Removing invasive species at Fish & Wildlife Day

We ended an amazing stewardship season with our final Love Our New York Lands volunteer event last month. Fish & Wildlife Day on Sept. 28 was a massive success in its inaugural year. Across 23 host sites, volunteers did everything from fishing to litter clean up.

Here's everything we accomplished at this year’s Fish and Wildlife Day. We can’t wait to see you all next year!

Ann Odell Memorial Butterfly Garden, Hubbard Lodge, Fahnestock State Park

• Built new beds and weeding existing beds in the pollinator garden.

Carpenters Brook Fish Hatchery

• Demonstrations including fishing, trapping, hunting, cooking, orienteering, birds of prey, fly tying, game calling, taxidermy and more.

Clay Pit Ponds State Park Preserve

• Removed invasive species along horse trails

Congers Lake

• Free Family Fishing Day

Connetquot River State Park Preserve

• An introductory presentation on invasives and the importance of pollinator gardens, teams will begin on our projects.Removed invasive barberries and phragmites, pollinator garden weeding, garden bed frame and rain barrel builds, clearing invasives at the grist mill, walkway construction

Doodletown Wildlife Management Area

• Mechanical removal of invasive species (e.g., honeysuckle, Japanese barberry, autumn olive, multiflora rose)

Gantry Plaza State Park

• Community volunteer gardening days to support Gantry Plaza State Park's plants, which help protect the waterfront.

Hallock State Park Preserve

• A beach walk/cleanup at Hallock State Park. Volunteers received an educational presentation about marine life. During the cleanup they logged the type of debris they collected and weighed the total amount.

Hamlin Beach State Park

• The first part involved trail maintenance throughout the park, like pruning, chipping of trails, and planting some native plants.Volnteers then participated in a joint group hike put on by our Environmental Educator.

Hempstead Lake State Park Environmental Education and Resiliency Center

• A nature hike and litter cleanup!

High Tor Wildlife Management Area

• Participants assisted with improving forest habitat adjacent to Naples Creek, including cutting invasive vines that are smothering mature trees, cutting invasive shrubs from around young trees, and installing tubes and cages onto young trees to protect them from deer browse. Additional activities included litter clean-up and trail maintenance (cutting overhanging branches and picking up fallen branches).

Johnson Hall State Historic Site

• Joined a State Parks biologist to utilize natural techniques to restore the bank of Hall Creek at Johnson Hall State Historic Site. Participants assisted Park staff in placing downed branches and logs along the banks to help reduce erosion and enhance the creek. All work took place along the creek, in difficult terrain.

Little Stony Point

• Planted a pollinator garden, removed invasive species and provided instruction on building wildlife habitats.

Max V Shaul State Park

• Trail work/cleanup, Tree planting, campsite clean up.

Minnewaska State Park Preserve

• This event mainly focused on wildlife education, with some light trash clean up near the Nature Center.

Norton Basin Natural Area

• Beach clean-up and coastal birding

Point Au Roche State Park

• A guided walk to look for and celebrate the wonderful wildlife we have in the park, and a clean-up project to help protect the wildlife in Deep Bay!

Sackets Harbor Battlefield State Historic Site

• Period landscape enhancement in the 1860's historic navy Yard

Salmon River Fish Hatchery

• The 25th annual Salmon River Fish Hatchery Open House, which included a guided tour of the hatchery to learn about fish culture, sustainable fishing practices, and rare and threatened fish species in New York State. Several conservation organizations, fishing and hunting clubs, and outdoor recreation groups were on hand with displays and activities to provide information about their role in the Salmon River Corridor and the Lake Ontario ecosystem.

Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site

• Many of the stonework walls associated with the Erie Canal became covered with weeds. Overtime, if not routinely and properly removed, these artifacts will become unobservable and under appreciated by our visitors. Additionally, plant growth on stonework can cause significant damage. As a historic site dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of Erie Canal history, volunteers maintained the stonework while enjoying the beauty and history of the Erie Canal Corridor.

Seneca Meadows Wetlands Preserve/ Montezuma Audubon Center

• A day of native seed collection at Seneca Meadows Wetland Preserve. The collected seed is used to help restore native habitat. Afterwards, volunteers met for lunch provided by the Friends of the Montezuma Wetlands Complex.

Taughannock Falls State Park

• Eastern hemlocks are keystone species that protect the steep slopes and waters of Taughannock Falls State Park. They are threatened by an invasive pest called the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid (HWA). Join FORCES Program Specialist, Carlin Shew, in learning how to identify HWA and get hands-on experience collecting HWA density and canopy health data of our trees. Participants explored the Gorge Trail (1.8-mile out-and-back) all the way to the falls, stopping at hemlock trees to collect data. On the way back, participants will learn about the natural history of Taughannock Falls State Park.

Tom's Point WMA

• The group conducted basic trail maintenance along the foot trail, maintained bluebird and wood duck nest boxes, and inspected existing tree tubes on the WMA.

Thank you to our sponsors ConEdison, National Grid, Harney & Sons, The Liro Group, Beardsley, Corning, H2M, LaBella, Momentive, Saratoga Associates, and Stewart’s Shops.