Wildlife, Hiking, New Forest & More!

Wow, there was a lot of major news crammed into this 4 day work week! So here it is;

The positive news:

Story #1

Courtesy of Oregon Forestry Dept

“Oregon Lottery – It does good things” - Oregon created a new state forest for the first time since 1948, 43,000 acres of young pine trees in central Oregon. The state purchased the land from Fidelity National Timber Resources Inc., of Whitefish, Mont., with $15 million in lottery-backed bonds.

The land was owned for much of the 20th century by the founders of the town of Gilchrist. The department said Gilchrist Timber Co. sold it to Crown Pacific Partners, which logged the timber in the 1990s and replanted before going broke. Fidelity National Timber Resources bought 293,000 acres from Crown Pacific in 2006. It is the real estate subsidiary of Fidelity National Financial Inc., a title insurance company based in Florida.

The sale was part of a strategy of finding buyers who would maintain conservation benefits of the land, said Greg Lane, executive vice president of Fidelity National Timber Resources. – Source: Registered Guard

Story #2

Oregon Dept of Fish & Wildlife announced Rocky Mountain Goat reintroduction. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs are about to move 30 to 40 Rocky Mountain goats from their home in the Elkhorn Mountains onto the slopes of Oregon’s second-tallest peak.

He said the goats will be trapped with a drop-net in northeast Oregon’s Elkhorn Mountains, home of the state’s 400-strong parent herd.

They will be taken to the upper headwaters of the Whitewater River, which is on the Warm Springs Reservation.

Assuming all goes well, he said, additional transplant sites in the future might include the slopes of Three Sisters, Three Fingered Jack and, eventually, the Columbia River Gorge.

A few introductions were attempted in the gorge a few decades ago, but only a few goats at a time were transplanted, not enough to establish breeding herds. – Source: Oregon Live

Story #3

Courtesy of NAU

Project Wilderness is up for a $10,000 grant which you can help us win! NAU.Com a Portland, Oregon based clothing company is awarding $10,000 to support one non-profit who instigates lasting, positive change in their communities.

You ask, what will Project Wilderness do with the $10,000 if they win? Well, here’s your answer:

Project Wilderness is working to break the mold of standard non-profit funding by developing a Portland based for-profit subsidiary.

“The Green House”, a wilderness themed ale house will donate 100% of proceeds above and beyond standard operating expenses for Project Wilderness to improve & expand public land in the Pacific Northwest. In addition The Green House will serve as a conduit to further engage the community in stewardship education and volunteerism.

Click the link to vote for Project Wilderness!

http://www.nau.com/collective/grant-for-change/project-wilderness-1375.html.share

Tragic news:

Courtesy of Terry Richard

News reports said a hiker fell to his death on Saddle Mountain this past weekend. Reports said the accident occurred after a group of hikers reached the mountain’s 3,283-foot summit Sunday. One of the hikers in his 20s apparently went out on a ledge to take some pictures, lost his footing and fell more than 100 feet down a steep slope. Rescuers said the hiker died shortly after a rescue climber was able to reach him. – Source: KATU

This is not the first death at saddle mountain and recently a hiker died at Silver Falls State Park.

Remember while hiking obey signs warning of danger & do not climb over any fence. The photo is not worth your life.

Dominic Aiello

Founder & President

www.projectwilderness.org

www.facebook.com/projectwilderness

www.twitter.com/prowilderness

Celebrating Earth Day in Deschutes National Forest

Can you name this location? Well it’s not Deschutes National Forest, but it’s near the area. The picture was taken near the Warm Springs Indian Reservation on the way back to Portland from the cleanup this past Saturday (4/24). What a beautiful area, isn’t it? You wouldn’t throw your garbage away here would you?

Earlier in the year a hunter from the Bend area reported that China Hat Rd in the Deschutes National Forest had become a dumping ground. Fed up he turned to Project Wilderness for help in cleaning this place up!

We arrived to meet Mark McCraken, US Forest Ranger near the Lost Tracks Golf Course around 9:30am. Did I mention we were coming from Portland? … yes that’s right… that means we had left Portland at around 6am…on a Saturday morning. Luckily when it comes to the great outdoors, I can be a morning person.

The day before Mark emailed me this map

Dang good sketch for a government employee if you ask me! The distances are even spot on! Couldn’t ask for anything more from an employee in an underfunded department of the federal government. Mark McCraken gets a round of applause from me! This forest and it’s users are lucky to have his as it’s guardian.

