Woodlands Management Committee Meeting Minutes
September 21, 2005
Attendees: Phil Notestine, Martha
Dwyer-Bergman, Linda Spencer-Green, Cliff Miles, Jerry Uhrig
Reports
Delaware Highlands Conservancy Event - Jerry
On
Saturday, September 17, Jerry attended the annual gathering of the Delaware
Highlands Conservancy. The Delaware Highlands consists of that area on either
side of the
·
The Park Service is using black plastic to control Japanese Knotweed
along the river.
·
The Park Service is using a beetle to control purple loosestrife at a
site on the river. Results are not yet conclusive.
·
Lacawac Sanctuary, near
·
Lacawac Sanctuary ran a ten-year study with deer exclosures. They found that recovery can take a long time.
Of two exclosures, one in deciduous forest did show
noticeable recovery at the end of the period. But the other exclosure,
in hemlock forest showed far less recovery. The message is that recovery can
take a very long time. We visited the sanctuary the following day to inspect
the exclosures and take pictures. The contact for the
study is a professor from the
Woodlands slide
presentation - Linda
Linda
presented her slide presentation of the ”Woodlands
Committee of Mountain Lakes.” We all agreed that this could be a very good way
to introduce people to the work of the Woodlands Management Committee. We will
explore the possibility of
putting it up on our website and possibly making it available at
the borough library.
Invasives
Invasive Strategizing
We need to find a way to
foster better communication and cooperation between the various Borough groups
concerned with invasive species. This would include: Environmental Commission,
Lakes Management Commission, Trails Committee, Shade Tree Commission, and
Woodlands Management Committee. It is proposed that each group send a
representative to a seminar on invasives to be given at the Boonton Township
Municipal Building on October 13 at 8 pm. The speaker will be Robert Jennings,
Morris County Parks Superintendent of Natural Resources Management. He plans to
share his broad knowledge about invasive species management in our area.
Sometime within a week or two after the seminar, it is proposed that a
representative of each of the five Borough groups should meet to share insights
and concerns and to begin to formulate a unified approach to the problem.
Devil's walking
stick
Rob Jennings of the Morris
County Park Commission has advised us to remove whatever stands of this species
that we may have. There are two that we know about, one along the Boulevard
near Martin's Lane and one on Laurel Hill, also near Martin's Lane. Jerry
reported that about half the devil's walking stick along the Boulevard appears
to have died. Cliff will investigate to determine what might have been the
cause. It appears to have been a fungus of some sort.
Purple Loosestrife
We have substantial amounts of
this invasive around Sunset Lake. A patch on Mountain Lake has been removed. It
has been reported, but not yet confirmed, to be growing at the edge of the
canal behind the Community church and possibly at the edge of Wildwood Lake
near the Boulevard.
Japanese knotweed
Jerry asked if we actually had
this invasive growing in town. Cliff said that there is an extensive patch of
it along Pocono Road opposite the Borough Garage. It is flowering now and easy
to spot.
Invasives Brochure
Laurel Durenburger
of the Environmental Commission is compiling a brochure on invasives that will
be distributed to Borough residents. It would be helpful for residents to know
what not to plant in their yard, as well as what should be removed. Woodlands
is furnishing the material for the brochure. Martha will compile a first rough
cut of it.
Invasive Tree
Removal
We discussed ways of dealing
with the costly problem of removing invasive trees in our woodlands. Linda said
that the Shade Tree Commission is well-aware of the problem but does not
believe that it is a good use of the scarce funding they have for removal of
problem trees. Jerry said that we will continue to seek grant money for such a
purpose. We were not successful last year. But this year we have a new person
at NRCS who would like to find helpful projects. Jerry has spoken with him and
plans to have a meeting in the near future.
Martha suggested another possible approach. She
mentioned that a friend of hers, Bob Roth of Verona, NJ, has a contact person
whom he works with in Eagle Rock Reservation in South Orange. This man will remove the trees and give us
back a percentage of money from the sale of them at no charge. Martha will follow up and get more details.
Deer
Deer Management Program
- Phil
Phil
updated us on the deer hunting in the Borough this year. There will be bow hunting by members of the
UBNJ organization. Local bow hunters may also participate. The dates will be from September 10 to
February, 2006 with no interruptions.
They will be hunting from stands and could possibly use bait sites. The hours are from one-half hour prior to
sunrise until one-half hour after sunset. They are allowed only one buck and an
unlimited number of does.
There will be no hunting with firearms this year.
There will be monthly reports.
Spay-Vac
failure
It has been reported in the
newspapers that the sterilization experiment using Spay-Vac
in Princeton has failed to produce the desired effect. Female deer injected
with this substance have been producing fawns in the usual numbers.
Deer Management
Signs
The new signs for this season
appear to be effective and well-placed. But there might be a couple of places
where we could add signs. Jerry will follow up with Gary Webb.
Deer Management
Workshop
On October 1 in Hawley, PA (near Lake Wallenpaupack) there will be a seminar on deer management sponsored by Penn State Cooperative Extension and 60 other organizations. It is designed for homeowners and communities and features Dr. Gary Alt, a noted authority on the subject, as well as a speaker from PA Audubon and a consultant. Further information can be obtained by sending an email to PikeExt@psu.edu.
Woodlands Threats
Sudden Oak Death
Jerry reported on a Sudden Oak
Death risk analysis that has been published by the USDA in Raleigh, NC. It is
accessible at the website www.suddenoakdeath.org.
It contains a current list of species known to be susceptible. Local species on
the list include, red oaks, andromeda, and false solomon's
seal.
Pest
Alert : Sirex woodwasp -
Cliff
Cliff
handed out a Pest Alert on the Sirex Woodwasp which has been found in the Carteret, New Jersey
area where it probably arrived in packing crates. Native to Europe, Asia and Northern Africa it
attacks pines most often in plantation locations and causes up to 80 percent
mortality. They attack living pines,
while native woodwasps attack only dead and dying
trees. The foliage of infested trees initially wilts and then changes color
from dark green to light green to yellow and finally to red during the 3-6
months following the attack. They can be
managed through the use of biological control agents, especially a parasitic
nematode. But early detection and response is important.
Other Topics
Long-tailed shrew
Cliff reported seeing a
long-tailed shrew in the Tourne near the well house back of Birchwood Lake. It
was the first he has seen one in this area.