When the Student is Ready, the Teacher will Appear

Many years ago I heard this Zen proverb for the first time - "When the student is ready, the teacher will appear".  There is an order to things that cannot be ignored.  Disaster struck the Fontenelle Forest wetlands last year.  Recovery will be a process that will follow a sequence.  As the wetlands heal, the animal and plant life will become more diverse.

Before the flood, the wetlands were a special place.  The plants and animals lived here in a habitat that was unusual in Nebraska.  Migrating birds were attracted to the area as they traveled north.  Some animals that lived here are not commonly found in any other part of Nebraska.

The animal and plant life was not so diverse because of any special attention that was paid to the area.  The opposite was true, the land wasn't very suitable for farming or human habitation so the humans were willing to leave it alone.  

The terrible flooding of 2011 altered this habitat for months.  Many of the former residents will not find it as welcoming at first.  The plants need to return before the animals that eat them will come back.  Plants that require shade may be pushed out by the grass that now will grow where the trees once stood.  Animals that eat seeds will need to wait until late summer when the plants produce seeds.  The carnivorous animals will need to wait until their prey has returned.  

Recovery will not mean that the area will be exactly the same.  For example, the Sycamores, Cottonwoods and Elms survived but other species like the ash and box elder were wiped out.  Eventually it will be very similar to other wetland areas in the Midwest because certain plants and animals thrive in this type of environment.

I visited the Fontenelle Forest lowlands before Sunrise on Saturday, April 14.  As darkness changed to light, I realized that it was too foggy for long range photos.  There were wood ducks swimming in the fog and I startled a Great Blue Heron when it saw me approach before I saw it.  There was a flock of Goldfinches high up in a tree and I could hear the honks of Canadian Geese. 

The forest staff has been hard at work.  The little bridge across the stream has been completed.  Dead branches have been removed from the trails and the board walk is nearly complete again.  

.The remains of the forest are everywhere.  Fallen trees drifted in the flood waters until they became tangled among the standing trees of the forest.  There are now piles of wood everywhere.  The forest floor started to sprout but it still doesn't provide any cover for wildlife.  

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I hear many more birds than I see.  This song sparrow was one of the few birds I was able to approach closely enough to photograph.

A spider has built a web in stalks that remained from last year.

Dew covers a new growth of grass.

The shoots and leaves of this vine will soon cover their host - a tree that didn't survive the flood.

Flood on the Missouri - August 2011

The Fontenelle Forest wetlands were under up to 12 feet of water for the entire summer of 2011.  The wetlands were officially closed and the access road to them was blocked off. The entire area was off limits to boat traffic and flooded tracks forced the railroad to close.  I managed to hike down from the hills above the wetlands on trails that hadn't been used for months.

The trails to the wetlands were overgrown.  Spider webs crossed the trail every couple of feet.  I stopped to photograph a Red Spotted Purple butterfly on the side of the trail.

When I reached the railroad tracks, I found that the wetlands had become a tranquil lake.  The distant trees looked like the shore but the trees were actually standing in feet of water. 

The two story viewing stand that looked over the lake was now surrounded by it and  nearly level with the water.

The distant view was beautiful but a closer inspection showed death and destruction.  There were deer bones on the tracks.  The deer may have been a victim of the flood.

Several Turkey Vultures were on the tracks waiting for victims of the flood to float by.

A large snapping turtle lay dead in the grass along the side of the tracks.  It had apprently slipped on the grass trying to get to land and the thick grass had prevented it from turning back upright.

A Barred Owl watched me as I hiked back home.

New Shoots and Leaves

Spring has arrived in the Fontenelle Forest wetlands!  I was told that it was unlikely for the trees that spent the entire summer in water to survive.  Apparently some of the trees didn't get the memo and have already started to bud and bloom. Even if the majority of trees are dead, the forest has survived.

