It’s been a very cold month – not much snow, but many days with clear sunny skies and cold winds. It’s beautiful to look at, but we haven’t felt like spending much time outside
Mist rising from the creek on a chilly morning.
Erik and Beth from Kule Region Forestry have had more time for us this winter, so they’ve been working hard clearing brush and small trees from Pine Point Bluff. It’s exciting to watch it transform back into a savanna.
I found some old photos of the bluff and made them into a ‘slider’ so you can get some idea of the transformation. We had the pine plantation logged in the winter of 2002/2003. The logged area grew up into thick brush and small trees. Mike and I, then Todd, and then Erik and Beth worked to cut and treat them, and I planted prairie there. Erik and Beth started clearing out the savanna above the logged pines in 2020.
Here’s the dramatic comparison – before and after:
This one shows some of the steps in between:
Here are a few close up views of the newly opened savanna.
The dense woods on the right is the area they haven’t cleared yet.
Looking southwest from the savanna down the valley
Here are a few more wintry photos.
The cattail wetland. The building is a mostly collapsed metal farm shed near where the old farmhouse used to be.
Morning sunlight on the driveway and Maple Ridge
Morning sun lighting the tops of the trees on Maple Ridge
Fast moving clouds over Center Valley