Land
stewards, prairie planters, wildlife watchers, amateur botanists, and
all around nature enthusiasts:
These are good titles for Gary and Penny Shackelford.
An amazing list of titles, especially when you consider that not too long ago they retired from busy full-time positions as academic physicians at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
“We had very fulfilling careers,” said Gary Shackelford from his home in Rock County.
The Shackelfords bought the Rock County land, which they dubbed “Fair Meadows,” for something they could use to relax and enjoy. They purchased 180 acres in 1985 and an additional 200 about five years later.
“We thought of it as a nature preserve and a place where we could hike and take photographs and that we would let it go back to nature, … which didn’t turn out to be the case,” said Penny Shackelford.
Shortly after they purchased the land, the Shackelfords discovered they had problems with several exotic and invasive species: buckthorn, barberry, reed canary grass, garlic mustard, and shrub honeysuckles. The property had also been degraded because of grazing, and land previously used for apple orchards and cornfields needed restoration.
“This
concept of just buying something and letting it go ‘back to nature,’
especially now that the exotics have really gained a foothold, it’s
going to really deteriorate it rather than enhance the value of it to
us,” Gary said.
“And by value I mean the value as a place for us to enjoy and to study and learn about nature,” he continued. “So we fairly shortly found out that we would need to manage the land to try to fulfill our goals.”
The first exotic plant they learned about was buckthorn. A DNR forester was touring their land when she pointed it out and told them how invasive it was.
“We began appreciating how they were taking over the forests and also some of the wetter areas,” Penny said.
After this they realized one of their goals, oak regeneration, wasn’t going to happen if they didn’t deal with the buckthorn.
“The buckthorn were crowding everything out -- shading everything out,” Penny said.
The Shackelfords needed to make management decisions about the invasive species. But they didn’t come right away.
“It took us several years to articulate to ourselves what our goals were,” Gary said.
Once they were decided, Gary and Penny came up with a mission statement for the property: to work towards restoring Fair Meadows to pre-European settlement conditions.
“It’s a very arbitrary point, but it at least gives us something to focus on,” Gary said. “It gives a focus and helps you when you come to point where you need to make a decision about what you are going to do. You can fallback on, ‘Does this fit into the plan?’”
They applied for grants, like Wisconsin Forest Landowner Grant Program, WFLGP, to help offset the costs of restoration and enrolled in the Managed Forest Law program.
And the Shackelfords became knowledgeable about their property. They conferred with wetland, fish and prairie consultants, wildlife foresters, and botanists. They also conducted plant and animal censuses.
All that work has paid off. Today the land is a beautiful mix of prairie, woodland, meadows, marshes and wetlands.
It
is a haven for wildlife. During our visit we saw deer scattering among
distant hills, wood ducks, geese, countless songbirds, a turkey, and even
turtles.
The Shackelfords also have a treasure trove of rare species. The endangered Blanding’s Turtle makes a home here. The eastern prairie fringed orchid, a federally listed threatened plant, blooms. And it is one of the best habitats in the state for sand hill cranes.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Gary said.
Nowadays they are making all sorts of management decisions, from what herbicides to use, to how to deal with the high number of deer on the property.
Hear how the Shackelfords
decide what actions to take when managing their land: Mp3
or Real Audio.
They planted their first prairie in 1990, and are continuing still to put in other prairies.
Hear how they got
started planting 10 acres of prairie: Mp3
or Real Audio.
They’ve harvested more than 60,000 board feet of timber and enrolled 79 acres in Managed Forest Law.
“Our goal was to harvest timber in a fashion that would promote the native flora and fauna there,” Gary said.
Following that goal, they first had a shelter wood harvest – a harvest where about 40 percent of the canopy is left. They also did a pine thinning and selective harvests of oak and cherry.
And while sometimes, initially, a harvest can be startling to look at, the Shackelfords encourage long-term thinking.
“It’s important to think long term and view beyond the initial shock of something like a lumber harvest forest," Penny said. "Be patient and wait a few years.”
“Same
thing would be true in growing a prairie,” Gary said. “It’s
not going to come to its full development for well over five years, probably
closer to 10.”
And fire management is also a large part of their management plan.
On the day we visited, the Shackelfords had just completed an 18-hour burn on about 20 acres – a big job, as they will tell you. They began the burn at 10 a.m. the day before and were up till 4 a.m. making sure the fire was out.
“It looks like the scorched earth of the woods today,” Penny said. And Gary added: “It looks like a moonscape at first.”
“We
are trying to open up the woods to have a more open understory and also
to control some of these exotic species,” Gary explained.
Hear how the Shackelfords
got their neighbors involved to fight the spread of invasive species in
their area: Mp3 or Real
Audio.
The Shackelfords work hard to do what’s best for the land, and enjoy the time spent learning.
“We’re life long learners,” Gary said. “We’ve been able to learn an enormous amount about flora and fauna, use of pesticides, land management. It’s a total journey and Fair Meadows is the vehicle that allows us to do that.”
The Shackelfords take courses together on everything from wildlife firefighting to reptiles and amphibians.
“We’re always in the mode of trying to continually educate ourselves,” Penny said.
“We just love being out there,” she said. “The physical work that we do there is good for us, it just sort of nurtures our spirit.”
Penny and Gary were also awarded the 2001 Outstanding Tree Farmer of the Year Award in Wisconsin.