The forest floor is still barren but much of the wetlands is now covered with grass.  I saw a couple of snapping turtles swimming in the stream.  There were large numbers of insects in the water along with a few frogs.  Some of the red winged blackbirds have returned. Robins are searching for worms. This is a complete reversal from my last visit earlier in March.

Beaver activity has spread to areas that were untouched before the flood.   I'm convinced that the beavers took full credit for the flood last year and will want to repeat their success this year.  This photo shows old and new evidence of beavers

The watermark from the flood isn't that evident close up.  When you look from a distance it is impossible to miss.

Fontenelle Forest Wetlands - The End of the Beginning

For tens of thousands of year water has ruled over the wetlands that now comprise part of Fontenelle Forest.  Spring floods could quickly alter the landscape.  We know they even moved the Missouri River because a couple of these moves left small lakes in the wetlands.  These changes happened quickly.  The river flooded for a few days and portions of the wetlands ended up on either the east or west side of the Missouri.  The wetlands quickly recovered from these floods - most of the vegetation could withstand the brief immersion.

When the sides of the river became Iowa and Nebraska, man tamed the river.  It was straightened so it is now many miles shorter.  Dams were built to capture the extra spring water. Levees were built so the river cannot escape its banks during the regular seasonal changes.  The fortifications were designed to stop even the greatest amount of water that could be imagined - the "hundred year floods".  The system worked - the hundred year flood of 2010 was largely contained.

2011 was different.  The dams intended to store the surplus spring water were already full  so that the lakes they created could provide maximum recreation and a constant supply of electricity.  The silt that had given the Missouri it's "Muddy Missouri" title had been collecting behind the dams and had reduced the water that they could hold.  Record amounts of snowfall in the north meant that the spring thaw would produce another hundred year flood.

By the time that officials realized what was happening, it was too late to let the dams do their job.  When the dams were filled nearly to their busting point, all the remaining surplus water was sent rushing downstream.  The levees kept the water from causing temporary flooding along the banks, so any severe flooding was moved south until it reached the point of least resistance.  While they deny it, it is evident that officials decided that the farms of southern Iowa and Nebraska were a better place to flood than anywhere near their own homes.  So the wall of water came and if these levees didn't break naturally, the officials made sure that it happened anyway.

The muskrats and beavers in the Fontenelle Forest wetlands don't vote so their homes were included in the expendable area.  The resulting flood was longer and deeper than anything this area had ever experienced.  The wetlands were covered in the spring and remained covered until fall.  Trees and wildlife that could have adapted to a shorter flood were wiped out.

Plants and animals weakened by the flooding  were immediately subjected to a Nebraska winter.  March arrived to a bleak landscape containing very few living plants and animals. 

I'm confident that this is the beginning of regeneration.  Spring will be the first chance for the plants to begin to grow again.  Insects will return and the birds will stop for a bite eat on their way north.  Animals that eat plants will start to reappear soon to be followed by the carnivores that eat them.  The bleak landscape marks the beginning.  March has been unusually mild so conditions are soon right for seeds to begin to sprout and shoots and leaves will soon appear.

A Gray Day

I visited the wetlands of Fontenelle Forest for the first time in 2012.  It was a beautiful January afternoon in Nebraska - nearly too warm for the sweatshirt I was wearing.  I didn't bother with my telephoto lens because I didn't anticipate much wildlife.  My 24-105mm lens was more than adequate to record the aftermath of the 2011 flooding.

What is left of the boardwalk is buckled and covered with mud.

 

The flood waters receded several months ago.  The landscape is significantly different than it was a year ago.  The underbrush is nearly completely gone.  There isn't much color or contrast.  Everything is a shade of gray.

 

 I didn't see a single animal.  There isn't any food for them here this winter.   I did see a little evidence of beavers and a few raccoon tracks.  Several wild turkeys had left tracks in the mud as well.  I heard several birds - they will need to look for seeds to eat somewhere else.

The  receding waters uncovered piles of garbage deposited at some point in the historical past.