Wednesday, June 30, 2010

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.

Thursday, June 17, 2010

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.






Monday, June 14, 2010

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.














Friday, June 4, 2010

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.