Planting Trees

On Saturday, under the threat of the “Snowmageddon 2019”, about 5 five volunteers made their way to Devil’s Lake State Park to plant trees in the park’s Northern Lights Campground.

Anyone who’s driven through Devil’s Lake recently has seen the amazing number of trees that have been cut in the picnic areas and campgrounds. The reason is because of an invasion of Emerald Ash Borer. Originally from Asia, the emerald ash borer (EAB) was first discovered in 2002. It is believed to have been brought into the US in wooden packing materials from China. The bright metallic-green beetle lays it’s eggs in ash trees and the larvae bore into the ash tree to feed under the bark. The trees eventually die. The only real solution is to cut down the trees that become brittle and dangerous. Which is why the park is full of downed wood.

Frankly, there simply aren’t enough staff to remove all of the downed trees, let alone pick up all the debris before the summer season. It will take a Herculean effort just to make sure all of the campsites are cleared before they are scheduled to open. So when the park put out a call for volunteers to help plant new trees it was great to see even a few folks show up in spite of the threat of 4-7 inches of snow.

Many Hands

Now, I’m happy to be the one to say it, we need more hands-on type people willing to volunteer at the park. Over the last few years outside groups have begun to come in, and that’s fantastic! Folks from organizations like NatureWorks LLC are working monthly and other groups come in semi-annually as well. All hands are needed and right now, it’s the outside groups that have been answering the call and providing most of the muscle.

In my opinion what the park could really use is an active pool of local volunteers that can put “many hands” on the trails, help clear and spiffy up campgrounds, cut wood, paint buildings & picnic tables, and all the rest on a more regular basis. Imagine what could be accomplished with 25 people or 50 or 100 even once a month! It goes without saying that they also need the official OK, and support to get the work done. If you’d like to help in the future, I’d recommend filling out this form at the Friends of Devil’s Lake State Park’s website. Let them know what you care about. I’m sure they will be happy to organize some projects!

Again, thanks to everyone who showed up to plant trees. Your efforts are appreciated.

Planting Trees

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