Past Prairie Smoke Member Activities and Reports
Prairie Smoke Whitewater River Restoration Walk 2023
On Wednesday October 12 Prairie Smoke members were treated to a tour of a section of the Whitewater River that was restored by Trout Unlimited. The tour was arranged and conducted jointly by TU members John Weiss and Dustin Hoffman. Members braved a brisk and windy evening to view the impressive changes made along the river to reverse the effects of erosion and restore habitat along the stream using native plantings. This restoration has created excellent habitat for the trout and other inhabitants of the stream environment.
Prairie Smoke Picnic 2023
On Sunday October 9th we held the annual Prairie Smoke picnic on a beautiful afternoon at Chester Woods park where we debuted the new Prairie Smoke banner. The 15+ members who attended found plenty of food, new activities, stimulating discussions and most went home with new prairie plants or seeds shared by the group. Overall, a great success! Thanks to everyone who took time from their weekend to come together and celebrate our commitment to native plants and prairies.
Post Bulletin Newspaper article about Prairie Smoke member
On August 13th, 2022, the Post Bulletin published an article about Ed and Cindi Pfannkoch restoring 9 acres of prairie on their 100 acre property.
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If you have a subscription to the Post Bulletin, click on this link to see the Northland Outdoors article by John Weiss.
​​Prairie Smoke Fish Hatchery Tour
On Saturday January 8th, 2022, members of Prairie Smoke and guests enjoyed a guided tour of the Peterson State Fish Hatchery given by Ryan Wierzba, a Fisheries Specialist at the hatchery. We learned about the economy of raising fish in southern Minnesota, where there are reliable sources of high quality spring water. The water is tested as it enters the hatchery, treated to adjust dissolved gases and optimize the temperature for the fish, and treated again as it leaves the hatchery to remove fish waste and assure the water is clean as it flows into the nearby river. The Peterson Hatchery raises lake trout, brook trout, and the hybrid splake trout. The lake trout and splake are shipped to lakes in northern Minnesota to enhance fishing opportunities and native populations of trout. The brook trout strain maintains the genetic integrity of the native Minnesota brook trout, for stocking in southeastern Minnesota.
Our tour started in the visitors center, then proceeded into the dimly lit main room where literally hundreds of thousands of newly-hatched trout (called fry) in circular holding tanks are fed hourly. There the fish grow over the coming weeks or months until they reach a size needed for their next move. Some species are stocked in remote lakes by helicopter as small fingerlings. Others are moved outside to large holding pools where they grow larger before being transported by truck and stocked into area lakes and streams. We then moved outside to the large, covered holding pools holding the larger fish. The covers protect the fish from predators and maintain a low light environment beneficial to the fish. The tour concluded at the waste collecting "settling tanks" which are pumped about every two years and the waste treated at a commercial treatment site.
Call the hatchery if you're interested in a guided tour. Alternatively, the hatchery has a wonderful visitor's center that is normally open for self-guided tours May 1 through October when the surrounding native plantings are in bloom.
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Prairie Smoke Picnic 2021
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On Sunday October 3rd, 2021 we held the first Prairie Smoke picnic since the Covid-19 pandemic shut down most of our activities. The 30+ members (plus one well-behaved dog!) who attended found plenty of food, new activities, stimulating discussions and most went home with new prairie plants or seeds shared by the group. Overall, a great success! Thanks to everyone who took time from their weekend to come together and celebrate our commitment to native plants and prairies.
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Here are a few highlights from the picnic:
The tour of the native seed processing facility at Chester woods hosted by Patty and John Trnka was well attended by members full of questions about seed collecting. The informative displays and volume and diversity of the collected seeds was inspiring, and the knowledge Patty and John shared was tremendously helpful to anyone wanting to collect their own seeds. Patty highlighted the book "The Prairie in Seed" (listed in the suggested reading section of the PS website) as a great reference to get started with seed collecting.
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One question that came up that elicited several opinions (but no authoritative answers) was whether one should spread new seed varieties on an established prairie the winter before a planned spring burn, or will the seed be killed by the burn. Opinions were that frost seeding provides natural stratification and should tend to work the seeds into the ground where they will be protected during the burn, but if anyone has experience with this we'd love to hear from you.
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The informal seed exchange appeared to be a highlight of the picnic, with the group choosing to delay eating to let the seed-selection chaos start! Quite frankly, we were flabbergasted by the number of members who brought significant amounts of diverse native seeds to share. Awesome!
This kind of seed exchange between members is a real benefit to help increase the diversity of your prairie planting. Whether you are looking to include new plants in a smaller area or "try before you buy" new species for a larger field it was great to have access to seeds from fellow members. One member has offered to let Prairie Smoke members come to his property near the Iowa border to dig Giant Prairie Sage or Giant Prairie Sunflower. If you are interested email prairiesmokemn.org and we'll put you in touch.
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Another question that came up is whether it is legal to collect small amounts of native seed from any public land in Minnesota. We know it is not allowed in state parks (permits may be possible) or Scientific and Natural Areas (SNAS), but what about state forests, wildlife management areas, road ditches or municipal lands? We are currently researching this through the MN DNR and hope to provide answers and guidelines for our members in the future.
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Once the seed selecting frenzy died down everyone found plenty of food and good conversation for the rest of the afternoon. This opportunity to share ideas with other members face-to-face has been sorely missed over the past year, so this was definitely another highlight of the day. We were particularly excited to see the number of new faces and younger folks attending. That bodes well for our prairies in this area!
Three conversations that stood out for me include:
Members who are trying to generate interest in their neighborhood to reclaim adjacent public land from the invasive species and replace with native prairie plants.
Members are working to establish native woody plants on their property but fighting ongoing battles with the deer browsing them down. Using Irish Spring soap to repel the deer seems to help, but woodpeckers attack the whole bars....it is better to spread shavings around the plants?
Members near St. Charles MN are planning a burn next spring on a 20 acre field that looks like a good opportunity for members who want to observe a burn from an easy to access dirt road adjacent to the field. We will share more info about that opportunity next year.
Thanks to the PS Board, VP Barb Nigon (and husband Walt), Ryan Kemmerick, Susan Powers, Ruthann Yaeger and Chuck Kernler without whom this event would not have been possible. And thanks to all the members who attended and made this such a success!
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Ed Pfannkoch
President, Prairie Smoke
Seed Exchange 2021​
As part of the Annual Picnic this year, there was a seed swap which was a huge success with significant amounts of diverse native seeds to share. Many members are working on projects to replace invasive species with native prairie plants. This kind of seed exchange between members is a real benefit to help increase the diversity of your prairie planting. Whether you are looking to include new plants in a smaller area or "try before you buy" new species for a larger field it was great to have access to seeds from fellow members.​
Giant Prairie Sage and Giant Prairie Sunflower seeds available to members​
One member has offered to let Prairie Smoke members come to his property near the Iowa border to dig Giant Prairie Sage or Giant Prairie Sunflower. If you are interested, please email prairiesmokemn.org and we'll put you in touch.​
Some of the seeds swap items submitted
National Public Lands Day 2020
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In these days of social distancing PS has not been able to offer our usual field trips. But National Public Lands Day (Sept 26th) presented us with an opportunity to safely get out with others and do some good while following COVID guidelines.
Prairie Smoke has been the caretaker of a small Rochester city park called Thompson Mill Race since 2012. This strip of parkland is bordered by paved walkways and lies along Cascade Creek in the heart of the city. It was donated to the city in 1987 by the Robert Thompson family in 1987 as part of the flood control project. It was a mill at one time, but it hasn’t been used in decades. The mill building was restored in 1995 and the area planted to non-native grasses.
In 2011 Prairie Smoke board members Dawn Littleton and Ruthann Yaeger approached the City Park & Rec division to see if they would allow us to plant small section of the area to native forbs and grasses as a sort of “pocket” prairie. It took some convincing, but we soon got permission to have at it! Joel Dunnette and others donated seed and plants and we also got other local native seeds and plants. With the help of the city and several board members including Barb and Walt Nigon we cleared the area and planted over 14 species of forbs and grasses.
This year, it had suffered from lack of care during the lockdown and subsequent restrictions and become severely overgrown with crown vetch, giant ragweed and other aggressive plants. So on NPLD we gathered 11 members and cleared out many large bags of invasives. We also overseeded with more natives. It was good to get out and talk to other people who love prairies – we will be safely maintaining the progress we made, whatever the virus throws at us next year!
September 26, 2020: Pocket Prairie Maintenance
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Volunteers continued to work on removal of invasive species and overgrown native species to preserve a small urban pocket prairie called Thompson Mill Race park in downtown Rochester, MN.
It is good to get out and talk to other people who love prairies – maintaining the progress we made on National Public Lands Day.
