Beautful Fall Color along the Horse Trails

Last week, Debbie Miller rode her horse and carried her camera along the trails in the Lick Creek Unit of Shimek State Forest.  Below are some of her photos taken that day.  Its really too bad if you did not see it in person!  Aren't the colors awesome?

New Horse Shelter Open

New Horse Shelter Open

Ready to use. (Photo by Bonnie Moothart.) 

 

The new horse shelter in the Lower Campground at the Lick Creek Unit of Shimek State Forest is now open for use. Friends of Shimek volunteers met on October 19^th for a Group Work Day at which the top priority was building the stall walls. This was followed by a work day on November 1^st to hang the gates, put in blocks on which to to sit the gates and add chains to fasten them. In addition, braces were added to the middle of each stall wall separating the two sides of the shelter. There are eight stalls in the shelter. As has always been the case, there is no charge to use the stalls. However, users are expected to clean up the stalls after they use them—haul the manure and bedding to the manure bunkers located nearby. Wheelbarrows are provided, but you do need to bring your own manure fork for cleaning up the stalls---just as you should for cleaning up around the tie rails. When not using a stall, please return the gates to the fastened position, sitting on their blocks with the chain tied. This will help protect the gates from damage.

The horse shelter was made possible with a $4,000 grant from the Lee County Charitable Fund with the rest of the cost and the labor to install stall walls and gates provided by the Friends of Shimek volunteers. The DNR Shimek Forest crew and Friends of Shimek volunteers took down the old shelter earlier this year. The DNR provided the lime chips for the stall floors and Forester John Byrd spread them in the building. Oversight of the bid process was provided by Friends of Shimek board member Ringo Covert. The entire project was under the direction of Forester John Byrd.

There are two additional horse shelters at the campgrounds that were built over 25 years ago and have already had to have their roofs removed for safety. Both are deteriorating and need to be replaced. Anyone who can assist with this goal can send a donation to Lee County Bank, c/o Debbie Miller, FOS Treasurer, 2501 Avenue L, Ft. Madison, IA 52627.

Photos documenting the volunteers at work were made by Bonnie Moothart, Lala O'Hara and Lora Conrad.  Photos documenting the October 19th Group Work Day are included in the post dated October 20, 2013---the one just before this one.

Bonnie Moothart documented the installing of gates and braces on November 1st --with her ingenuity in using a wheelbarrow as a tripod, after completing the work, the entire crew posed for the photo below. For photos of all the action that day, see Bonnie's facebook page slide show at 

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10200932446374036.1073741871.1252018229&type=1&l=ec85723595

Pictured left to right are Bob and Marsha Achenbach, Lora and Ray Conrad, Doug and Bonnie Moothart ..the “Hanging Crew”--standing in front of the completed shelter.

This project was possible only because of funding provided through the Lee County Charitable Fund and the guidance and assistance of Forester John Byrd. Our appreciation and thanks are extended to both. To learn more about the Fund, see www.leecountycharitablefund.org

Congratulations to all the Friends of Shimek volunteers and donors that have contributed time, hard work and/or money to help complete this project. Obtaining funding and then completing the project as planned, on time and within budget gives us a track record for seeking future funding. 

October 19, 2013 Work Day Report

 Friends of Shimek Work Day October 19, 2013

Sixteen Friends of Shimek met at the lower campground in the early hours of  the chilly Saturday morning October 19 to tackle several jobs---the biggest of which was to put up the walls for the stalls in the new horse shelter.  Other jobs completed including painting the outside of both restroom facilities at the upper campground--this was done by Pam Larson and Sheri  Seggerman.  Ann Bennett cleaned up the upper campground.  Several firepits had been used for trash and two campsites had been left so messy that she had to load and haul away 8 loads of bedding and manure.  Marsha Achenbach cleaned up around the lower campground and sorted the mountain of cans to recycle, with help from others later.  Neal Hartman, Lala O'Hara, Jerry Dale Hartman, and Debbie Miller spent the morning clearing downed trees from trails.

Ray and Lora Conrad, Bob Achenbach, David Featherstun, Nancy Grams, Bill Smith, Brian and Jewel McDonald all worked all morning on the horse shelter stall walls.  In the afternoon, Pam, Debbie and Marsha joined the crew on the shelter stall walls.  Workers left as their schedule required with Bob, Marsha, David, Jewel and Brian finishing up about 3:30PM.

