I saw tree chips: A carol for the Rice Lake Plains
NCC national staff tackling Scots pine on a nature reserve, ON (Photo by NCC)
A holiday-themed song for you, inspired by Nature Conservancy of Canada staff Val Deziel and Thom Unrau and their ongoing work removing non-native Scots pine trees from the Hazel Bird Nature Reserve in the Rice Lake Plains of Northumberland County:
I saw tree chips
I saw tree chips come sailing in
On Prairie Day, on Prairie Day.
I saw trees chipped on Hazel Bird
On Prairie Day in the morning.
And who was making chips from trees,
On Prairie Day, on Prairie Day?
Who was that massacring Scotch pine trees,
On Prairie Day in the morning?
Val Deziel and Todd were there,
On Prairie Day, on Prairie Day;
With contractors and volunteers,
On Prairie Day in the morning.
They cut and snipped and pulled and mulched,
On Prairie Day, on Prairie Day;
They won’t leave a single Scots untouched,
On Prairie Day in the morning.
O they seeded Wild Rye,
On Prairie Day, on Prairie Day.
And Andropogon gerardii,
On Prairie Day in the morning.
And Colleen ploughed the earth last spring,
On Prairie Day, on Prairie Day;
And they planted all the plugs Cathy could bring,
On Prairie Day in the morning.
With fire they are carefully stewarding,
On Prairie Day, on Prairie Day.
And all the hog-nosed snakes shall sing,
On Prairie Day in the morning.
The spirit of Hazel Bird shall sing,
On Prairie Day, on Prairie Day.
The ghost of Catharine Parr Traill shall sing,
On Prairie Day in the morning.
The prairie’s coming back again,
On Prairie Day, on Prairie Day.
So let us all rejoice my friends,
On Prairie Day in the morning.
*******
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year of conservation and stewardship in Ontario and beyond!
About the Author
Mark Stabb is the Central Ontario-East program director for the Nature Conservancy of Canada and was the NCC lead on the Happy Valley Forest conservation project from 2006 to 2017.
