November 2022

Cedar Swamp Prairie is Coming Alive! By Nate Simons Historically, the 1,100-acre State-owned property known as Cedar Swamp Wetland Conservation Area (WCA) was the hunting grounds of the Pokagon band of the Potawatomi people. A dispersal summer camp of one of the clans existed nearby at what is now Fremont, IN (formerly known as Willow Prairie). The landscape features of the immediate area included prairie, wetlands of various types, oak savanna, and oak woodland, and mixed deciduous forest. According to historic anecdotal reports by early settlers: “ The Potawatomi were all over this country…The land was much of it oak openings, the trees were some distance apart and the fire ran through them every year and kept down the young trees so that one could see a long ways…”By the time the State acquired the land in 1992, the 640-acre wetland complex had been drained and the surrounding uplands were in agricultural production. Under the care and management of Pigeon River Fish & Wildlife Area (FWA) the property was opened for public hunting. Water was returned to the marsh and the uplands were divided into small management units. Of the 443 acres of upland, approximately 386 acres were planted in alternating strips of prairie and annual food plots. In the intervening years, invasive non-native brush and trees compromised the integrity of the prairie fields and the tenant farmers’ contracts were not renewed.

A twin mother white oak reaches for sunlight on a former field edge at Cedar Swamp WCA. Young black cherries were girdled to daylight this relic oak. November 21, 2022

In 2022, property manager Savanna Vaughn saw the opportunity to change the paradigm at Cedar Swamp WCA from “farming for wildlife” to “restoration of native landscapes for wildlife.” A partnership was forged and monies were raised to renovate the existing prairie plantings and to convert agricultural fields to prairie, thereby creating one 357-acre prairie. The partners include Pigeon River FWA (Div. of Fish & Wildlife), Blue Heron Ministries, Indiana Natural Resource Foundation, and National Turkey Federation. The US Fish & Wildlife Service was instrumental in gathering the funding partners.The plan is to highlight the area’s historic prairie-oak continuum ecosystem by protecting the small remnant patches of native prairie and oak savanna, by removing invasive brush and unwanted trees (non-oak species) from fencerows, by removing invasive brush and trees from the existing prairie plantings, and by planting old fields and agricultural fields with floristically-diverse, location-specific prairie seed mixes.

Work began on the restoration project in late summer. Pigeon River staff and Blue Heron Ministries crew mowed and applied herbicide on 110 acres of fallow fields. Blue Heron Ministries conducted fall prescribed fires on 202 acres of remnant and planted prairie and began work applying herbicide to control invasive brush.The plan will take a number of years to complete, but once fully implemented will serve as a model for natural area restoration and management in Indiana. And with the planned and reclaimed use of fire on the land, Cedar Swamp WCA will once again thrive for the benefit of wildlife and the enjoyment of people.

Back Roads By Tom Smith This time of year…but really most any time of year…I like to drive the back roads.  One of my favorites is the road that runs from Orland to LaGrange by way of Mongo.  But just about any back road will do.  Back roads are roads that are less driven, that are usually not paved and that tend to meander.  On back roads you’ll discover things you simply can’t find elsewhere.  I take the back roads to be surprised.  And since I’m in no hurry, I sometimes have to stop and stare.

The love of nature, like all love, is born of both what is seen and not really seen.  What is seen is loved, but it is also suggestive of a “something more” that cannot be seen but which illuminates what is seen.  The invisible calls out to us from the visible, or as the psalmist put it, “The heavens declare the glory of God,” and does so with a soundless music that can be heard the world round. The blazing colors of autumn reveal the glory of an unseen God who’s joyous fingerplay dances all around us even as the leaves that once reached out to heaven now fall back down to earth.  It is a bittersweet season, but a necessary reminder that we are mortal creatures of space and time.  And since we are not angels, we necessarily inhabit places.  And we naturally become attached to the places that we inhabit.  And then a sacred and sacramental transformation occurs.  In concert with our memories, these places begin to inhabit us so that what begins to matter most to us is not the shape of the landscape around us that can be seen by all, but the interior shape of a place that we now inhabit with our senses and to which we are bound by invisible fibers of love.W.H. Auden advises that we “bless what there is for being,” which is good advice every day, but especially on an autumn day when we’re most poignantly aware of a faithful love that moves unseen, mysteriously and silently passing through our world, holding us fast and never letting go.

View from the Crew by John Brittenham

The Blue Heron Crew prepares for a prescribed fire at Cedar Swamp Wetland Conservation Area near Clear Lake, Indiana. Look at all those happy faces ready to put some fire on the ground. It was a great fall burn season!

Fred Wooley shows all us young’uns how to properly light a prescribed fire. Notice the expertly held drip torch, the poised and ready stance, and alert gaze as Fred lays down an expertly placed line of fire to finish lighting the burn unit. Well done Fred. We all continue to take notes.

Not to be outdone by Fred, Josh Hall lights a head fire to finish burning a prairie unit at Cedar Swamp WCA. #Millenial vs Boomer

With a literal passing of the torch to the next generation, Madi Parker from Clear Lake Township Land Conservancy joined us to help out and gain some experience while we conducted a prescribed fire in the wetlands at the Clear Lake Nature Preserve. This fire was done to clear the dead vegetation so the area can be seeded this December. Way to go Madi, you’re a natural with fire.

This year was an amazing fall burn season. Blue Heron Ministries burned on eight different days, completed 13 different prescribe fire projects, and totaled around 377 acres burned! This was by far our most productive fall burn season. And we’re not done yet. If the weather allows, we still have a few prescribed fires we would like to conduct this year.