All together, a total of 124.5 hours were donated to help improve the equestrian facilities at Shimek State Forest.  Thanks very much to everyone who came--one volunteer was from Anchorage, Alaska, two were from Elgin, Illinois and others drove from Iowa City and Columbus Junction.

The photos below document some of the activities of the day.

 Jewel McDonald, drill in hand, waits to complete a hole through the post and board.









Bob Achenbach, saw in hand, Brian McDonald, holding his drill, watch Nancy Grams cut a countersink hole for a nut and washer.       David Featherstun is shown below checking board spacing before measuring and cutting the next board.  Boards had to be abutted carefully in the middle of the posts.     

 Pam Larson, in addition to painting one of the restroom facilities at the upper campground, also worked on the stalls.  She is shown here tightening the nut on a carriage bolt.

Ray Conrad is shown cutting off the end of the board even with the post using his small chain saw.









Bob Achenbach is shown cutting off the end of the bolt after it is tightened to be sure it does not protrude to hurt a horse.  He cut off 168 bolts!!





Bill Smith holds a board in position while the hole is drilled at the other end---rough cut 2 inch oak boards about 10 inches wide are heavy!













Debbie Miller and Brian McDonald
change out a battery and find the right drill to use.
     Several people brought tools by the pickup truck load ---  including generators, drills and bits, sockets, wrenches, skill saws, chain   saw and numerous other tools that were needed.  Also provided were 200 carriage bolts, nuts and washers that were hot-dipped galvanized to protect the bolts from rapid corrosion by the treatment used to preserve the wooden posts.

Lala O'Hara made these two photos of her team out on the trails removing downed trees.  The photo above shows Jerry Dale Hartman, Debbie Miller and Neal Hartman--ready to tackle the tree across the trails.  The next photo shows Neal and Jerry Dale hard at work removing it. 

Piles of deposit paid cans and bottles

 to recycle for the Friends of Shimek

fund-raiser.  Jewel, Marsha and Sheri are

 almost finished sorting and bagging them

 --so many that Ann could not take them

 all in one load so Jewel and Brian took a

 load to Ann's for recycling this coming week.

 

Finally--about 12:30---everyone stopped for a short lunch.  Ann is shown tending the fire to warm the chili and make the coffee.
Lora provided the lunch.  Everyone was hungry after the morning of hard work.





Friends of Shimek Volunteers are glad to help improve our trails and camping facilities.  What we are not happy to waste time doing is cleaning up after people who throw cans by the trails and leave their mess in the firepits and leave their horses' mess for others to remove.  We need your help as a person who rides in Shimek---please clean up after yourself and your horse--and let others know you expect them to do the same.  The trails and campgrounds are to be protected and enjoyed for years and years, not trashed! 

Friends of Shimek Update 10 October 9, 2013

New Horse Shelter Nearing Completion

Using a grant from the Lee County Charitable Fund and funds raised by FOS, a new horse shelter is taking shape at the lower campground---the photo shows what it looked like October 1. We'll send more when its finished and in use. As always, there will be no charge for using the shelter. However, a donation to FOS would be appreciated and applied toward other projects to improve the trails and facilities. Send to Lee County Bank, c/o Debbie Miller, FOS Treasurer, 2501 Avenue L, Ft. Madison, IA 52627 .

Iowa Outdoors Staff Ride with Friends of Shimek

Friends of Shimek working Wednesday August 21st  planned a ride on Friday morning 

with Mindy Kralicek and Clay Smith of DNR's Iowa Outdoors Magazine. Bonnie and Doug Moothart brought their reliable trail horse “Bud” for Clay to ride and Cory Craig brought her horse “Cash” for Mindy to ride. After a crash course in horsemanship from Ann Bennett and getting fitted out with helmets, both of them joined the group for a short ride along the trails out of the lower campground.    See photos below for a bit of that experience. To test to see if our horses were spooky---that must have been the reason—Clay got off Bud and then Clay clamored over into the vines by the trail and made photos as we rode by—repeatedly---lucky for us riders but maybe not for him---none of the horses spooked though they did take a good look at that strange sight—none said cheese but they might have said “treats?”

 

Mindy perches atop Cash while owner Cory Craig adjusts the stirrups.

