WHITEWATER WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREA – On a recent day, Bob Tangen gazed to the top of one of southeast Minnesota's many bluffs, countless of which in the region are blanketed with mature northern red oaks.
But the bluff that was the focus of Tangen's attention was largely devoid of trees, having been logged a few years ago.
Whether the hillside, which lies within Whitewater Wildlife Management Area (WMA), will ever again be graced with oaks and the deer, turkeys and songbirds they nurture is unknown.
"You log down here, and unless you've prepared the site ahead of time and care for it afterward, pretty much what you get in place of the trees you cut is buckthorn,'' said Tangen, a retired Department of Natural Resources Whitewater WMA assistant wildlife manager.