in CamRock (Moderator: TheMayor1)

I'd be happy to. But it would probably have to be on a Sunday since ill be a stay at home dad starting in mid-Novemver and I'll be working on most Saturdays.

Sundays should be no problem. We should talk sometime about the areas you see needing the most love, etc.
Would you anticipate pre-marking the offenders in an area beforehand? Or just focusing on an area and going at it? I know that is how we did it when we were clearing invasive species under the Oak Savannah's years ago.

I was kind of thinking of doing like a 6' width on either side of the trail, that would keep the brush from growing back in for a while. Could be done a lot of places, but I think IMBA Influence/Area 51 would be the best area to start. Then again the trails in there are so twisty that maybe just clearing the whole area would be about the same amount of work. Veritas and Outback, especially the lower portions, could also use this treatment.

Heavy snow make this work hard since it tends to crush down all the raspberries and multiflora rose. So late fall/early winter is best to start, or just hope for not much snow. We may need other people who are certified to use herbicide out there... I have a feeling that I might be most valuable making sure we don't cut any good stuff down 

I think just going for it should work. Either just do it roughly 6' on either side of the trail or we could pick a spot as a central point and work outwardly. I like to burn the brush in a mini bon-fire while the clearing is going on for a number of ecological and work-flow reasons, certainly its more fun and warmer too.

  The Parks Director must directly approve any project that involves the application of a herbicide adjacent to or in any
areas where there is the potential that the herbicide may enter a body of water.
  If the use of herbicides is warranted, the applicators will follow label directions and park policy when applying herbicide and posting herbicide treatment signs. Signs will be placed prior to treatment and left posted from the time of the application to sunset of the foll owing day. Signs posted for the public will give the name of the herbicide used and the specific location of use. Dane County Parks will only use herbicides that have been approved for use by the Parks Director and identified in the Dane County Parks Integrated Pest Management Plan. Parks will not use any herbicides classified as “Restricted” by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture Trade and Consumer Protection or the Federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). All herbicide applicators will be under the guidance of a Certified Herbicide Applicator or someone whom has completed a Herbicide Applicator Course.
A herbicide application placard approved by state, like the one identified in the appendix of thismanual, will be placed near the treated area and/or posted at public access point(s). Dane County Parks holds the right to close park areas undergoing herbicide treatment to reduce exposure to the public. a body of water.
  And there's more. I would suggest contacting Darren Marsh before continuing this activity.
  If one is really concerned about invasive Vs. native species,one should think about doing something in the Garlic Mustard Savannah.

There are lots of different ideas and opinions about how to manage the park as a resource. As for invasive management, I have pretty much given up on any of it beyond maintaining the trails, and on occasion trying to maintain the grand Oaks. I have spent hundreds of hours "restoring" the park, and have seen a large amount of that work go to waste. Garlic mustard will come in to anywhere that is opened up. I don't think there is an inch of soil that does not have mustard seed just waiting for the right amount of sunshine to germinate. I have looked when the seeds are floating in the wind in the spring and it is simple overwhelming.
I think Ranger Mike has about the best attitude on this that I know of. What time-frame are people wanting to "restore"? 1950? 1900? 1800? 1500? The parks were a very different place for each of those times. My opinion is to manage the resource for the use today and what we want to maintain.

This is a picture of a one man wrecking crew laying down awesomeness.

Hopefully you saw this elsewhere. I thought it should be here for the Posse to see in case you missed it!

This is awesome news! It means that with some mowing we can truly have all of the trails at CamRock fully open for the first time this year. And this is a really nice section. It adds about 3 1/2 miles of Singletrack along the creek when doing an out and back. I will get the needed area marked today. Then it just needs a mower.

BTW: I am still looking for someone to take this section of trail as "theirs". As mentioned it will need a hard mowing now. Prolly another lighter trim in late August. Then unless something major happens the maintenance is about done on this section of trail until next summer. In the meantime if anyone has some extra time to get this trimmed please let me know.

Here is the kml and gpx file for the full single track loop starting from what should be the new official trail head for the CamRock trails.  The one area I did not map out is the old cliff side expert drop.  I can add that on another day.

[attachment deleted by admin]

I was able to get the trail leading to the new bridge flagged last night. It it will involve cutting about 100" of trail through woods. Nothing major. Some minor benching and removal of small saplings is all it will take.
Unfortunately I am on my way to the doctor again today. The first round of antibiotics does not seem to be cutting it. So I will be unable to get this section built for awhile. I would love to work with someone to get it done. It should only take an hour or two.
And if someone else can spend a couple of hours behind a mower we will have this nice section of trail opened up again and ready for some great scenic riding along the creek!

