Posted: 7/18/06
Helping out at Beaver
Conservation workers replace bridges and that makes Roger happy.
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
We were heading up Hole in Rock trail last week to see some very nice handiwork by five Minnesota Conservation Corps (MCC) workers.
We came to the first labor of love after about five minutes up the winding path: a new wooden bridge, much nicer than the rickety one it replaced.
ìThose are 29-foot timbers,î Roger Heimgartner, manager at Beaver Creek Valley State Park, said with respect in his voice. ìWe basically slid them down the hill.î
Tom Emery, a neighboring landowner, gave them permission for that.
A little further on we reached a clearing about 300 feet above the valley. Heimgartner had to stop and admire it.
The clearing had been covered with red cedar trees until the MCC crew tackled it last year. Those had been cut and piled up. Now the knob of land was starting to sprout some new plants: prairie coneflower, wild bergamot, lead plant, Heimgartner pointed them out with an enthusiastic roll call. ìI didnít know it was even here,î he said after spying some porcupine grass. Side-oats grama, blazing star, purple prairie clover, the list seemed endless.
It felt good, standing in that open spot, gazing across the valley to a farm field.
Most southwest-facing slopes like that, which are known as goat prairies, used to be prairie, Heimgartner explained. Fires kept the cedars from encroaching. But once the fires stopped, the cedars marched in. That changes the soil chemistry, its temperature and moisture content. You lose a lot of diversity when that happens, Heimgartner said.
A little further down the trail we came to the five MCC workers. They were finishing up a second wooden bridge that spanned another ravine. They had already laid 6'x6' timbers on either side as footings, set two long timbers over them, then screwed down 2'x6' boards on top. They were starting to put up posts and railings when we arrived.
It was a humid morning, and getting hotter by the hour, but there were no complaints from the five workers. They were doing what they liked and what they believed in as they prepared for careers in the field of conservation.
ìWeíre just basically trying to get work experience so we can move up,î Chad Knudson, the team leader, said. Itís hard to get entry level jobs otherwise, he said.
That might explain why they work for so little money: $1,066 per month, or $400 every two weeks. ìJust enough to live,î Knudson said.
ëBut itís rewarding,î Kyle Martin of Rochester quickly added. He particularly likes the prescribed burns. The crew did one earlier this year at the park. It was featured on a television program hosted by Ron Schara called Minnesota Bound. Martin likes to see land change from a tangled mess to grass and oak trees.
Minnesota is losing its prairies because of its lack of fires, Knudson said, sounding the same theme that Heimgartner had a few minutes earlier.
You have to enjoy MCC work, otherwise you wouldnít do it, Knudson said.
ìAnd itís plenty hard work,î Heimgartner added.
Theyíve done other work too, on bluffs, planting prairies, making water bars on trails so soil doesnít wash away. They banded geese, and sprayed pesticides on thistles. Most of the work is at state parks.
Theyíve had a few encounters with timber rattlesnakes along the way. The snakes happen to like those goat prairies. Itís rewarding to see the snakes, Knudson said. ìTheyíre going back into areas,î he said.
Martin came close to stepping on one earlier this year before it gave him its trademark warning. ìTheyíd rather hide than fight,î he said.
ìIt took me even 30 seconds to see it,î Erik Stensrud said.
MCC workers also go through a lot of training on things like safety, ATV use, and prescribed burns, Knudson said.
Heimgartner thinks itís a great program. He said he had hired two employees in recent years, and both had MCC experience.
Thatís what MCC workers like to hear, Knudson said with a grin.
ìThey come with a whole lot of pluses,î Heimgartner said. He feels the safety aspect is very important.
I left the crew to continue their work. Heimgartner stayed behind to happily join in on some of that hard work.
MCC, which began in Minnesota in 1981, is part of the AmeriCorps VISTA program. There are about 80 MCC workers in the state. Employees who stay in the program for its entire 10 months also receive a $4,750 bonus that can be used for their education.
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