Field Work Comes to an End

October proved to be a busy yet exciting month as the team wrapped up field work and welcomed visitors to our neck of the woods. So much has happened that it’s hard to know where to begin!

The team was happy to welcome SCA Program Manager, Brian Doughty, to join them in the field. Brain’s flexibility was greatly appreciated as the team was summoned back to the Athens District to install 11 new rangeland plots in the Kern Area. The Kern region is reclaimed mine land with an abundance of troublesome Chinese lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata), a non-native invasive species (NNIS). In order to best monitor the vegetation of grassland areas, cover frequency data was taken, adding one more method to the team’s repertoire of FIREMON methods. With the abundant help of Nick Galentin, everyone also learned a variety of new grass and forb species.

Team members felt very fortunate to partake in an opportunity to tour the Vinton Furnace Experimental Forest with Research Forester, Daniel Yaussy. Current research in the forest focuses on the effects of using thinning and prescribed fire to restore mixedoak ecosystems and fire behavior and dynamics. Vinton Furnace is one of the first sites to conduct ecosystem-based studies on the effects of fire in the central hardwood region. Team members left with a better appreciation for how the FIREMON data they have collected throughout the season is utilized as well as the importance of oak and hickory regeneration. In addition, the forest also contains remnants of the abundant iron mining that dominated in the area in the late 1800s.

During the last field days, the Cuyahoga Native Plant Team came to visit Wayne National Forest and learn about fire monitoring data collection. Project leader, Tyler Lau, and Corps Members Isaac Arndt, Trevor Ellis, and John Price joined both teams in the field assisting in data collection on the remaining plots in the Buckhorn burn area. All teams camped out at Lake Vesuvius and enjoyed a group dinner followed by an evening around the campfire, guitar and all. It was a great opportunity to connect with another team and expand understanding of other SCA programs.

An added bonus of the month came as red-carded team members were hired to fight fire at the Wayne and put their training to good use, on their off-time of course. Among various other assignments, members worked on hand crews digging line around the 12 acre Rock Hollow fire in the Ironton Ranger District.

Now that field work is complete, the team is resting up to wrap up the season writing their final report with some database management to boot!