Did you know that there are only 2 National Forest Service Law enforcement officers to cover 1.6 million acres of the Deschutes National Forest?

Pulling up to the first site that we knew had a large hot-tub, we joke …

We’ll all have to jump into the hot-tub and get some funny pictures

Yes, well walking up to the hot-tub our noses notified us that siting anywhere near this hot-tub was unlikely if you wanted to hold down breakfast. It was filled with rain water, and 3 decomposing chipmunks were floating in the water.

After dumping the water out, including the dead chipmunks, we proceeded to attempt to tow it to the main road side for haul to the dump. The truck easily began towing, however, our tow straps (yes plural is correct) could not take the stress and snapped. Clearly we need higher rated straps for the future. We finally gave up on towing the hot-tub and called in a Boy Scout Troop leader from the area that had a trailer.

Before the end of the day all the locations marked on the map were successfully cleaned! Here’s pictures from a couple of the other areas cleaned.

Hey! Get back to work!

More Goofing off!

Other than illegal dumping in the area, upon noticing lots of deer carcasses laying around I asked Mark if there is a problem with people poaching in the area. He confirmed that yes, unfortunately that there is poaching going on.

Clearly this specific picture could be dumped skulls and not poached. However every trash site included a deer carcass, several of which still had red tissue on the joints. Pointing to out of season kills. I would like to remind everyone that poachers are not hunters they are poachers. The hunters I know take pride in legal and ethical methods to harvest meat. Meat which was from an animal that was able to roam free its entire life and not confined to a pasture or barn before slaughter. Poachers ignore laws and use any means possible to harvest meat, regardless of the effects on the overall health of the animal population.

After everything was said and done we gathered 9 truck loads of garbage that equaled 3,456 cubic feet of garbage! Here are a couple pictures from the surrounding area and more proof of why we need to stay vigilant in our work!

Until next time, get outside and enjoy what nature has to offer…and if you see someone driving into the forest with a truck full of garbage write down the license plate number, call 911, and try to get a picture of them actually dumping it to provide as evidence to the police. Following these simple steps will ensure a proper conviction!

Dominic Aiello

Founder & President

www.projectwilderness.org

www.facebook.com/projectwilderness

www.twitter.com/prowilderness

Earth Month Photo Contest – The Winners Are in!

In honor of Earth Month, Project Wilderness held a photo contest for the best Pacific Northwest Native Plant photo.

64 Photos & 320 Votes later, we have our winners!

Before we get to the pictures, we want to thank ever photographer that submitted a photo! There are an abundance of amazing pictures. This is clear by how distributed the votes are. Also be sure to check out our facebook page,  we’re continually holding contest with great prizes. Visit the facebook fan page now and enter two win two tickets to any regular season Portland Timbers home game, courtesy of the Portland Timbers.

Also, to celebrate earth day we’ll be in the Deschutes National Forest this Saturday 4/24 cleaning along China Hat Road, a known area for illegal dumping. If you can’t make it be sure to check facebook or projectwilderness.org on Sunday for post cleanup report.

Here are a few great photo’s that received honorable mentions.
All rights are reserved by the individual photographers. Permission for download or re-posting individual photos is not granted unless provided by the individual photographer.

Adam Sawyer

Brian Jim

Mike Bostwick

Richard Harding

Richard Harding

Philip Peterson

Now for the winners!
First Place

Photographer - Andrew Macrea

Second Place

Photographer - Pete Bowling

Third Place

Photographer - Patrick Smith

Dominic Aiello

Founder & President

www.projectwilderness.org

www.facebook.com/projectwilderness

www.twitter.com/prowilderness

It’s always sunny on cleanup days!

Buttes Creek

Follow me for a moment; You wake-up in the morning to the phone ringing, you answer; “Good morning Dominic, I heard you were going to be out in the woods today. What would you like the weather to be? Rainy & cold or sunny & decent?” Hmmm, hard decision there!

I must say, although the weatherman would never call me and can’t change the weather it sure seems he’s looking out for Project Wilderness on cleanup days! I can’t recall a single cleanup that it rained. So not only do we get to spend sunny days out in mountains & forest, which, we may not have otherwise had the chance to experience, but we’re making it better! No matter how tired I am after a cleanup, I always feel good.

