Field Tour and Conference News

Inside: 
Use any link to jump to a section below.

• Summer Field Tours
  • Michigan - Aug. 16
  • Ohio - Aug. 18
  • Wisconsin & Illinois - Sept. 15
  • Nebraska - Save the Date - Sept. 28
• Upper Midwest Invasive Species Conference
• Events Around the Region (August-September)

Brief descriptions summarize the tours - visit our field trips page for more information and to register.

Michigan - Research and Restoration in an Oak Savanna-Fen Mosaic



When:
August 16, 9:30 am - 3 pm 

Topics:

• Outcomes of 3 treatments representing common management approaches: unmanaged savanna; burn only; and thinning + burning.
  • Including impacts on vegetation and vegetation-pollinator interactions.
• Current prescribed fire operations
• Restoration of a neighboring fen and the fen-upland boundary.

Speakers:

• Lars Brudvig, Assistant Professor, Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University (Brudvig Lab - How Do We Restore Degraded Landscapes?)
• Mitch Lettow, Land Steward, Southwest Michigan Land Conservancy
• Patrick Duffy, Forest Manager, W.K. Kellogg Experimental Forest
• Doug Landis, Professor, Department of Entomology, Michigan State University (Landis Lab - Insects and Landscape Ecology)
• Mark Mackay, Ecologist, Michigan Department of Natural Resource

Ohio - From Sand to Smoke - Research and Experience Applied to Restoring Ecosystems In a Metro Setting

When:
August 18, 8:30 am to 3:30 pm

Topics:

• Explore sites across the Green Ribbon Initiative, re-connecting habitats across the Toledo's metro area and beyond.
• We'll learn about new research on response of eastern box turtles to prescribed fire. 
• Learn from practitioners using combinations of fire and other treatments achieve restoration objectives in a mosaic of wet prairies and oak barrens.
• Learn how partners are collaborating to increase capacity and use fire at larger scales.

Speakers:

• Steven Woods, The Nature Conservancy
• Todd Crail, University of Toledo
• Tim Gallaher, Toledo Metroparks
• Matthew Cross, Bowling Green State University
• Ryan Gauger, The Nature Conservancy
• Melanie Coulter, Olander Park District

Visit our field trips page for more information and to register.

Space is limited: please register by August 11.

Wisconsin and Illinois - Prairie, Oak Savanna, and Oak Woodlands across southeast Wisconsin and northern Illinois



When:
September 15, 8:30 am to 3 pm

We'll share information and lessons learned across the Wisconsin-Illinois boundary by visiting sites in neighboring Walworth and McHenry counties.

Topics:

Kettle Moraine State Forest

• Tour a prairie-savanna mosaic, including a site burned 15 times in 25 years
• Oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus) invasion in periodically-burned oak savanna - mechanical and chemical treatment following rapid site degradation
• Introduction to Wisconsin DNR fire effects monitoring project

• Tour a conservation area that McHenry County Conservation District has managed for 25 years
• Comparison of spring and summer burns for brush control in a planted prairie
• Comparison of haying and fire for managing cool-season grasslands for invasive species and native bird habitat

Speakers:

• Nathan Fayram, Conservation Biologist, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and Chair of the Wisconsin Prescribed Fire Council
• Jed Meunier, Fire Ecologist, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
• Brad Woodson, Natural Resources Manager, McHenry County Conservation District, and board member of the Illinois Prescribed Fire Council

Visit our field trips page for more information and to register.

Space is limited: please register by Sept. 8.

• restoration objectives and methods
• results from monitoring understory vegetation and the bird community
• oak regeneration strategies

• Krista Lang - Woodland Ecologist, Indian Cave State Park, Northern Prairies Land Trust
• Gerry Steinauer - Botanist/Ecologist, Natural Heritage Program, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
• Kent Pfeiffer - Northern Prairies Land Trust
• Dan Dey - Research Forester, US Forest Service Northern Research Station
• Dan Fogell - Herpetologist, Southeast Community College, Nebraska
• Joel Jorgenen -  Nongame Bird Program Manager, Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
• Dan Uden - PhD candidate, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

• "Twenty Years of Prescribed Fire at Fort McCoy and Its Effects on Invasive Species" 
  • David Texley, Invasive Species Research Associate, Colorado State University-Serving Fort McCoy, WI
• "Lessons Learned Controlling Woody Species in Prairies and Savannas in Southern Wisconsin"
  • Nathan Fayram, Conservation Biologist, Wisconsin DNR State Natural Areas, Fitchburg, WI
• "Frequent Fire in Wisconsin Prairie Remnants--Preventing Extinction of Native Species, but Not Excluding Invasive Species" 
  • Amy Alstad, Graduate Student, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
• Panel Discussion

Do you have an event you would like to share through our newsletter? Please contact TPOS Coordinator Craig Maier with your announcement.

Ohio Prairie Association conference
August 13 @ Bowling Green, OH
Online registration available through August 3, 2016-12 noon EST. 
 

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A network for sharing research, ideas, and practices.

Supporting the exchange of fire science and knowledge across the Midwest.

Principal Investigator:

Paul Zedler, Professor of Environmental Studies, University of Wisconsin (website)

Co-Principal Investigators:

John Harrington, Professor of Landscape Architecture, University of Wisconsin (website)

Sarah McCaffrey, Research Forester, US Forest Service

James Miller, Professor of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (website)

Paul Charland, WUI Coordinator, US Fish & Wildlife Service

Hannah Spaul, Director of Land Management, The Nature Conservancy

Advisory Board

Roger Anderson, Illinois State University and President of the Midwest Great Lakes Chapter of the Society for Ecological Restoration

Tom Bragg, University of Nebraska-Omaha

Chad Graeve, Pottawattamie County Conservation Board, Iowa

Rich Henderson, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and member of the board of directors of The Prairie Enthusiasts

Emily Hohman, The Nature Conservancy, Iowa

Michele Richards, Fort Custer Training Center, Michigan National Guard

Daryl Smith, Tallgrass Prairie Center, Iowa

Ben Walker, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Minnesota

Chris Woodson, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Missouri

Matt Zine, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources