Finding Family at the End of the Prairie Fingers by Dave Drogos The end of the year marks two and half years for me with Blue Heron, and seven and a half years since I moved to northeast Indiana. When I first arrived I didn’t know what I would find at the tips of the prairie fingers. I was delighted to discover the beauty of the fens and bogs that dot the kettle lakes region of northeast Indiana. When heading out into a fen for the first time you quickly learn that botanizing in a fen is an essential survival skill. Knowing whether your feet will fall on solid root mass, a spongy mat, or a soupy muck hole can make the difference between a pleasant day amongst the glistening sundews, or a miserable day covered in muck. At first it was unnerving, but I quickly came to realize that I was accompanied by new friends who were willing to pull me up out of the muck, both literally and figuratively.

I had the privilege of working with The Nature Conservancy’s northeast Indiana office, Pokagon State Park and Blue Heron Ministries. I also volunteered at the Clear Lake Township Land Conservancy where my wife Bridget worked as the Executive Director. In all these places, we have found a welcoming and generous community of individuals that started as work colleagues and quickly became friends. Alongside these friends, my wife and I purchased our first house, celebrated our marriage, added another dog and cat to our herd, and became parents. Our time in northeast Indiana has been filled with significant milestones.In the coming weeks, as we venture back through the prairie fingers toward Chicago, I will take with me special memories of my time at Blue Heron. It is a place where I found a collection of land stewards whose commitment to the practice of restoration work is among the best in the industry. More importantly, it’s a group of people who treat each other with respect and kindness, who offer support in all aspects of work and life. It’s a place where accomplishments are celebrated and mistakes are laughed off. It is a place where you always feel welcomed and you know you will be missed. I will miss my Blue Heron family and the many friends we’ve made in the community. While our departure was likely inevitable, my family and I will never forget our time in northeast Indiana. Thank you for welcoming us and supporting us along the way.

We will sorely miss you, too, Dave!

Two Paths to the Knowledge of God T. M. Moore We need to walk them both. The Celtic Revival: AfterglowI entreat Thee by all those that had intelligence in the law of nature… I entreat Thee by all those that had intelligence in the written law… in the prophetic law… in the law of the New Testament…  – Anonymous, Litany of Jesus I, Irish, 15th century, from an earlier ms.The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge… The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.  – Psalm 19.1, 2, 7-9We sense in these litanies from the period just after the Celtic Revival a sincere longing for the Lord. The writers were seeking that acute sense of God’s Presence that seemed in many ways to be everywhere encountered in previous generations, but was now less evident. Here our writer appeals to the Lord to make Himself known by two paths of “intelligence” – the law of nature and the Word of God. Our writer was obviously acquainted with both paths, and with those who had intelligence in each.Eternal life consists in knowing God and Jesus Christ, Whom He has sent (Jn. 17.3). We don’t have to cast about in the darkness, seeking this way and that to gain the intelligence we need for knowing God. He is pleased to reveal Himself and His will along two paths – Scripture and creation.The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the primary path to the knowledge of God. These 66 books contain widely-different themes, structures, and genre, and they were written over a period of some 1500 years; yet all contribute to the same story of the glory of God in Jesus Christ.The lesser path to the knowledge of God is found in creation, including works of culture by human beings as the image-bearers of God. God reveals Himself in such works to all who delight in them and seek Him earnestly there.As we have seen, Christians during the period of the Celtic Revival (ca. 430-800 AD) traveled both these paths faithfully.Traveling these paths is like driving Interstate 81 through Virginia. Nearly every exit on that highway provides access to state route 11, because the two roads weave around and over or under one another for the entire length of the state. I-81 is the main path, along which you get the clearest views of the beauties of the state. Straightforward, clear signage, no traffic lights, and helpful state troopers positioned along the route. But route 11 will get you to the same places, only more slowly, but with a more picturesque view of the journey.Scripture and creation work together like this. It behooves us, who desire to know the Lord, to travel both these intersecting and overlapping paths. We understand this when it comes to the Scriptures. Reading, meditating, and studying God’s Word is an important part of knowing the Lord and growing in Him.But the same is true of the revelation of God in His world. Creation, culture, and human beings also reveal the purposes of God and the conditions of beauty, goodness, and truth. Of course, we must understand the revelation of God in creation through the lens of Scripture, which is the light in which all other light from God is made intelligible (Ps. 36.9).We must travel both paths if we would know the Lord truly and more completely. Our ancient writer understood this, and he pled with God to make Himself known by each path of intelligence. With the Scriptures as our foundational source of understanding, we walk the path of creation and discover dramatic illustrations of the precepts and principles revealed in the Bible. God has set His glory in the works of creation, and He calls us, His royal children, to search out His glory there, and know Him better by it (Prov. 25.2).The truth of God is plain in Scripture; the truth of God in His creation gives clarity and substance to the teaching of the Bible, so that we understand the Word better and are thus better able to understand the world better as well. And to see Jesus all that much more clearly.Many Celtic Christians walked both these paths. Today it’s becoming increasingly common to find Christians who do not read consistently from the Scriptures. And almost no one puts any stock in the creation as a source of true theological insight. We read the Scriptures but a little, and we pay little heed to the revelation of God in creation.We are called to the Kingdom and glory of God (1 Thess. 2.12). Let us work to improve our knowledge of our God and King by gaining intelligence of Him along both the paths He has provided.For Reflection 1. How consistent are you in your reading and study of Scripture?2. In which aspects of God’s creation are you seeking the glory He has revealed there (Ps. 19.1-4)?Psalm 19.1-4, 7, 8 (St. Christopher: Beneath the Cross of Jesus) The heav’ns declare God’s glory, the skies His work proclaim! From day to day and night by night they shout His glorious Name! No speech, no words, no voice is heard, yet all across the earth The lines of His all-present Word make known His holy worth.The Law of God is perfect, His testimony sure; The simple man God’s wisdom learns, the soul receives its cure. God’s Word is right, and His command is pure, and truth imparts; He makes our eyes to understand; with joy He fills our hearts. Give me grace, Lord, to seek You in both books where You are making Your glory known. Help me to walk both paths of divine revelation today, so that I…T. M. Moore, Principal tmmoore@ailbe.orgAll Psalms for singing from The Ailbe Psalter. Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

