by John Besser, Nature Areas Committee

After a very productive year, the Nature Areas Committee hopes to maintain momentum toward our objectives at our three Nature Areas: Columbia Audubon Nature Sanctuary (CANS), Wild Haven Nature Area, and Albert Wildlife Area.

Our strategy will be to identify high priority projects for each nature area and schedule monthly work days throughout the year. We hope to announce a work day in each month’s CHAT for the third Saturday of that month. The work will be planned by the Area Managers: Bill Mees (CANS), David Neely (Wild Haven), and Eric Seaman (Albert) — and myself. We will have the able assistance of our part-time contractor, Davyn Orcutt, whose contract was extended after a successful stint last spring.

We hope that CAS members will look for opportunities to join us for one or more of the work days. We  have discussed a wide variety of projects, and we hope that some of them will suit your interests and abilities.

Here’s our tentative list of projects

Spray Sericea Lespedeza at CANS (Aug 9)

Wild Haven trail and fire line maintenance (Sept 13)

Clear entrance trail at Albert Area (Oct 18; pending)

Assist Contractor with establishing file lines at CANS (Nov; date TBD)

Contractor burns west prairie at CANS (Dec; date TBD)

Burn brush piles at Wild Haven (Jan 17)

Replace supports on Picnic shelter at Wild Haven (Feb 21)

Remove Honeysuckle from CANS west prairie (Mar 21)

Plant MDC seedlings at Wild Haven (Apr 21)

Clean up Astronomy Area at Wild Haven (May 19)

Please look for final work day announcements in the upcoming volumes of the CHAT and contact me (jbesser1@gmail.com) or the area managers if you can help.