Ecologists will tell you that natural areas need disturbance to stay healthy. Wildfires and free-roaming graziers such as bison and elk once did the trick, but now the job falls to people like Jim and Rose Sime. I caught up with them on a warm day last summer while they were cutting burdock, i.e. “disturbing” land they own in the rugged hills of southwestern Wisconsin north of Monfort. The Simes, who are retired school teachers, do find time to relax and smell the (wild) roses on the properties they own, which include five parcels totaling several hundred acres. But they also work their heads off to protect the native ecosystems in their care, including a pine relic, sedge meadows, fens, and prairie remnants. The plant communities contain some of the state’s rarest native species. That’s why you’ll often find the Simes, now in their 70s, conducting controlled burns and attacking re-growth of invaders such as honeysuckle and autumn olive. The Simes often exchange work with other members of The Prairie Enthusiasts.
Bottom line: It’s unnatural to leave natural areas undisturbed, and there’s no better way to make the point than by examples set by landowners such as the Simes.
Photo: © Woodlands & Prairies Magazine
The Simes at work "disturbing" a degraded sand prairie.
That is a lot of work - but well worth their efforts!
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