Evanne Hunt,
President
715-381-1291

January 28 Chapter Meeting Minutes.

February 25 Chapter Meeting Minutes.

The chapter is buying an ATV, trailer, and water tank for prescribed burns and field work. The trailer has been purchased and a picture is available!!

Work Party: Saturday, March 6

Foster Cemetery Oak Savanna

A good day's work! Before and after pictures:

Work Party: Saturday, March 13

Location: Foster Conservation Area
Time: 10:00 a.m. until you want to leave

This will be our last winter work party for the season.

We will again attempt to finish clearing on the hillside below the cemetery. We plan to lay down a diverse prairie seed mix this spring, if we can finish the clearing. Hopefully we will still have snow cover so we can burn the trees and brush we cut that day.

Work Party: Saturday, March 20

Multiple sites; prepare fire breaks
Time: 10:00 a.m. until you want to leave

Garden U: Saturday, March 20

Volunteers from the St. Croix Valley chapter will staff a booth at the Master Gardener's Garden U seminar from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Chapter Meeting: Thursday, March 25

Location: Unitarian Universalists church in River Falls
Time: 7:00 p.m. until about 9:00 p.m.

Directions: From I94, take exit #3 to River Falls onto WI-35 S. Go 9.715.7 miles. Continue on WI-65 for 1.52.5 miles. N8010 State Road 65 is on the left.

Agenda

TBD

Prescribed Burns throughout April

Multiple sites

Earth Day: Sunday, April 18

Volunteers from the St. Croix Valley chapter are needed to staff a booth at the Camp St. Croix from Noon to 4:00 p.m. We will once again provide seed, soil, and pots for the kids to Plant a Prairie.

Blueberry Hill Project Site Update

On July 29, Wayne Huhnke, chapter land manager, released 400 spotted knapweed beetles at the Blueberry Hill site.

The two species, Cyphocleonus achates and Larinus obtusus, were obtained from Biological Control of Weeds, Inc. in Bozeman, Montana.

The Knapweed Root Weevil, Cyphocleonus achates  (20 mm in length), lays approximately 100 eggs at the base of the spotted knapweed plants. The developing larvae mine the central taproot, damaging the weed's vascular tissue and cause root-gall formation.

The Blunt Knapweed Flower Weevil, Larinus obtusus (5 mm in length), lays about 75 eggs inside the flower seed heads.   Three days later the larvae emerge, eating their way out.  The larva can consume the entire content of immature knapweed seed heads. They can also cause gall-like structures in the seed head causing the plant's resources to be further depleted. They destroy nearly one-hundred percent of the seeds in infected seed heads.  Adults feed on the leaves, stems, and florets but prefer flower heads when available.

The root boring weevil, Cyphocleonus achates, was first released in the US in 1987.  The seedhead weevil, Larinus obtusus, a native of Europe, was first released in 1993 in the United States.

More information on these biocontrols can be found at the Cornell University Biologic Control website (http://www.nysaes.cornell.edu/ent/biocontrol/weedfeeders/wdfdrtoc.html).

More pictures from the release: