CITO on the Prairie Event
Sunday, April 26, 2015
(geocaching CITO event weekend)
Roche-A-Cri State Park, Friendship, WI
1:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Bring loppers, clippers, hand saws, and lawn chairs. Wear hats and gloves.
The prairie at the southern edge of Roche-A-Cri State Park was established in 1996. Every few years the DNR does a controlled burn to revitalize the prairie, with the last time being in the spring of 2011. Even with all of the control measures, invasives still pop up. This would include the scrub oak that manages to survive each burning of the prairie.
The annual DNR work/play day at Roche-A-Cri State Park will be on May 2 this year, and that is also the day that the main entrance to the park will be open for the first time this season. A lot of work will be going on in the main part of the park on that day, but we thought that the geocaching community could do its part before then by taking care of an item on each year's work day to-do list that never seems to get done: cut down the scrub oak on the prairie. Some members of the Friends of Roche-A-Cri Park group may also be joining us at this April 26 CITO event.
We will meet at the winter parking area (the given coordinates) on Czech Avenue west of Highway 13 at 1:30 p.m. (Park fees apply.) This should allow those of you who may have Sunday morning commitments to attend those before coming to the event. Wear sunblock and hats to keep off the sun's strong rays at this time of day, wear sturdy gloves to handle the cutting and hauling of brush, and wear shoes that can handle the uneven terrain and sandy soils of the prairie. Bring loppers, clippers, and small hand saws to cut down the oaks, and make sure that your tools are labeled so that they can be returned to you if you set them down or loan them to others. With a good turnout we should be able to get all of the brush cut, and if there is time, we can also pick up trash in some of the ditches along the roads that border the park.
There are bathrooms right by the prairie, but there is no source of water, so we will provide bottled water and some cookies to keep you going. Some people can do the cutting, and others can do the hauling to the nearby brush pile. There are no places to sit, nor any picnic tables, so bring along lawn chairs for your breaks. Children and those who are not up to much physical activity are also welcome to attend. We will find some way for everyone to take part, and there will always be the "cache chat" to join in on.
As we said before, the main entrance to the park will not be open until May 2, but you can follow the trail north from the prairie into the woods and across the foot bridge to enjoy the rest of the park before and after the event. The stairway to the top of the mound is open if you want to climb 303 steps, and a bookmark list of caches in the park is to the right on this cache page. There are five geocaches close to the prairie itself to look for, including the cache in the WGA State Parks Series, and there are also many others in the Roche-A-Cri neighborhood, and in Friendship and Adams not far to the south.
This event will be held rain or shine, heat or cold, so dress appropriately. The clean-up is also supported by park manager Heather Wolf of the DNR and the Friends of Roche-A-Cri State Park. We are looking forward to seeing you at this CITO event to help spruce up one of our favorite caching playgrounds!
