Hello MPEA Friends & Volunteers! · Interesting Links 2 Think before you print! This newsletter is...
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Hello MPEA Friends & Volunteers! Temps are dropping and sunset is coming earlier and earlier but that hasn’t stopped our dedicated bunch of Friends & Volunteers from utilizing and working in the area. Visitors will notice new areas cleared of invasive plants and likely observe more students volunteering. It is late in the year but Davey squeaked in a few more dates for his afternoon volunteer work sessions. Do drop by if you want to help. For the managed hunt program, the fourth of eight total dates has taken place. We are halfway done with the hunts for this hunting season. There are no MPEA managed hunts in December. The next one is on January 8 th . Of course the Thanksgiving holiday takes place soon and that is why a little time was spent looking for a Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). Turkeys pass through the site and they are always fun to watch if you can find them. Instead we saw a Bald eagle ( Haliaeetus leucocephalus) which is just as rewarding! Aren’t you thankful there is a place right next door where you can see such things? T HE N EWSLETTER OF THE M IDDLE P ATUXENT E NVIRONMENTAL A REA NOVEMBER 2014 VOLUME 10, ISSUE 11 Meanderings... Meanderings... Meanderings... Inside this issue: Greetings and Introduction 1 Volunteer Successes 1 Trails & Hikes 1 Miscellany 2 Interesting Links 2 Think before you print! This newsletter is optimized for online viewing. The appearance will change if printed. Activity took place on many different fronts this month. Foremost in significance is the superb work which volunteers continue to perform. Trailside Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) shrubs are getting “treated” in several areas, both by individual volunteers and also at group work events. First, the nuisance plants are severely trimmed before staff follows up with a chainsaw to cut down the bare trunks. The resulting stumps are then painted with herbicide. If done properly this method will kill the entire plant and prevent us from having to dig up the root system. The zone of Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) removal has grown drastically as well. Nearly the entire hillside above the “C” shaped boardwalk has been cleared of the annoying invasive plant. Thanks are due to the high school and Howard County Community College students who removed the invasives while earning service learning hours. If you have ever toiled away at digging up barberry during one of our previous events I encourage you to revisit this site. You will be impressed by checking out the wonderful progress the students have made by working intensively over a relatively short period of time. Volunteer Successes Trails & Hikes High winds brought down more than a few trees that had to be cleared from the South Wind Trail and the managed hunt access trails. Other trail maintenance continued onward too. A pair of new drainage dips was created and an older drainage was re-cleared; all in an effort to get water off of the trails as soon as possible. Plus, trail section reroutes are being evaluated on a case-by-case basis with the goal of having a more sustainable trail system. The fact that our trails are so popular may account for the recent Robinson Nature Center led hike in the environmental area which took place despite the bitter cold and rain. Enough people wanted to proceed with the walk that the intrepid hike leaders pressed on. The group was small but reportedly had a great time.
Transcript of Hello MPEA Friends & Volunteers! · Interesting Links 2 Think before you print! This newsletter is...
Hello MPEA Friends & Volunteers!
Temps are dropping and sunset is coming earlier and earlier but that hasn’t stopped our dedicated bunch of Friends & Volunteers from utilizing and working in the area. Visitors will notice new areas cleared of invasive plants and likely observe more students volunteering. It is late in the year but Davey squeaked in a few more dates for his afternoon volunteer work sessions. Do drop by if you want to help. For the managed hunt program, the fourth of eight total dates has taken place. We are halfway done with the hunts for this hunting season. There are no MPEA managed hunts in December. The next one is on January 8th. Of course the Thanksgiving holiday takes place soon and that is why a little time was spent looking for a Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo). Turkeys pass through the site and they are always fun to watch if you can find them. Instead we saw a Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) which is just as rewarding! Aren’t you thankful there is a place right next door where you can see such things?
T H E N E W S L E T T E R O F T H E M I D D L E P A T U X E N T E N V I R O N M E N T A L A R E A
NOVEMBER 2014
VOLUME 10, ISSUE 11
Meander ings . . .Meander ings . . .Meander ings . . .
