Meadow Restoration update 10/27/05

Hi everybody: I wanted to give you an update on the Hilltop meadow restoration, and request your help with cleaning and marking debris on the restoration site during November.

If you attended last night's Conservancy meeting, you've already seen some photos of the mugwort being mowed and chopped by the Parks Dept. I've attached the handout used, in case you weren't able to attend.

Now that the 10-acre site is relatively clear, existing trash and debris are much easier to spot. The Parks Dept. has agreed to take away whatever we gather and / or mark. So, I'm trying to arrange a few restoration site clean-up days.

If you're interested in helping out, can you get back to me and let me know your date preferences? It seems like weekends are preferred by most of you, moreso mornings than afternoons. Potential dates are:

• November 5th / 6th
• November 12th / 13th

For those of you who are busy during weekends, I'm also proposing the Friday mornings of the 4th and the 11th.

If we can schedule just a couple of clean-up sessions this fall, we can get a lot of work done in just a few hours.

Thanks in advance! TMT

Next Steps

• Debris marking & collection
• Types of trash / debris:
  • “Baggable”
  • “Draggable” (into piles)
  • “Taggable” (need a county loader or bulldozer and a dump truck to move it)
• Potential November clean-up dates??
• Drain / manhole filling
  • Use miscellaneous rocks to eliminate hazard
  • 3 filled, 5 to go!
• Foreign invasive tree removal
  • Geordie, Brian, Pat & TMT
  • “Hack & squirt” treatment method
  • 20 acre site finished by 1st week in November
  • Dead tree removal next spring, ~April, when herbicide application begins