News

Read the Winter 2008 newsletter for more updates and information! If you are interested in volunteering at New Beginnings, a WHC staff person will be on-site about 2 times per week. Contact Whc@wildlifehc.org and ask for the Land Restoration Program Manager to learn more and volunteer. We hope to see you out there!

The Weed War Continues...

An area blanketed by mile-a-minute weed along a trail at New Beginnings.

Activities at New Beginnings this season have mainly aimed to halt the further spread of invasive plant species to make room for the native ones. While there are many species of non-native plants in the area, a select few are considered to be extremely invasive and were targeted during 2007.

These species include Japanese honey suckle (Lonicera japonica) mile-a-minute weed (Polygonum perfoliatum), tree-of-heaven (Ailanthus altissima), garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata), multiflora rose (Rosa multiflora) and Japanese stilt grass (Microstegium vimineum). All of these plants are quick to compete with native plants and dominate the habitat around them. By monitoring and removing them as they appear, the amount of each species was reduced significantly this past growing season.

In early spring 2007, honeysuckle vines were cut and sprayed to prevent crowding out young trees. In April, garlic mustard was pulled constantly until it began to flower. To prevent seeds from forming, garlic mustard plants were cut right as they began to flower, decreasing the chance of seed formation and preventing the plant from having the energy to re-bloom.

In May, tree-of-heaven plants were cut, or chopped down, and herbicide was applied to each individual stump to kill the roots. During the summer, mile-a-minute was controlled by pulling in most cases. In areas where it was growing heavily, small amounts of herbicide were used to weaken and kill the plant to prevent seeding. Finally, in the later part of the summer into fall, Japanese stilt grass was pulled before it went to seed. Doing so right before the leaves dropped from the trees provided natural "mulch" that should reduce germination in the spring.

Invasive plants will continue to be monitored, controlled and removed at New Beginnings to increase the overall biodiversity. It is important to be consistent as pulling weeds can disturb the soil and can allow for more weeds to sprout from seed. Weeds were bagged immediately and removed to be properly disposed of off site.

New Species List!

This is a list of NEW species found at New Beginnings. While these species may have been spotted before by visitors, they are now being officially documented and added to the growing list of wildlife habitat.

Reptiles/Amphibians:

Common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina)

Pickerel frog (Rana palustris)
Ribbon snake (Thamnophis sauritus)

Birds:

Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)

Insects:

Eastern-tailed blue (Everes comyntas)

Invasive plant removal

This is ongoing. Please contact WHC for details if you are interested in volunteering.

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