What a day! It started out a little cold this morning, but the bright sun kept us warm as we ate breakfast. Once breakfast was done we got everything packed up for the day and headed out to Jackson Bottom.
At Jackson some large machines had gone through to tear out and cut up all of the Tamarisk (also known as Salt Cedar), an invasive species, to stop it from growing and spreading. Unfortunately these machines leave a lot of sticks, logs, and leaves on the ground that make it very difficult for native plants to get established. So, our job was to help clear out an "island" of open space to place seed and plants in. By using an island technique Plateau Restoration can create well established areas of native plants which can then spread throughout the entire Tamarisk site. We completely cleared a large low lying area so that the native plants would be more likely to get water. Several people also cleared out areas around some of the Willows that were saved from the machines so that plants that don't like a lot of direct sun could be planted close to them. We worked about an hour after lunch and then noticed that the weather was starting to come in. So, we headed back and looked at some rock art on the way.
After getting back and putting our cooler weather gear back on we headed out on a hike up to Hidden Valley. Once we returned it was time to dinner and then some great sleep back at the Lazy Lizard Hostel.
Signing off...
Alisa Dean
Plateau Restoration Volunteer, Minnesota State University Mankato
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