{"id":1817,"date":"2015-09-02T13:48:31","date_gmt":"2015-09-02T17:48:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ausablevalleyaudubon.org\/?p=1817"},"modified":"2015-09-02T13:48:31","modified_gmt":"2015-09-02T17:48:31","slug":"pulling-together-projectspotted-knapweed-2015","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ausablevalleyaudubon.org\/?p=1817","title":{"rendered":"Pulling Together project\u2026Spotted Knapweed 2015"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Spotted Knapweed patrol posts our final message for the Pulling Together project\u2026Spotted Knapweed 2015<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s thankful response.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Hello all (Chuck as well as Judy, Bob, Larry, Sue, and Gary)<\/em><\/p>\n

As we draw the 2015 Spotted Knapweed pulling season to a close, I cannot brag enough about your (our) efforts.\u00a0 You are such a hard working small group!!!\u00a0 If I didn\u2019t say it enough this year…thank you, thank you, thank you.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

Today\u2019s pullers were: Judy LaPorte, Bob Kemnitz, Larry VanWagoner, Sue Duncan, Gary and Donette Spiekerman.\u00a0 Four of us pulled on the bayside of Sandy Hook trail and we got quite far along.\u00a0 Sue worked on the beachside of Sandy Hook and Larry continued his work in the lawns.\u00a0 Six pullers worked 13 hours, removed 14 bags which weighed 136 lbs.\u00a0 Total poundage removed this season is 975 lbs and total volunteer hours worked is 90.5.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

During our pull today, all of us noted some isolated SN stems with open seed heads; so Mother Nature\u2019s cycle has caught up with us.\u00a0 Next week\u2019s plant development will be another 7 days advance, so we dare not risk pulling the plants and redistributing the seeds.\u00a0\u00a0 Therefore our 2015 SN pulling season is complete.\u00a0 We all have mixed emotions about this because our work feels so incomplete.\u00a0 With more volunteers we could accomplish so much more.\u00a0 <\/em><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not to late to mow the lawns to cut-down on blossoms developing into seed heads.\u00a0 Larry has spent a lot of time removing the low creeping SN in the lawn areas and I couldn\u2019t help but recognize that where he worked last year, the SN is gone!\u00a0 I know that I\u2019ve 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.\u00a0 Mowing now will remove the blossoms; mowing later will spread seeds…and we don\u2019t want that.<\/em><\/p>\n

We thank you for trusting us to \u2018pull the right plants\u2019 and \u2018say the right things\u2019 for these past 7 weeks.\u00a0\u00a0 We believe that the park is in a better place both aesthetically and environmentally.\u00a0 We hope you agree.<\/em><\/p>\n

~Donette
\nAugust 18, 2015<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Thank you all so much for the great work that you did this summer.\u00a0 As you look around and see how much SN is out there I think its easy to think \u201cwas it worth it\u201d.\u00a0 Let me reassure you it was absolutely worth it.\u00a0 You guys pulled a half ton of SN!\u00a0 That is incredible.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Once again, thank you so much and you should all be proud of the difference you have made at the point.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Chuck Allen
\nPark and Recreation Supervisor
\nTawas Point State Park\/East Tawas Harbor
\n686 Tawas Beach Road
\nEast Tawas, MI\u00a0 48730
\n989 362-5041<\/em><\/strong>
\nAllenC9@michigan.gov<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no wifi in the park but I promise you will find a better connection.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Spotted Knapweed patrol posts our final message for the Pulling Together project\u2026Spotted 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, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ausablevalleyaudubon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ausablevalleyaudubon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ausablevalleyaudubon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ausablevalleyaudubon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ausablevalleyaudubon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1817"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ausablevalleyaudubon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1818,"href":"https:\/\/ausablevalleyaudubon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1817\/revisions\/1818"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ausablevalleyaudubon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ausablevalleyaudubon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ausablevalleyaudubon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}