On Saturday, March 27th we worked out in the Scotts Mills, Oregon area forest. This area was reported to us from local recreational shooters that noticed trash accumulating. Even though they packed out more debris than they created it didn’t seem to make an impact. We cleaned what appeared to be two small shooting areas, little did we know one would turn out to be a dumpsite;

Site #1

Site #1

Pulling up to site # 1, pictured above, we jumped out eager to pickup trash. Divide and conquer was the plan. Of course this site and site # 2 look small, especially compared to other cleanups we’ve done, however don’t judge a book by it’s cover. The worst of the trash had been thrown into the bushes, which was full of thorns!

After - Site # 1

Site #2

Pulling up to site # 2, I quote myself saying, “Oh nice this one doesn’t look to bad, it shouldn’t take long”. Ok, that is the last time I say that…ever. Again divide and conquer was the plan. I was cleaning up a destroyed 90′s style cassette player/radio when I hear;

Asha – “Anyone interested in going for a swim?”

Me; “No, why?”

Asha – “Well, because there’s a kiddie pool over here.”

That was good for a laugh, until the reality hit. It just wasn’t a kiddie pool, but lots of household garbage that had been dumped over the edge with it.

Site #2

Let me tell you, I thought I’d seen the nastiest stuff during previous cleanups. However, I think I’ve come across the winner. A bag full of decomposing diapers. They had started to turn into this green ooze, and the smell…yuck, almost enough to make you vomit. After everything was said and done we gathered 384 cubic feet of garbage on the 27th.

To-date Project Wilderness has been in existence for less than 1 year and we’ve removed 6,528 cubit feet of garbage from public land in the Pacific Northwest! Check out projectwilderness.org for all the cleanups to-date.

Dominic Aiello
Founder & President
www.projectwilderness.org

Summer Fun on the Water!

I know it’s not quite summer yet, but we’re close enough for a teaser. So who loves heading out to the lake or river, escaping the summer heat & having a fun time with friends? We all do! What’s your favorite way to spend that time? I wager no matter what it is, that it likely includes an alcoholic beverage for someone in your group.

Just outside the Eugene area near the Willamette National Forest is Fall Creek Reservoir. Fall Creek is home to “Party Cove”, an area with plenty of beautiful scenery, a water fall & rope swing making this a prime summer hot spot!

Recently I was contacted by a fellow that goes by “Thuggin4Life” on www.oregonfishingforum.com. Living in Springfield, OR he writes;

Huge mess unearthed while water level is low

…As I got close I see cans glimmering in the sun, passed several floating beer bottles, and noticed a few cans here and there along the shoreline. I rounded the corner to Party Cove and I quickly became pissed off. … Someone should close Party Cove down. I would like to maybe set up a volunteer clean up. The only thing is; it’s a long hike down the road and don’t even know where to pull over. The best bet is by boat. Who do you report things like this to? Does anyone even care? Please don’t sink your cans and bottles they don’t just disappear forever.

A cleanup was organized;
16 Volunteers
3 Boats
3 Dogs

As we pull up to “Party Cove”, it clearly looks like what you would expect to see in the movies after a huge beach party. Only difference is – This isn’t the movies;

After wading through sometimes almost knee high muck and carefully picking up thousands of broken beer bottle pieces that would easily cut a swimmers foot the area begins to look natural again;

Then the task of shuttling all the people and newly collected garbage back to shore.

Finally after working from around 10am through 2pm all the garbage, volunteers and great dogs are back on dry land.

In all 65 bags of garbage was gathered, of that 65 it’s estimated approximately 60 of those contained ONLY beer cans & beer bottles. Which have been marked for the recycling center. Thuggin4Life said it best – “they don’t just disappear forever.” Just because something is “out of sight – out of mind” it isn’t gone…very few items can truly just “disappear”. In response to his earlier question “does anyone really care?” – Yes thuggin4life, you care, we care and clearly the other volunteers care. I imagine if you’re reading this then you care too, and you can help do your part. Not only by leaving the places you love natural, but by reporting areas that have become “un-natural” to us at Project Wilderness. Remember we strive to host a cleanup once every month, rain or shine. Together we can eliminate littering & dumping at our beautiful places which have been protected by the previous generations for our and future generations to enjoy!

In closing here is a couple great pictures from other OregonFishingForum.com members taken after the cleanup;

Dominic Aiello

Founder & President

Spring Cleaning!

It’s that time of year again, isn’t it? The weather is breaking and more and more people are venturing out into our beautiful Pacific Northwest!

