Woodlands Management Committee Meeting Minutes
Attendees: Martha Dwyer-Bergman, Bob Dewing, Phil
Notestine, Cliff Miles, Linda Spencer-Green, Jerry Uhrig. Louise Davis was
unable to attend due a family illness.
Administrative
Minutes from the April meeting
are on the website. No changes were needed.
Reports
Owl House at Birchwood There
are two owl houses at Birchwood. At least one of them needs some attention. It
is hanging from the bottom edge of the box. Bob will follow up on this.
Deer
Chronic
Wasting Disease Status The April issue of Quality Whitetails, the monthly magazine published by the Quality
Deer Management Association (QDMA), has an excellent status report on chronic
wasting disease. For the most part, the disease is still found mainly in the
western states. There is, however, one significant exception. Wherever deer and
elk are imported and kept in captive herds, there is a risk of importing the
disease. The cases found in upstate New York started with captive, imported deer.
There are conflicts in some states between the deer farms, who would prefer to
be regulated by the state department of agriculture, and the hunters, who feel
that the state department of natural resources would do a better job. It is a
situation that bears watching because if this disease becomes widespread in the
East, it would be a major complication for deer management.
Invasives
H&S
article This month's invasives calendar advised people to bag
any garlic mustard that they cut to avoid spreading the seeds. In the next
article (September) we will tell them that they can cut woody invasives off at
the ground and apply herbicide to the stump.
New
Initiatives
Cliff
also has seen an invasive plant called lesser
celandine, a yellow buttercup-like flower with dark green leaves growing at
the Wildwood Dam. (The dark green leaves fade to pale green by summertime. This needs to be removed. Jerry added that
the Burkett's have a significant patch of it in their back yard. Jackie Burkett
has been successfully treating it with Round-Up. She has gotten rid of about
half of it so far. Jerry also noted that this particular invasive has been a
problem at the Tourne Wildflower Trail. The County Park staff used a more
powerful herbicide on it. So far, it looks like they have been successful.
Jerry
located a European Scythe from Maine to be able to cut down the Garlic Mustard
plants successfully. Other tools are not
sharp enough to cut the plant rather it just bends over.
Martha
suggested that we consider having the Sheriff’s department‘s “SLAP” program
come and help us with the Garlic Mustard removal. Phil suggested speaking with Chief Tovo
regarding this. She also suggested that
we put up signs in heavy foot trafficked areas that point out areas of Garlic
Mustard and request that they help us pull it out. The signs need to be waterproof.
Phil
mentioned that the children who are making Confirmation need to have done
community projects and we might be able to use these students help in the
removal of Garlic Mustard. We need to
contact the local churches with the proposal.
Educating the Community:
Martha
mentioned the use of the Library for educating the community by using the
display cabinet. Linda’s slide show
could be put onto a DVD and be made available to the public or watched at the
library. The question is what do we want
to focus on to educate the community?
Linda suggested focusing on an event for the
public to attend. It was suggested that
perhaps Bob’s tree planting could take place in September and that people could
come and watch it. It could be announced
in the Home and School for September.
Also, we need to list ways that people can help us on their own.
Phil
mentioned that we have four seasons and that perhaps every season (3 months)
there could be a notice sent out saying what needs to be done during this time
period and what is happening in the natural world during this time. Perhaps the various committees could come
together and create this notice, highlighting each group’s interests: Shade
Tree, Environmental Commission, Woodlands, Trails. Jerry mentioned that there
are old Environmental Commission reports in the archives that we could use as
resources.
Trees
Clean-up Demonstration
Status Bob
said that he will be speaking with Gary regarding the Tree Clean Up
demonstration that will be done in the Early Fall.
Status of Lists for Shade Tree
Commission
Jerry
presented the status of the lists of trees for the Shade Tree Commission to
work from in picking out appropriate trees to plant or to remove.
Other Topics or
Discussion
Cliff
gave us an update on a new rust disease that is affecting the boxwood
family. This new disease has never been
seen before.
Cliff
also showed us the official report on the Garlic Mustard article that was in
the New York Times. You can go to the
site: http://biology.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0040140
and
read the complete report in the Journal “Public Library of Science Biology”
regarding the destruction of the soil fungi by Garlic Mustard that directly
affects the ability of hardwood tree sapling to grow.
Cliff
also mentioned that he had sighted a male Bluebird but it was apparently unable
to find a mate and left the area.
Birchwood
Lake understory is beginning to come back.
There have been an increased number of birds sighted in town - returning
to the woodlands as a result of the understory growing back.
Cliff
has seen a beaver swimming in Wildwood Lake.
And on the ECO-Hike trail there are baby foxes.
There
was a general statement regarding the amount of chipmunks this year. The cycle has swung to the increase in the
population.
Phil
mentioned that about three weeks ago in his neighborhood there was a fire set
by some neighborhood children. It burned
about 200 square yards of woods before the fire was put out and the children
were caught. It will be interesting to
see how the area regenerates itself and what new plants might appear.
Phil
mentioned that the Pine Barrens used to experience this type of stress before
they began to strictly control forest fires. It is a natural occurrence which
allows many types of native vegetation to flourish.
Phil encouraged everyone to take a weekend trip down there to enjoy
it. Bob also suggested that you rent a
canoe and travel down one of several rivers down there.
Jerry
mentioned that the ECO-Hike trail has not been seriously vandalized so far this
year. Only two of the signs have been removed.
Linda
mentioned that the Shade Tree Commission is speaking with the landscapers
regarding damage to root systems that can be caused by over-zealous cleanup
efforts.
Martha
told the members of the Memorial Day Market Day and said that she would be
having a booth at the event. She wants
to give the town an update on what we are doing and having Garlic Mustard the
highlight along with Bob’s tree event.
Perhaps we could have people sign up with their e-mail addresses if they
want to help us in the future.
Finally,
Cliff mentioned that he found an American Chestnut sapling on the ECO-Hike
trail near stations 13 and 14.