It’s that time of year when everything seems to slog down. We’re deep in the heart of winter. A grey haze permeates the days. Nature rests hidden in a deep (especially this year) layer of snow. Plants sit peacefully, patiently resisting the winter winds and awaiting the spring warmth. Wildlife moves quietly across the white-stained terrain or remains deep in the slumber of hibernation. A few brave birds twitter about, the rest having fled south weeks ago. People zip up their coats further, hunch their shoulders, and brace themselves for the next couple of months before spring. Amidst the quiet solitude and grey blanket of chilled breaths and slow winter beats, the sounds of power saws and large equipment can be heard across our project sites.

People are always impressed to learn that winter is one of our busiest seasons. Between the deep snowpack, the cold temperatures, and the short daylight hours, it might seem counterintuitive to have crews outside working in nature all winter long. Why do we spend so much time active and working while the natural office we work in is so dormant?—the answer lies in the same reasons that make winter work difficult.

First, the cold temperatures and snowpack provide valuable soil security. The cold temperatures freeze the ground, hardening the soil so that it is resistant to compaction, rutting, and tearing by crews and equipment. In areas with sensitive soil resources, or areas where we need to have lots of people and equipment moving across, the frozen ground conditions help protect the soil. Additionally, frozen ground allows us to access sites that we wouldn’t be able to reach during the rest of the year. Much of Minnesota is covered in wetland soils. These saturated soils are difficult to work in during the spring, summer, and fall. For any restoration work needed in these areas, we have to access them in the winter when the ground is frozen enough to support our crews and equipment. Finally, on sites where we are working along shorelines or hillsides, frozen soils can protect these sensitive areas from further erosion.

The other major reason we work in the winter time is because all of nature has gone dormant. With the exception of most conifers, trees and shrubs have lost their leaves. When this happens (a process called senescing), trees take their energy reserves into their roots for the winter. Any damage to the tree after this happens (snapped branches, cuts or scrapes through the bark, trimmed limbs, etc.) aren’t likely to cause serious harm to the tree, as it won’t lose valuable energy reserves through these injuries. Working in winter allows us to focus on targeting invasive species without worrying a lot about damaging desired trees.

For these reasons (soil protection, valuable understory protection, shoreline protection, etc.), many restoration projects in Minnesota that involve large tree removal or invasive species removal like buckthorn, are planned for during the winter months. Besides, a soft grey day with light snow gently falling across a white painted landscape provides a beautiful, peaceful backdrop for field work—a scene not found in any other season, and very few other places.