Friends of the Platte River contracts 2 UW-Platteville students

Friends of the Platte River has contracted two UW-Platteville geography majors for the summer. Their job is to walk or paddle the Platte River, Little Platte River, and their tributaries to look for invasive species.

Once this field work is done they will go to the GIS lab on campus and produce maps so we know which invasive plants we have in the watershed and where they are located.

The students, Nick Flinner and Abbie Lehman hope to present their findings at the Association of American Geographers Regional Conference this fall in Chicago.

We owe a special thank you to those who have made contributions for this project: Dr. RJ Rowley in the Geography Department for assistance with the mapping and mapping gear, Mark Sethne in the Outdoor Recreation Department for renting the canoe, and Peggy Compton with UW-Extension for supplying hip waders from the Water Education Library.

Pictured above:
*Nick & Abbie with their best friend for the summer, WATER!
*Abbie on the river
*Nick in Trimble heaven surrounded by wild parsnip

Trash Clean Up Day

On Saturday, April 16th the Friends of the Platte River and over thirty local volunteers worked to clean up a hillside location on the Platte River that had been the site of decades of accumulated junk. The site is located on a steep slope along Big Platte Road outside of Platteville. Despite windy and snowy conditions, the volunteers work all day to clean up the site.

The event, planned and orchestrated in large part by Friends board member Mark Sethne, was truly a community effort. Faherty Recycling and Waste Collection of Platteville made the event a huge success with their donation of two large roll off dumpsters for use in the project. Potosi Portable Toilets donated a unit for use in the all day event. Dale Hood and Doug Steinbach/ Steinbach Farms donated skid steers for use in hauling large debris up the steep hill and placing it in the dumpsters.

Jared Marugg, UW-Platteville engineering student and student ambassador for the Friends of the Platte River, organized a group of nine engineering students affiliated with the American Society of Civil Engineers to help with the effort.

There were piles of used tires, many old appliances and computers, hundreds of bottles and cans, bedsprings, wire fencing and other items found on the site. Over 10,500 pounds of debris was removed.

The Friends of the Platte River expresses appreciation to all the volunteers and sponsors for this project.

We need YOUR help--Platte River Clean up Day

The Friends of the Platte River need community volunteers! On Saturday, April 16^th the Friends will be cleaning up a site on the Platte River that has decades of accumulation of junk. There are about 50 used tires and several appliances, not to mention 100’s of beer bottles. The hillside is steep and getting  tires, appliances, and other junk up to the road is going to be a problem that only “many hands” will be able to handle.  

Faherty recycling of Platteville has generously donated a “roll-off” dumpster and there will be a couple skid steers there to help pull things up the hill.  Food and water, as well as a port-a-potty  will be on site.

Plan to start arriving at the site about 8 on Saturday morning.  

Directions: Going west from Platteville on Co “B” a little over 6 miles to Big Platte Rd.  Turn left on Big Platte and it’s about a mile.  We will be at/near the place where the road jogs hard,  (the intersection of Quarry Rd.) is the other landmark.

Things to bring: sturdy work boots and leather gloves, shovels, pry bars, log chains, water bottle, etc.  This site is very steep and sneakers aren’t the best choice of shoes.

Come when you can and stay until you have to go!

2011 Annual Meeting

On March 5, 2011, the Friends of the Platte River held their annual meeting/ raffle/ open house at the Dickeyville community Center. Along with project updates, speaker Todd Johnson with UW extension spoke about various opportunities and resources available for the group. The grand prize raffle item was an Old Towne Otter Plus kayak and a Bending Branches paddle. A portion of this prize was donated by Rutabaga of Madison. Chuck Cornett was the grand prize winner. Other great prizes were donated by Momentum Bikes & Boards, Badger Brothers Coffee, Rollo Jameson Mining Museum, Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium, Wal-Mart, Home & Cabin Décor, Stone Cliff Winery, and Wine Down on Main.

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Prairie Enthusiasts

On February 26th 2011, Becky Trewartha attended the Prairie Enthusiasts annual conference. The purpose of the conference was to gain members and educate people on projects that are going on with The Prairie Enthusiasts. Becky manned a booth and presented information to various landowners concerning Japanese hops and other invasive species in the Platte watershed.

Win a Kayak!!!

The Friends of the Platte River
invite you to a special event:
OPEN HOUSE
REFRESHMENTS
RAFFLE

Saturday, March 5, 2011
2:00-3:30 pm

The Dickeyville Community Center
500 East Avenue
Dickeyville, WI

Learn more about our exciting projects
Share your ideas


Become a member today!!
ALL MEMBERS
Will be automatically entered in a drawing for one of these exciting prizes:

…KAYAK & PADDLE

…BEER and GEAR package*
(Cooler loaded with everything you need for fishing fun)

MISSISSIPPI RIVER MUSEUM AND AQUARIUM TICKETS

…PLATTEVILLE CHAMBER BUCKS

And
…MUCH, MUCH MORE!!!

You don’t have to be present to win, so become a member TODAY!
(Membership form included in brochure) *must be 21 to win

Look Out! Oriental Bittersweet

Not to be confused with American bittersweet, oriental bittersweet is a deciduous, woody vine that can grow up to 66 feet in length. Oriental bittersweet is an invasive plant which is becoming more and more abundant, while American bittersweet is becoming increasingly rarer.

Oriental bittersweet can grow almost anywhere and will try to kill any other vegetation around it, even mature trees. The Oriental bittersweet will snake its way up and around a tree to choke it out. Picture a plain white candy cane, this is your tree. Now picture the red stripe starting at the bottom and circling its way up, this is your Oriental bittersweet. Once this happens, the tree’s growth is inhibited and will eventually die. The weight of the Oriental bittersweet will uproot the tree and bring it to the ground during high wind events, snow storms, and ice storms and create what is called a blow over. Oriental bittersweet has created such a disruption in some forest ecosystems that it is even visible in areial photos.

Identification is easiest in the fall when the fruit capsules turn yellow. Many people will use these beautiful fruits in autumn wreaths and decorations. American bittersweet also produces beautiful fruits in the fall, but their fruit capsules are orange. This is the best way to tell them apart. Next fall if you go to pick seasonal bittersweet berries and the capsules are yellow please refrain from harvesting them because the seed bank stays viable for years so when one throws out a wreath with Oriental bittersweet on it, they are spreading the seeds.
If you are aware of locations with an Oriental bittersweet infestation please note the location and a photo (if possible) and send it along with your contact information to:

Courtney LeClair
Invasive Plant Education, Early Detection, and Mapping Specialist
WI Department of Natural Resources
101 S. Webster St.
Madison, WI 53707-7921
Phone: (608) 267-7438