The park is located on the west side of Cascade Creek near the old 3rd Ave NW Crenlo plant. The pocket prairie is on the footpath south of the 13th Street bridge.
August 13, 2016: Field trip to Shooting Star Nursery
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Field Trip to Shooting Star prairie plants nursery in Spring Grove, MN. There were 13 participants lead by Mark Udstuen, Sales Manager; and Jesse Strinmoen, Marketing and Public Relations director.
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Photos provided by Sandy Hokanson.
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October 8, 2015: Prescribed Burn Class at Quarry Hill Nature Center
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We had 15 attendees, plus Jaime and myself as presenters. Jaime Edwards did the teaching. Dave Edwards provided an update on our new independent status, and got new members to join and current members to renew their memberships.
Of the 15 attendees, 10 were from Rochester, 2 from Pine Island, 1 from Oronoco, 1 from Grand Meadow, and 1 from Mantorville. Next time we hold the class, we should hold it in a different town so we can reach outside of our local area. We've held the class in different places over the years (Chatfield and Winona for example), which has been a great way for us to get new members outside of Rochester.
We got 6 new memberships from the class, and 7 other people whose memberships were expired renewed on that night.
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September 27, 2015: Annual Fall Picnic at Whitewater State Park
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It was a perfect Fall day. The event began with a seed collection foray lead by Joel Dunnette, followed by a picnic, a brief meeting, and spreading the collected seed.
May 11, 2013: Pekin's Bluff Prairie near Houston
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You never do know what you will find on one of our field trips. Our chapter member, and bug expert, MJ Hatfield sent us this announcement recently. http://bugguide.net/node/view/897842/bgimage
On the Prairie Smoke spring field trip, May 11, 2013, to Pekin's Bluff Prairie near Houston, (Scott Leddy, field trip leader), we collected larvae of Sympistis forbesi, a new species, feeding on Triosteum perfoliatum."A new cryptic Sympistis from eastern North America revealed by novel larval phenotype and host plant association (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae, Oncocnemidinae)" was published in Issue 379 of ZooKeys, http://www.pensoft.net/journals/zookeys/article/5765/abstract/a-new-cryptic-sympistis-from-eastern-north-america-revealed-by-novel-larval-phenotype-and-host-plant-association-lepidop, doi: 10.3897/zookeys.379.5765. Pekin's Bluff is included in the publication.
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November 2, 2013 Buckthorn Education and Control Class
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November 2nd was a beautiful fall day, the kind of day that is perfect for doing most anything in the woods of Southeast Minnesota. Twenty eight learners, including eighteen members of the Prairie Smoke Chapter, took advantage of the weather to get an introductory education on buckthorn. Greg Lamp, a Prairie Smoke member from Grand Meadow, Minnesota, led three hours of classroom learning and in the field demonstrations as a Community Education class.
The classroom portion provided participants with a fairly comprehensive introduction to buckthorn. The devastation it is bringing to the woods of the Midwest was reviewed. Attendees learned the history of how this plant was introduced, and participated in discussions on identifying buckthorn and how to distinguish it from other native trees. Then buckthorn control methods were reviewed, and considerations to make when choosing a control method, as well as pros and cons. The classroom session ended with a reminder that an individual really needs a passion for the effort to tackle a buckthorn infestation. That passion comes from knowing you have done what it takes to keep your woodland healthy and viable for another hundred years!
The field part of the class was held a few miles east of Grand Meadow at Greg's home. Twenty acres of woods have needed buckthorn removal work for each of the past eight years. The field demonstrations provided folks with visual results of the various stages in a progressive control project. As a reference for the participants, a walk to the neighbor's property line showed the untreated buckthorn infestation and provided an appreciation for the transformation taking place in the woods. Demonstrations were performed for control methods used on this project, as well as some control methods not used on this project so folks could consider them all as they make decisions for their own property.
Over the last couple years, a great deal of progress has been made in controlling the buckthorn on this property. While there's certainly more work to be done, it's already getting easy to see the fruits of this labor and what keeps the passion strong!
Please visit the following link to the Prairie Smoke web site to learn a bit more about buckthorn: http://www.theprairieenthusiasts.org/chapter/smoke/buckthorn.htm
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February 24, 2013: Prairie Smoke Annual Winter Get-Together and Meeting
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We had a great turnout at our winter meeting, as 37 people gathered at the Chatfield Library to hear Scott Leddy from Meadowlark Restorations give a very informative presentation on remnant bluff prairies, oak savannas, and their ongoing restoration in Fillmore and Houston Counties. After the presentation, we socialized and enjoyed a great lunch prepared by our chapter president, Barb Nigon.
