By Topf Wells
SWTU provided Gordon Creek and the DNR’s Justin Haglund and Lloyd Meng with 16 volunteers on our first work day of the fall on the easement downstream of Brue Road. The issues today were access and prevention. Young willows were making access difficult and big, older, dying willows were about to inter themselves in the creek. Some timber in the stream is good for trout and all the other life in the stream. Big, whole trees, however, can cause major blockages and streambank erosion.
We’ll probably return in the spring but we made great headway with one willow jungle tamed and two of the giants substantially reduced. One that was felled might be as big a tree as we’ve taken down lately. The boom as it hit the ground was certainly the loudest. That crash reminds us of the need for safety on these days. Joshua Reilly, our Secretary and the leader of our efforts to provide first aid training and equipment, conducted a brief but helpful safety lesson at the start of the day.
That start saw crisp weather and it remained pleasant all morning. Among our members were two wonderful dads and their young sons. Both were big helps clearing brush and spreading some milkweed seed for next year’s monarch butterflies.
VP Dyan Lesnick provided the next version of new and old. Her superb corn muffins featured serviceberries, a native fruit that is attracting new attention as a crop that can be part of permaculture in southern Wisconsin. The muffins indicate that’d be a great choice. Even better were her great grandmother’s apple cookies. I thought the best thing that can happen to an apple is pie or cider. Oh, these cookies are better. Wow, really wow!
Ted Swenson joined us from the Nohr Chapter and donated 8 nymphs as a thank you from Nohr. Thanks to Ted, Nohr, and Lloyd for drawing my number from the hat. Ted is a star tyer.
A fun part of the day was learning more from Justin on the three easements he just, as the DNR would say, reduced to possession on the Blue, the E. Branch of the Pecatonica, and a spawning tributary to Ley Creek. Ted confirmed the Nohr Chapter is pursuing a major restoration of that mile of new water. Lloyd noted the easement filled a gap of public water on the Blue that now totals 13 miles of uninterrupted public fishing. Wow, really wow. Huge thanks to Justin and the Nohr Chapter.
P leasant surprises are always part of a work day. Justin had not been able to connect with the landowner of the property. When she exited her driveway this morning she saw all 16 of us hard at work with Justin in the midst of us. And one of us is a good friend of hers. That’s a nice way to start communication.
Jim Hess planned this work day with more work than usual because Justin, Lloyd and Jim had several sites on Gordon that need some TLC. Wayne Griffin and he ran brush saws in the willow thicket all morning, which is even tougher than it sounds. Our sawyers used several of the new battery operated saws with the unanimous opinion that for our purposes they are an improvement over the gas models.
Huge thanks to Jim, Justin and Lloyd for all the prep work and to the volunteers who made this another productive and fun day. We might have to ask Dyan for that recipe.
Who knows, perhaps those cookies might reappear at our next work day on the Upper Yahara on Saturday, October 10. Hope to see you there.
Photos courtesy Dyan Lesnik.
New and Old at Gordon Creek
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Posted: October 6, 2026 by Drew Kasel
By Topf Wells
SWTU provided Gordon Creek and the DNR’s Justin Haglund and Lloyd Meng with 16 volunteers on our first work day of the fall on the easement downstream of Brue Road. The issues today were access and prevention. Young willows were making access difficult and big, older, dying willows were about to inter themselves in the creek. Some timber in the stream is good for trout and all the other life in the stream. Big, whole trees, however, can cause major blockages and streambank erosion.
We’ll probably return in the spring but we made great headway with one willow jungle tamed and two of the giants substantially reduced. One that was felled might be as big a tree as we’ve taken down lately. The boom as it hit the ground was certainly the loudest. That crash reminds us of the need for safety on these days. Joshua Reilly, our Secretary and the leader of our efforts to provide first aid training and equipment, conducted a brief but helpful safety lesson at the start of the day.
That start saw crisp weather and it remained pleasant all morning. Among our members were two wonderful dads and their young sons. Both were big helps clearing brush and spreading some milkweed seed for next year’s monarch butterflies.
VP Dyan Lesnick provided the next version of new and old. Her superb corn muffins featured serviceberries, a native fruit that is attracting new attention as a crop that can be part of permaculture in southern Wisconsin. The muffins indicate that’d be a great choice. Even better were her great grandmother’s apple cookies. I thought the best thing that can happen to an apple is pie or cider. Oh, these cookies are better. Wow, really wow!
Ted Swenson joined us from the Nohr Chapter and donated 8 nymphs as a thank you from Nohr. Thanks to Ted, Nohr, and Lloyd for drawing my number from the hat. Ted is a star tyer.
A fun part of the day was learning more from Justin on the three easements he just, as the DNR would say, reduced to possession on the Blue, the E. Branch of the Pecatonica, and a spawning tributary to Ley Creek. Ted confirmed the Nohr Chapter is pursuing a major restoration of that mile of new water. Lloyd noted the easement filled a gap of public water on the Blue that now totals 13 miles of uninterrupted public fishing. Wow, really wow. Huge thanks to Justin and the Nohr Chapter.
P leasant surprises are always part of a work day. Justin had not been able to connect with the landowner of the property. When she exited her driveway this morning she saw all 16 of us hard at work with Justin in the midst of us. And one of us is a good friend of hers. That’s a nice way to start communication.
Jim Hess planned this work day with more work than usual because Justin, Lloyd and Jim had several sites on Gordon that need some TLC. Wayne Griffin and he ran brush saws in the willow thicket all morning, which is even tougher than it sounds. Our sawyers used several of the new battery operated saws with the unanimous opinion that for our purposes they are an improvement over the gas models.
Huge thanks to Jim, Justin and Lloyd for all the prep work and to the volunteers who made this another productive and fun day. We might have to ask Dyan for that recipe.
Who knows, perhaps those cookies might reappear at our next work day on the Upper Yahara on Saturday, October 10. Hope to see you there.
Photos courtesy Dyan Lesnik.
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