Barren Photography
This post is not about photography that is barren of any character or meaning. It’s about barrens, an ecosystem characterized by sandy soil and scrubby vegetation.
The most recent glaciation laid down “massive amounts” * of sand in a corridor 12 to 15 miles wide extending from Bayfield, Wisconsin to St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. Few trees grow in the dry, sandy soil. Those that do are mostly red pine and jack pine. Otherwise, the ecosystem is open grassland with scrub oak three or four feet tall. It is a globally rare ecosystem.
Last week, I hiked a section of the North Country National Scenic Trail that runs smack through the middle of the barrens in the Douglas County Wildlife Area between Solon Springs, Wisconsin and Gordon, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Department Of Natural Resources describes the area as “pine barrens habitat consisting of brush prairie, warm season grasslands, small seepage lakes and wetlands woven in a mosaic across rolling topography” and “a savanna-type plant community . . . dominated by grasses and interspersed with trees . . . a transitional ecosystem between forest and prairie, born of fire and maintained by fire.” ** The fires were once wild and frequent; now scheduled and managed.
There is less than 1% of the original barrens in Wisconsin. Without natural wildfires, much of the original barrens have become tree-covered. Much is also devoted to agriculture, lumbering, and other land-use activities. Most of the barrens in northwest Wisconsin are in the Crex Meadows State Wildlife Area, the Fish Lake State Wildlife Area, the Namekagon Barrens, the Douglas County Wildlife Area, and the Moquah Barrens. My photos below are from Crex Meadows, Douglas County, and the Namekagon Barrens.
Namekagon Barrens
The Barrens Landscape
Barrens Flora and Fauna
The Barrens Burning
“Where you see wrong or inequality or injustice, speak out, because this is your country. This is your democracy. Make it. Protect it. Pass it on.”
— Thurgood Marshall
* Wisconsin Department Of Natural Resources, Douglas County Wildlife Area, dnr.wisconsin.gov/Lands/WildlifeAreas/Douglas
** Northwest Sands Auto Trail, Discover the Northwest Sands Auto Trail, nwsat.org