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Revised 02/27/08 |
WINTER INDOOR PROGRAM February 5, Sunday, 1:00 pm Our annual Gourmet Dinner. Bring a special dish to share and your own table service. Join us for “Humbug Marsh: Past, Present and Future.” This program will feature the history of the area and the seven year effort to protect it, the satellite projects it has spawned such as the linked greenways, the Heritage Water Trail, the "Pathways to Nature Program," its relationship to environmental education and education in general, and of course, future Congressional funding. Our speaker will be Bruce Jones of the Grosse Ile Nature and Land Conservancy. He is also a member of the Interim Board of Trustees for the International Wildlife Alliance, whose function is as “Friends of Humbug Marsh.” Bruce has played a major role in the preservation of this property. This meeting will be held at the Birmingham Unitarian Church, 38651 Woodward, Bloomfield Hills. The church is located on the west side of Woodward, just north of Lone Pine. The parking lot is accessible from both southbound Woodward and Lone Pine. We will be meeting in the Commons Room. As you approach the main entrance door from the parking lot, take the sidewalk on the left and watch for signs on the small door. MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL Our 2006 membership year began on January 1, 2006. Please use the enclosed form to renew your membership. Those of you who have e-mail may wish to include your e-mail address. It will not be published in our directory, or distributed to anyone. Our president will use it only to send meeting reminders and other botanical announcements. If you have any program suggestions please jot them on your membership form with a phone or e-mail contact if possible. FALL FIELD TRIP REPORT Humbug Marsh Field Trip The field trip, which was held at 10:00 AM on October first, was organized by the Huron Valley Chapter of the Michigan Botanical Club and was led by Larry Nooden. The event was well attended by several dozen people, including members of the Detroit Audubon Society and the Grosse Isle Conservancy in addition to members of the Huron Valley Chapter. The Humbug Marsh Preserve, located along the Detroit River in Gibraltar and Trenton, was purchased a year ago by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and incorporated as part of the Detroit River International Refuge. The meadow to the north of the preserve proper, and south of the parking area, was originally Chrysler property. This land formerly served as a dump into which industrial waste products such as lead based paints, PCBs, and other nasty substances antithetical to life were deposited. Subsequent to Chrysler's ownership, the land was taken over by Wayne Co. and leased. Originally a wetland, it is now evolving into a meadow habitat. It contains Goldenrod, Queen Anne's lace, asters (including white prairie aster and New England aster), boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum), butter and eggs, and the aromatic mountain mint. The presence of seaside goldenrod and Phragmites, a tall grass that likes marshes, wet shores, ditches, and swales, gives evidence to the land's past existence as a wetland. The trail we followed through the preserve was an old deer trail. We first went through an area of old field secession at the north end of the preserve. There we encountered asters (including the New England and white prairie asters), sedges, Canada goldenrod, lobelia, red raspberry (Rubis occidentalis), and dogwood (white berries). Heading south and east, we next entered the wooded areas of the preserve. Among the trees we found there were elm, walnut, red maple, shagbark hickory, white oak, burr oak, and hawthorn. The hawthorn evolved long thorns to keep deer away. There were also ash and elm trees present, but many were either dying or dead. Many of the ash trees contained the characteristic "D" shaped exit holes of the ash borer beetle. Field trip leader Larry Nooden pointed out an area that was formerly an oak savanna, evidenced by what he termed a "wolf tree," a huge white oak (possibly as old as 250 years) with low branches that took up much space. He told us that this was a pre settlement woods that could date back 1,000 years. At the end of our "official" tour of the preserve, several of us headed over to the east side to check out the former site of Handler drain. We found the drain dry, but located an embankment that marked its course. The presence of cattails and Phragmites gave evidence that the drain site had recently been a wetland. Several of us who took this side trip, took what we perceived to be the most direct route to the main path out of the preserve, only to get lost in thick shrubs. We did not get back to the parking lot until 1PM, just as the public tours were beginning! Nooden informed us of some of the problems associated with the development and management of the Humbug Marsh preserve. Much of the preserve is plagued with invasives such as Buckthorn, Japanese Honeysuckle, Multiflora rose, and knapweed. Another problem is that, for a long time, Humbug Marsh has been a "traditional" hunting area for local residents, in spite of the fact that it is in an urban area and thus illegal to hunt in the preserve. There are differences of opinion about how to deal with various problems concerning the development of the preserve. According to Nooden, Native Americans who lived in the area before Europeans moved in formerly burned the area. Although resuming regular burns would be the most effective way of controlling invasives, the preserve's location in a populated area presents some problems with this method. Another conflict concerns the management of downed trees in the preserve: The local people want the downed trees removed, while others-the members of environmental groups, in particular-don't want them to be removed. Larry Nooden told us that there is also disagreement on where to run the "lake to lake" trail, which is proposed to run through the preserve. Some parties want the trail to run along the shore, on the east side of the preserve, while others would prefer the trail to run through the woods. Currently the preserve proper can only be accessed through a break in the chain link fence that surrounds the property. While having the trail run through the woods would enable more people to enjoy the preserve, it would also run the risk of environmental damage by the increased number of people that would be entering the preserve by the trail-especially if the trail was run through environmentally sensitive areas. Humbug Marsh Preserve, in its present state, is yet a "diamond in the rough." However, it is filled with interesting species of plant life, both common and uncommon, in a wide variety of habitats. Moreover, with its natural wetland and undeveloped upland habitat, Humbug Marsh Preserve is a rarity, as 97% of the coastal wetlands along the Detroit River have succumbed to development. It is an excellent place for education and research. It is also a place in the midst of an industrialized urban area where people can come to enjoy nature in a relatively unspoiled state. By Dorothy Holden ROYAL OAK NATURE SOCIETY MEETINGS “Local Amphibian Conservation in Progress” - Saving the Blanchard’s Cricket Frog and other Species for the Future Wednesday February 1, 7:30 p.m. at the Royal Oak Senior/Community Center. Edythe Sonntag, Senior Zookeeper at the Detroit Zoological Institute's National Amphibian Conservation Center, is presenting a program about the once common Blanchard’s Cricket Frog. It has declined to only two populations in southeastern Michigan in the last 10-15 years. The reason for this decline are many, but mostly related to a lack of appropriate habitat. With the support of the Detroit Zoo, graduate students are trying to answer some of the questions related to the natural history of this species. Translocating the frog from a rescue site tonew locations in hopes of establishing new populations has allowed us to study habitat choice and behavior of this Michigan species of special concern. There is no pre-registration and the program is free. For further information, please call the Royal Oak Nature Society at 248-246-3380.
Winter Nature Walk: Looking at patterns (botanical-geography) of the plant communities to see what they can show us. Saturday February 4, 2:00 p.m. at Cummingston Park in Royal Oak (Torquay & Leafdale) We will be marking blue beech trees with surveyor tape. This will make it possible to look though the park and see the boundaries between the swamp forest and the upland forest. Meet at the park. There is no pre-registration and the walk is free. For further information, please call 248-246-3380.
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