Updates more "from the records"

Updated the records from Nov 2006 through April 2007.

'Electronic' fishing is rapidly becoming surest way to find fish

Waaay back 1977, the Lakeland Ledger (Lakeland, FL) printed up a story about the new-fangled technology of using electronic gizmos to find fish. In this case, sonar units:

Sonar units are essential to locating most of the concentration points for fish... if you intend to do it in less than a lifetime!

What does this have to do with Saginaw Forest, though? Well, the article closes with a citation of a study that looked at dispersal of bluegill released in Third Sister Lake:

This inclination [of bluegill] not to wander [that was proposed by an Indiana study] was confirmed in another study on Third Sister Lake in Michigan. Of 27 bluegills marked, released, and later caught 12 had not moved at all and 15 had traveled less than 125 feet from their point of capture. Bluegills are just homebodies, it seems.

I can't speak to the methodology of the study (such as how did they track the fish, how did they account for bathymetry, what was their time interval between release and recapture, was Third Sister Lake effectively cut off hydrologically (when the lake level is low, almost no water flows west through the wetlands and into the adjacent property's pond), etc), but it's interesting to note that people had been doing fish behavior observational studies on Third Sister Lake. Perhaps more can be done in the future.

More snow

It appears that we are settling into winter. (Finally.) Snow is on the ground, and it's still below freezing (if only just) at 10 am. The roadway will soon have to be plowed, since (even with solar heating in sections) it will remain too cold to retain enough heat to melt whatever falls on top of it. Currently, this is the only reason why the main road remains uncovered: it was just warm enough to melt the snow as it fell.


Currently waiting for a response from Plant Operations to determine when they'll be coming out to the forest to repair the thermostat in the heater.

Updating past log entries

The caretaker log entries from October 2006 have been included on the blog.

Parking at Saginaw Forest (the short version)

THE RULE:

There is no public parking at the facility.

SOLUTION:

Go to Westview Way and park on the street.

EXCEPTIONS:

There are no exceptions to the rule. Those who have a gate key or are part of an official event are considered to be on official business and may park at the designated parking place(s) at the cabin.

If researchers (or instructors) can park their vehicle(s) in such a way so as to permit other vehicles to pass, then they don't have to park their vehicle(s) at the cabin.

Even if you are doing research in the facility, you still cannot park at the gate. (NO PARKING means NO PARKING.)

CONTACTING U OF M DPS:
If you would like to report a person who is parking illegally, please call the University of Michigan Department of Public Safety at (734) 763-1131.

Thank you. 

Minor groundskeeping Monday

The forecast for this week seemed to show that today would be the last day -- in the near future - that would be above freezing, and with all the snow melted (and a light drizzle), I decided to take the opportunity to do some small amount of groundskeeping.

I raked the leaves along the trail that that heads north along the creek. LOTS of leaves were piling up, making dirt over the gravel. This causes a slippery path, and also obscures the width of the path itself. I raked up to where the path turns almost due east; up to where there's a small pipe that goes under the path. I raked out all the leaves from the drainage area "uphill" of the pipe. (I had excavated that opening last spring when all the rain and snowmelt started to run down the pathway, eroding it.) Keeping that pipe open is an important part of maintaining that section of trail. (Too, raking away the leaves will diminish the amount of soil accumulation on that section of path.)

I cut away a tree that had fallen into the creek just upstream of the last remaining weir. Had the tree merely straddled the creek, I wouldn't have bothered, but it was lying in the creek bed, forcing a localized scour, which -- when the inevitable snowmelt and rains were to come -- could cause the start of some bad erosion on that section. I also pulled away a lot of the accumulated leaf litter downstream of the weir's spashpool. They had been crammed into the crevasses between the small boulders and driftwood that had been pushed downstream by past floodings. My hand also found a nail (ouch) in among it all. Hopefully, the amount that I removed will facilitate the water flow so that it won't all be concentrated at one small point. Still, because my hand found the nail, I had to cut the work short. (I hope that tetanus shot was a good one!)

S.Jones also came out to pick up some brick pavers in his truck. He also took a look at the soil buildup on the north side of the cabin. He agreed with my concern that leaving the soil accumulation alone would not be a good long-term strategy, and commented that it would be a small project to have a team come out, remove some small trees, regrade the slope, and install a collector drain to move the water that is in the ground away from the cabin. What's more, his plan seems to minimize the amount of construction (and maintenance of that construction) that would be needed. Which I think would be a good thing for future caretakers.

Finishing up the boardwalk

Speaking with some of the project contractors, it presently looks like there will be an addition of a rail along the section of boardwalk that goes over open water. This will conform with ADA regulations. Hopefully, it will also tie in aesthetically.

Also, it looks like gravel will not be put down until the spring - unless there is a major snow-melt and dry-out (while staying above freezing) before then. Therefore, I'll likely have to make up some signage along the lines of, "Pathway unfinished; proceed at your own risk." Or something.