to spread.
  2. Starkweather Trash Pick-Up:
    The west branch of Starkweather Creek near East Washington Avenue has a particularly heavy litter problem. The Eken Park Neighborhood Association typically has a clean-up here, but this has been cancelled due to mass gathering restrictions. Any help would be greatly appreciated! The area in question starts at 2959 Commercial Avenue and continues south to 2998 Darbo Drive. Per Madison Parks guidance, do not come into direct contact with any trash (wear gloves). Use hand sanitizer when finished if possible and wash your hands when you return home. 

If you have any questions about these activities, please feel free to contact the Friends of Starkweather Creek.

Any help with these activities will be greatly appreciated! Please send us photos of your completed work and we will include them in our newsletter.

Stay well,
Jeff Steele
Friends of Starkweather Creek board member

General, Restoration

April message

Dear Friends,

Pictured above is the first Starkweather Creek work day of 2020. Brave volunteers cleared pathways and remove invasive brush in the beautiful woods along Starkweather’s west branch by the Carpenter-Ridgeway neighborhood in January and February.

Since those days, we’ve had to adjust the ways we operate as a group to allow for social distancing. Our board meetings are occurring over the phone, and we are relying on email and social media to communicate about the creek. ome groups you could follow: Friends of Starkweather Creek, Friends of Hartmeyer Natural Area, Save Voit Farm, Friends of Acewood Conservation Park.

We think that time outdoors is more important than ever. While we will have to reschedule our outdoors events in the coming weeks, we invite you to take a self-guided walk along the Starkweather Creek bike path.

Even better, since our usual spring clean up is postponed, consider picking up a bag of trash near Starkweather Creek on your own or as a family in honor of the upcoming 50th Anniversary of Earth Day.

Restoration

Starkweather Woods Work day Feb. 15, 10 to 12:30

Please join us for our second work party of the year being held (again) in the beautiful Starkweather Woods adjacent to the Carpenter-Ridgeway Park. We will be picking up where we left off with clearing downed trees from trails as well as cutting and treating invasive buckthorn.

Photos from previous work party here

What to Wear/Bring: Please bring lopers, pruners, or handsaws if you own them. We have a limited supply of these and whatever you can bring will be helpful.

Wear appropriate clothing for the weather (dress in layers). Wear sturdy footwear and work gloves. Bring drinking water. Head, ear and eye protection are recommended. And, most importantly, bring a good attitude—there are few things as cathartic as embracing what can be accomplished in a good work party!

Work Party Leaders:
Jeff Steele & David Pulkowski
restore@starkweatherfriends.org

*RSVPing is helpful for planning purposes*

Directions to Site: Starkweather Woods is located across the Starkweather Bicycle Trail next to the Carpenter-Ridgeway Park on Madison’s north side. The address of the park is 1120 Carpenter Street and street parking is available along Carpenter Street with access to the park via a sidewalk on the southwest portion of the street.

We will be meeting at the park’s information kiosk. Call 920-382-9773 if you’re lost.

Restoration

Starkweather woods work day: Sat 1/25 10am – 1pm

Our first work party of the New Year will take place in the beautiful Starkweather Woods adjacent to the Carpenter-Ridgeway Park. Saturated soil and several storms have resulted in downed trees over trails. This work party will focus primarily on clearing trees that are obstructing paths and stacking wood. Time permitting, we will also be cutting and treating invasive brush.
 
What to Wear/Bring:  Wear appropriate clothing for the weather (dress in layers). Wear sturdy footwear and work gloves. Bring drinking water. Head, ear and eye protection are recommended. And, most importantly, bring a good attitude—there are few things as cathartic as embracing what can be accomplished in a good work party!
 
Work Party Leader: David Pulkowski (admin@starkweatherfriends.org)

*RSVPing is helpful for planning purposes*

Directions to Site: Starkweather Woods is located across the Starkweather Bicycle Trail next to the Carpenter-Ridgeway Park on Madison’s north side. The address of the park is 1120 Carpenter Street and street parking is available along Carpenter Street with access to the park via a sidewalk on the southwest portion of the street. We will be meeting at the park’s information kiosk.

Community, Restoration

Rebirth the Earth (a little): Sun. Aug. 11 3-6pm

Jeff Steele, Friends of Starkweather Creek and Community Unity Arts will host a little step to ‘rebirth the earth’
Sunday 3 to 6pm
at McCormick Park (where Commercial crosses Starkweather Creek)
mixing native plantings with community clay co-creations.
The 60 plants are surplus from Jeff’s growing for Dane County’s native plant program.
The clay is from last year’s clay stomp at AtwoodFest…  and a 1989 Soviet-American clay stomp.
With the plants…
we will be guided by Jeff’s experience as a restoration ecologist and Eken neighborhood champion.
With the clay…
we will carve one or two small mural flats (to be glazed and fired later in a kiln)…
and maybe carve a temporary piece out of a clay block (leaving to decay back into the earth)
Some of these (and potential) concepts are in this six minute video and this web page.
Jeff promises some light snacks, refreshments and fire at his nearby creekside home after.
RSVP
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