 

DNR Photographer Clay Smith captures a shot of Ann Bennett adjusting Mindy's riding helmet to be sure it is well secured.

 

 

Down the trail we go with Clay photographing as he goes -- no small trick aboard your first horse. In front of him is Ann Bennett, then Mindy and leading the group, Marsha Achenbach, with Bonnie, Doug and Lora behind.  Photos by Lora.

 

 

All this adventuring with Friends of Shimek on our work day and out on the trails by 

Mindy and Clay has a purpose---they are working on a feature story about Shimek State Forest, with a bit about Friends of Shimek and an interview with John Byrd ---we don't know what all they will include—but we do know that Clay made hundreds of photos. Mindy said: We work about a year ahead of the publishing schedule. Look for the article in the July-Aug or Sept-Oct 2014 issue of Iowa Outdoors.

In case you have not seen it before---Iowa Outdoors is a bimonthly publication whose editorial mission is We strive to open the door to the beauty and uniqueness of Iowa's natural resources, inspire people to get outside and experience Iowa and to motivate outdoor-minded citizens to understand and care for our natural resources.

 

It costs $15 for a one year subscription. 

http://www.iowadnr.gov/Recreation/IowaOutdoorsMagazine.aspx    

 

See the website for a listing of articles in the most recent issue and some sample articles and photos from earlier issues.

August 21, 2013 Work Day Report

August 21 Work Day Report

 

There were 13 volunteers and John Byrd, Shimek Forester,  hard at work on August 21st. 

They were Bob & Marsha Achenbach, Ann Bennett, Ringo & Brenda Covert, Bonnie & Doug Moothart, Art & Judy Duke, Ray & Lora Conrad, Bob Bender and April Leahy. We put in a total of 88.5 hours of which 12 were helping put out rock for the Hoaglin grant.    Photo below by Clay Smith, DNR Photographer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ann and April painted the new doors on the upper campground facilities as well as those areas where bare wood was showing.  Photo below by Clay Smioth shows Ann Bennett hard at work painting. 

 

 

 

Ann with the help of April and Marsha collected, sorted and bagged for recycle quite a pile of Iowa deposit cans and bottles. Some were collected along the trails; some were recycled in the bins at camp, and others were brought by participants for the recycle fund-raiser.

 

Marsha spent much of the morning trimming back multi-flora and overhanging limbs along a trail section. Bob and Bob took Bob Bender's 4-wheeler and the Covert's took their 4-wheeler and removed downed trees on Marsha's list. In addition Marsha cleaned up around camp at the upper campground and Judy cleaned up and picked up cans around the lower campground.

 

Doug and Bonnie helped John put out the Hoaglin grant rock. The photo below by Bonnie shows Doug loading the dump truck with rock which they then drove out to the trail where John was preparing the trail for the rock.

 

 

 

The photo of the dump truck is by Clay Smith and shows Bonnie and Doug dumping rock along the trail as John looks on.

 

Photo below shows Lora hauling a load of hay and manure to the dump bunker. Photo by Clay Smith.

Art, Judy, and Lora raked around the hitching rails in the lower campground to clean up the hay, manure and leaves, then Ray put lime chips around each with his tractor and they raked this as smooth as possible, given the lumpy condition of the lime chips. After lunch, Ray and John put out lime chips around the rest of the hitching rails at the lower campground with the raking done by Bob Bender, Marsha and Bob Achenbach and Lora to finish putting lime chips around all hitching posts, both campgrounds, except 1.5 at the lower campground (we ran out of lime chips).

 

John and Ray then hauled lime chips and Bob, Marsha, Bob Bender and Lora all raked at the upper campground, getting chips around all that did not have any there and refurbishing several.

 

Thanks to John Byrd for organizing the work, making assignments, bringing water, tools, and paint and sticking in there with us the entire day----scooting all around on the skidsteer and hitting only one post. John not only directed our efforts but operated the skidsteer working on trails and spreading rock in the morning and after lunch used it to help Ray spread lime chips.

 

Thanks to DNR employees Jerry and Heath for making new doors to replace the two that were rotten on the restroom facilities at the Upper Campground. Thanks too to Cathy and Dean Weber who came before the group work day and pressure washed the facilities in the upper campground, preparing them for painting.