Just this past weekend I was driving on a forest road, you know those “2 lane” paved roads that really are just wide enough for 1 truck let alone two vehicles! They always make my knuckles white as another truck and I have to pass each other. Both have 2 wheels on the dirt edge and we still almost hit mirrors. I didn’t count but on the way down I easily encountered 15 other vehicles. This was around 2pm, I can’t imagine how busy the road was earlier in the day.

Now, think how much of an impact would be made on that area if everyone left something behind!

Maybe something like this?

To be honest; that place was the worst I have ever seen and hopefully the worst anyone has to ever see! Moving forward as we continue our work to restore and prevent public land from reach that point we’ve announced our cleanup locations for March, April, May & June.

I want to take a moment to thank all those who care enough to take a few minutes and report locations that are in need of our help! It can be easy to see it and forget about it, “out of sight out of mind” as the saying goes. We count on your input to keep up our efforts to keep Oregon & Washington beautiful!

—-
- March 27th, East of Salem in Silverfalls State park there is a recreational shooting area that needs cleaning. Google Maps Location

- April 24th (earth day is 22nd), I received an email from a Central Oregon hunter disgusted with dumping that’s taking place on public land where he hunts, including items like regular garbage and a hot tub.
Horse Butte Road FS RD 1815
China Hat Rd-FS RD 18
It’s SE of Bend in the Deschutes National Forest.

- May 15th, another group of local WA recreation shooters is requesting help on a cleanup they’re trying to organize;
Info: Gravel Pit Cleanup
Location: (North Fork Gravel Pit in Whatcom County)
Date: May 15, 2010
Time: 0830

- June 26th, I received report of an area near Pigsah Home Rd. in the hills about 5 miles west of Scappoose. Debris includes TVs, Propane tanks, wood frames, etc.

—–

While we were out and about in the forest this weekend Asha (Project Wilderness Secretary) and I found some wild Indian Plum.

The Indian Plum (Oemleria Cerasiformis) is generally described as a perennial tree or shrub. This dicot (dicotyledon) is native to the U.S. (United States) has its most active growth period in the spring and summer and fall . The Indian Plum has dark green foliage and inconspicuous white flowers, with a smattering of conspicuous black fruits or seeds. The greatest bloom is usually observed in the early spring, with fruit and seed production starting in the spring and continuing until summer. Leaves are not retained year to year. The Indian Plum has a short life span relative to most other plant species and a rapid growth rate. At maturity, the typical Indian Plum will reach up to 23 feet high, with a maximum height at 20 years of 34 feet. – GardenGuides.com

So in honor of spring flowers we’re holding a little contest! Send us your favorite picture of Pacific Northwest Flowers – wild or garden – and we’ll pick our favorite and give you a great prize from our collection of donations! Email them or post them on our facebook page;

ProjectWilderness@gmail.com
www.facebook.com/projectwilderness

Keep up the efforts and continue to let us know when natural landscape becomes not-so-natural.

Dominic Aiello
Founder & President

Pacific Lamprey (Lampetra tridentata)- You’re Creepy but Interesting

Wydoski & Whitney 1979

Some may look at that and say, “wow!” or “cool!”, although the majority likely say “creepy!”. I’m not going to lie, they creep me out.

So what is a Lamprey & why am I blogging about it? Well lets have a short history lesson;

Quoting a portion of Wikipedia’s Pacific Lamprey page

Biology
The Pacific lamprey lives along the Pacific Coast of North America and Asia. They are dark blue or brown in color and grow to about 30 inches (76 cm). They are anadromous meaning they are born in fresh water, swim out to the ocean as an adult, and return to the freshwater to reproduce. Lamprey juveniles (ammocoetes) live in fresh water for several years (up to 5 or 6 years). Juveniles are filter feeders. Adults have a jawless sucker-like mouth and are parasitic on other fish while in the ocean. The adults live at least 1-2 years in the ocean and then return to fresh water to spawn. They typically spawn in similar habitat to Pacific salmon and trout.

As Food
Pacific lamprey are an important ceremonial food for Native American tribes in the Columbia River basin. Pacific lamprey numbers in the Columbia River have greatly declined with the construction of the Columbia River hydro-power system. Almost no harvest opportunity for Native Americans remains in the Columbia River and its tributaries except for a small annual harvest at Willamette Falls on the Willamette River (tributary to the Columbia River).

USGS National Wetlands Research

As you can see they attach to fish and suck blood and other bodily fluids. The saliva of the Lamprey is anticoagulant, meaning it prevents the blood from clotting. Although Lamprey are classified a parasite, they are considered a temporary parasite because they will release from the host fish when full usually without killing the host.