Fall 2012: Chester Woods Park Field Trip/Meeting
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Nice weather greeted the 27 people who showed up to our fall get together at Chester Woods Park in Eyota. TPE Executive Director Chris Kirkpatrick spoke to the chapter about his plans for the organization, Joel Dunnette lead us on a hike through the park, and then enjoyed a nice lunch and some time socializing. It was great to see a couple members of the Many Rivers Chapter (the other Minnesota TPE chapter) at our event.
March 13, 2012: Burn Equipment Check
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Fourteen Prairie Smoke members showed up to our March meeting and prescribed burning equipment check. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the 60s. We spent the afternoon testing and repairing all of our burn equipment, in order to be prepared for the upcoming prescribed burning season. Afterwards, we had a meal together and a brief meeting. It was mentioned in the meeting for everyone to be very careful this burn season, as it has been dry and windy.
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January 29, 2012: Prairie Smoke Annual Winter Meeting
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More than 30 people showed up to the Prairie Smoke Winter Meeting on Sunday, January 29th at the Chatfield Public Library. After a brief meeting, officers were elected for the upcoming year, and then Jacob Ryg, Rochester City Forester, spoke about Rochester's Urban Prairie Program, its history, and management plan. Everyone also enjoyed food and beverage prepared by Prairie Smoke President Barb Nigon. Our next all-member get together will be in the summer. Hope to see you there!
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January 15, 2012: Crystal Spring Fish Hatchery Tour
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The Prairie Smoke Chapter of The Prairie Enthusiasts enjoyed a tour of the Crystal Springs State Fish Hatchery on January 15th. The main emphasis of the tour was on water quality and the basics of fish production. Forty five lucky people got to see the whole process from the trays of eggs to the huge breeder trout. We saw how the eggs are graded and sorted, how the fry are fed and learned how tricky it can be to raise quality fish. The hatchery has native plantings to control erosion and reduce maintenance costs. This is important because the various species of trout raised there are dependent on good water quality before and after release.
Winter is a good time to tour, as eggs are hatching and fish are going on feed. This opportunity was a very special one, as the hatchery is not open weekends, except by appointment. We thank our board member and hatchery volunteer Chuck Kernler for being our tour guide and sharing with us the fascinating world of raising fish. He was patient, insightful and very knowledgeable. A great trip!
September 3, 2011: Field Trip to Aldo Leopold Reserve and Shack
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The Prairie Smoke Chapter hosted a field trip to the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center in Baraboo, Wisconsin, on September 3, 2011. Members from three states attended! The group had a guided tour of "the Shack", the river edge, and the prairie restoration on the grounds. After the tour, lunch was shared in the "green" Visitor Center, which held memorabilia of Aldo Leopold, his family and his land ethic legacy. The finale included a bit of invasive removal from the prairie planting near the Center. Those attending were: John Harford, Dawn/Brian Littleton, Vlad/Bonnie Sokolov, Suzanne/Dale Rohlfing from Minnesota; Jan Ketelle from Wisconsin; and Doug Hancock from Illinois.
August 15, 2009: Shooting Star and Annual Picnic
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This gathering started at Shooting Star Native Seeds and ended at Walt and Barb Nigon's cabin near Spring Grove. In between, there was fascinating information about a commercial native seed operation, a chance to take a little native seed home, a view of fields of grasses and blazing star (to mention just a few), some terrific food, and great fun.
​Thanks has to go to Walt and Barb Nigon for orchestrating another successful Prairie Smoke event. The day started at Shooting Star Native Seeds. (Check out the Shooting Star Website) Walt and Barb have a beautiful spot not far from Spring Grove complete with several grills and reestablished prairie plots. More than 30 people shared talk of birds, bugs, and prairie while enjoying Walt and Barb's hospitality. It was another fun and successful Prairie Smoke outing.
July 12, 2009: Weaver Dunes
Weaver Dunes is a large and unusual tract of sand prairie near the Weaver Bottoms on the Mississippi River. On July 12, 2009 Rich Biske of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) led a group of 3 Prairie Smoke members and two other visitors on a tour of some of the preserve owned by TNC.
