Potential border changes
The neighbors are now asking to move the fenceline on the east side of the property to make plowing and harvest easier for them.
Good morning all,
Thanks for the gift of your time last week. I'm excited about being a neighbor (on two sides!) to this Prairie Restoration project. Dad and I spent some quality father-daughter time on the 4-wheeler at the end of last week to walk the pasture and consider potential softened borders. We came up with a few ideas for you to consider. I've attached a pdf of the tile map with some border possibilities. We want to be clear that we understand that this is your ground, plain and simple. We are grateful that you're open to considering some alterations to the borders-- we know they'll make our lives easier, and we're quite confident that these alterations will make your lives easier too, especially when it comes to noxious weed management, which is a chronic challenge for everyone. It is our hope that this process aids in better stewardship of the ground.
Do let me repeat that we are happy to cover the surveying costs and will "buy out" (at a mutually agreed-upon price) any additional acres we may acquire via altered borders. We would be in charge of fence and tree removal.
That said: starting on the north side, we'd propose moving the NW corner of the field (281st street) about 60'-70' farther west to skim the creek and take over the stretch of volunteer fence line trees on the east side of the pasture, thereby eliminating corner I. The trees are in bad shape, and big branches come down with strong winds. From the newly-surveyed point on 281st street, we'd propose a diagonal, either to the already established/surveyed corner II (segment B) or to a to-be-surveyed point north of that (segment A.) Utilizing segment A would imply reclaiming that previously-tilled corner for the prairie restoration.
Depending on which terminus is used at corner II, a straight line would then be made to corner III.
From corner III, a straight line could be drawn to corner IV (segment F), but that terrain gets a little wild, and we may prefer making a new corner IV east of the currently surveyed corner IV. We suggest positioning the new corner IV at the corner of the field south of the southernmost border (segment E). Again this would mean reclaiming previously-tilled ground at corner IV.
In any of these potential border permutations, we are excited that we would be able to plant and spray the corners effectively to manage weeds, noxious and otherwise. We also think that it will be easier for your group to manage the thistle population as well-- some of the worst thistle colonies seem to be in the corners abutting the field. Those thistles would then become our problem and my mother Sharon is a thistle vigilante on the 4-wheeler, riding the fence lines several times each growing season.
In the event that this proposal moves forward, we'd like to know who did the surveying when the property was being spec-ed out? (Jan, your head must be exploding as you read that grammar!) We'd like to use the same survey group if we could. Until we hear from you, we will hold off on tiling the ground, because Andy's tiling map may change with altered borders. We would be glad to hear your thoughts on how you'd like the tiling to drain.
Do let me reiterate that the Brue family have been good neighbors to our family for decades. Not only do we want to be neighborly, but we want to support your efforts at prairie restoration. We know full well that pollinator and bird sanctuaries stand to benefit our crop ground in a significant way, and we are grateful for the care you are taking to steward this land. We miss Karol and we're excited about this special and unique way of honoring her memory. Again, thank you for the gift of your time and attention as you consider our thoughts on redefining the border. We'll look forward to hearing from you after you've had a chance to think and talk this through.
All best,
Anne (for Keith and Sharon too!)