 

We were pleased to have Mindy Kralicek and Clay Smith with DNR's Iowa Outdoors magazine to join us to make photographs and interview us as part of the research and preparation they are doing for an article in Iowa Outdoors. Clay, who is a professional photographer, shared some photos with us for this issue. Thank you, Clay.

 

Come join the “fun” on our next scheduled work day – October 19^th – Saturday---8:30 AM ---at the Lower Campground. We just might be finishing up a new horse shelter that day---so stay tuned for more details.

Horse Shelter Replacement Project Status
11/1/2013  New Horse Shelter Open
 --See blog posted on 11/3/2013

9/18/2013  Construction began
The posts were installed for the first new horse shelter today.

9/7/2013  Construction contract awarded.
Bids for the construction of the first replacement shelter have been taken and the bid awarded to  Klesner Construction.  Construction should begin soon!

8/21/2013  Site prepared for construction
DNR Staff have taken down all the old posts and smoothed the surface where the new horse shelter will be built.

7/13/2013  FOS began taking down old horse shelter
FOS volunteers removed and stored gates and removed and stored stall boards that were usable from the old horse shelter.

7/15/2013  Grant  for First Replacement Horse Shelter Awarded to Friends of Shimek

      The Lee County Charitable Fund (LCCF) has notified the Friends of Shimek State Forest Equestrian Trails that they have been awarded a grant of $4,000 toward the construction of a new horse shelter in the Lower Campground of the Lick Creek Unit of Shimek State Forest. Friends of Shimek and DNR Shimek Staff will provide in-kind labor to deconstruct the dilapidated shelter that is being replaced. Friends of Shimek will raise the remaining cash to complete the construction which has been estimated at $5,800 for a roofed, 8 stall pole structure with gutters. Volunteers will construct the internal stalls and hang gates.

         Lee County Charitable Fund is a non-profit foundation established by the Community Foundation of North Lee County and the Keokuk Area Community Foundation and serves only Lee County, Iowa.  The Fund’s charitable interests include arts and culture, community betterment, education, health, and human services.

With the assistance of LCCF's grant, the Friends of Shimek volunteers and the DNR Shimek staff plan to take down the most deteriorated roofless set of stalls and have the new horse stall building in use by the end of the year.

         FOS President Ann Bennett said: “We are most appreciative of the grant from the Lee County Charitable Fund. This grant will help us provide safer, better facilities for the use of campers at Shimek. Thousands of riders use the trails each year, many camp out and need access to horse shelters. This will make camping safer for the horses and increase the attractiveness of the facility to equestrians from around the state and nearby states a well.” She went on to say: “We are in the midst of raising funds to complete this shelter and to prepare for upgrading the remaining two old shelters. We are pleased to announce that a generous, anonymous donor has awarded us $1,000 which will go toward this project.”

During the workday, a team of volunteers took down the old gates and stall boards and moved the gates to storage for reuse. FOS Board member Ringo Covert will direct the project and work with Forester John Byrd to assure that the project is completed satisfactorily. The next steps are that Shimek Forest staff will take down the old poles and Ringo will obtain bids for construction of the shelter, followed by constructions as soon as possible.

We are raising funds for match on this project and toward the replacement of the other two roofless shelters in the future. Any donation you can make to help us with this project will come back to you as better camping and riding facilities at Shimek. Send donations to  Lee County Bank c/o Debbie Miller, 2501 Avenue L, Ft. Madison, IA 52627.. Make checks payable to Friends of Shimek.

FOS Work Day July 13, 2013

Work Day Coordinator Ann Bennett sent the following report:

A total of 20 volunteers were greeted by another beautiful work day with cool temps and plenty of work from cleaning bathrooms and firepits to spreading lime chips under tie rails at the upper campground and trimming trails with walk behind mowers, chainsaws and loppers. 

New signs about Pack It In, Pack It Out were designed by FOS. Forester John Byrd had several permanent signs made which were mounted near trail heads by volunteers. We have all noticed that there are fewer and fewer drink bottles and beer cans tossed along the trail.  Our appreciation to everyone that is remembering to Pack it Out and recycle those cans and bottles. We have lots of work to maintain trails and campgrounds each work day and appreciate not having to crawl around under multi-flora roses and down into ditches retrieving someones tossed cans!

