Genesse Creek
On Saturday, October 20, SEWTU hosted a workday at Genesee Creek (just west of Waukesha), one of our longest running projects. About 7 years ago our Chapter assisted Carroll University and the WDNR with the removal of a roller mill dam upstream of the Hwy. 59 bridge. Ever since, we’ve been returning to the site to perform routine brushing and stream maintenance.
This year, in addition to the brushing (that buckthorn is pretty resilient), volunteers helped Carroll University Professor (and SEWTU leader) Jason Freund collect data about the Ash trees in the stream corridor. Jason hopes to better understand the effects of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) on our watersheds. Most of the trees on the property near the stream are Ash trees and although the EAB has not been detected here, it has been found just to the south near Mukwonago. It’s only a matter of time until the EAB makes its way to the stand of Ash trees along Genesee Creek. Jason and his students have been tracking in-stream habitat data for the past several years and will continue to do so. It should be interesting to see what kind of an effect this could have on the stream.
Thanks to all the volunteers who missed the first half of the Badger game to spend a perfect fall day working in and around the stream. And thanks to Jason and Rick Frye for making sure no one went hungry afterwards.
