Dear Stewards, Parents, Members, and Land Trust and Waveny Park Conservancy Supporters,
We have completed our 2018 Summer Steward Internship Program! Thank you very much to all of the interns for your hard work, and sharing your summers with us. I’ve enjoyed working with each one of you and hope you continue to work with the Land Trust and WPC in the future! Thanks to the interns’ parents for sharing your children with us, and to all of the supporters for making this Program possible.
Our final week started on Monday, when the interns began by watering the Swamp White Oak sapling, and collecting more visitor surveys at Waveny Park. The main project of the day was to remove invasive Japanese Barberry, Burning Bush and Privet. We removed two sections of invasives, each about 300 square feet near a stream bed, to reduce the spread of these plants and to reduce competition for the native plant species.
On Tuesday, we worked at Hicks Meadow in the NCLT’s Silvermine-Stillpond Preserve, applying our knowledge and experience from our time with Greg Faillaci. There, we continued to rebuild the exterior stone wall along Silvermine Road, starting by re-establishing a 20’ baseline of stones, and continuing to rebuild another 10 feet of the wall. We also removed vines that were strangling a number of Cedar trees in the meadow.
Wednesday was dedicated to the field trip to Wildlife in Crisis in Weston, CT. Before departing New Canaan, the interns stopped at one of the Land Trust’s oldest Preserve, the Browne property, along Valley Road.
During our visit to the Property, the interns worked to make the trail more accessible, focusing on a section that passes through a stone wall. We removed obstructing rocks and smoothed the trail to allow for easier footing. At WIC, the interns learned about the day to day responsibilities of the staff at the rehabilitation center, and how important the partnership is between NCLT and WIC. We saw various birds that the Center was caring for, such as a parliament (a group of owls) of Barred Owls and a Great Horned Owl.
On Thursday, we worked at Livingston-Higley. We finished de-vining the remaining 15 feet of the interior stone wall in the meadow on the Preserve, to preserve the integrity of the structure. We discussed native and invasive flora in the meadow, and native fauna that depend on meadows. The interns also worked to widen the trail, and pruned obstructing branches. After lunch, we toured NCLT’ s Autumn-Fieldcrest Pocket Park, that connects Field Crest Rd to Autumn Lane via one of NCLT’s smallest properties. The short trail on the property is very well used, primarily by neighborhood kids, walking home from school.
On Friday, we worked at Waveny Park. There, the interns watered the Swamp White Oak sapling. In the afternoon, we recorded the coordinates of each of the trees we had previously identified for our Biodiversity Catalogue, so that the information could be more easily used in the future. We also removed Burning Bush, Japanese Barberry and Privet in a 150 square foot area, near the trail.
Please keep in touch with the Land Trust by subscribing to our newsletter (link on the website) or following us on Facebook and Instagram (@NC_Land_Trust). While our summer program may have come to a close, there are plenty more events, activities, and service opportunities to come in the months ahead.
Best,
Madeline E. Gould
NCLT Summer Steward Program Coordinator
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