We all wore the orange Friends of Shimek safety vests so campers and trail riders noticed the small army of volunteers working to clean up camp and work on trail maintenance. 

The first set of horse stalls at the lower campground were deconstructed and boards and gates salvaged.  Shimek staff will remove the posts. Several volunteers are coming back to move the lime chips in the lower campground under the tie rails.   Thank you to John Byrd, Shimek State Forester, for co-ordinating lime chips and the skid loader.  

Debbie Miller and Bonnie Moothart made their way around to the campers explaining more about the volunteers and Friends of Shimek and Debbie collected $60 donated by folks who appreciated the work being done.   Debbie received several positive comments about the hand sanitizer dispensers in the bathrooms – that is courtesy of the Iowa DNR and installed by FOS.   

Ringo Covert talked to several people about the new horse shelter to be constructed.   A new volunteer commented about the great esprit de corps and what a pleasure to work with a well organized and positive group of volunteers.  Then all enjoyed a delicious salad and cold cuts potluck lunch.

Debbie Miller and Neal Hartman returned to the trails that afternoon with a chainsaw to clear downed trees off trails. Volunteers put in over 133 hours of work that day!

Ann Bennett, Bonnie Moothart and Lora Conrad made photos to document the activities and volunteers of the day. These are posted for you to enjoy at

https://picasaweb.google.com/lpconrad/FOSWorkday71313?authkey=Gv1sRgCIS9u6qVpJ2DMw

When the page opens, you can click on Slideshow at the upper left. There are 20 photos showing all the activities Ann described and our 20 volunteers hard at work.

Clarification of Trails for Wet Conditions /Message from John Byrd

That time of year when we can actually ride at Shimek is almost here.
However, with all the rains recently and more anticipated, most trails are not yet firm enough to ride.  Why does that matter?  I know some of you do not see why trails are closed at times.  But consider what happens when we ride muddy trails: 

(From: http://ken-carylranch.org/spring-trails/)

Of all trail user groups, horses have the highest potential impact to muddy and soft trails. A horse carries a heavy weight on a small, usually shod, hoof. This weight can exert as much as 1,500 lbs. of pressure per square inch. According to an article by Carolyn Widner and Dr. Jeff Marion titled Horse Impacts: Research Findings and Their Implications, “Horse traffic causes significant compaction to the underlying soil layers, thus reducing water infiltration. In addition, the action of horse hoofs tends to dig up and puncture the soil surface. The process of loosening the surface trail tread while compacting the subsurface soils leads to impermeable basins, which retain water and mud long after runoff events occur.”

In other words, those awful deep mud loblollies that could easily pull off a horse's shoe or, worse yet, cause tendon strains or "bowed tendons" for your horse are caused by riding through muddy trails instead of letting them dry.

In addition, in Shimek, since there are lots of up/down hills, riding some of the trails under muddy conditions causes the next rain to wash away the loosened dirt and results in deeper and deeper ditches where once were trails.

So--your help is needed, not only to help clear and clean trails and make repairs in camp--but to not damage our trails by riding when they are too muddy. 

You can tell if those trails are wet--if they are, stay off--even if the trails are open, some trail areas will be too wet to use without both damaging the trail for you and the rest of us later and without putting your horse at risk---so be aware of wet conditions.

John Byrd, Shimek Forester, is trying to help us have more access to the trails and keep the trails in usable condition for wetter conditions.  To do this, he is rocking a complete loop of trail.  To rock the loop requires both rocks (money) and dry conditions suitable for hauling and spreading rock.  We hope more progress will be made on this later this summer.
In the mean time, John has marked the trails that he is preparing for riding in wetter conditions on maps that have been posted at each campground.

Please read John's note below.
                                                                                     

**********************************************
Clear as Mud.....

 I posted a new map at each campground this past weekend trying to clarify when and where to ride under different conditions. It seems to have been clear as mud to readers. I've revised those now. As most of you know, we are trying to develop and rock a so-called “all-weather” trail for equestrians at Shimek. We are not finished with that trail. But the marked maps I posted show where the trail is being developed and include both what is already rocked and what we plan to rock as soon as we have the resources and the weather permits the hauling and spreading of rock. Some unrocked trails that are easier to maintain are also included .

