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.