By John Pinzl, 2009 Intern
On the Friday before the last week of our internship, with rainy weather momentarily dampening our anticipation for a field trip to Dorothy Carnes’ Park, Dave suggested watching a slideshow featuring Faville Grove Sanctuary through the years. As my four fellow interns, Dave, Roger, Lars, and I craned our necks to get a clear view of the computer in the upstairs room of his and Roger’s home, Dave began the slideshow with a click of the mouse. Pictures of various prairie plants and different areas of the sanctuary illuminated the screen and I couldn’t help but reminisce on my summer, specifically my experiences with the internship. The slideshow, along with everyone’s comments on the images, enhanced the vividness of my memories. Slide transitions set the pace for the transparencies within my imagination as I plunged into a prairie-induced mental narrative of my summer internship with the Madison Audubon Society on the Faville Grove Sanctuary.
The super intern crew of 2009: from left, John Pinzl, Justin Nooker, Matt Weber, Mallory Berrey, santuary ecologist Lars Higdon, and Ben Bisbach.
Appropriately, the primary element of the internship upon which my imagination dwelled was the sanctuary’s land itself. The foremost thing I noticed was how much the sanctuary landscape had changed over time, in terms of both the years covered by the slideshow and the three months that our intern crew had worked on it. From the picture of prairie docks ‘jumping’ the fence from Faville Prairie to its Milwaukee Audubon annex 45 years ago, to the image displaying the abundance of prairie docks in Snapper Prairie prior to the flooding last spring and summer, I realized that the land as I knew it was only a small segment in the long history of the Faville Grove Sanctuary. This realization impressed upon me how quickly and profoundly things such as invasive species, human misuse and mismanagement, and other human agents, can degrade a landscape. However, our work this summer, that of previous years’ crews, and the vast accomplishments through it all, attest to the importance of our internship in the restoration of degraded landscapes and the protection of remnant prairies.
As a result of our work this summer, all of the sites on which we spent considerable time were dramatically improved. These improvements were not brought on by natural forces and a lack of human intervention that had aided the spread of invasive species in the first place, but by parsnip predators, brush cutters, and hard work on the part of our intern crew. With these implements, we pushed back an impenetrable thicket of aspen saplings, cottonwood bunches, and other brush that stand where the prairie docks had once jumped the fence into a former farm field along the western border of Faville Prairie. Although much of the thicket remains, the prospect of restoring this area to the open prairie that the landscape was revertingto at the time of the prairie docks’ feat seems more promising. The Zoology Ridge, an area that was permeated by sweet clover, wild parsnip, and Queen Anne’s lace three months ago, is now rid of such weeds (although only temporarily for many) thanks to contract spraying, Roger’s mowing, and our crew’s ‘walkthroughs’ on dew-filled mornings. My attempt to visualize how many white feed-bags we filled with sweet clover, garlic mustard, and parsnip were foiled as I recounted how much we had accomplished this summer.
Matt and John declare victory over the brush at Snapper Prairie
Seeing the slides of previous intern crews, volunteers, and other individuals doing the same work that we had performed over the last three months, I wondered how these various other individuals involved with the restoration of the sanctuary felt as a result of their work. They undoubtedly felt the same sense of pride, accomplishment, and connection with the land as our internship crew did. Thinking of the people we had the opportunity to meet and work with throughout the summer, it was evident to me that the land provided a common basis upon which individuals from all backgrounds pulled together and collaborated to work towards the common goal of improving a landscape that they all care about.
Over the past three months, surrounded by my fellow interns, whose knowledge of the ecological elements that surrounded us ‘on the job’ was remarkable, and Lars, our fearless leader, whose expertise on anything ranging from bird calls to plant species was extraordinary, I have learned more firsthand than I could have ever imagined. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity to work with Matt, Mallory, Justin, Ben, and Lars, all of whom share a deep passion for the outdoors and the conservation and restoration of the environment. Furthermore, meeting and working with volunteers and those who have caught the ‘Prairie Bug’ such as Nolan Kollath, Lars’ neighbors Steve Bower and Leslie DeMuth, and Jim Kerler, has been rewarding in that it truly impressed upon me how a diverse group of individuals can form such a homogenous and tight knit community of conservationists been selected by them for the internship and to have had the opportunity to get to know them.
Mallory thinks the ironweed looks good enough to eat
Possibly the most profound change that I witnessed as a result of the internship was a change in my own perspective. On one hand, my perspective towards the local environment has suffered a “fall” from the bliss that accompanies ignorance of the severity and proliferation of many of the problems associated with the degradation of our landscapes. The amount of sweet clover, Queen Anne’s lace, and wild parsnip lining the bike path downtown and most of the roadsides I regularly drive will make it difficult to travel without a parsnip predator and weed bag within reach. On the other hand, the internship has strengthened my appreciation for both the subtle and profound aspects of ecological systems. My deeper understanding of the ways in which even the smallest organisms play a vital and stewards of the land. The primary individuals amongst this group of stewards are Dave and Roger, whose prowess as conservationists and passion for the sanctuary’s well being is manifest in the unmatched quality of the sanctuary as well as the incomparable experiences provided by the internship program. Without Dave and Roger, neither the internship nor much of the sanctuary would exist. It was a privilege to have role in such systems’ functioning has impressed upon me the need to both appreciate these various elements and work to ensure their integrity. The internship addressed both of these requirements on numerous levels. In essence, I feel that my experience with the internship has made me a better conservationist, a better environmentalist, and better prepared for a career in environmental law.
As the last slide faded from the screen, it was impossible for me to determine which had benefited more from our internship on the Faville Grove Sanctuary; the sanctuary itself or the individuals working to improve it. During the following ride to Dorothy Carne’s Park, the above changes wrought through the relationships formed between people and the land, as well as between each other, were more evident to me than they had ever been. These changes and experiences share the common characteristic of reaffirming how profoundly we are all connected to the land and how profoundly our well-being relies on the ecological health of our own backyards. Regardless of where my fellow interns and I find ourselves in the coming years, I am confident that our time spent together on the Faville Grove Sanctuary this summer will be at the forefront amongst the experiences that have shaped each of our outlooks on, and passion for, the natural environment and the outdoors.
