The Holiday Are Upon Us

Arctic Blasts. Frozen Ground. Nor’easters. And every cold and frigid night Orion the Hunter for company in the night sky. Something tells me winter is upon us.

Field work in the preserve has pretty much come to an end this season. I’m tallying up the field work hours for the Service Learning department and getting a few early reflection papers. I’m satisfied with the results of this field work season. Looking back there were some highlights and so much enthusiasm. Certainly there is much to build on next spring.

The most exciting thing on the spring horizon is some early planning for a conference in April; we are thinking about a week-night conference followed by a week-end field trip to focus people on biodiversity and the issue of invasive species (among other issues); the APEC board heartily endorsed the plan and is looking to host an evening forum in April (tentative title- SAVING URBAN BIODIVERSITY).

It is just in the idea stage right now but I should be able to pull it together; I actually have a committee of great people to work with. Surround yourself with committed, strong, creative people and share the goal – that is a formula for success.

Once we have our ideas on paper I’ll be sure to post the developing plan to this space.

Right now is my time to get away for a couple of days so everyone should enjoy the holidays and the start of the winter season. Much love, peace, happiness and joy to all in the days ahead. Take care and love one another and I’ll be back early next year.

GOD SMILES

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving week-end came and went; (personally I need to work off a few calories and maybe some field work is just the ticket). We resumed classes today (Monday Nov. 29); the last thing that I heard from students as we said our farewells last Tuesday was that some students just didn't want to stop the field work as I had originally scheduled; they just wanted to work through to the end of the semester; one group was aiming at DEC 4 (Saturday) and another group was looking at DEC 8 (University holiday); honestly this was very unexpected but if they can work through the winter chill all the more power to them; we worked into DEC last year so it can't hurt to keep going; let's see what tomorrow will bring.

Progress to Report

The field work for the fall semester is reaching a peak and, like the falling leaves that cover our trails, will soon be part of the history of the preserve; Very much like last year the field season starts slow but ends with a flurry of activity, enthusiasm and accomplishment. Yesterday (Nov. 17) we had a full field day and students started at any time they wanted between 9 and 3 and worked until the end of the day with sunset being around 5 PM. It was a very successful formula with some starting as early as 9 AM (my early birds!) and many others joining in at 10, 12 and 1. Being able to choose the best time seemed to make a difference and we always had fresh troops to throw into the effort.

'early birds"


We had a total of 30 students across the entire day (which is a new record) and they did some group projects that smaller groups could not possibly do on their own; in the morning we concentrated on some vine control and cutting out the worst sections of alien vines with some good results (some great before and after pictures are included here);

1. pick your target!

2. get to the root of the problem!!

3. smile for the camera!!!

GREAT RESULTS!!!!

debris pile of vine cuttings

In the afternoon, with more people on hand, we broke up into two construction crews and one group went east to trail segments 5 and 6 and built a terracing stairway to the top of the berm; the other crew went with me to the spring section of the trail where we had some of the heavy duty boardwalking materials stored; these are “monster” planks - 16 feet long, one foot wide- and when they are wet they weigh upwards of 200 pounds. I had everyone fashion 7 or 8 ‘rope loops’ that we put around each plank. Walking on opposite side of the plank we lifted and carried it roughly 200 yards into its final resting place; no one person was going to lift anything like this by themselves but 7 people, each carrying a small part of the weigh, can accomplish amazing things; This is a lesson to be learned and the idea of 'teamwork' and 'sharing the burden' was not lost on these fine students; Both planks and their underpinning only took us about an hour to get in place and they now span one of the wettest and softest swales in the trail.

I'm proud of the heavy work these students saw and did not shy away from and also the careful work that the other group constructing the steps on the earthen berm. These two tasks only took two hours total and with plenty of good weather and daylight still burning they opted to go out one more time and do some touch up work, some fine cutting and replace one missing marking block. I told them that whenever you return from the field “never come back with an empty wheel barrow”. On their way back they hauled out some of the worst old highway debris that they came across along the way and it makes for a great final picture!

We’ll have to take a day or two to assess where we are at this season and to see if certain things need to be wrapped up; other students are still asking if they can work in a few more days and hours before the end of the semester so if the weather holds and doesn’t change over too fast maybe there is more to do in the very near future.

I couldn’t be more proud of this particular group; I know from their reactions and their good-byes and their feedback today that they took something special away from this very long and tiring day. I did too!

CAUSE TO CELEBRATE

This season's field work is moving forward step by step; several days had wet weather and even a tornado watch so that was a bit of a slow-down; on the other hand the days that had the gorgeous fall weather like today had some great results;

so why is there "cause to celebrate” today?

Today was a STJ school holiday and so we had the chance to do both morning and afternoon field work; three work groups from the morning and two more in the afternoon move the trail project forward and completed the last part of our trail marking blocks; (see the three pictures below) this may not sound like much but we have been working on this since this project began last Oct’ we now have all 85 blocks in place and have the entire 8500’ of the trail marked approximately every 100’. That was the original plan and it is now a reality.
We still have to put the trial symbols and exact distances to each of the final blocks but they are FINALLY in the ground and ready for the final markings.

THE FINAL BLOCK

The rest of the day was spent in some heavy duty vine control (see other pictures) and in some TLC (– both Tender Loving Care and Trail Length Care-) in trail segments 4, 5 and 6. It was great working with these young students and sharing their enthusiasm.

