‘Daylighting the oaks' is a term that refers to the removal of unwanted trees or brush that overtake a native oak savanna. Both non-native and native species like the red cedars seen here on Maiden Rock Bluff, directly behind the large bur oak in the photo on the left, can crowd or inhibit the growth of saplings and more mature trees. By clearing these cedars as well as other invasive trees and shrubs, oak trees are given more space to spread out and grow in a more natural, open shape. Daylighting also encourages the growth of oak saplings by opening the understory to sunlight.
The photo on the left was taken in the early spring of 2007, a few years before restoration work on Maiden Rock Bluff began. The photo on the right was taken from the same spot after the West Wisconsin Land Trust cleared many of the red cedars during a winter logging operation. Here, and elsewhere along the exposed, south-facing bluff, ‘daylighting the oaks’ continues to encourage the seeds of native grasses and forbs to take root and flourish in many of the places where they had gone dormant years earlier.