Exploring the Early Sawmill History on Flume Creek to Aid Ecological Restoration
Quentin deBoer (Not Pictured)
William Coffey
Ecosystem Restoration and Management
Ecosystem Restoration and Management
To find the information that we needed to create a historical timeline of the site, we used several resources. We used the McMillan Memorial Library Digital Collection, which houses the Malcolm Rosholt Archive, Historic Plat Maps to outline historic site ownership. We also used Our County Our Story, to outline sawmills that were present on Flume Creek, The University Digital Archive to further collect history related to the site, Historic Aerial photos to map Succession, and a Genealogical document of the family who originally built the sawmill located on our site. Through integrating historical documents into an analysis of current stand conditions, we can evaluate how historic industrial logging practices, manipulation of hydrology, and movement to a suppression-based fire management strategy have contributed to current stand structure and biodiversity, as well as overall trends in succession. By understanding legacy effects such as these, and how they apply to a site, we can use this information to guide restoration practices in a plethora of ways, ranging from prescribed burn cycles to diversity targets and invasive strategies. This case study illustrates how historical archival research can aid restoration efforts in forest ecosystems, and why preserving this history is of the utmost importance.
Advisors: Michael Demchik, Ph.D.
Subject Area: Ecosystem Restoration and Management
Type: Oral
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UW-Stevens Point College of Natural Resources
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