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• Augusta Creek Covered Bridge
• Toad and Frog Survey
• Four-Township Watershed Resources Council support
• Augusta Creek MDNR Parking Lot Restoration
• Help Control Erosion with Native Plants
• Help Our Bluebirds and Bats

For detailed information about the Covered Bridge project go to the the Covered Bridge web page.

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The annual Michigan Department of Natural Resources toad and frog survey was completed again this Spring (2000). In 1996 the ACWA established 56 survey sites within the Augusta Creek watershed and installed 10 water level gauges. Water levels, rainfall and some water chemistry data will be collected annually. Five teams of trained volunteers visit each survey site after dusk during the months of April, May and June. The relative number of frog and toad species present is determined by listening to the male call(s) of each species. This project is part of the MDNR state-wide survey program.

Data summaries for surveys statewide are available at the Natural Heritage Program web site - http://wildlife.dnr.state.mi.us/homepages/natural_heritage.

The Michigan data is also included in the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program (NAAMP) - http://www.im.nbs.gov/amphibs.html. The goal of the NAAMP Monitoring Program is to provide a statistically defensible program to monitor the distributions and relative abundance of amphibians in North America.

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During our June meeting, the ACWA decided to contribute $250 to the Four-Township Watershed Resources Council start-up fund to develop an issues paper and cover consultant fees to review zoning ordinances for Ross, Richland, Barry and Prairieville townships. This is a first step to further protect the Augusta Creek and Gull Creek watersheds, as well as to preserve the rural character of our community. For more information visit the FTWRC web site.

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In the spring of 1995 ACWA made a commitment to remove trash and upgrade the appearance of the two MDNR Augusta Creek access parking lots on 42nd Street between C and B Ave. In spring '95 ACWA members completed Phase 1 of the "MDNR Parking Lot Restoration" program which was to improve the appearance and clean up the south parking lot. included removing several deer carcasses left by hunters. With the use of Jeff Fleming's chipper much of the brush was chipped and added to the creek access trail. Several small trees were removed so that the lot could be viewed easily from the road. Logs from the cut trees were used to improve the trail in wet areas near the creek.

Trout Unlimited joined the Phase One effort as part of their M-89 Adopt-A-Highway program. TU is also working to stabilize the bank where anglers enter the stream near the southern lot. Other organizations helping to maintain the parking lots include MSU Kellogg Biological Station Grounds Department and the Ross Township Police Department.

The ACWA would like to recognize the clean up crew and kids, as well as Trout Unlimited for there help in maintaining the MDNR Augusta Creek parking lots.

On September 18, 1995 Wes Knollenberg, ACWA, and Stuart Basset, MSU Kellogg Biological Station Grounds Crew, completed Phase 2 of the "MDNR@ Parking Lot Restoration" program. The dirt mounds surrounding the southern lot were removed and the area was re-graded and seeded. Improvement in the appearance of the lots should encourage visitors to make a better effort in keeping the area clean. Thanks goes to Allen Brooks who made the necessary arrangements with MDNR@ officials and who is maintaining contact with the Ross Township Police Department. Photographers should keep in mind that early light provides an excellent photo op at the covered bridge located halfway between the two parking lots. Just follow the path which leads from the green roadside gate.

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The Augusta Creek Watershed Association is implementing a program to control erosion and run-off into Augusta Creek and other local surface water bodies. As has been noted in previous issues of this newsletter, excessive sedimentation (large amounts of sediment entering the creek and covering the bottom) is probably one of the most serious current threats to the environmental integrity of Augusta Creek. Since most of the plants and animals native to Augusta Creek prefer sediment-free stream bottoms for at least a portion of their life-cycles, like trout spawning, excess sediment threatens the well-being of the Augusta Creek ecosystem. It should be noted that even systems in which some sedimentation is normal, can be negatively affected by too much erosion and the associated compounds that run-off with the soil (fertilizers, herbicides, etc.).

