Sometimes thinking about the past and the natural world can be disheartening. When thoughts percolate about the state of nature in North America before European settlement with its old growth forests and vast prairies rich with wildlife and rivers that ran fast and clean, an intense feeling of distress can occur. These thoughts can become overwhelming, and even produce rage as we witness the decline of monarch butterflies, the steep drop in bird populations, bats fighting for

Some may have noticed that several of the bluff prairies around La Crosse are looking better each year. This might be during a hike in Hixon Forest or while mountain biking on some of the shared-use trails. Or it could be in the comfort of your car. For example, here is Stry Prairie on Miller Bluff as recently seen from highway 16 heading north towards Onalaska: Many might remember that, until recently, this prairie was being overrun by brush and trees. Like many of our bluff

Beginning on October 12, a series of volunteer workdays kicked off. However, these were not typical workdays—they were attended by groups of UWL students from Dr. Jaspreet Kaur's Conservation Biology class. The 12th was followed by sessions on the 18th and 19th, and then again on 24th and 25th, all taking place on various prairies around the area. This initiative, organized by Dr. Kaur in collaboration with Friends of the Blufflands and the Coulee Region Chapter of The Prairi

As you may recall from the last post, Zeno was left frustrated by never getting that prairie cleared of invasive brush. He had followed the strategy of cutting and treating in a way that would eliminate half of the brush each year, leaving half to reemerge as resprouts. He thought that this would be good enough to eventually get rid of the brush and didn't mind missing a few side branches, cutting the stumps high, or not apply enough herbicide to the stump as long as the goal