G-RAS Lands Report Autumn 2023
Below is our quarterly report on land management efforts and plans for each property G-RAS is restoring. Past reports can also be found in newsletters.
Victor Illichmann - Land Manager
Autumn 2023
Androne Woods – We have been maintaining trails here with John West's help.
Cleophas Reserve – We have gotten the parsnip here. There is a lot of color in spite of the drought. A lot of the prairie plants have not been producing seed due to the drought. Brian Daughtery has been mowing firebreaks here.
Gabower-Reilly Reserve – We got the parsnip here. There is some good color in spite of the drought. The yellow coneflower did not get as showy as it usually does. Brian Daughtery has also been mowing firebreaks here.
Gabower-Reilly East – We have removed stumps near the road.
Spring Creek Reserve – We have cleared along the creek in preparation for a fall burn and planting a pollinator mix. There is a fair amount of color in spite of the drought. Matt Carr has been mowing firebreaks here.
Summer 2023
Androne Woods We have cut and burned the fallen trees in about ten acres here. We have torched garlic mustard in about ten acres here. The Solomon’s plume is in full bloom. We have Virgin’s Bower or wild clematis on the west side of section 4. It is a beautiful vine. We are still looking for someone to make a nature trail here.
Cleophas Reserve We have burned the whole 36 acres. We have sprayed the canary grass here. We are spot spraying parsnip. We will have a lot of color in the ten acres that has been seeded to a pollinator mix. Especially look for the swamp mallow and cardinal flower.
Gabower-Reilly Reserve We have sprayed the canary grass. East of the creek has been burned. Wicking the brush is still in the works. Hopefully we’ll be able to get the parsnip before it seeds out. We found that a lot of what we planned to seed in the fall of 2024 is high quality sedge meadow. The golden alexander is starting to fade. We should be having good patches of foxglove penstemon coming along. Soon we’ll have acres of yellow coneflower.
Gabower-Reilly East The canary grass has been sprayed. A lot of the west side has been burned.
Spring Creek Reserve We have sprayed the canary grass. Wicking the brush is in the works. Getting the parsnip before it seeds out could be a forlorn hope. The bee habitat has been seeded, but without a good rain, the seed will likely just sit there. If possible, we’ll get this 7.5 acres in an EQIP contract. Ideally we should seed it this fall. We have some significant areas with a lot of color. Soon, we’ll be able to see a lot of color from the road.