Inside this issue:
Greetings and
Introduction
1
Volunteer
Successes
1
Trails & Hikes 1
Miscellany 2
Interesting Links 2
Think before you print!
This newsletter is
optimized for online
viewing. The appearance
will change if printed.
Activity took place on many different fronts this month. Foremost in significance is the superb work which volunteers continue to perform. Trailside Autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) shrubs are getting “treated” in several areas, both by individual volunteers and also at group work events. First, the nuisance plants are severely trimmed before staff follows up with a chainsaw to cut down the bare trunks. The resulting stumps are then painted with herbicide. If done properly this method will kill the entire plant and prevent us from having to dig up the root system. The zone of Japanese barberry (Berberis thunbergii) removal has grown drastically as well. Nearly the entire hillside above the “C” shaped boardwalk has been cleared of the annoying invasive plant. Thanks are due to the high school and Howard County Community College students who removed the invasives while earning service learning hours. If you have ever toiled away at digging up barberry during one of our previous events I encourage you to revisit this site. You will be impressed by checking out the wonderful progress the students have made by working intensively over a relatively short period of time.
Volunteer Successes
Trails & Hikes
High winds brought down more than a few trees that had to be cleared from the South Wind Trail and the managed hunt access trails. Other trail maintenance continued onward too. A pair of new drainage dips was created and an older drainage was re-cleared; all in an effort to get water off of the trails as soon as possible. Plus, trail section reroutes are being evaluated on a case-by-case basis with the goal of having a more sustainable trail system. The fact that our trails are so popular may account for the recent Robinson Nature Center led hike in the environmental area which took place despite the bitter cold and rain. Enough people wanted to proceed with the walk that the intrepid hike leaders pressed on. The group was small but reportedly had a great time.
I hope to see you out in the MPEA,
Jeff
Meanderings... Page 2
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Conservation Stewardship Project:
Autumn Olive Removal
Nov. 25th, 9:00 AM
South Wind Circle
Entrance
Check out the Howard
County page for the
Maryland Amphibian &
Reptile Atlas (MARA)
2010-2014
http://www.howardbirds.org/
herpatlas/index-MARA.htm
Miscellany
Other pursuits this month included Intern Maddie’s search for all manner of geocaches and her preliminary work on a vernal pool survey she will undertake next semester. Davey, besides leading his merry band of barberry-pulling volunteers, has been doggedly pursuing grant mon-ies for some longer term projects he wants to start. Hopefully there will be more to say about this later. Lastly, the annual, end of “fieldwork season” email update was sent out to Weed Warriors and Independent Trail Maintenance Volunteers. Volunteers can continue on the same tasks all winter if they are willing and in the spring we’ll have some new projects they can help with. In the meantime don’t be shy about contacting us.
NEXT MANAGED HUNT
DATE IS ON THURSDAY
JANUARY 8TH, 2015.
Interesting Links
Instead of a story about turkeys, here are some interesting facts about Turkey vultures from the article titled Why Don’t Vultures Get Sick When Eating Dead Things?
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2014/10/dont-vultures-get-sick-eating-dead-things-cant/
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone !!!
Howard County
Department of Recreation And Parks
7120 Oakland Mills Road
Columbia, MD 21046-1677
Jeff Claffy, Asst. Natural Resources Manager
Phone: 410.313.6209
E-mail: [email protected]
Cheryl Farfaras, Natural Resources Manager
Phone: 410.313.4726
E-mail: [email protected]
Fax: 410.313.0409
The Middle Patuxent Environmental Area (MPEA), established in 1996, is 1021 acres in size and contains a diversity of habitat types. There are upland and bottomland hardwood forest, fields, wetlands, ponds, and riparian (riverine) habitats. The primary components of the MPEA's mission are natural resource management, education, research and
recreation. Successfully delivering our mission depends on the efforts of volunteers such as you!
T h e N e w s l e t t e r o f t h e M i d d l e
P a t u x e n t E n v i r o n m e n t a l A r e a
MIDDLE PATUXENT ENVIRONMENTAL AREA
We’re on the Web!
http://www.howardcountymd.gov/mpea.htm
AND
www.middlepatuxent.org