This gives us the following classifications regarding trails:

OPEN—In dry weather, most all trails should be rideable.  But when you know there are wet conditions, even though trails are open, I am asking that you ride only on the trails marked in red on the recently posted maps.  These can be ridden under wetter conditions than others.  If you will cooperate in this, we can keep the trails open under wetter conditions than in the past.

CLOSED—All trails, including those that we are improving and are rocked are closed due to extremely wet conditions. Even rocked trails can be badly damaged by riding in extremely muddy conditions. When trails are CLOSED that means ALL TRAILS ARE CLOSED.

Today the trails are closed in anticipation of more rain ---I am monitoring the weather carefully and if the additional rain does not materialize, we can reopen soon.  Check the website and if that has not been updated yet, check my office phone number where I will post the change first as sometimes I can not get the change online on the weekend.

Thank you for your cooperation in protecting our trails.

JOHN BYRD Area Forester, Shimek State Forest

Iowa Department of Natural Resources
P 319.878.3811 | F 319.878.3821 | john.byrd@dnr.iowa.gov
33653 Route J56 | Farmington, IA 52626

Update on Group Work Day, May 22, 2013

FOS Work Day - Clearing the Trails

By 8:30 Wednesday morning, seventeen volunteers under the leadership of Ringo Covert, Work Day Coordinator, were meeting with Forester John Byrd to form teams and divvy up the 27 miles of trails for clearing. The winter had left lots of fallen limbs and trees on the trails. Four teams were on the trails with chain-saws, 4-wheelers, loppers or weedeaters. They were: Doug and Bonnie Moothart with Roger and Gail Simmering; Neal Hartman, Bob Bender and Don Harris; Lora Conrad, Marsha and Bob Achenbach and John Byrd; Pat &Tom Pollpeter, Ringo Covert and Craig Sink. Art & Judy Duke and Ann Bennett installed hand sanitizers in all the Shimek Campgrounds and put up Pack it in-Pack it Out signs. After we returned to camp, several people picked up trash from the fire pits around the lower campground. A few cans that inconsiderate drinkers had already tossed by the trails were also picked up.

Most people brought redeemable cans and bottles (both plastic and glass) to load into Ann's trailer for the Recycling Fund-Raiser. Ann reported that $65 was made for FOS and all those items recycled rather than trashed.

The day concluded with a brown-bag lunch and reporting back to Ringo and John on the work accomplished. Then, Neal and Bob Bender returned to the trails and worked until 3:30.

With 17 volunteers and over 105 hours of work done—Forester John Byrd wrote:

The nuts and bolts to the whole day was that we are starting to grow in numbers.  I was pleasantly surprised at how many people we had yesterday.  I was also impressed by those folks who took the day off to come help, that is dedication!  WE ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE!  That isn’t correct, sorry.  WE ARE MAKING A HUGE DIFFERENCE!  I thank you all and I thank those people who we don’t see very often but spread positive messages behind the scenes.  Thank You.

 FOS President Ann Bennett wrote:
What a beautiful work day with sunshine and cool temps and a great turnout!  Thank you Ringo and John for coordinating the volunteers! Thank all who brought aluminum/plastic/glass for the nickel redemption to the work day, $65 worth.

The day in photos.....

Ringo signing in Bob, Neal and Don before they hit the trails.



John Byrd makes team work assignments -- note our Friends of Shimek Safety vests!

John explains the hand sanitizers to Judy, Ann and Art.

Tom and Pat load up to hit the trails



John Byrd saws a log as Bob Achenbach drags off a section.

Ringo and Craig and 4-wheeler head off to work with their trailer, weed-eater and chain saw

 

Bonnie Moothart made this photo of Doug--properly attired with helmet, gloves, glasses and safety vest --hard at work with his chainsaw on the trails.

Ann--glad she brought the trailer to carry all the bags of cans and bottles!

By noon, all were ready for lunch and most of the trails had been cleared. 

 

Thanks to Wal-Mart in Burlington

Ringo Covert contacted Walmart in Burlington and applied for a gift card under their program to assist non-profits. Wal-Mart gave FOS a $30 gift certificate which will be used for supplies on our work days.

Thanks to Dave & Dianne Lacina

FOS expresses their appreciation to Dave & Dianne Lacina for the donation of an almost new walk-behind mower. The walk behind mower will be used to help clear trails. It will be stored at the Shimek State Forest Headquarters Maintenance Building for future use.