Our seasoned leader Nate Simons watches the fire line at Eby Prairie Nature Preserve, in Elkhart county. Nate is igniting along our burn break in oak leaf litter. Notice how the fire has stopped against the area where the leaf litter has been removed. Using a leaf blower in oak leaf litter is an excellent way to prepare a burn break when conducting prescribed fires.

Oak leaf litter is burned off at LaGrange County Park and Recreation’s Duff Memorial Park to prepare for a December seeding. It is best to remove as much surface vegetation as possible before seeding to ensure that seeds make contact with the soil and can be incorporated into the soil during the winter freeze and thaw cycles. This method of winter seeding is commonly referred to as frost seeding.

Josh Hall works on igniting the interior of an oak leaf litter dominated site at Duff Memorial Park. Often if areas within a unit are not connected by continuous dead and cured vegetation, someone goes into the unit to do internal ignition after the exterior sides of the unit have been ignited.

The sun lays low in the sky on a beautiful fall burn day. The amount of time that an area can successfully be burned is relatively short in November. We call this time of day when prescribed fires can be conducted the “burn window”. We were very blessed with many good burn windows this November.

This video (click the picture) shows Josh Hall cutting down a group of burning dead trees (snags) after sunset. After all the area that can be burned has been burned at a site, the area is made safe before the crew can leave. This is called “mopping up”. This process involves going around the perimeter of the unit and putting out any area that is actively burning or smoldering and has the potential to cause the fire to escape the burn unit. Often, trees are on fire after the burn and must be cut down to ensure there is no risk of burning embers igniting an area outside of the burn unit. This is often the most labor intensive and tedious part of a burn and on occasions lasts after the sun goes down.

Every late November, many members of the Blue Crew head to Prophetstown State Park in West Lafayette, Indiana to attend the annual Red Card refresher. The Incident Qualifications Card (commonly known as a Red Card) is a certification necessary to become qualified for wildland fire operations. While a Red Card is not required for prescribed fire in Indiana, most of the Blue Heron Ministries burn crew has been Red Card certified and many continue the training to keep their Red Cards current. Here, the attendees prepare for the arduous pack test where the individual must hike 3 miles in 45 minutes or less carrying 45 pounds (note the weighted vests) to maintain their Red Card.

Play the game, where is Dave Drogos? Somewhere in this field of burned over shrubs, Dave is searching out invasive brush and spraying it with herbicide in a basal oil carrier. By burning off the vegetation first, the shrubs can more easily be found and by using basal oil, the herbicide will absorb into the roots of the invasive species and kill the plant.

Josh Hall picks up cut brush and adds it to a burning brush pile at the newest Badger Barrens Sanctuary addition. The area was cleared of brush as part of a native black oak barrens restoration project. The area will be seeded this fall to help restore the native vegetation (including wild blue lupine) to the barrens. A black oak barrens is an area where vegetation is widely spaced and sparse due to very sandy soils. Black oak barrens are also fire dependent, requiring regular fire to maintain this unique and threatened habitat.

November is also seed cleaning season! After all the seed collections are done, the seed has to be cleaned. This is one of my favorite times of year. It’s dirty and dusty work, but it is an awesome way to get to know each plant species better.

Josh happily cleans wild bergamont, Monarda fistulosa. By using different sized screens and mostly our hands, the seed is separated from the chaff. The result is a very “dirty” seed with lots of chaff included, but is still able to pass through the broadcast spreaders on our ATV. The final step is to weigh each individual species’ seed once it is cleaned, make up an individual seed mix for each site, and then measure and add the different species into a seed mix for each location.

It’s all hands on deck to get ready for the up coming planting season. This year was a great year for seed collection, which means there is a lot of seed to clean. That is no problem for the Blue Crew!

Upcoming Events

Prairie Planting at Badger Barrens Saturday, December 3 from 1-4PMWhat happens with all of that native prairie seed that we collect throughout the year? It is used to bring new life to areas managed by Blue Heron Ministries. This year, we’ll seed a prairie of our own, an addition to Badger Barrens.You have the opportunity to participate in this part the restoration process, as we scatter the seeds we’ve collected at this new site.We will meet at 1PM, on December 3rd, at Badger Barrens.From Fremont, head east on SR 120 to CR 925 E. Turn left onto CR 925 E, and take that to Ln 100 Lake Anne. Turn left and follow the lane to the parking area. You can click here to view it on a map and get directions.*You may wish to bring a lawn chair for our gathering time afterwards.

Seed scattering on December 4, 2021. photo by Fred Wooley

Blue Heron Ministries Plug Planting Party! Sunday, January 8th from 2-4:30pmKick off the new year with a planting party! Come join us for a fun filled afternoon of food, fellowship, and seeding native plant plugs. This year we will kick off a new volunteer native plug planting project. We’ll start the day with a short discussion on why and how to plant native plants into plug pots, and then we will go out and play in the dirt to get the native plugs started by seed. In future months, we’ll follow-up with weeding and transplanting the plugs and then, next fall, planting the native plant plugs into a small native restoration garden (location yet to be determined).If you’re interested in learning how to grow your own native plants from seeds, how to use native plants in your own landscaping, or you just want to get your hands into the dirt in January, this is the event for you. We’ll be outdoors if it is nice, indoors if it is cold and windy. Every and all ages welcome.Meet at Blue Heron Ministries’ garage, across from the Presbyterian Chapel of the Lakes (2955 W. Orland Rd., Angola, IN). Please RSVP to John Brittenham at johnbrittenham@gmail.com by Friday January 6th. John can also be contacted with any questions you may have.