Two Popular Hikes this Weekend – Birds and Flowers
Join birding enthusiast Charlie Frisk to see the varieties of bird species that can be found in the Baird Creek Parkway on Saturday, May 12 at 6 AM at Christa McAuliffe Park (3100 Sitka Street). Dr. Bob Mead has delighted participants of this annual hike for years by identifying calls and finding species in the Parkway that participants claim they wouldn’t have found on their own! This is one of our most popular hikes, is free to the public, and is a great way to welcome spring to Green Bay!

At 1 PM that same day (May 12) we will hold another of our popular hikes, the Spring Wildflower hike led by Kevin Hendricksen. Kevin will lead you from Christa McAuliffe (3100 Sitka Street) to find some incredibly interesting wildflowers that exist in the Parkway. You’ll learn about “skunk cabbage”, marsh marigolds, and many other beautiful and fascinating wildflowers, some of which only show themselves in the Spring. Remember to bring your camera! Again, the hike is free and open to the public.

For additional information, or to make a reservation for parties of 6 or more, please contact Maureen Meinhardt at execdirector@bairdcreek.org or 920-328-3505. We hope to see you there!

We would like to thank Harpist Dorothy Summers, Titletown Brewing Company, Captain’s Walk Winery and Joyce Fritz of Yipes! ^TM  Jewelry for their generosity.

 Join us March 5, 2012 for the next annual Banquet.  The key-note speaker is Neil DiBoll.

Two Eagle Scouts completed projects in the Parkway in 2009.  A high-quality boardwalk was constructed near Superior Road (just south of the railroad tracks) that will serve to alleviate erosion problems and make it easier for hikers and bikers to get through the area.  This project was led by Eagle Scout Chris Harrison with guidance from Board Member Charlie Frisk and Dan Ditscheit from the Green Bay Parks and Recreation Department.

Another important Eagle Scout project in the Parkway involved construction and installation of several permanent educational signs at the site of an Oak Savannah restoration project near McKenzie Lane.  Charlie Goldhahn managed this project with help from Board Member David Hemstreet and Green Bay Parks and Recreation staff members Dan Ditscheit and Molly Tomasallo.

Our Executive Director has additional information on Eagle Scout project ideas that could be completed in the Baird Creek Parkway.  If interested please contact Maureen Meinhardt at execdirector@bairdcreek.org or (920) 328-3505.

June 2009, BCPF summer interns Meg Harvey and Linda Filo found Ororbanche uniflora (one-flowered broomrape), a Species of Special Concern in Wisconsin and a Brown County record. This rare plant typically grows in moist woods and streambanks, is 2″ – 8″ tall, and is parasitic on many types of plants. Interns found this unique species in three locations in Baird Creek parkway… just one more reason to protect the park we love!

Jessie Fink and Landscape Architect Company JJR were awarded as the best project in design and planning by the for the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Society of Landscape Architects.

You can read the master plan by clicking on the links below

Baird Creek Master Plan

Chapter 1 (PDF)

Chapter 2 (PDF)

Chapter 3 (PDF)

Chapter 4 (PDF)

Appendix (PDF)

The seventeen different plant communities present within the parkway provide a study in contrasts, between woods and fields or dry slopes and seeping wetlands, but also between natural splendor and unnatural blight.
In general, plant communities are hard for scientists to firmly define but relatively easy for the public to perceive. When you walk through a forest or a prairie or a river bottom, it is easy to notice that it isn’t all the same. The soil might change from rocky to wet, the slope could go from steep to flat, and the trees can change from sparse to dense or evergreen to deciduous. Scientists studying the patterns know that plants often group themselves in predictable ways. (But they also discover numerous mavericks, plants that grow wherever they please.) Hikers, nature-lovers and the general public notice these patterns as changes in color, temperature, comfort and aesthetic appeal. And everyone responds to these differences with changes in mood, thought, affection and appreciation.
Any plant community can be identified by looking at the dominant plants. They impart their own stamp and give the community its own pattern and value to the people who visit it. However there are some places that have begun to lose their distinctive-ness. Invasive species are good at penetrating existing plant communities. Some may appear as a smattering along roadsides and in disturbed areas. The worst ones do not need disturbance (mowing, fire, heavy traffic) to invade a natural community. And once the infestation reaches a critical mass, it may be impossible to return the plant community to what it was.

Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris arundinacea) is one of the worst invaders. It forms dense stands that displace all other species, turning wetland communities to unnatural monocultures. The first plants spread by underground stems to form a clump, then a patch, then a stand. Since it spreads by expanding vegetatively, not by seeds, the genetic diversity can be close to zero. And the worst news is, it isn’t the only invasive grass out there—it just currently has the largest footprint in the Baird Creek Greenway.

Several wetlands west of Highway 41 are already degraded. Once, these may have been sedge meadows, natural seeps or beautiful, green shelters for wild flowers and animal life. Now they are nearly impenetrable stands of a few invasive species that exploit the wet soil for themselves. These wetlands might still be considered valuable: they can prevent sediment from erosion from washing into Baird Creek, for example. But you could go to any disturbed wetland in Green Bay or Wisconsin—or any urban center and see the same thing! These western-most wetlands have lost all the distinctiveness and charm of the natural communities. They can’t give us a sense of place, or recall the history of other residents and generations who enjoyed them.

Two responses are needed from you, the Foundation’s membership. One is to recognize these degraded wetlands as communities that are less desirable than they might be. Unfortunately, in heavily infested sites, there is little long term success to report from anywhere in the country. Although the individual plants can be killed, re-sprouting and re-invasion are very common. So the second response is watch over our native communities. Notice and react when the community is first invaded. If you alert the Foundation to problems in the landscape, you can help to stop their spread before the damage is irreversible.