The primary cause of excess sediment entering lakes and streams is development and agricultural practices which do not leave riparian buffers, or vegetated zones along the water. The roots of this vegetation not only help keep soil intact, thus preventing it from washing into the stream during a rain storm or snowmelt, but they also intercept contaminants.

Best management practices would preclude the removal of stream-side or lake-side vegetation in the first place. However, in many places this has already occurred. So we would like to encourage anyone with waterfront property to re-vegetate their "beach".

Because of the problems created by the introduction of non-native species, we are recommending planting only native trees and shrubs. Below you will find lists of trees and shrubs, native to southern Michigan. Two common types of forest communities in this area are the oak-hickory and beech-sugar maple communities. These are largely upland communities (away from the water). We have included them since large portions of all watersheds are upland areas, and many nurseries do not provide extensive selections of native trees and shrubs. The third list contains species common to floodplain and bottomland communities in southern Michigan. These lists are not intended to be inclusive of everything which historically grew in the Augusta Creek watershed, but rather, the dominant trees and shrubs from the dominant types of communities. We've included the latin names so that you can distinguish between these native species and others that may have the same or similar common names.

Oak-Hickory Community:

White oak, Quercus alba
Black oak, Quercus velutina
Red oak, Quercus rubra
Pignut hickory, Carya glabra
Shagbark hickory, Carya ovata
Black cherry, Prunus serotina
Hop-hornbeam, Ostrya virginiana
White ash, Fraxinus americana
Witch-hazel, Hamamelis virginiana
Downy serviceberry, Amelanchier arborea
Flowering dogwood, Cornus florida
Eastern redcedar, Juniperus virginiana
Chinkapin oak, Quercus muehlenbergii
Dwarf chinkapin oak, Quercus prinoides
American chestnut, Castanea dentata
Dwarf hackberry, Celtis tenuifolia

Beech-Sugar Maple Community

Beech, Fagus grandifolia
Sugar maple, Acer saccharum
Red oak, Quercus rubra
Basswood, Tilia americana
White ash, Fraxinus americana
Black walnut, Juglans nigra
Tuliptree, Liriodendron tulipifera
Bitternut hickory, Carya cordiformis
Shagbark hickory, Carya ovata
Slippery elm, Ulmus rubra
Rock elm, Ulmus thomasii
Alternate-leaf dogwood, Cornus alternifolia
Blue ash, Fraxinus quadrangulata
Downy serviceberry, Amelanchier arborea

River Floodplain and Bottomland Community

Black willow, Salix nigra
Eastern cottonwood, Populus deltoides
Silver maple, Acer saccharinum
Red ash, Fraxinus pennsylvanica
American elm, Ulmus americana
Slippery elm, Ulmus rubra
Black walnut, Juglans nigra
Tuliptree, Liriodendron tulipifera
Black maple, Acer nigrum
Boxelder, Acer negundo
Butternut, Juglans cinerea
Rock elm, Ulmus thomasii
Swamp white oak, Quercus bicolor
Red mulberry, Morus rubra
Pin oak, Quercus palustris
Northern hackberry, Celtis occidentalis
Peachleaf willow, Salix amygdaloides
Sycamore, Platanus occidentalis
Redbud, Cercis canadensis
Chinkapin oak, quercus muehlenbergii
Honeylocust, Gleditsia triancanthos
Kentucky coffeetree, Gymnocladus dioicus
Pawpaw, Asimina triloba
Blue ash, Fraxinus quadrangulata
Shellbark hickory, Carya laciniosa
Shingle oak, quercus imbricaria
Ohio buckeye, Aesculus glabra

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We hope that you will support the ACWA in their efforts to increase nesting habitats for wood ducks, bluebirds, and bats by installing an appropriate nesting box in your neighborhood. For those of you caught up in the national movement to help reverse the decline of native bluebird and bat populations, look for our display at the MSU W.K. Kellogg Experimental Forest during the maple syrup program held each spring. Call Wes at (616)671-4547 to order boxes.