Pelham Bay Park work day on July 26th

Come remove invasive plant species in Pelham Bay Park on July 26th from 9 am to 12 pm (You are invited to bring a picnic lunch for after).

Pelham Bay Park is a beautiful oasis of woods and coastal wetlands. Unfortunately it is being degraded by various invasive plant species.

Work gloves and tools will be provided, but you are welcome to bring your own if you prefer. As always, summer outdoors can mean exposure to sun, poison ivy, ticks, and mosquitoes, so we highly recommend a broad brimmed hat, long sleeve shirt and pants, and of course sturdy shoes. Use bug spray and sun screen at your own discretion.

We will be meeting in the Southern Zone of Pelham Bay Park at the parking lot off Middletown Rd. The meeting place is easily reached by car from the Country Club/Pelham Bay Park exit of I -95 (northbound only!) or by public transportation. Take the 6 subway train or 12 bus to the Pelham Bay station, or check the internet for other options.

Please RSVP for this event at earthtenders@gmail.com and feel free to bring friends. You can reach David Burg at (917)846-8300 if you have further questions.

Logistics
Location: Pelham Bay Park
Time: Invasive species removal 9:00 am – 12:00 pm
Meeting place: Parking lot by the track

Thanks! And we hope to see you this weekend!

Pelham Bay Park work day on July 12!!

A rare native rose that has been able to flourish thanks to the efforts of our Earth Tenders volunteers.

July 8, 2009

Come remove invasive plant species in Pelham Bay Park on July 12 from 9 am to 11 am and/or 11 am to 1 pm.

Pelham Bay Park is a beautiful oasis of woods and coastal wetlands. Unfortunately it is being degraded by various invasive plant species.

Work gloves and tools will be provided, but you are welcome to bring your own if you prefer. As always, summer outdoors can mean exposure to sun, poison ivy, ticks, and mosquitoes, so we highly recommend a broad brimmed hat, long sleeve shirt and pants, and of course sturdy shoes. Use bug spray and sun screen at your own discretion.

We will be meeting in the Southern Zone of Pelham Bay Park at the parking lot off Middletown Rd. We will have two sessions- beat the heat at 9 am or come at 11 am if you want to sleep late. The meeting place is easily reached by car from the Country Club/Pelham Bay Park exit of I -95 (northbound only!) or by public transportation. Take the 6 subway train or 12 bus to the Pelham Bay station, or check the internet for other options.

Please RSVP for this event to earthtenders@gmail.com and feel free to bring friends. You can reach Maria Harvey at mariaharvey01@hotmail.com or (646)938-9266 if you have further questions.

Logistics

Location: Pelham Bay Park

Time: Invasive species removal 9:00 am – 11:00 am; 11:00 am – 1:00 pm

Meeting place: Parking lot by the track

An area lush with the rare native rose.

By Paige Reidy (WildMetro Summer Intern)

Turtles and Earth Tenders workday on July 11!!

Alley Pond Park

Come remove invasive plant species in Alley Pond Park on July 11 from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm. We are working in a beautiful section of wild meadow at Alley Pond Park, not far from tidal water and small ponds. At noon, following the invasive removal, Brooklyn College biology student Caesar Rahman will give a turtle talk concerning his WildMetro research study of red eared sliders and other turtles in Alley Pond Park. Caesar was recently awarded a prestigious Polgar Fellowship for his work with turtles in the New York Metro region. The talk will feature live turtles so participants can get to see them up close and personal. The talk will conclude by 2 pm.

This program is free and open to the public. Those who can only attend for the work session or the turtle program are welcome. Those participating in both should bring their own lunch and drink.

Work gloves and tools will be provided, but you are welcome to bring your own if you prefer. As always, summer outdoors can mean exposure to sun, poison ivy, ticks, and mosquitoes, so we highly recommend a broad brimmed hat, long sleeve shirt and pants, and of course sturdy shoes. Use bug spray and sun screen at your own discretion.

We will be meeting in the APEC parking lot at 10 am. The address is 22806 Northern Blvd, just off the Cross Island parkway. Check the internet for public transportation.

Please RSVP for this event to earthtenders@gmail.com and feel free to bring friends. You can reach Caesar at caesar_rahman2004@yahoo.com if you have further questions. On the day of the event you can also reach us by cell phone at (917)846-8300.

Logistics

Location: Alley Pond Environmental Center

Time: Invasive species removal 10:00-12:00 PM; Turtle Talk 12:00-2:00 PM.

Meeting place: APEC parking lot

By Paige Reidy (WildMetro Summer Intern)

Urban Wildlife Ecology & Management: An International Symposium on Urban Wildlife & the Environment

July 1, 2009

This conference was held at the University of Massachusetts in beautiful and quaint Amerst, MA between June 21 and June 24. The last conference of this type to be sponsored by the Urban Wildlife Working Group of The Wildlife Society was held in 1999 in Tucson, Arizona.

David Burg attended the conference on Monday, June 21 and then returned on Wednesday, June 24 with two volunteers, Caesar Rahman and Paige Reidy. Much of the focus on Wednesday was on urban herpetology (a topic that Caesar is extremely interested in- he is doing his own turtle and terrapin research in both Jamaica Bay and Alley Pond Park in Queens!)

The conference brought together many professionals from around the world specializing in the areas of urban planning, landscape design, public policy, and ecology. With an issue as complex as urban wildlife management it is important to pursue an interdisciplinary approach, employing many different solutions to these multi-faceted problems. The planery featured talks by Dr. Richard T. T. Forman of Harvard University, Dr. James Miller of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Michael Feller, Deputy Chief of the City of New York Parks and Recreation Natural Resources Group.

By Paige Reidy (WildMetro Summer Intern)

Ongoing Work at Pelham Bay Park

July 1, 2009

The Golden Meadow

Since WildMetro’s inception in 2002 work has been performed (through the Earth Tenders program) to remove invasive plant species throughout Pelham Bay Park. Earth Tenders is a hands-on management project involving local communities caring for intact natural areas. Much of this work involves removing alien species, buth there is also some clean-up, patrol, and education efforts. No chemicals are used, and no planting; systems recover if threats are removed.

Recently, intensive work to restore a native meadow, named the Golden Meadow by David Burg, has been performed. Once restored, this meadow will provide a new habitat to many native bird and insect species. The meadow is located next to what locals call the Granny Tree – a four century old White Oak tree. This tree is truly an amazing sight having successfully survived the industrial expansion due to its location on a wealthy landowner’s estate. An article was even published about the Granny Tree in a South African magazine!

Contact WildMetro if you’re interested in getting involved in the restoration process of this beautiful meadow in Pelham Bay Park or if you’d like some information on other invasive removals occurring in various parks throughout the 5 boroughs.

The "Granny Tree" as its called by locals.

By Paige Reidy (WildMetro Summer Intern)

June 13th Earth Tenders outing at Forest Park a success!

July 1, 2009

On June 13^th 15 volunteers joined Dan Mayer as he led them into beautiful Forest Park in Queens to clear out Japanese Knotweed, an invasive plant species. The volunteers met at 10 am and hiked through Forest Park to the work location. After 4 hours of work the volunteers had cleared about an acre of land that can now be re-inhabited by native species. Great job to all the volunteers and thanks for making this event a success!

By Paige Reidy (WildMetro Summer Intern)