Vine Country

l

Way to go - Peter/Nicole/Emily

In the middle of the day a former student from many years ago walked into our work site and surprised us; Chris Tomasello is a good friend and former student who now runs his own environmental consulting company and was just passing by and took the chance to stop in to the center and say hello; Chris is in the oil spill and Haz-Mat clean-up and remediation business and it was a nice chance to catch up a little.

And some TLC from Raphael

It was a tiring day. As we said our goodbyes I asked the students at the end of this long and tiring day how they felt about the project? they had all sorts of good feelings and thoughts; they had a sense of teamwork, they had a sense of accomplishment; one said it was therapeutic; and perhaps most importantly they had a sense of what this place might someday become.

Having the trail marking part of this project complete is only one step but it is an important step. Now we can ask volunteers to direct their efforts to particular tasks at particular trail intervals; we can begin to interpret the ecosystem and the plant communities for visitors and we can begin to produce trail maps and guides keyed to the trail markers that encourage people to get out and explore the park by following the marked trail. I think that will have to be my next project for the winter months when things are frozen solid and snowed over waiting for spring to arrive.

I’ve waited a long time to celebrate this day. I have to thank the students from last Oct., last April and this fall season that worked so hard to take this off the drawing board and put it into the ground.

And a final thank you and good-bye from one of the locals.

THE REAL FIELD WORK BEGINS

Haven't written in a couple of weeks but everything is moving ahead as planned; we ran the second orientation tour with more than 30+ students on Sept 29 for a total of around 75 volunteers; others still want to join in even though they couldn't make the Wednesday walks; as long as they can get the basic idea of what to do then they should still join in but the orientation to the whole preserve is a problem.

I drafted a 5 part work plan and am dividing the work into days depending on how many we have on any given day; today WED 10-13 was the first day we had a real crew on hand and they did a splendid job; I'm not surprised that they wanted to work back in the spring area - it is so beautiful this time of year. Good place to begin as any but it is far out and the farther out we work the harder the work is; nevertheless it was their choice and they did fine;

We have a new tool in the arsenal called a 'brush grubber' I was hoping it would pull masses of wild rose up by the root mass but the stems are too tiny for it to grab; but it was outstanding for pulling roots of porcelain berry which in the long run may be even better; porcelain berry is at its peak right now but we can really set it back with enough hands and effort;

We took extra time to give instruction about tool safety and working together and then took half hour or so to walk to the site; that didn't leave us with much time but in a little more than an hour what a great job they did;

Before and after pictures are some of my favorites and so here is were we started; (-the spring is in the middle of the photo-)

and here is how it looked when we finished!

Now it is possible to get visitors to walk to the edge and see all the drama of that cold, clear-flowing artesian spring; people can't help but be fascinated by its flow; the best descriptor 'simply mesmerizing'; it is a marvel of nature and a tribute to nature in this great valley.

We talked a bit about stabilizing some the collapsing banks of the spring with some natural stone but that is something that would need to be planned very carefully. Sometime the old adage is true - "if it ain't broke don't try to fix it"

These students have to be proud of their accomplishment even if it only took them an hour; When they get back and show what they did in a short time then I can guess how the rest of the group will be encouraged. Next time I write I need to post the work plan to this blog but I'll have to do that from the office computer;

I'll try to write the results from each week and show the progress we make across the field season. My congratulations to this first work crew which chose wisely and had a terrific first encounter with this great park.

First trip of the new season

September 22 marked the autumnal equinox - end of summer and the beginning of the fall season. You could hardly tell with the heat, the humidity and an evening thunderstorm more typical of July than late September. But Sept. 22 did mark the first of our orientation field trips for new students who will carry on where last year’s groups left off. We had 47 students on this first trip and next week we expect probably just as many. After everyone has seen the preserve in its entirety, we can begin to divide up the tasks and set some goals and timetables for October and November.

Yesterday, even with the above average temperatures in mid-80’s, we covered the area quickly and saw all the highlights -Alley Tidal Creek (at high tide) headwater streams (cold, clear and flowing strong) the ‘secret’ spring (always beautiful) and poison ivy in full bloom - so maybe they can recognize it in the weeks to come. I think the students were suitably impressed and I was glad to share the day with co-leaders Frank Cantelmo and Paula Lazrus. I think we work together well and I think the students appreciate that too.

The trails are completely passable (generally good to excellent but with a couple of rough spots). Sometimes its easy to forget that when we are out with people for the first time, they can’t really anticipate what we are asking of them. One unfortunate student ran into a real problem with footwear. Those elevated platform heals just weren’t going to work on earthen trails. We did give fair warning about the walking conditions and proper dress and footwear but when you are working with rookies this is something to look out for before we step out into the preserve.

I hope next week is a bit cooler but just as beautiful and just as successful.

We shall see.

READY…SET…GO!!!

Our fall field work in the preserve is about to start. We have two orientation field trips for the starting students on schedule for Sept. 22 and 29. There are three trip leaders (Paula Lazrus, Frank Cantelmo and myself) and there will be a large number of first year students. The results should be outstanding.

Before the APEC board meeting last night, I went out into the park and walked some of the most challenging sections of the trail. I just had to ease my mind that we could make our way without too much trouble. What a great night! All the trails were dry, firm and very passable. They certainly need all the TLC we can give them but they are in great starting shape.

Reflecting back to our starting position last year I can now see exactly how far we have come; last year at this time we were only beginning to plan for this trail project; we had installed none of the marker blocks and trail distances and the last third of the trail was all but impassable. We could get to the hidden spring and parts of trails were soft, wet and blocked by trees pulled down by choking vines; We freed the trees, drained the worst trail spots and put the marking blocks in on almost two thirds of the trail. We finished cutting the trails by the end of this summer and so it is READY… SET… and…GO for this next generation of stewards.

I'm really looking forward to their reaction next week when they visit the preserve for the first time; I can only imagine all of the progress they will make this season.

Welcome to September

Weather is still the worst but the trails conditions are improving remarkably. Summer heat in the preserve is really unbearable. Drains you of all energy. We are also on the edge of Hurricane Earl and can only hope it doesn't hit the east coast but it should be out of here by tomorrow night.

In spite of the dogs days of summer we are making progress and are back to campus for a week now. Trails in the preserve are open and passable which is more than we had at the start of last year. Great starting group of students this year and I expect they will do remarkable service in the preserve this semester and in the future. I finished buying some of the tools, gloves and equipment they will use this term and it should be in soon.

Next big step is to give all of these enthusiastic and idealistic young people a great tour of the preserve and a clear idea of what they can do. Human energy and creativity is a true 'resource' and I really believe we have a vast new pool we can tap.

Trail Conditions -more to think about...

I'm away from St. Johns this week but did some evaluation of the trails in the preserve before I took this much needed break;

I was able to use the Earth Google photos to pin down sections of the trail as green, yellow, orange and red according to the present conditions; most of the trail system is in good to great shape and can be considered open and accessible (GREEN = 50%); light overgrowth that can be cleared with one quick pass of the brush hog is rated YELLOW (maybe another 30%); one particular long stretch is ORANGE and is overgrown in such a way that the porcelain berry intertwined with wild rose makes it difficult to pass (orange = >10%) and a couple of spots have small, downed trees or heavy vines that need to be removed before we can consider it fully open (RED = 10%)

At this point we need to address the most difficult sections before we can begin serious field work and orientations in September; September 22 looks like our first full fledged ORIENTATION DAY so there should be more than enough time between now and then to make the trails completely passable.

Picture below is the first of the six consecutive trail segments. Trail conditions for this segment are rated as in great shape and are all rated GREEN.

PLAYING WITH VIDEOS

Back in June I wrote a post about the nature of the tidal estuary Alley Creek; Alley Creek is very photogenic and it is almost impossible to take a bad picture of this wonderful water body; it is always changing and always presents a fresh (or maybe that should be 'brackish'?) face to the visitor; so it was easy for me to add a variety of pictures from my files.

At the time I thought that maybe I'd try some day to take a video and post that along with the stills; I never did that before but the Alley has so many stories and the preserve is so rich and varied that a video record might just capture what my words or pictures cannot.

So here it is the first video post. If this works out I'd love to do some more. Could be fun!

Sharing a field day with friends and colleagues

This wetland preserve is my passion. I want nothing more (and also nothing less) that to make this into a world class nature preserve on the eastern edge of New York City. This is a very personal idea but it is not something that can be accomplished alone. Building a constituency of talented folks, who work together on a share vision, is one of the “essentials’.

This week I had the chance to share ideas about the preserve with two friends and teaching colleagues. I’ve known and worked with Frank Cantelmo for 30 years and with Paula Lazrus for only a few years. Frank is an aquatic ecologist by training and a brilliant teacher of evolutionary biology and ecological thinking. Paula is a superbly creative teacher and trained archaeologist who teaches both history and science from the perspective of human induced changes to the natural landscapes. Spending the day with them, in the preserve, deciding what we can do with our different student groups makes for one of those 'unforgettable' days. We have a great deal of overlap within our student groups whether it is ES major students or beginning freshman science students. How can we work together and with our different levels of students?

We decided to run one major orientation tour and field walk with our classes early in the fall semester. I’ll focus on the preserves overall geography and its watershed character; Frank will do its ecosystems and its wonderful aquatic and estuarine nature and Paula will provide them with the human and landscape perspectives. How’s that for being interdisciplinary! When that is all said and done and the students have seen the ‘whole’ we’ll then allow them to select from a variety of structured and unstructured investigative trips and activities that we will design for them. It will be their option to join in but I’d bet that it will be the highlight of their term.

I have to add that this particular day (7-22-2010) was really hot; it also was exceedingly humid and the mosquitoes absolutely loved it; and because it is July some of the overgrowth was almost impassable. None of us escaped unscathed. So you might think that it wasn’t all that great a day. Well it was a tough day. But sharing something special with friends and colleagues tips the balance. It turned out to be one of those really great, ‘unforgettable’ days.

A Wetland Dying of Thirst

Dry, Dry, and More Dry.

It is as hot and dry as I have ever seen it. The trails are actually dusty and the sensitive plants like touch-me-not are all wilted. Youngest tree plantings are fairing the worst. We haven't seen ANY rain in three weeks even though other parts of Long Island actually had some real local downpours. Coupled with a string of record breaking temperatures and you can imagine what life is going through out here. The rainclouds just missed NE queens and the dry continues. Forecast for rain later today and tomorrow holds out some hope but nothing so far. Can't help but think: is this just a natural cycle of wet and dry or is it a portent of things to come???

Tidal Marshes of the Alley

As we approach the 4th of July week-end I have a few moments to get back to something I started a couple of weeks ago - describing the ‘parts’ of the preserve which, when added together, form the most beautiful whole; in mid-June I wrote about the main stem -Alley Creek- and now what I’d like to write about is the ‘kidneys’ of the land - the valuable wetlands which line the creek; the metaphor of 'marshes as kidneys' is well placed because they have a remarkable capacity to clean water and reduce waste loading by biological processes; there are many different types of wetlands in the world and we have several different types in this small valley. I’ll talk about the freshwater systems at other points but since I began with Alley Creek last month I’ll talk just briefly about our ‘salt marshes”.

Probably more correctly termed ‘tidal marshes’ these landscapes border Alley Creek either as a ‘narrow ribbon’ or as a broader ‘expanse (from1 to 10+ acres); they have the most remarkable origin, geology, history and ecology of any of our local ecosystems. How, in a brief post, can I convey the importance and character of these living landscapes??? Well I think a couple of well-chosen pictures will help immensely so I will be sure to include those at the end but I’d also like to mention some other sources of information that I value deeply;

first there is this brief quotation:

“Along the eastern coast of North America, from the north where the ice packs grate upon the shore to the tropical mangrove swamps tenaciously holding the land together with a tangle of roots, lies a green ribbon of soft, salty, wet, low-lying land, the salt marshes.”

So begins the finest description of our tidal marshes ever written -the truly famous book by John and Mildred Teal “Life and Death of the Salt Marsh”. This is a somewhat older book (out of print but still widely available in used book stores and libraries). I find that young people, new to this field, are oftentimes unfamiliar with this great work. That is a shame because there is so much to learn here! There is no better exposition of the role of the salt marshes than this short text. If you have not read it (or have not read it recently) it would be an enlightening look into a wondrous world.

The genius of the book is that it is so simple that when you read it you think about the marshes you know best. Read it in Maine and you think of the pocket marshes between the headlands, read it in Maryland or Virginia and you see the great expanse of the Chesapeake, read it in south Queens or Brooklyn and you visualize Jamaica Bay. When I read it, I can’t help but see Long Island Sound, the upper East River and the Alley Wetland Preserve. Besides being beautiful it is also important. This book did more to change the opinion of wetlands and wetland destruction than any other single factor. The New York State Tidal Wetlands Act was passed by the legislature two years after the publication of this most influential book.

A much more recent source of educational information about the marshes of the Alley is our own organization’s publication History and Ecology of Little Neck Bay (62 p) by Aline Euler and Dyan Freiberg, two of our most talented staff educators; they have compiled all the information we have about how the bay and its component ecosystems and written it in a way for teachers and students to understand; I value my copy very highly because it contains the old photos, maps, ecosystem descriptions and organism ‘biographies’ that come together in this valley. It is not an on-line publication but we do have remaining copies for sale at the center and I can guarantee that any teacher or student of this area would be thrilled to own this remarkable collection of ideas.

What about the marshes themselves?

How can one understand their life and function?

Well, there is no better on-line source about the marshes of this area than the on-line publication Tidal Marshes of Long Island Sound. If you are a teacher or budding naturalist interested in marshes and estuaries then you must check out this publication. I use it regularly with all of my students and the accessibility of the text and the quality of the diagrams make this a 'must have' for anyone who wants to really understand this system.

Finally, what can one say about our past, present and future marshes?

Today the marshes are actually growing back (YES!) after many years of losses. Some of the regrowth is natural; some has been designed and implemented as ‘mitigation’ projects required as payment for loss of marshes elsewhere; This re-growth of marsh surface is significant and in some ways bodes well for the future.

The area of the entire wetland preserve today is listed by the NYC Parks Dept. NRG as 131.92 acres. However, before being dissected by three major roadways and the LIRR, it was part of a much more continuous, open and extensive ‘wetland complex’ that can only be estimated from old maps and photos; The famous Alley salt meadows stretched to the edges of Little Neck Bay to the north filling this broad glacial valley from one valley wall to the other. It must have been a remarkable sight. Estimates from old maps easily place the extent of former marshes and tidal flats somewhere between 250 and 300 acres (my best guess and I have done this calculation several times from several maps is 272 acres).

In 1988 NRG did an Entitation (plant community) survey (from scaled aerial photos which I still have those photos) of the entire valley and reported that all ‘intertidal’ environments -(tidal flats, Alley Creek, and all the bordering high and low salt marshes) - tallied 38.45 acres(!) Simple math tells us that only between 12 and 15 % (depending on what you would like to use as your starting number) of the original area of tidal wetlands remain (!)

We can not afford to lose another inch to thoughtless, heartless, development.

The remaining marshes of the Alley have it all:

Tidal Connections to the Sun and Moon
‘Kidneys of the Land”
Green Ribbons of Life

Gorgeous wildlife
Living Marsh Landscapes
Home to Countless Organisms

People who love them deeply

Field walk with the leadership - morning of June 18

Its been too long since I had a chance to sit and write but I did have a great field walk with some very special individuals on the morning of June 18.

APEC’s board leadership and key staff met with Tim Wenchus of NYC Natural Resource Group and also Dr. Andrew Kolodny a good friend, neighbor and supporter of the preserve to review plans for controlling invasive species on both side of Alley Creek; New York City Parks through the NRG is applying for grant support to do a major plant restoration project on the east bank of the preserve; we walked to view that proposed project and also to review how our own efforts would fit into the scope of that plan;



After introductions (Rita Sherman APEC board president, Rich Blum VP; Irene Scheid Exec. Dir., Aline Euler Ed. Dir., Carlos Martinez, building and grounds, Tim Wenskus, NYC NRG and Dr. Andrew Kolodny)

(Tim, Rita, Bill, Andrew, Irene, Carlos and Rich (behind the lens as usual)





and morning coffee we took off and spent the next few hours looking at everything that needs to be done to protect the preserve from the threat of invasive species; the primary invasives (wild rose, porcelain and bittersweet vines, garlic mustard and to some degree Phragmites) are as prevalent as ever and at the height of the growing season they look almost unstoppable;

If (hopefully 'when') grant money become available NRG would hire restoration crews to remove plants, spray the roots and then replant the forest line on the east side of the preserve so that the forest edge would approach the trailside; the amount of removal and planting is simply a matter of dollars and cents but care and sensitivity would matter a great deal; our own efforts are a bit different but aim at the same general goal;

Our work is more labor intensive and more continuous aiming to ‘set back’ the invasives significantly and to clear some areas entirely so that meadow grasses and low shrub grasslands can be added to the mix of ecosystems.

Getting the leaders to see the preserve first hand is always a good idea; we should do more along this line with political and community leaders too who have a stake in what we aim to accomplish.

Alley Creek - the main stem of the preserve

I hope to get a couple of more field days in over the summer but considering the heat, humidity and our national bird - the mosquito, maybe I need to spend a bit more time writing about the ‘parts’ of the preserve. As with any great landscape this preserve has a multitude of component ‘parts’. The parts (landscape features) create a variety of habitat potentials in close proximity to one another. First and foremost this preserve sits in a great glacial valley. It sits between two relatively high and flat plateaus to the east and west and is bounded by relatively steep valley walls. The flat bottom of the valley was at one time filled, wall to wall, with extensive marshes all of which were drained by the central ‘tidal creek’ -Alley Creek.

The 20th century was not kind to this valley. Large areas of marsh were lost to heavy landfilling and the area was dissected by Northern Blvd. the Long Island Expressway the cross Island Parkway and the Long Island Railroad. Urban development sprawled across the plateaus and crowded to the edge of the marsh filled valley. All of these events are stories for another post because I right now I want to focus on the component parts that still remain. The greatest of these remaining landscape features is the ‘main stem’ of the whole preserve -Alley Creek.

Alley Creek is a ‘tidal creek’ or more correctly a ‘tidal estuary’. About 3500 feet of Alley Creek is within the preserve area but it continues another 3000 feet to the north where it empties into the other gem of this valley -Little Neck Bay. Anyone who is interested in what this actually looks like can get a great overview of this area using Google Earth.

The axis of Alley Creek physically bisects the preserve setting up an east and west bank. Freshwater from a multitude of sources flow into the head of the creek in the southern part of the preserve and make its way north until they encounter the tidal waters of Little Neck Bay. This sets up the intimate and complex mixing of fresh and salt water creating the classical ‘brackish’ water condition which defines our idea of ‘estuary’.

The tidal range in Little Neck Bay averages more than 7 feet (8.3 feet when the moon is full) and is one of the largest ranges from Massachusetts to Georgia on the east coast of the US). Each rising tide sends water into the wide mouth of Alley Creek and forces it upstream overwhelming the freshwater inflows for a few hours; then, on the outgoing (falling or ebb) tide, all this water (now well mixed) is released and rushes out into Little Neck Bay. Never missing a beat, twice each day, the tidal creek fills and empties creating a ‘pulsing exchange of water’. This is a wonderful effect and prevents any contaminants from accumulating to harmful levels.

The banks of the estuary are also heavily vegetated with high and low salt marshes and below the vegetation lines are extensive tidal mudflats. Technically, Alley Creek is a tidally dominated, partially stratified, semi-diurnal estuary that is tributary to the much larger estuaries of Little Neck Bay and Long Island Sound. That’s the technical view.

To those of us who love it and who paddle its waters at high tide and to the thousands of creatures that come and go and make it their home, Alley Creek is the ‘main stem’.

It is the connective tissue that defines and holds this great valley together.

Annual APEC BBQ

Thursday night June 10.

I hosted the annual APEC BBQ at the center for members and friends; chance of rain may have kept the number down just a bit but we did still get to serve upwards of 70 of our supporters in the annual BBQ event; the early evening was actually a wonderful night with just a very brief ‘sun shower’. We had a great lineup of cooks from the board of directors including John, Rich and Patty and lots of other board helpers serving food and drinks, cutting watermelon, meeting and greeting and helping with all sorts of things; special thanks to Gloria, the new queen of the salad, for adding a new dimension to the menu;

Several of the political supporters turned out to say hello including our long time supporter and friend State Senator Padavan and our newest Assemblyman David Weprin and our former councilman Tony Avella. No speeches this night; everyone just checked their politics at the door and enjoyed the food and good company.

Best part of the night for me is to see our staff members, board members, good friends and neighbors all together sharing this great park space; as far as I'm concerned nothing could be finer than this ‘sense of community’ in the great outdoors; I didn’t get a picture from this year’s BBQ but I did have a couple from years past so here they are. Thanks again for a great evening.

A FIELD WORK GIFT

Yesterday (6-3-2010) I had the chance to do a couple of hours of field work in the preserve right after work; of course all day long the weather seers were predicting strong afternoon thunderstorms; all the signs were right for HIGH WINDS, lightning and thunder, hail, downpours and anything else that might fall from the sky; all day it looked like a sure washout but they were both right and wrong. It rained on Long Island, it rained in NJ, it rained in CT but for whatever reason it never did rain in Queens! I lost no time right after working making my way out into the preserve and making the most of my good luck.

Not being out in the distant parts of the preserve for a couple of weeks, I mostly wanted to see how our hard work had held up and how things looked in early June; I also had a couple of loose ends to tie up and wanted to nail together some of the loose building materials we had left at a couple of locations; I didn’t need much more than hammer and nails and a some shears to do some light pruning near the spring.

Our efforts from last year really make a difference in trail access; I had no trouble at all following the way and the trails were in great shape; wild rose, poison ivy and the ever present porcelain berry are growing back strongly but that’s their way and we will always have to stay ahead of them at least near the trails sides;

The planking that I had to nail together only took about 40 minutes; by the time I was finished I was drenched not with rain but with my own sweat. Working alone, at dusk, at my own pace and not having to play the leader was an interesting shift for me. I like hard physical work and being out in the preserve, alone with only my own thoughts as company, is something I haven’t done in a long time, Time to work, time to think, time to feel, - it felt like a rare and precious gift.

After the heavy work I moved quickly through the rest of the trail aiming to get to the spring and make sure it would still be accessible. The Phragmites which are heavy in that area grow back so fast that I was afraid it would begin to close up again. As I round the last trail turn to the spring I came across a recent ‘marsh burn’ in the heaviest section of Phragmites; it was a moderate size burn - not like the 100 acre burn from a few years ago- but it was very noticeable; my guess is that it is between 1 and 2 acres and it burned from trail side into the wet marsh where it must have died out with no where to go; It actually cleared the both banks of a small stream that flows into the headwater of Alley Creek.

Nothing much I could do about this location right now but it got me to thinking that this might be the opportunity to try to recover some of this area before the Phragmites completely regrows; it is quite easy to cut the stems as they grow back from the massive root system. Phragmites only grows from April to July and then they normally stop growing (up) and spend the rest of the growing season building up underground reserves for the next season. . I wonder how the area would respond to some strategic cutting this month and next and to some seeding with meadow grasses and young trees?

The sun was just starting to set. It was ducking below the high tree line on the west valley wall. The mosquitoes noticed it before I did but as they reminded me I called it a day. My few hours in the preserve, alone with my thoughts and with urban nature, were a gift from the weather gods who passed by without looking down. When I got home I said thank you for this gift and I didn’t forget to water the garden late that night.

Project Goals Revisited

It occurred to me that since the field work has ended for this academic year, I can expect to welcome a whole new crop of students and service workers next semester;

Since I only started recording this blog in April 2010 and since the project started way back in Sept. 2009, I never did write up anything about the “project goals” that I had initially established last year. Goals are important for many reasons but one reason is that it helps new people understand why things are being done and what happened before they joined the project.

I just took a moment to revisit them and they have stood up very well this year. There were three goals established back in Sept. 2009. All three have been moved forward this last year; These goals are, of course, never ending. They will continue for many years to come but they do form a roadmap for the journey and help us understand where we are going. (BTW: I always liked the saying 'life is a journey not a destination' which internet attributes to both Ralph Waldo Emerson and to Aerosmith but I heard it first from Don Henley of the Eagles)

I think it will be useful to have these GOALS written out for the next set of field workers to think about - so here they are:

Project Goals:

Improve the overall accessibility of the Alley Pond Park Wetland Preserve and make it available to a new generation of visitors and naturalists by improving all trails and trail side conditions.

Enhance the ecological character of the preserve by controlling the most aggressive invasive species, encouraging native plantings, protecting and improving wildlife habitat and repairing the scars from years of neglect and overdevelopment.

Provide modern, safe and improved visitor interpretive services to the public in the form of guided and self-guide excursions throughout the preserve.


These goals still hold up and will provide the directional framework for the project to move forward next year.

VERY GOOD NEWS TO REPORT….

Last night (5-20-2010) I attended a very special meeting which holds great promise for the future of the preserve. The APEC Exec Committee (Rita Sherman, Rich Blum, Irene Scheid and myself) met with a potential donor (who shall remain anonymous for the time being) to discuss the issue of invasive plant species and the restoration of some key native species and ecosystems.

It actually turned into two meetings because Janice Melnick (NE Queens Parks Administrator) and Mike Feller of the Natural Resources Group (NYCDPR) also reported on some parallel funding and planning efforts within NYC Dept. of Parks and Recreation.
Parks is looking at funding for a true watershed approach to park planning eventually leading to a landscape restoration plan/project for the large areas EAST of Alley Creek. Their rising interest in this sensitive ecological area is a welcome addition to our own efforts.

The contributor, who we were speaking with for the first time, has similar interests –to limit the spread of the most aggressive invasive plants and to restore some native plants (hopefully WEST of the tidal creek) to improve the biodiversity of the preserve.

Taken together these two planning and planting initiatives could greatly enhance the ecological richness and diversity of the whole preserve. How exciting is that!!!

We all agreed that this is no one-shot-deal. All of our efforts need to be long-term and continuous. To start we will need 3 to 5 years to plan, treat, restore and re-plant selected areas. Eventually we would develop a comprehensive stewardship program that would maintain and expand the progress we have made.

We have been moving in this direction for quite a while but now with the prospects of FUNDING and EXPERTISE adding to our initial efforts this area is approaching a development threshold!

I’m actually excited to see how this is going to turn out!

There is an old maxim that says: “the best way to predict the future is to make it happen”.

Here is my hope and my prediction of the future. : “In five years this area –the Alley Pond Park Wetland Nature Preserve- will be one of the finest urban, nature preserves in this region and indeed in the entire country”. Help us make it happen.

Yellow highlight line is 1.52 mile perimeter trail around the wetland preserve.


Final post for this season is going to be a Google Picture of the preserve with our completed trail penned in; G-EARTH is absolutely amazing!

If you have Google Earth the coordinates of the preserve are centered on:

40 degrees 45’ 37.48”N and 73 degrees 44’ 51.81” W

and it is well worth viewing on a high resolution monitor that allows you to zoom in and control the altitude views. We have much more to continue with this summer and in the semesters ahead but I am very happy with the tangible and intangible results from this last year.

Reflections on this field work year

Thanks for all the hard work!

I planned to write every three or four days but I took a couple of extra days to finish the semester. This extra time also gave me the chance to reflect on how the field work progressed this year. It’s been a busy semester and a great year.

We began back in September with a long all-day field walk introducing the new students to the preserve and the watershed of the park. After that we began our formal Academic Service-Learning component in October with students from about five classes putting in over 600 hours of supervised field work; we picked it up again in March and April and did another student cumulative total of 153+ hours many of which are described in earlier posts to this blog.

What did we accomplish? and what comes next? We have many tangible outcomes to point to -a more accessible and visitor friendly trail system; dozens of trees that have been rescued from strangling vines, and over 1700 young native tree and shrub plantings that need our TLC this summer. . But I am most moved and encouraged by the intangibles of the project; what the students said to me while they were working or how they showed their own initiative or what they wrote in their reflection papers proves to me that we are on the right track; I could pick up almost any one of their reflective essays and find highlights to share with you but one in particular captured the sense of what many people had to say. In a much abbreviated form here is what one of the students had to say:

“Many students at St. Johns are from the urban city setting. Many of us do not get out and explore the outdoors. I myself am one of those many students. ……We learn about wetlands and forests in geography class. However there is no better way of becoming familiar with nature than to actually go out and see what she has to offer. ……At the beginning of AS_L I just needed to earn some extra credit. However half way into it I actually wanted to do the work. I love the outdoors and I commend a good honest days work and this type of work make you feel good inside………….My partner and I planted trees and I really hope they flourish; every tree is a value to us and should never be taken for granted; …… When I approached Alley Pond Park I was amazed that there was a nature preserve right here in my city. We need a place like this in New York City to keep us in tune with nature. Our efforts will benefit many for the years to come.”

I think this is a sincere and honest reflection that conveys some universal themes expressed by so many of the other students -the value of field work and outdoor education, intergenerational equity, nature in the urban environment, personal satisfaction, team building and working with peers.

The other indication that makes me sure we are on the right track is that more than a few students spoke to me as we finished for the day or for the season; their conversations always went something like this; “hey professor, thanks for the chance to do the field work, it was great, I’ll never forget it; I had no idea that anything like that existed around here; maybe if you have more work to do you can give me a call? I would definitely like to do more and see how things turn out.”

We are definitely on the right track.

Final Field Days of Spring-Friday April 30

This was one of the last two field work days for the spring semester; only a few of the students who worked these days had been here before so I think it was quite an eye opener for some; for the few who were here before, they stepped right up and did some fine work and made some fine choices about finishing what they had started;

Since we ran into that connection issue last week, on Friday Raelynne, Kevin, Ryan and Bianca started work in the reverse direction to connect up to where we had left off last week. That section of the trail wasn’t too heavy in terms of overgrowth so with a couple of grass whips for Phragmites and low brush and loppers for entangling vines and a good bit of sweat they made some quick progress; while we were taking a water break I walked ahead to see what we were up against; I could see where we needed to go so, in my mind I picked the shortest connecting route up a shallow slope; when the break was over and we were ready to start again I showed them where I wanted to go and Raelynne, very quietly and very politely, said “maybe we should take a look over here”? She had found something of a ‘desire path,’ partially hidden from view and not cut or trimmed, but definitely walkable and something that, by following a contour, avoided the worst of overgrowth; I was easily convinced and I just got out of their way as they opened up what they had stumbled upon.

They surprised me and they surprised themselves by how much they had done and how far they had come along the trail; they finished the connection and when I measured it in Google Earth it was roughly 1300+ feet; that is about as close to ¼ mile as you can get and they did it in ONE great afternoon;

It never ceases to amaze me when you have the right group of people working together on a mutually agreed upon goal how much they can do! thanks to all of them for a great outcome;

the picture below shows the trail segment that we completed so far this spring;

Last two field days fast approaching

Later today (4-30) and next Tuesday are the last two field days for this semester; we should be able to make some substantial progress with who has signed up;

great news for the future of the project; a couple of the very best students, John and Monet, came by and quite separately asked about continuing with their work! couple of really nice students who I am sure will work themselves into leadership positions in the summer and fall seasons;

I'll report back on Tuesday what we did this week-end in the field;

Couple of bumps in the road…..but a great finish

Field work on Friday and Saturday was exhausting; projects keep moving forward but there is soooooo much more to be done! We had some success on Friday afternoon with the connecting trail. It is such a pretty stretch that you have to love it; but we pushed ahead and then got turned around and then couldn’t pin down the exact direction we had to move in; not good when the field work leader gets confused!!! Google Earth (thank God for Google Earth) solved that later that evening but we now we still need to cut a couple of hundred feet through some major brush and brambles; we can do it if we put the right kind of crew together for one or two days.

Next day (Sat. 4-24) was Arbor Day at the center so we changed routines and planted 200 shrubs and trees with visiting families, youth groups and of course the scouts. It was a blast and the St. Johns students did all you could ever ask of them; they dug the holes for the little ones and let them get the thrill of putting in the tree and putting in the final cover and water; it is a really tough planting site ( below are before and during photos) just cleared of all of the porcelain berry and bittersweet so we’ll have to give them some extra attention this growing season to prevent vines from coming back to quickly; going to take a couple of growing seasons until this site can stand on its own.