We first visited part of the 120 acres that had been burned in fall 2008 following brush and tree removal. Those activities have opened up areas and released many prairie plants from shade. And now in some places you can see from higher dunes all the way to the Mississippi River. Then we walked through a 30 acre area of that had been planted to prairie in 2003. There is good growth of native grasses, with a scattering of forbs. This former cropland is relatively level, having none of the rolling nature of the rest of the dunes. We continued into more pristine areas, with considerable rolling dune structure, and diverse native flowers and grasses. While in this central and NE area we found plants and animals unique to sand prairie. Although seldom found elsewhere, Goatsrue and Silky Prairie Clover are common at the dunes. And we got lucky and found Rough-seeded Fameflower, in bloom!
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Each pretty pink flower of this little beauty opens for one day only and strictly in the afternoon. Besides the varied flowers, we saw many damselflies and dragonflies - most notably Halloween Pennants festooning many tall stems. The most abundant and visible butterfly was the Regal Fritillary. This butterfly is endangered in the eastern US, but common in the west. Regals are not found many other places in SE MN, but are common in season at the dunes. We even found a mating pair and got excellent photos!
Although it was late afternoon, we still found several interesting grassland birds - both Meadowlarks, Grasshopper Sparrows, and we even flushed a Short-eared Owl! TNC's Weaver Dunes is 592 acres, but they recently acquired an additional 175 acre tract to the south which includes over 4000 feet of waterfront on the Weaver Bottoms. We hope this will be a big benefit to the many turtles that use the dunes for egg-laying. But 100 acres of this new tract are in row crops, and will need to be restored to prairie. This is where you and I can help. TNC will mechanically collect some of the major grasses, but seed for many of the diverse forbs must be collected by hand. The turtles may not care, but insects and birds and snakes and even people will really appreciate having new areas be diverse prairie resembling the best of the dunes.
You can enjoy a few hours at the dunes, help with this seed collection, and help ensure that the new areas are diverse, and attractive not only to people but to many kinds of wildlife. Sessions for collection are held a couple times a month in summer and fall.
For more information on Weaver Dunes, including directions, see:
http://www.nature.org/wherewework/northamerica/states/minnesota/preserves/art88.html
For information contact Mike Schlasner at schlasner@usfamily.net or (507) 289-3959.
Vendetta Against Buckthorn
Reprinted with permission from Post Bulletin article for 12/28/2006. Written by staff writer John Weiss.
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GRAND MEADOW - Greg Lamp leads a quick tour through the woods behind his house. Look at this tree, he says. He reaches out and snaps off a twig. It's brittle. Any Boy Scout knows that's how you can tell a live tree from a dead one; live twigs bend, dead ones snap off. Lamp moves further into his woods between Grand Meadow and Spring Valley. He snaps off more twigs. All are dead. The trees would make great tinder for a fire. Lamp is clearly thrilled.
His one-man crusade to control buckthorn, a shrub with pretty green leaves and an ugly habit of crowding out native trees, is clearly working. He has a vendetta against buckthorn. He hates it, spends many hours fighting it and is trying to get others to join in his struggle.
His New Year's resolution last year was to get more active in killing buckthorn. That will be his resolution again this year and for at least two more years.
With the help of a special sprayer, chemicals and a lot of work, he hopes to control buckthorn on his 31 acres. It's his way of doing something for the outdoors, and to preserve the biological integrity of one of the many small woodlots that dot this region. "It's a very, very rare individual who has a grove that doesn't have any buckthorn on it," Lamp said.
His research shows it's an ornamental bush brought to this country in the 1850s that is now listed as a noxious weed. It takes over oak or maple forests, invades prairies and dominates the understory where young oaks and maples grow, not letting other trees grow. To kill it, he found a special sprayer to apply a chemical that penetrates the bark and gets into the roots, killing the plant. He's getting good at it, but he has plenty to practice on. He figures there are 4,000 to 9,000 buckthorns per acre on his land alone.
The magnitude makes his passion daunting, he said. That's why he keeps his head down when spraying, looking only at trees near his feet. If he looked up and saw how many more infest the woods, "You would say 'My gosh, I'll never get this sprayed,'" he said. If Lamp gets frustrated, he just goes back to where he sprayed in the past few years and sees all the dead buckthorn, brittle, some already toppled. Then he goes back to spraying.
Lamp hopes others begin seeing the problems, maybe doing their little bit to preserve the old woodlots that are such a part of the rural landscape. Not everyone gets so worked up, he admits. "You have to pick your passion," he said.
Here is a link to Greg's important article: Buckthorn: A Battle Worth Fighting