Dryden, D. (21 September 2007). The butterfly corner Washburn County Register, p. 28.

The Butterfly Corner

By Diane Dryden

SHELL LAKE - Even though last Friday was cold and windy, five Northwest Passage students and their teacher, Dale Kirchner, showed up to help Mary Ellen Ryall dig the invasive species, spotted knapweed, from the butterfly habitat that will run alongside Hwy. 63 just north of downtown Shell Lake.

"Spotted knapweed is all through the three habitat sections," said Ryall, "and it will be one of those species that we will have to pull out constantly."

Each plant sets out over 4,000 seeds annually, and even to pull out the offending weed, gloves have to be worn to avoid an itchy rash that it often produces on the hands and up the arms.

The weed-pulling team drove all the way from the Webb Lake area to help with the project that began at 9:30 a.m. Ryall fixed a lunch for the crew, and they worked for several hours in the cold and stiff wind off the lake. Another group from Northwest Passage will be coming to the habitat on Sept. 21 to dig out any remaining weeds.

Things are progressing very nicely with the habitat, and everyone is working full tilt to get the signage up and the tilling of plot number one finished before the winter snows.

Watch the site for constant changes.