Dear Stewards, Parents, Members, and Land Trust and Waveny Park Conservancy Supporters,
We have completed most of our Summer Steward Internship Program this year- we only have one week left!
On Monday, we worked at Hicks Meadow at the NCLT Silvermine-Stillpond Preserve where we were joined again by Greg Faillaci who helped us rebuild 10 feet of the wall on the front of Hicks Meadow. Unfortunately, rained moved in during lunch, so we moved to the library to take cover. There, some of the interns read the Waveny Park Management Plan, written by a professional forester, to understand more of the objectives of our work, and the environmental history and ecology of the property. Other interns researched some native flora and fauna in preparation of creating a biodiversity catalog in Waveny Park.
On Tuesday, we worked at Waveny Park. In the morning, we finished trimming the Norway Maple Trees that we cut down last Friday. We put the the trunks into a pile to be turned into wood chips. We placed the branches into wildlife brush piles, and untangled any remaining fallen branches from other live trees, to ensure that they would not impede on the live trees’ growth. After cleaning up from the Norway Maple Tree removal, we spent the rest of the day exploring the Park. We worked on the biodiversity catalog, identifying trees along the trails, and marking their locations, using tree field guides and our prior knowledge of the native trees.
On Wednesday, we visited Johnson Oak Park and Pleasure Beach, in Bridgeport, CT, where we were hosted by the Trust for Public Land. At Johnson Oak Park, Pamela Soto and David Wilkins from TPL gave an introduction to the organization, their involvement in this project, and the planning that went into creating this park. We also met Tom Tavella, the Project’s Landscape Architect, who gave us a tour of the Park which is still under construction. He discussed the intentions behind the various features in the park and participatory design process that was used to involve the surrounding community in the planning process. By engaging the community in the design process, he hopes that it will increase visitation, use, and maintenance of the Park. Pamela and David then brought us to Pleasure Beach, where they discussed a future project at the site: to create a walkway for public access along the waterfront of the City of Bridgeport. After the tour, we stopped for ice cream, then went to the library to finish the day, where the interns continued to research flora and fauna for the biodiversity catalog for Waveny Park.
On Thursday, we worked on NCLT’s Green Link trail, that connects Irwin Park to the New Canaan Nature Center. There, we widened a 100 foot section of the trail, pruned plants that were obstructing the trail along another 100 foot section, and removed obstructing roots on the trail that posed a tripping hazard. We also increased the accessibility, along a 15 foot section of the trail by removing the small rocks in the trail.
On Friday, we worked at Waveny Park. The interns watered the Swamp White Oak sapling and collected more visitor surveys. We removed Burning Bush, Japanese Barberry, and Privet and de-vined three trees. We also added to the biodiversity catalog, identifying trees along the trails, and birds we found in the various ecosystems in the Park.
This coming week, the tentative schedule will be as follows: (subject to change due to weather and time)
08/20/18- Waveny Park- Restore wildlife habitat and work on biodiversity catalog
08/21/18- Silvermine-Stillpond Preserve- Work on stone wall and de-vine Cedar trees
08/22/18- Field Trip- Highstead Arboretum and Wildlife in Crisis
08/23/18- Livingston-Higley then Autumn Fieldcrest Pocket Park- Finish de-vining stone wall and widen and clean up trail
08/24/18- Waveny Park- Remove invasive plant species and work on biodiversity catalog
Please keep in touch with the Land Trust by email or at NewCanaanLandTrust.org, and also on Facebook and Instagram (@NC_Land_Trust)!
Best,
Madeline E. Gould
NCLT Summer Steward Program Coordinator
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