First Niagara Bank showed up in force today at The Bailey Peninsula. Over twenty volunteers from the Lockport office headed by Jason Swanson attacked Japanese Knotweed like each stalk represented a bounced check. Holy S#!t*, they cleared a massive amount of knotweed (superficially....the roots are still present) allowing the previously planted trees a little room to breathe and grow. Robbyn Drake of BuffaloNiagara Riverkeeper (see link) organized the adults
August sixth found us installing a garbage can near the tip of the peninsula. It is the same can from last year but we have learned....we think. Last year we chained it to a tree only to find someone cut the chain ($15.00 value) for their own use. Live and learn. Sara dug a our foot hole and with the help of Jarret set a eight foot 4by4 into the ground with a concrete footer. We then used a nut and bolt to affix the can, and then ruined the threads so the nut will not be easily removed. Our thought is that there is no valuable material to steal and it would require a whole lot of effort to try to detach the can. Time will tell. Hopefully, littering will decrease.
We also began our assault on the second overlook. We are behind schedule but made good progress resulting in the bench at least being exposed for the first time since we have been involved with The Bailey Peninsula. The students asked if we could meet next week, and I can't say no to a request like that. Check out the slideshow and see you next Wednesday!!!
We arrived on site to find The Mckinley crew working hard, but also found that park patrons were up to their old tricks. There was more trash littered this past two weeks than "normal". A few of our newly planted trees have been "harvested" and an old oak had a low hanging branch ripped off. Many of our duck bill tree support wires have also been snapped. One of our installed 4 by 4 support posts was gone (likely burned) and the other one had been tampered with, but was at least still present. We purchased another post and attached the table surface. I checked this morning and the propaganda bench made it through its first weekend unscathed. Little do the vagrants know, but we are closing in on them. One step back, two forward is still one in the right direction and once a roof is attached to this structure, we will be able to post friendly reminders about what it means to be a park patron. I must admit, I feel a little defeated when I see the abuse, but the pendulum swings back by the end of the day. Good people are awesome and I have the pleasure of knowing quite a few.
The McKinley crew ripped up knotweed planted Black Eyed Susans and cleaned up trash. A couple other recent graduates repainted the bench, while another group placed watering bags around some of the recent tree plantings. With the amount of rain we have been getting, I don't know if it is necessary, but I am curious what park patrons will do to them....if anything.
At noon we broke for lunch and Mckinley left around 1:00. Several of us stayed behind to finish up loose ends. It was hot in the sun and the kids were talking about how they couldn't wait for the rain to come. I like rain is how the conversation started. Under the trees we started to hear the pitter pat of rain drops and the river showed it was raining. It cooled off a bit and there were smiles all around as we screwed in boards. But then, the drops got bigger and colder, Rebecca saying it better not hail as we got drenched. Evan retrieved the pictures from his phone which he informed me is the last thing it will do besides being a paper weight. All in all, another fun day out. Check out the slideshow.
Who says it snows in Buffalo? Today we got rain.
Check out the slideshow!!! Join us July 23rd to continue the progress.
The Green Team of South Park was reinforced by McKinley High School students in a rain soaked event. Nearly thirty people water sampled, weeded and continued the construction of The Propoganda Bench.
We started the day testing The Buffalo River water for several parameters including Turbidity, Dissolved Oxygen, pH, phosphorous and nitrogen using simple color indicator tests from Lamotte. Bill Rogers from Science First led this activity. The two High Schools coincidently met on the bridge, which I felt was symbolic as this watershed and school system integrate the entire city.
We then got into he uglier activities of combatting Japanese Knotweed.....and human behavior.
We "retook" our 1,500 ft2 plot as knotweed has encroached (yes, five weeks of no action.....knotweed wins). Our summer goal is to double the area where knotweed is "encroaching" instead of "established".
We also furthured our "propoganda bench". It had been damaged by a park user. We reattached a few boards and added a few more. Our goal is to have a roof by the end of the summer to attach notes suggesting people behave in a non destructive fashion. The roof supports went in today. In two weeks we will attach a table surface, conditional on patron behavior over the next couple weeks.
The GREEN TEAM will meet every other Wednesday, starting July 9th at 10:00 am. Our last event of the school year was a rainout. We have teamed up with a program called The Buffalo Employment Training Center which will boost our numbers by twelve students and three adults. See you on Bailey Peninsula July 9th and 23rd as well as August 6th and 20th!!!!
View imageNearly 1,000 western New Yorkers recieved this letter. When South Park is on the list of sponsors, it is in part due to .........FISKARS. A thousand thanks, from both South Park and BuffaloNiagara Riverkeeper.
May 6th found South Parks Green Team on site kicking #**! We planted 25 native tree species and nearly fifty indigenous shrubs. We then planted a native mix of 14 wildflowers on our 2000 ft2 reclaimed land and started another wildflower plot. A new testing material (an earth mat) was installed around a few shrub plantings. We also sunk four 4" by 4" by 6' posts into the ground. This will be the base of our first "propoganda bench" which will feature two benches, a small table surface and a roof.
June 6th 2008, The Buffalo Bisons Friday Night Bash features The South Park Green Team. Dunn Tire Park, home of Buffalos AAA baseball team has a fireworks display following every Friday night home game. Prior to this past Fridays game, teacher Adam Hovey and Principal Patricia Thomas took center stage on the pitcher mound. Adam threw the first pitch. A two minute slideshow (see sidebar) featuring THE SOUTH PARK GREEN TEAM efforts was shown as the announcer boomed about this pasts years success. The Buffalo Bisons gave The Green Team 120 tickets for the game and we all had a fantastic time. Students, parents, community volunteers, Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper and county employees had a few hours to sit together and reflect on our accomplishments.
On Saturday April, 19th The Green Team of South Park High School kicked off the 2008 resurrection of Bailey Peninsula project. The first day out this spring found over ninety people picking up trash at The Bailey Peninsula, and two adjacent sites along The Buffalo River and Cazenovia Creek. We also repainted the benches in our park and replanted a tree that toppled. Dimitri Bishop planted this tree last fall, but vandals used the tree supports as firewood and this twelve foot oak couldn't withstand the sixty mile an hour wind gusts. Dimitri and several other Green Team members replanted the tree and staked it with a duckbill tree support system (cables imbedded into the ground-no wood). We also wrapped several trees to protect them from recent beaver activiity on the peninsula.
Links
Science Firsthand -- Partners In Discovery-
Riverwatch Captain's Log