On April 6, the Iowa Conservation Corps, under contract with the Ames Parks and Recreation Department will begin implementing some aspects of the Vegetation Management Plan. As you may know, Jim Pease and I wrote the plan last year and discussed it at length with Director Keith Abraham and Parks Superintendent Joshua Thompson.
The ICC will first work on restoring the small remnant of oak savanna on the south side of the park. They will remove understory of invasive honeysuckle, mulberry and other small trees. This opening of the canopy should allow prairie species that are known to occur there to express themselves. The ICC will also remove invasive Siberian elm saplings that have grown near our shrub plantings on the north side. Then, if time allows they will remove a stand of green ash and Siberian elm trees that grow just to the east of the boat ramp and Ding Darling's rock at the southwest corner of the south lake. Because of the spread of the green ash borer, an insect that kills ash trees, the city has adopted a policy of removing ash trees from city-owned property.
If you have any questions about this work please feel free to contact me by email or phone, 233-3327.
Erv Klaas
Photo of purple prairie clover by Kevin Kane
No comments:
Post a Comment