So why am I blogging about such a creepy species? Well due to several factors the once flourishing Pacific Lamprey is considered a rare find in Oregon rivers. However after a hard days work along the Wilson river we decided to take a hike along the shore. Much to our surprise in a small pool along the shore something caught our eye.



An immature Pacific Lamprey!

Just another reason for you to come out on any of our projects. Not only do you have the chance to give back to wildlife, the environment, and help keep the Pacific Northwest beautiful but you also have an opportunity to see nature not normally seen. Here are a couple pictures from the colorful Wilson River:

Green Night Out – Music for Conservation

Green Night Out – Music for Conservation
A night of live music, 2 bands, (Pilar French / Jackson Jackson and the Citizens), door prizes, raffle prizes, dinner & drinks and silent auction to benefit Project Wilderness habitat restoration & public land expansion programs in Oregon for 2010.

$5 suggested donation at the door.
A portion of all food and drink proceeds will be donated by The Agency Ultra Sports Lounge.

Auction Preview:
Date Night – One night stay for two in “Portland’s ‘Most Romantic Hotel” (City Search) / 1 of the world’s top 500 hotels (Travel & Leisure Magazine). Including romance package, vip parking, food & alcohol!
Gardeners Package – One pair of Felco pruners, leather pouch, gift certificate to Portland Nursery, certificate for thirty 4″ pansies from Al’s Garden center & 2 passes to the Japanese Garden in Portland!
U4E.com -Two “Buffer Zone” jackets of any size or color which utilizes Rose City Textiles Pacific Tech Micro Weave fabric, 59% of which is composed of yarns made from recycled plastic beverage containers. The Fill is made by Thermore and is made of 50% virgin polyester and 50% high performance recycled fibers.
AND MUCH MORE!

When: Thur, Jan 14th 2010 at 7pm.

Where: The Agency Ultra Sports Lounge
1939 Southwest Morrison Street
Portland, OR 97205

Sponsors: U4E.com, The Vintage Plaza Hotel, Pacifica Perfume, Portland Nursery, The Agency Ultra Sports Lounge, Hopworks Urban Brewery, Al’s garden Center, Portland Timbers, Portland Beavers, Portland Art Museum, Portland Spirit, Rogue Brewery, Pyramid Brewery, Japanese Gardens, and more!

Contact: Dominic Aiello (503)484-6292 / ProjectWilderness@gmail.com

Sponsor logo’s not included yet.

Fisher – Martes Pennanti – Nice to meet you!

October 10th approximately 8pm, I was leaving the woods after an unsuccessful night of hunting in Hood County. I had to make a decision; spend another night at camp or pack-up and drive home to make sure I made my soccer game on Sunday (we lost). I decided to pack up and go surprise the girlfriend back home, and allow myself some more sleep in the morning, but don’t let her know!

I arrived home around 1am after a long drive, which I always enjoy.

Getting side tracked, I must say I am a big fan of the Columbia River Gorge & Hood River County commissioners for there efforts and protections to keep both the Gorge & Hood River County such a beautiful and recreation filled place. Oregon & the rest of our country could take a page from there book on Urban Growth Boundaries.

Ok, sorry, getting back to the story!

I’m not one bit tired and lucky for me she wakes up the same. So I hopped into bed and grabbed Oregon Dept of Fish & Wildlife Conservation Strategy. Project Wilderness had already began plans to submit habitat restoration/biodiversity improvement in Hood River County, so I figured it would be a good chance to review the guide and see what animal and plant species we could assist with the project. The first page of the species table the fisher catches my eye. At that point I held no knowledge of the animal (oh how that has changed), but something about it stuck with me. I made notation to do further research at another time, it’s listed outside the area we’re working. As I turn the page, there is a short description and history of the fisher in Oregon. This only further intrigues me.

Image courtesy of extirpated.org

Historically the fisher inhabited from British Columbia to California. Preferred resting and den areas generally coincide with late-successional coniferous and mixed coniferous-deciduous forest. High forest canopy closure or multiple canopies and shrubs. Areas supporting diverse prey base are most used. Dens & rest sites are generally used in large diameter trees, large snags, tree cavities, and logs. To sum it up, they prefer forest which have the characteristics similar to old growth forest.

