A Little Oak Poetry

A friend sent me this poem recently. I keep it on the desk where it is close at hand to lend some solace if I start to feel tense or frustrated. I highly recommend it.

By Mary Oliver

Black Oaks

Okay, not one can write a symphony, or a dictionary,
or even a letter to an old friend, full of remembrance
and comfort.

Not one can manage a single sound, though the blue jays
carp and whistle all day in the branches, without
the push of the wind.

But to tell the truth after a while I'm pale with longing
for their thick bodies ruckled with lichen

and you can't keep me from the woods, from the tonnage
of their shoulders, and their shining green hair.

Today is a day like any other: twenty-four hours, a
little sunshine, a little rain.

Listen, says ambition, nervously shifting her weight from
one boot to another -- why don't you get going?
For there I am in the mossy shadows, under the trees.

And to tell the truth I don't want to let go of the wrists
of idleness, I don't want to sell my life for money,
I don't even want to come in out of the rain.

Wild Parsnip: It can hurt you!

If you have it, you know it!

If you aren't sure, read carefully, because you want to be very careful around this plant!

Wild parsnip is phototoxic, meaning that the combination of the plant's oil and sunlight will cause severe burns. A friend gave us a picture of a burn he received from sunlit-contact with this nasty invasive. I won't post it here, but trust me, you don't want it!

I was at a conference a couple of years ago, and asked several experienced land managers about parsnip - before giving me their management advice, each one would role up his or her shirt sleeve and point out scars earned during parsnip management work to be sure I knew how dangerous the plant was.

Despite the plant's toxicity, it can be controlled. Use the plant's life-history to your favor. It is a biennial, meaning that during its first year of growth it focuses on putting energy into its root system, and in the second year (or sometimes the third), it sends up a stem and blooms to set seed and create the next generation of plants.

With this in mind, it is NOT effecive to herbicide the plant in year two, because the herbicide is designed to be delivered to the root when the plant feeds the root, and in year two, the plant is focused on producing seed, not feeding the root! That means the herbicide can't do its job. However, in the first year, herbicide works great because the plant is focused on putting food into the root, so if you are able to identify first year plants, spray away (using glyphosate, aka Roundup).

Here is a summary of the best advice I obtained about non-chemical control of the plant:
1. Wear long sleeves, long pants & gloves to be sure the plant does not touch your skin. After you finish any contact with the plant, thoroughly wash your clothes - including the gloves - take a shower just to be sure, and wash any tools that came in contact with the plant so you don't pick up the oil later. Another suggestion is to wear a miner's helmet with a light and cut the parsnip in the dark - the person who suggested this was quite serious!

2. If there are just a few plants, pull them out by the roots before they set seed. Destroy the plants by burning them. DO NOT leave the plants lying where you pull them.

3. If you have an infestation that is too large to hand pull, then try this approach: after the plants flower, but before they set seed, cut the seed heads off and gather the cut tops together to burn them. NOTE: the plants are likely to flower again and will set seed, BUT, the flowers will be smaller, there will be fewer seeds, and many of the seeds are likely to be sterile. In four or five years, this approach should result in a dramatically reduced number of plants. At that point, the remaining ones can be pulled.

4. If you decide to mow the parsnip (because of size or resources), use a pull-behind tractor type mower, not a push mower, and definitely not a rotary cutter or weed whip! Those are much more likely to scatter the oil around where you or someone nearby can be harmed! Mowing should be timed carefully to occur when the plant has finished blooming but has not set seed. Late July is usually a good time for this -- you want to get the plants cut before they turn brown, because once they turn brown, they have set seed. The area mowed should then be checked in a few weeks for resprouts, and if necessary mowed again.

5. One good piece of news is that sites with a well-established prairie planting are not likely to be invaded by parsnip, and, if an area is enhanced by adding native seed, the parsnip is likely to fade on its own over time.

6. Prescribed fire does not really help control the plant, BUT, it will make it easier to identify the first year plants in the spring since they will be some of the earliest plants to come up. I'd like to thank my friend Vern LaGesse from Springfield for talking me through the ins and outs of parsnip management, and for reminding me to check the INPC vegetation management website because they have pulled a lot of good resources together to help individuals with managing weeds on their property.

Some parsnip facts FYI:

Life history: Wild parsnip typically lives for two years. The first year, as a spindly rosette of leaves, it keeps fairly low to the ground while the plant's carrot-like taproot develops. It may live two or more years this way until conditions are right for flowering. The second year, a hollow, grooved flower stalk rises 2-5 feet high, first holding clusters of yellow flowers and later dozens of flat, oval seeds.

Leaves: Pinnately compound, with a main stem and 5 to 15 leaflets.
Flowers: Yellow, in flat-topped umbrella-like clusters at the top of the plant.
Season: Wild parsnip rosettes are among the first plants to become green in spring, and its flowers turn a prominent yellow in midsummer. After flowering and going to seed, plants die and turn brown in fall, but first year rosettes remain green until frost.
Habitat: Roadsides, abandoned fields, unmowed pastures, edges of woods, prairie restorations.

If you want to see it, good places to spot the plant in first and second year growth are along Route 14 between Woodstock and Harvard, and along 176 by Lippold Park in Crystal Lake. It looks a little like yellow Queen Anne's Lace (or a tall, tough Golden Alexander). Look, but don't touch!

What are You waiting for?

We each need to do something - now.

That was the message from Dr. Kathleen Dean Moore at last night's Moral Ground discussion at MCC. If you would like to leave a world to future generations as rich in possibilities as the world we were born into, then you need to take action.

Identify your passions - the things that bring you joy - and your gifts, and figure out where those intersect with the environment's needs.

For example, Dr. Moore is a philosopher and a writer - those are her gifts and passions. So she decided to write a book, and to use her skills as a philosopher to develop strong arguments that she could use to inspire others to act.

One of those arguments really hit home for me -- if you love the Earth (and all the known and unknown treasures it contains), and you believe that the Earth and those treasures are in trouble, you have an ethical obligation to act. It would be wrong to do nothing.

I do love the Earth and the abundance of life and mystery that it has. I love that there are many things that people will never know -- like what early humans thought when they looked at the night sky, what was the creature like that first breathed air into a lung, or did the first squirrel to find - and eat - an acorn think "Yum" (in whatever way a squirrel might articulate that thought!).

I do believe that the planet - the the way we live today - is going to be a thing of the past, sooner than we want to believe. When we consider that if everyone living in China today were to live in the same way that the average American lives -- two cars per family, television, computer, buying more stuff than they need at stores that don't even pay their workers a living wage, the world would not have the resources to support it!

Think about that. In America, we live in a way that will never be enjoyed by most of the rest of the world. And by continuing to live this way, we are in fact reducing the quality of life for others.We are contributing to the spread of more deadly diseases by insects that thrive in the hot environment that is expanding across much of the planet. We are contributing to rising sea levels and increased violent storms that are forcing people from their homes. We are contributing to a melting polar ice cap that is displacing Inuit peoples from the land (or ice) that has been their home for thousands of years.

As Dr. Moore commented: "If aliens came to our world and started treating it the way we treat it - dumping poisons into our water, ripping mountain tops off for the coal and tossing the rubble into the rivers, putting poisons into the products we give to our children... We would be outraged, and we would fight back at these invaders' treatment of our world." But for some reason, when we are doing it to ourselves, we just take it as the price of doing business, or perhaps it seems too big a problem to tackle, so we go back to the couch and click on the TV.

Well, whether you want your grandkids to inherit a world as full of possiblities as the world you enjoy, or think it's unjust to force other people from their homes because of the way we live, or just because you love the Earth and everything in it, act. Act now. Today.

Start small, start large, but make a change - and another and another. Do what you can, today and every day. If you care about the future, the time to act is now.

Moral Ground, June 20th - 7pm @ MCC

How do people of Conscience respond to the sometimes overwhelming environmental challenges that the planet faces today? Whether one is a member of a faith community, environmental organization, or someone who cares about the future, you should enjoy the discussion on Monday, June 20th at MCC (7pm).

The program will explore the issues of our ethical responsibility to the planet through the writings found in the book "Moral Ground," which will be available for sale through the MCC bookstore.

Dr. Kathleen Dean Moore, co-editor of the book, will read selections from several of the book's essays and then facilitate discussion about the issues raised.

How people respond to times of profound environmental change will make a difference in the future of our communities. Will individuals take responsibility for "doing what they can" to reduce human impacts on the planet? To minimize our "carbon footprints," and live sustainably as well as ethically?

Can Americans - the biggest consumers on the planet - change our patterns of consumption in ways that will ensure abundance for others on the planet in addition to the abundance our nation has enjoyed? Consider that the US has about 4% of the world's population, yet we consume about 25% of the energy, and generate at least 25% of the waste.

In other words, if everyone on the planet lived like Americans do today, essentially, we would need six planets to support us!

And as we face issues of a warming planet, with waters rising in low-lying, heavily populated areas like Bangladesh, we will face a challenge of relocating people physically and culturally, for in some cases entire homelands will be underwater.

So, what do we do? How do we respond? As people or Conscience - as people who do care - how will we be part of the solutions?

So, come and join the conversation. Monday, June 20th, 7pm, McHenry County College. Hope to see you there.

Intern Season is Upon Us!

I have to admit that I really enjoy the summer interns that we have at TLC. This is just the second year that we have had multiple interns working for us for the summer - we plan to make it an annual thing!

In 2009, interns Travis (at right), Rob, Clare & Chelsea put in trails at Hennen Conservation Area, cleared invasive brush from around some of the old oaks on the property, organized records and files (since we moved that summer), installed native plantings around some of the Memorial Oaks, and otherwise prepared the site for the public grand opening on August 31st.

Our intern crew for 2011, David, Margaret & Melissa, will be doing a lot of the maintenance that needs to be done to keep the Hennen site attractive for the public, in addition to promoting good conservation practices by using the site to demonstrate things like rain gardens, use of native plants, proper care of oaks, etc. We also hope to give the interns the opportunity to help with mussel surveys in local streams, and to work alongside restoration contractors to "learn the ropes" of serious natural area restoration.

The interns work at least 10 hours a week each, receiving a small stipend to cover their out of pocket costs. Through the work, they gain practical experience that they can take with them to either help with their continued studies, to help get a job in the environmental field, or to get a better idea of what type of work they want to pursue as a career.

From our perspective, in addition to getting some work done that might not otherwise happen, the interns provide a new perspective, fresh ideas, as well as enthusiasm that is very energizing.

So, depending on when you come by Hennen Conservation Area next, you may encounter a flurry of activity - perhaps a group of young people pulling thistle out of the native planting, or clearing brush from around an oak. Be sure to say hello, and thank them for their efforts!
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Hennen Conservation Area is open 8am-sunset 365 days a year, and is located at 4622 Dean Street, Woodstock.