Pulling Together project…Spotted Knapweed 2015

The Spotted Knapweed patrol posts our final message for the Pulling Together project…Spotted Knapweed 2015.

The following is the final letter to Chuck Allen, manager of the Tawas Point State Park and the pullers who worked through the weather, sweat, and aches and pains to remove the noxious plant, Spotted Knapweed. Tuesday, August 18 was our last day of pulling. Following this letter, please note Chuck Allen’s thankful response.

 

Hello all (Chuck as well as Judy, Bob, Larry, Sue, and Gary)

As we draw the 2015 Spotted Knapweed pulling season to a close, I cannot brag enough about your (our) efforts.  You are such a hard working small group!!!  If I didn’t say it enough this year…thank you, thank you, thank you.  Your reward is in the value that we added to the Tawas Point State Park by removing this noxious weed and by spending time educating folks about SN. 

Today’s pullers were: Judy LaPorte, Bob Kemnitz, Larry VanWagoner, Sue Duncan, Gary and Donette Spiekerman.  Four of us pulled on the bayside of Sandy Hook trail and we got quite far along.  Sue worked on the beachside of Sandy Hook and Larry continued his work in the lawns.  Six pullers worked 13 hours, removed 14 bags which weighed 136 lbs.  Total poundage removed this season is 975 lbs and total volunteer hours worked is 90.5. 

During our pull today, all of us noted some isolated SN stems with open seed heads; so Mother Nature’s cycle has caught up with us.  Next week’s plant development will be another 7 days advance, so we dare not risk pulling the plants and redistributing the seeds.   Therefore our 2015 SN pulling season is complete.  We all have mixed emotions about this because our work feels so incomplete.  With more volunteers we could accomplish so much more. 

It’s not to late to mow the lawns to cut-down on blossoms developing into seed heads.  Larry has spent a lot of time removing the low creeping SN in the lawn areas and I couldn’t help but recognize that where he worked last year, the SN is gone!  I know that I’ve also been very judicious about removing SN growing in the lawns but even with our efforts, there still remains SN that will continue to develop into seed heads.  Mowing now will remove the blossoms; mowing later will spread seeds…and we don’t want that.

We thank you for trusting us to ‘pull the right plants’ and ‘say the right things’ for these past 7 weeks.   We believe that the park is in a better place both aesthetically and environmentally.  We hope you agree.

~Donette
August 18, 2015

 

Thank you all so much for the great work that you did this summer.  As you look around and see how much SN is out there I think its easy to think “was it worth it”.  Let me reassure you it was absolutely worth it.  You guys pulled a half ton of SN!  That is incredible.  I feel so fortunate to have such a dedicated group of individuals that care so much about the park that I care about and take pride in.  Once again, thank you so much and you should all be proud of the difference you have made at the point.

 

Chuck Allen
Park and Recreation Supervisor
Tawas Point State Park/East Tawas Harbor
686 Tawas Beach Road
East Tawas, MI  48730
989 362-5041

AllenC9@michigan.gov

“There is no wifi in the park but I promise you will find a better connection.”

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