View from the Crew by Fred Wooley

December is a time of both reflection and hope. We look back on the work of our BHM year and know that we have set the stage for new, exciting growth next year. We removed unwanted, non-native plants from natural areas under our charge. We collected seeds from native species we hope to propagate and introduce into new areas. We burn natural areas, freeing the site of duff, checking back nonnatives, and enhancing soils and existing plants for fresh growth next year. We installed plant plugs and planted seeds into waiting earth.We now hunker down for winter and dream how the worksites will look next spring, next growing season, and all to come. How will our work come to fruition? There is much hope, as we know what we do works. How beautiful might it all be? We hope for the best.In December we do a little of everything at BHM to wrap up the season and look forward to next year with renewed hope.The first Saturday of December every year sees us conducting the annual Advent Weekend Prairie Planting. We take seed we have collected all summer and fall and scatter it over a prepared site. It is a group effort with all of us bent over with a five-gallon buckets of cleaned seed, tossing it out and over the ground as if we are feeding chickens! This year’s planting was at the Durand Addition at Badger Barrens.

BHM Director Nate Simons mixing seed for December 3rd Advent Seed Planting program at the Badger Barrens Addition.

Our annual prairie planting with our BHM volunteers. This year we seeded an addition to our Badger Barrens Preserve. video credit: Beth Williams

After the seed is scattered, our tradition is for the group to dance the seed into the soil. video credit: Beth Williams

Before we mix seeds, all that is collected during this growing season must be cleaned.  It is a process that involves hand screening to separate seed from chaff.  We have a special room in the BHM “barn” to store and clean seed.  It is sometimes home away from home on December workdays.

Label on dark green bull rush seed bag

Cleaning bull rush seed on December 6, 2022

Josh Hall cleaning seed over mesh screen, December 2022

Cleaned dark green bulrush seed December 6, 2022

This December we conducted the last prescribed fires of the year.  We found that the fuel was well-cured, and we could do very successful burns on less optimum days, days where there was no sun, and the relative humidity was higher than we liked.   We did several fires, accomplished our management goals at each one, and the one fire at Elkhart County Boot Lake County Park produced some of the most dramatic fire behavior of the year.

Nate Simons of BHM going over Boot Lake Rx fire plans.

The east line team of Boot Lake Fire

Part of Team Elkhart Parks on Rx Fire

Smoke column of Boot Lake County Park Rx fire of December 7, 2022

Fred Wooley on Boot Lake Rx fire – December 7, 2022

John Brittenham of BHM instructing Krista and Felicia of Elkhart County Parks.

We finished up the month doing what we will spend the bulk of the winter doing, removing invasive woody plants.  At Camp Friedenswald, we cut invasive species and a few of the overly abundant, common ones. This will enhance the fen environment, which is native to some rare species of butterflies and other plants and animals unique to that rare habitat.

View from the backseat of a BHM company truck on our way to the December 12 worksite, Camp Friedenswald, near Cassopolis, Michigan.

David Drogos brush cutting invasive shrubs and others to open up fen creating better habitat for rare species of butterflies.  December 12, 2022

David Drogos applying herbicide selected for use in wet environments to stumps of cut woody species at Camp Friedenswald Fen.  December 12, 2022

John Brittenham and Mike Censke on lunch break at Camp Friedenswald.  December 12, 2022

At the Cedar Swamp Wetlands Conservation Area in northeast Steuben County, we began the big job of basil spraying nonnative shrubs in an area that was once farm, now being returned to open grasslands.  The work at Cedar Swamp will be extensive.  It will provide acres of contiguous tracts of open grasslands.  We hope you visit and follow our work.

David applies basal oil spray treatment to non-native, woody species in fallow agricultural field to be converted to upland, grassland, native prairie. December 13, 2022

One happy BHM employee, David Drogos works in Cedar Swamp Wetland Conservation Area. December 13, 2022