Thanks for getting the Word out about the Work Day...

to Lala O'Hara who put the information in the Farm Bureau Newsletter that goes to 17 counties,

to the Horse & Hound Country Store in Burlington that posted it on Facebook,

to the Leader-Record Newspaper that published an article and photos about the work plans,

to the Van Buren Register that published an article and photos about the work day plans,

to DNR for posting our scheduled work days at http://www.iowadnr.gov/InsideDNR/VolunteerOpportunities.aspx

to Iowa Horse Council for posting our scheduled work days athttp://iowahorsecouncil.org/iowa-horse-trails/

to the Iowa Trail Riders Association for posting our work days in their Newsletter calendar

and to anyone else that helped get out the message!

Learning About Shimek Forest Management

On a chilly March Saturday morning, John Byrd, Shimek Forster, met with Ann Bennett, Ray & Lora Conrad, Bob & Marsha Achenbach, Tom Pollpeter, Denise Schieffer, Linda Fiordelise, Judy & Art Duke, Donnie & Marilyn Harris, Neal Hartman, Ringo Covert, Doug & Bonnie Moothart and Debbie Miller.

Accompanying John and entertaining the attendees were John's children, 2^nd grader Avery and 6^th grader Adam. John had agreed to educate us about his role and overall forest management at Shimek.

John began the program with an announcement that the Iowa Horse Council had given $1,000 to DNR, with $500 designated for Shimek and $500 designated for Stephens Forest. He provided everyone with the new Shimek Forest brochure.

John clarified that he and his two full time personnel are responsible for the Shimek Forest Units in Van Buren and Lee that include not only the Lick Creek unit with trails and campgrounds but the other forest units in the area, and the Keosauqua Unit adjacent to Lacey-Keosauqua Park with forest land near Lake Sugema....a total of about 9,500 acres. He thus has accountability to three different Bureaus with different priorities. These are the Wildlife Bureau whose number 1 priority is wildlife, the State Recreation Bureau whose priority is camping and recreational uses and the Forestry Bureau whose number one priority is showing sustainable forest management. He is responsible for the buildings, about 80 barricades in all these areas, 8.2 miles of gravel roads (with help from DOT), several miles of fencing, 28 miles of horse trails in the Lick Creek unit, 22 miles of hiking and/or snow mobile trails, and four campgrounds (two equestrian), He and his crew must manage for timber stand improvement 300 to 500 acres each year, harvest timber from 60 to 65 acres each year, manage 35 acres of prairie, plant about 20 acres per year, maintain 5 ponds, as well as the necessary communications with the public, field days, conferences, and personnel training. Since he can not do much cutting after April 15^th due to the protected status of the Indiana bat, it is at that time that his attention turns to the equestrian trails.

[Whew! What a list! So let's be patient when he can't get to something quite as quick as we hoped. No wonder we need to volunteer to help with the trails.]

We drove a car caravan to an area where crop tree release was being conducted for Forest Stand Improvement. John explained that he is trying to restore oak and other native species. One of the major forest management tasks is that since oak requires sunlight to grow, he and his crew cut trees to open up enough to grow oak. White oaks are on a growth rotation cycle of 120 years, starting with planting and concluding with harvesting a mature tree. Some of the other trees have a shorter growth cycle.

The management technique used is call “crop tree release”
 which means he clears around the desired tree, even if this means clearing out (thinning) other desirable trees. This permits the desired tree to grow faster and to develop a larger canopy. Thus the tree will produce more acorns. It takes 3 or 4 years to see any impact from the thinning. After ten years, they must check the area again and re-thin as needed. So, they have to manage about 1000 acres each year. Thinning of trees too small or unsuitable for lumber is done by girdling as this is safer for the operator and for adjacent trees than cutting them down. They cut one inch below the bark, all the way around, making two cuts. His major “Crop” trees are any oak but not shingle oak (the ones with the galls). Hard maple, ash, and elm will grow in the shade so will crowd out oak. Hickory is a secondary crop tree. One of the reasons that Iowa must restore oak forests is that in the 1920's, almost all oaks in Iowa were cut for railroad ties. Fire prevention activity has also worked against the growth of oaks as fire thins out more of the other trees and leaves more oaks due to their thick bark. Moreover, there are several diseases of concern for oaks. One is oak wilt which hits red oak the hardest. During drought periods, wilt will also hit the white oaks. In the wetter areas of Shimek, there are bur oaks and swamp white oaks. In the wettest areas, you will find cottonwood, sycamore and silver maple.

