Sierra Club Woods & Wetlands February 2002 Outings for NE Illinois

	Sierra Club Woods & Wetlands Group Outings
	February, 2002

Date	Title / Location	Rating	Leader / Contact	Bring	$$
Saturday, February 9, 9:00 - 12:00 a.m.	Sun Lake Stewardship Lake Villa	(2,3,3)	John Massman 847-838-9440 beritz@earthlink.net	Water, eye protection. Dress ruggedly. Additional loppers, saws, and other pruning tools useful.	Free!
Enjoy this pristine Forest Preserve while liberating it from the invasion of exotic species.			N on Deep Lake Rd from Rt. 132, west on Painted Lakes/Gelden Rd. for 200 ft, left on Spring Farm Rd. right on Longwood Dr. park in cul de sac.

Sun Lake Stewardship, February 2002 !
	Before Facing W, at the NW edge of Sun Lake, just E of Sequoit Creek. The previous four stewardship outings have cleared most of this area. It's always more work than it looks.
	After The few buckthorns at the end of the clearing are now gone.
	Brush Piles Facing NW. A clear view of the cattails and willows surrounding Sequoit Creek at the N end of Sun Lake.
	Brush Piles We made the piles before we planned to burn them. Like this huge pile, they were all too loose to support a good blaze.
	Brush Pile Trampoline Three guys jumping in unison compacted the piles to about half their initial height. We hoped this would be enought to get the fire started.
	Cutting Buckthorn Clumps Cutting a leaning trunk is tricky. If cut from the direction it leans, the weight of the trunk pinches the cut closed on the saw blade. So the cut must be from the inside of the clump, and that means starting high where the trunks separate. Afterward the unweighted trunks can be cut again from the outside.
	Gone For Good Buckthorn will resprout from the stump and quickly recover a substantial bush if not stopped. The bush would again block light from reaching the native wildflowers is painstakingly treated with herbicide to kill the roots. In the foreground a FPD volunteer applies it with a drip-wand. Behind him a compacted pile awaits our return for a festive bonfire!