Removing Trees in Culturally and Environmentally Sensitive Sites – Effigy Mounds

Written by Michael Lynch 

Many of the mounds are located on bluffs high over the Upper Mississippi River. Prior to land use change and fire suppression, these sites were likely sparsely treed or treeless promontories. Today many of the mounds have large trees growing in and around them. These trees present a threat to the integrity of the mounds as uprooting during a windstorm can destroy entire mounds. 

The Guild is supporting the National Monument with a multiphase project to initially remove the trees that pose the highest risk to mound integrity with a long-range vision to create a more open landscape representing historical ecological conditions. In this initial phase we are focusing on the String of Pearls mound group on Fire Point – note the site name for an indication of the point’s history. 

As part of this project, we are developing a protocol for removing hazard trees in culturally and environmentally sensitive areas. This methodology will be shared with other public lands, particularly those preserving Native American burial mounds but also other sensitive landscapes.