Woodlands Management Committee Meeting Minutes
Attendees: Jerry Uhrig, Phil Notestine, Linda
Spencer-Green, Cliff Miles, Martha Dwyer-Bergman, Bob Dewing, George Jackson
The minutes from the previous
meeting were approved.
Shade Tree Ordinance
The
meeting began with a conversation regarding the Shade Tree ordinance that will
be discussed at the next Borough Council Meeting. The questions that were discussed were in
regards to the wording of various parts of the ordinance. It was felt that “shrubs” needed to be
defined and what were the specific parks that were under the various committees
responsibilities. However, George stated that the Shade Tree charter had been
changed to be more specific as to which parks are under the Shade Tree control.
Cliff
suggested that there be a map with different responsibilities for the
committees shown. The Borough Council
Meeting will be on April 25th which will discuss the comments on the
Shade Tree Ordinance. Cliff is concerned
about the clarification of the trees; what is a shade versus an ornamental
tree?
Charter Status
The charter will be presented
to the Council at the next council meeting, April 25.
Invasives Report
The
ECO-Hike needs to have a list of the invasive plants for hikers.
It
was suggested that there needs to be an inventory of trees that need to be
removed because they are invasive species.
Martha
read the report from the Invasive Lecture that was given at the Denville
Library
Invasive Plant Lecture
The POWWW (Protect our
Wetlands, Water and Woods) organization sponsored this lecture. The contact
information is
John Happy ( 973 627 4379)
introduced himself to me and when he learned that I was from Mountain Lakes
proceeded to show me an invasive that is presently taking hold in Mountain
Lakes on the Boulevard and has already become a grove. The invasive is called Devil’s Nightstick, it
is very prickly and a rapid grower. In
its first year it will grow 3 feet and second year will reach 7 feet. It develops white flowers and in the fall
purple berries. It is native west of the
Rob Jennings of the Morris
County Parks was the guest speaker.
Invasive Exotic Plants are causing the loss of native plants all over
the world. An Invasive does not function
in its normal way due to its introduction to a new environment, they overcrowd
the native plants. It a tree falls, a
gap occurs and now the invasives can take over.
Biodiversity results in a healthy forest; a lack of diversity means the
forest is unhealthy.
Tree of Heaven grows
anywhere and reaches a height of 60-90 feet.
It is a quick grower and it is recommended that the best way to control
them is to cut them and remove them from the site. If complete removal is not
possible then cut the female trees down.
Garlic Mustard can be eaten, the leaves are used in salads. It is a biennial and thus it takes two years
produce flowers and seeds. If pulled
early enough the plants can be left on the ground to rot, if later then they
must be bagged and removed from site. No Round Up
needed on the roots systems.
Japanese Barberry must be
removed by pulling them out; first the wood of the Barberry is clipped back
enabling an easier access to the root system and the digging out of it.
Asian Bittersweet produces yellow
berries with red spots. They can grow 48 inches a season and will kill the
trees. The vine should be cut at the
base of the tree and then left on the tree.
Do not pull it off the tree, rather it will fall off. The roots which are orange must be sprayed
July 15 is the date when you
should put the Herbicide on. It is the
time of the growing season when the energy is beginning to be returned to the
root system. If done earlier the poison
will be carried out to the leaves and not into the root structure.
Burning Bush is in the
Tourne and
May 15 Sunday, at the Tourne
there will be a volunteer group to work on removing invasive plants from the
site from 9 – 12.
Dames Rocket has four petals
but it looks like phlox; however, phlox has 5 petals.
Yellow iris is an aquatic
plant that is choking the water ways.
Privet is a shrub that has
blue/black berries.
Japanese Honeysuckle has
naturalized to the area but is not native.
It’s growth is 20 feet per year. It must be pulled and removed from the ground
and then herbicide the roots. There are
a number of varieties, and they all can grow 6-8 feet tall without support,
they also can run horizontally,
thus when pulled out the soil is disturbed requiring
that a native plant be set in. Their growth has been measured at 2 feet by June
5th.
Purple Loosestrife: the
agriculture dept will give you beetles to attack the plant or you can cut the
flowers off
Black Locust tree poisons
the ground around it thus nothing can grow.
It produces thorns at the leaf site.
How to get rid of invasive
plants:
Pull them by hand, leave
them on site without the fruit on the stems remove if fruit on stems.
Benner Fence Company 3-4
years the fence can be removed and reused.
Leave less than a 9 inch gap at bottom so that deer will not get into
the area, and use cable to withstand the elements. Use white ribbon to warn the
wild life of the fence boundaries.
Corporations are looking for
areas to help. Morris Land Conservancy
(973 541 1010)
Toad Shade in
George
suggested that there needs to be a priority list of the invasives so that
people can focus on the most damaging first.
Native Plant Symposium
Jerry reported on the Native Plant Symposium that
was held at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in
ECO-Hike project
Laurel
Durenburger has finished the final version of the trail guides. The Borough has
made 50 copies for the initial printing.
There
have been a number of people in the schools who have been helpful in getting
the publicity out into the public via the school children. There will be a
flyer sent out via the elementary children that contains both the information
on the Trout Derby and the ECO-Hike.
They will be put into the backpacks. Jerry has also provided information
to be put on the Borough Hall bulletin board. The Town Club has lent us
sandwich boards for the event.
Martha
suggested that Andrew Bergman could help make the station signs and a box for
the ECO-Hike. Jerry will call Andrew in
the morning.
Clean Communities Program
Denise Brennan is the contact person for the Borough
grant money for clean-up of the Borough.
MLHS Community Outreach Program
Patty McElduff, who manages community outreach at
the high school, will be attempt to find students who serve as guides for the
walk on Saturday April 23rd, 2005.
Deer Fence Grant Application
Jerry has applied for a Town
Club grant to fence three small areas. We need to decide where we want the control sites to
be located in the woodlands.
Website status
Jerry informed us that there is now a Notice Board
that enables us to added new information to the site.
Deer Management
Deer
Count: was done by Hot Shot using infra-red imaging, and it revealed that there
were 24 deer in Mountain Lakes and the Tourne County Park on the night of March
17th, 2005. Jerry handed out
the written report that was sent to the Borough. There was a map included that indicated the
locations of the deer that night.
There
is going to be lecture on “Deer and Geese Management” on Thursday May 12, 2005
at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum.
Other topics or discussion
Watershed Information
George
showed us the Storm Water Management map showing stream flows throughout the
town. Mountain Lakes is mostly in the Whippany River watershed but about 10 per
cent is in the Rockaway River Watershed. The map shows this very clearly. Jerry
will obtain maps for each member of the committee for general reference.
Communications
Martha
mentioned that the Woodlands will be providing information on invasives at the
Garden Club Plant sale, the Memorial Day event, and the ECO-Hike. She will use
the poster that was created last year along with additional information
obtained since that time.