In the afternoon we took a long walk around the entire preserve to see how the work from last season held up. We got back to the amazing freshwater spring; we gave the bank a light trim and watched the flow for more than 20 minutes; it is always a tough photograph in that you are shooting through a moving current of water trying to show the active spring flow (-that’s a thought - maybe this is the place I should try out a first video clip???). the digital picture still came out pretty good (although it can't show the active flow) so I'm including it here; everyone loved the spring especially the idea that you could drink from it as it came out of the ground; The water is always cold, clear as could be and absolutely delicious; I also got a couple of nice scenic shots of the valley landscape (first photo above) and of course a couple of photos of the students at days end. It was a long, hot, and exhausting day but we saw a good bit of the preserve and did quite a bit of work along the way.

We are way ahead of last year at this time so this may be turn out to a great field work season.

Thanks to students from both classes who worked so hard this week-end.

Field work reaching a peak

Thursday April 22, 2010 A date like that can stop you in your tracks! Today is the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, I can remember what it was like back then; we were young, idealistic and just getting started; how much didn’t we know back then! we’ve come a long way but so many things still move in the wrong direction; what’s it going to be like 40 years from now???

Tonight is the eve of a couple of great field work days – regular field work starts up on Friday afternoons; it should be a good day but Saturday is special; in the morning we will do an Arbor Day planting with loads of kids (organized by the education staff at the center) it should be a blast; then in the afternoon I’ll be leading a fairly large group way out into the preserve - first to check out how the work from last year held up but also to extend that work and see what comes next; most of the students are new to the area this year so they will see it with fresh eyes; this time of year I’m sure they will love what they see; Next time I get the chance to write I’ll be looking to tell about their first adventure into the preserve.

A Field Work Surprise….

Friday field work afternoon-April 16, 2010. . It rained early and it rained late but today’s crew found a warm and dry window; that was a pleasant surprise but that wasn’t the only surprise of the day.

We picked up where we left off last week and continued to push the connecting trail toward where we left off last season. It is only a couple of hundred more yards but these are some of the hardest. This trail segment hasn’t been opened in years and the overgrowth is almost impassable; we are running this trail on top of an elevated berm that separates the wetland preserve from the surrounding commercial properties. It was slow going last week and I was expecting the worst; I’d have been happy if we could progress another 10 or 20 yards; doing things in bite size pieces makes the work manageable and adding more hands makes it all the more fun;

We started slowly and cut and clawed our way through two stands of vine covered trees and another of heavy wild rose. The stands were so thick you could hardly see what lay ahead; but when we cut through the last heavy stand the growth turned out to only be knee deep. Certainly it needs a bit of trimming but nothing that you couldn't walk through. We stepped through into the sunlight and I said let’s walk up and see what we’re up against; the more we walked the lighter the growth became until we stepped into a young secondary growth wetland woods;

I haven’t been to this spot in a couple of decades and the way in was so overgrown that probably very few people (maybe no people?) have been in this area in a very long time. What was it like? It was very quiet. It was very green with the new growth of spring all around us. I was struck -it was absolutely ‘charming’! now that’s a word that I don’t use very much inside New York City; there are many natural areas that are valuable, scenic, ecologically rich, historically important, unusually interesting, simple beautiful and a host of other noteworthy descriptors. This little section trail may not have many of those characteristics but it was a pleasure to discover something so truly ‘charming’. This little woodland trail (which also provides a very nice overlook) doesn’t have a name (yet) but it will be a highlight of the trail system once it is complete.

Getting the job done. Way to go!!! AF and KP cutting out some of the Porcelain Berry along a remote part of the trail; One vine was an inch and a half thick, over ten years old and more than 100 feet long; it probably isn't even the longest but it has thousands of cousins that need the same haircut.

Field Work Fridays.......

Field Work Fridays,,,,,

After a full week in the office I can’t help but have a touch of anticipation for what Friday may bring. This is the middle of semester and also the middle of the field work season and Friday afternoons have come to be called Field Work Fridays. It started last fall when I decided to merge the Academic Service Learning requirement in some of my classes with the need for environmental restoration and improvements in the preserve; students needed worthwhile and realistic projects and the preserve needed lots of attention and TLC. It started with a small handful of students and through some good word of mouth it grew to more than 60 students from five different classes putting in over 600 hours in a couple of months; they did great work and their written reflections on what they accomplished were wonderful. Melissa who worked as hard as anyone last semester came by today and asked if we still had the projects for this semester; she’ll be there for sure even if its not part of her courses this term. Way to go MD !!!

So here it is a Thursday night in April with the third field work Friday of the season set for tomorrow; We had only two students the first week and then only three the second week but there are eight signed up for tomorrow; that’s the way it grew last year too. I’ll let you know how things work out – weather is not looking great but it’s the people not the weather that make it into a great day; and who knows we could luck out with that too;

the journey begins...

This is the first post to what I hope becomes a valuable and thoughtful weekly blog; anyone who lives outside this immediate area probably never heard of this place which I call the Alley Pond Park Wetland Nature Preserve.

It is a"natural area" that sits on the eastern edge of New York City (Queens County to be exact) and holds some exceptional ecological and environmental value; I place the term natural area in quotes above because this area is NOT by any means pristine nature; but that makes it all the more interesting because it is one of the finest examples of how nature survives even when it is surrounded by a great city;

I know this area personally and professionally and work in the preserve with my students on a regular basis; there is much to learn here and to share with interested readers; along the way I hope I can communicate even a small amount of my love for this area and what it means to me; I love pictures and am working to do more with videos so when the time comes I'll try to share those with you too; I expect this to be a slow start and take time for others to share back but I welcome your thoughts and comments.