Terry Farrell, Oregon Fish & Wildlife assistant wildlife biologist in Roseburg is quoted stating he estimates there are less than 100 fishers total in Oregon. Those are in thanks to reintroductions in 1961, 1977 and 1981, when fishers were taken from British Columbia and Minnesota and released in Oregon forests to help control porcupine damage to timber. However very little to no tracking was done to track population growth or success of reintroduction.

In 2003 Keith Aubrey & Jeffery Lewis wrote an article; “Extirpation and reintroduction of fishers in Oregon”. In this article they researched sightings of fishers throughout Oregon. Categorizing the reliability of sightings with a number value of 1 to 6, one being the highest reliability (photographic data or trapped fisher) and 6 being the lowest (visual sighting only, no tangible evidence). Rankings 1 through 4 are then mapped. The highest volume of reliable reports came from the two populations in Southern Oregon. However reliable sightings are also mapped in or around Joseph, Tillamook and Mount Hood. Then research was done on any previous surveys, which, is greatly limited. The largest areas in Oregon surveyed included those where the 2 known populations call home. Which of course received positive identification of fishers habiting the area. No real data has ever been taken from other parts of the state. Leaving these couple questions open;

Are the populations in Southern Oregon growing, declining or stagnant?

Have fishers from Southern Oregon expanded to new areas?

Are their unknown populations of fishers in other parts of the state?

These and many other questions Project Wilderness would like to answer. We have submitted our initial proposal to receive authorization to formally assess the status of the fisher within Oregon.

Dominic Aiello

Founder & President

www.projectwilderness.org

www.facebook.com/projectwilderness

www.twitter.com/prowilderness

A machete, handsaw and large pruning shears

A machete, handsaw and large pruning shears, those are  our battle weapons of choice this weekend!  Asha, secretary of Project Wilderness and I went to Tillamook to meet with Michele Long, ODFW Biologist, and begin working on one of several co-operative projects.

It was a beautiful Oregon winter day in the coastal town of Tillamook. Going through the Tillamook State Forest it was snowing fairly heavily mixed with rain. However, once on the down slope of the coastal range it began to clear up. Standing along the Wilson River looking towards the forest you’d see patches of fog rising from the canopy. The Wilson was moving very fast, and seemed to be rising. The north fork water was a striking green, while the Wilson was a dirty brown. Michele noted that the North Fork has very little timber harvest or roads along it, which accounts for the clearer water.

Our goal for today was to remove as much of the blackberries & ivy as possible in the 3 hours available. Asha was on ivy duty to begin & I was on blackberry duty…thanks Asha, give me the pokey crap! Not to worry, I was wielding the machete and leather gloves! The Himalayan berries, however, will not be defeated so easily. They laughed at my leather gloves! Who would have thought thorns easily go through leather workmen gloves .

After about 30 minutes I hear Asha walking up the river bank. I look over in the direction I hear her, as she peeks over the ridge I can tell she’s having a problem. “I can’t tell what’s the tree and what is the ivy”, Asha says. No problem, I say, I’ll come help. I make my way back down the bank with her, dodging rogue blackberry branches that forgot I called timeout to help Asha. Damn blackberries not following the rules of a war timeout!

Overview of the three trees with the Ivy removed.

When removing ivy from a tree, especially when the ivy is strongly established, it’s not required to completely remove all the leaves, roots, and stems. What is critical is to completely disconnect the roots that are established at the base of the tree from the roots that climb. Let’s review the picture below:

It may look like we cut the tree, however that's Ivy!

As the caption says it may look like we cut the tree, but what you see cut is actually the base of the ivy roots.  Do you see the foot to two foot gap we cut?

Notice the gap cut out?

The reason we cut the gap on the ivy roots is this will kill the ivy that is growing on the tree & ensure they don’t reconnect. By cutting the roots that enter the soil you’ll severely limit the amount of nutrients the ivy receives. It will receive some water and nutrients from the tree; however it will not be enough. It’s critical to ensure you’ve cut all the root systems connected to the soil. If you leave one, it’s possible it will be enough to support all ivy above it.

Ok, battle on! After assisting Asha, with what turned out to be a huge handsaw task, we double-teamed the unsuspecting berries! Haha, I brought backup this time!

We successfully cut down about 1/4 of the Blackberry patches needed to be removed. So there is plenty of work left to be done. If you’re not already, become a follower on Twitter or Facebook and come give us a hand. We’ve won the battle, but the war has no declared winner, YET!

Dominic Aiello

Founder & President

www.projectwilderness.org

www.facebook.com/projectwilderness

www.twitter.com/prowilderness