Welcome To Our Sandbox. Playing in the dirt, riding the rototiller all that s missing is the camp fire

Transcription

1 Welcome To Our Sandbox Playing in the dirt, riding the rototiller all that s missing is the camp fire

2 Box 1 Motley Crew Brandy Jacobs Zach Olson Roger Acevedo Jenifer Hart Donovan Wisely * Ricardo Hinojosa Orben Olson Bruce Printz

3 On the first day, our Fearless Leader said, Take a picture

4 Then he said, Kill the Weeds!

5 Measuring Extents of New Box

6 Results of a Weed-Killing Coordinates: Latitude North Longitude West

7 Taming the Tiller Tillin, tillin, tillin, Rawhide! I don t know whether to cuss it or ride it

8 Taming the Tiller If it wasn t for the wind this would be fun or not

9 Taming the Tiller I think I m getting the hang of this but I ve been wrong before

10 Staking Timbers Corporate America Three supervisors on break and one person working

11 Planting How am I supposed to dig a hole with a rake??

12 Spreading Hay and Mulch

13 Prairie Mix Seeding for EMPACTS Project Spring 2013 Native Prairie Seed mix recommended rate of seeding is 10 lb/acre 10 lb /43,560 sq ft = 1lb/4,356 sq ft Box dimensions roughly 16 ft x 24 ft = 384 sq ft. 10lb/acre works out to 45 gram / box. We doubled the rate of seeding for an intensively managed small area to 90 gram / box. Seed was measured out on laboratory digital scales.

14 Prairie Mix Species List for EMPACTS Project Spring 2013 Native Prairie Seed mix recommended rate of seeding is 10 lb/acre Grasses : Flowers Grass Little Bluestem Wild Indigo Big Bluestem Partridge Pea Sand Bluestem Prairie Coneflower Indiangrass Blackeyed Susan Switchgrass Lanceleaf Coreopsis Sideoats Grama Roundhead Lespedeza Blue Grama Greyhead Coneflower Buffalograss Lead Plant Tall Dropseed White Prairie Clover Virginia Wild Rye Purple Prairie Clover Eastern Gama Grass Tall Wheatgrass

15 Sea Oats Uniola paniculata

16 Bluebells

17 Wild Senna Senna Marilandica

18 Cup Plant Silphium Perfoliatiu

19 Wild Yellow Indigo Baptisia sphaerocarpa Screaming Yellow

20 Rain Garden Academy On April , the Beaver Water district hosted the spring 2013 Rain Garden Academy. The event was a collaboration of : Illinois River Watershed Partnership, Beaver Water District, the EPA, and the Arkansas Natural Resources Commission. The main objective was to empower the attendants with information on how they can impact the environment in regards to storm water and its flow.

21 What is a Rain Garden? A rain garden is a landscape depression that collects rainfall from impervious surfaces. For example, parking lots, and roof tops. They allow water to percolate back into the ground within 48 hours. Environmental Benefits - Removing pollutants including sediment, fertilizers, pesticides, auto fluids, and metals from storm water run off. -provides habitat for animals and insects -reduce flooding and drainage problems in yards and communities -sustaining creek flow in dry periods -reducing the flow intensity of creeks during storm events

22 Rain Garden Demonstration It s important to note that a place that holds water already is not a good site, as you will need to amend the soil tremendously. The goal is to allow the water to percolate back down in to the soil to recharge the ground water. Instead choose a place up, or down hill, from wet locations. After a few hours of instruction on building and planning, the group visited local 3 local Rain Gardens. The first is located at the Beaver water district, the second is at NWACC, and the third is at the Springdale Public Works building.

23 Riparian Project The Riparian Project is IRWP s way of helping keep the Illinois Watershed a little more ecologically sound. It focuses on replanting and replenishing Riparian Buffers, which are stream bank and floodplain area that funnel water into rivers and creeks, which eventually ends up at the Illinois River.

24 Riparian Buffers:What they do: Decrease water- and wind-based erosion Filter sediment and pollutants Increase possible creature habitats. Increase the amount of water entering groundwater Provides environmental and recreational benefits to rivers and streams Helps keep water and air cooler