The Indiana bat which is an endangered species is very small and nests under the bark of shagbark hickory and silver maple. They are migratory, going to caves in southern Illinois and Indiana in the winter and coming here from about April 15 until September 15. As a result, foresters can not cut loose barked tress during this time.

Next, we visited a pre-harvest area.

This is an area approaching final harvest in size. A contractor under supervision will cut anything less than 12 inches in diameter, using the wood primarily for firewood. They will cut first any trees with double stems or damage. This lets in enough light that five years later, they return and do a “shelter wood” harvest. This means to harvest about 40% of the remaining trees. During this time period, new oak seedlings are emerging due to the increased light.

 

 

  After ten more years, they clear cut the remaining large trees.

The full sunlight encourages the oak seedlings to regenerate the forest. John's goal is to have between 2,000 and 20,000 oak seedlings per acre using this multi-step cutting technique to promote natural regeneration rather than planting or setting out trees after a single clear cut. Light is so important to oak growth that it is much more a determinant of size than is age.

Revenue from timber sales are returned to Shimek. John would like to use those funds to correct/catchup on forest management but budget cuts have been so severe that he has had to use the revenue for daily operations instead. His goal is sustainability. He is working toward being able to clear cut 65 acres each year ---forever. This rejuvenates forest stands and helps birds and wildlife by providing habitat needed that does not exist if the entire forest is of a single age---the more mature forests stands have very little undergrowth for wildlife, for example.

In areas where the understory becomes too dense for tree growth, he uses a prescribed burn. This is useful in controlling prickly ash, for example. All it takes is a temperature of 180 degrees to kill trees. Oak bark is thick and withstands more fire heat than other trees.

The next site visited was clear-cut in 2005.
 It is covered with lots of young trees and underbrush. He estimates about 2,000 oaks per acre. There is also some cherry, ash, and elm. He contrasted it with nearby area where it was clear-cut in 1986, but without using the multi-cut method he described.




As a result there is not nearly as much oak as he would prefer. This area, after 25 years, is now ready for its first thinning. In discussing the use of different trees, he pointed out that while black cherry is a wood that is in demand, that often the trees rot inside. Shagbark brings only about a third as much money as red oak plus wildlife feed more on acorns than hickory nuts. The thinning/cutting management process reduces the number of young oaks from about 2,000 per acre initially to only about 60 full sized trees when its time to clear cut. He and his crew of two other men will do the thinning on 300-400 acres each year.

We then visited one of the pine sections planted

 by the CCC years ago on areas of poor, over-cropped land added to Shimek. The pines are dying—both the red pines and the white pines --none of them thrived at Shimek ---or in Iowa. There is very little market for them locally so he has engaged in several small projects with the Universities to harvest and use some of the wood.


Large piles of chips remain that they will spread over the clear-cut area as mulch before replanting with hardwoods. He prefers white oak and swamp white oak but does try to keep some diversity in the forest. John said the wildlife prefer the white oak. Black locust is an invasive tree species and very hard to keep from re-establishing the site.

Lastly, we all stopped by a small area being
restored as prairie. There are only 34 acres total in prairie in Shimek State Forest. The project we saw was one that John began when he arrived in 2005. The area had nothing on it at that time. They burned it four times and let nature reseed and restore it. So far, it has developed Indian grass and bird's-foot trefoil. All forestry employees must take training in how to conduct a fire burn. Anyone interested in developing prairie on their place might want to talk to Kevin Anderson, IDNR Private Lands Biologist for the area, based in Fairfield.

Addendum: For comprehensive information on Shimek Forest Management, download the complete plan prepared by John Byrd. It is a PDF document at http://www.iowadnr.gov/Portals/idnr/uploads/forestry/shimek_managementplan.pdf

Note that this is a lengthy document---307 pages. However, it provides a detailed explanation of the forest management activities planned from 2010 through 2029, with each Unit broken down into Section compartments and Stands with parcels as small as an acre. The Lick Creek Unit plan is contained on pages 79 through 101.