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Joe Riederer
I
discovered prairies on June 4, 1978—and I didn't like them!
I had just taken a job as a counselor at one of Wisconsin's Youth Conservation Camps. It was a camp where kids, ages fifteen to eighteen, got paid to do conservation-related work. Each counselor was assigned to a work project and campers rotated through each one. The counselors returning for a second year got all the best projects. One got to help build a trout stream and another got to work in a state park. I got stuck in "The Barrens."
The Namekagon Barrens had a reputation at camp for being the worst place to work. It was twenty-five square miles of grass, scrub oak, sand, and wood ticks. We were to help manage the area for sharp-tailed grouse, which meant we spent most of our time making firebreaks and cutting down any tree tall enough to provide shade. I hated it! It was hot and the kids complained that the work was too difficult. Why couldn't I have one of the fun jobs in the woods?
Then it happened. We started to see wildlife. First it was hawks, then eagles, coyotes, badgers, even a black bear. Soon we were noticing grassland birds and a small reptile call a skink. Reports of our adventures spread through camp. The Barrens became one of the better projects to work on. The work was still difficult, but the kids began to brag about it. Blisters became badges of honor, as did having the most dirt on your work clothes when you hit the shower at the end of the day.
As the summer went by, I began to notice the subtle changes in the prairie plants that covered most of the Barrens. I saw so many new plants; I began carrying a field guide everywhere. What I didn't see was how the Barrens changed me. Something about the place had become a part of me. Maybe it was the smell of sweet fern or the incredible view of summer thunderstorms. Maybe it was the white band on the tail of the kingbird or the hundreds of butterflies. Maybe it was the kids.
I headed back to college that fall not knowing just how much I had changed. Within a week I decided to become a teacher. I also began a personal quest to learn as much about prairies as I could. Twenty-one years later, my quest continues.
** Joe's book, Restoration in the Barrens, will be featured in the upcoming Bell LIVE! curriculum. For more information about the book, visit the website: www.bigbluestempress.com
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Last modified on May 23, 2002.