Given the proximity of the Creekside Trail to the creek at its side (funny that) and its potential for flooding during rainstorms (which may not affect the rest of Camrock), it might be worthwhile to have a sign someone could post when the Creekside Trail is unrideable. 

Given the proximity of the Creekside Trail to the creek at its side (funny that) and its potential for flooding during rainstorms (which may not affect the rest of Camrock), it might be worthwhile to have a sign someone could post when the Creekside Trail is unrideable.

Good thought Tim. Already in the planning stages.

  The Parks Director must directly approve any project that involves the application of a herbicide adjacent to or in any
areas where there is the potential that the herbicide may enter a body of water.
  If the use of herbicides is warranted, the applicators will follow label directions....

That's all pretty standard practice, easily addressed. A good conversation with the right person at Dane Co. parks should clear up a protocol that will work for everyone.

I was just envisioning getting stuff along the side of the trails to make maintenance easier, sight lines better and make me less pissed-off at all the invasive plants I see along the side of the trails. If we want to get ambitious, The woodland that IMBA influence and Area 51 travel through is in recoverable condition and could all be cleared. However, it is 3.5 acres, not a small undertaking for hand clearing... but doable.

As for the garlic mustard, technically its a pretty easy weed to control, but it takes a lot of persistence, 10 years of complete eradication before it can really be wiped out... gets easier after a few years though. The real key is clearing the brush first so you can get in there and herbicide the begeezuz out of it early in the spring (or late in fall). Also... well, other stuff, if you want to know more you can read my recent blog post: http://goodoakllc.blogspot.com/2013/04/eradicating-garlic-mustard-requires.html

Lets start small on this, I'm happy to lead the charge... but with a 2-day old baby next to me right now, I'm still feeling out what my availability will be like for the next few months.

RE the Creekside Trail: Was there much flooding this spring out there with all the rain? Due to work obligations I've only gotten on the bike for the season in the past couple of weeks. Thanks Tim for putting in the bridge!

The woodland that IMBA influence and Area 51 travel through is in recoverable condition and could all be cleared. However, it is 3.5 acres, not a small undertaking for hand clearing... but doable.

Lets start small on this, I'm happy to lead the charge... but with a 2-day old baby next to me right now, I'm still feeling out what my availability will be like for the next few months.

RE the Creekside Trail: Was there much flooding this spring out there with all the rain? Due to work obligations I've only gotten on the bike for the season in the past couple of weeks. Thanks Tim for putting in the bridge!

First off, congrats on the new one! That is awesome. Your life has changed in so many ways you don't have any idea. Many times it just means you adapt to taking them along on your journeys. A lot better in my opinion than leaving them at home or not participating. But YMMV

I would love to clear/restore the Expert Woods area! That would be awesome. But I agree it is prolly best to just start small and go from there. I know a group of folks can get an amazing amount of that work done fairly quickly. I also know that there needs to be a follow up maintenance plan or in 10 years no one will be able to tell anything was done and all the effort will be for naught.

I suppose it is possible to eradicate the garlic mustard in a fairly isolated area. There seems to be so much of it around here that it will just blow in on the wind. My wife has eradicated it from our yard and woods and every year it seems to be trying to mount a come back in a new area.

I don't think it has been posted yet but Dave Reece was able to get out and mow from Cambridge to CR I on Sunday. I think that only leaves from CR I to the bridge at the end of Veritas to be trimmed.

I think that has gotten trimmed as well Josh. It looked like someone got it with a weed wacker when I drove by with Dewayne in Sunday. I was hoping to get out for a ride and scope things out, but that is looking very unlikely at this point.

I am not aware that anything is need of TLC right now. To my knowlwdge everything is in good shape. But like i said I have not been able to ride. So if someone gets out and sees something that needs some love post up.

I was out there riding Tuesday and all that reed canary grass got me thinking about the plans to buy a riding mower. Reed canary grass is pretty tough stuff, and it grows quickly. That, plus the terrain out there makes me wonder if a riding mower would actually be able to get the job done.

Just a though.

I was out there riding Tuesday and all that reed canary grass got me thinking about the plans to buy a riding mower. Reed canary grass is pretty tough stuff, and it grows quickly. That, plus the terrain out there makes me wonder if a riding mower would actually be able to get the job done.

Just a though.

Good thoughts. There is not a plan to buy a riding mower. There is a plan to buy a mower. The problem is just when I think I have the best solution figured out the parameters change. I want to steer us in the right direction. And not 100% sure what that is.