A preserve within a preserve
Volunteers clear invasive plants from Quinnipiac Meadows
A preserve within a preserve
From 1-91, the strip of land looks like a golden wild island in the River. Although it is actually connected to land, the 35-acre Quinnipiac Meadows/ Eugene B. Fargegorge Preserve serves as an island of sorts: a serene oasis of plant life and wildlife amid the surrounding bustle of houses and highways, billboards, condos and shopping centers.
With ospreys and owls, herons, fox and terapin, wildlife abounds in the preserve, but the land’s true potential is being compromised by threat that many never notice: invasive plant species. Aggressive, weedy trees and shrubs have created a dense thicket in areas of the preserve. In the upland portion in particular, three invasive shrubs — bush honeysuckle, buckthorn, and autumn olive — dominate the land, smothering the native trees, such as eastern red cedar, winged sumac, and eastern cottonwood, that make the area unique.
The New Haven Land Trust is working to create a preserve within the preserve, clearing and suppressing the invasives so the coastal riparian plant community can thrive. On October 13 and Oct. 20, dedicated groups of volunteers rose to the labor-intensive occasion. Donning long pants, close-toed shoes and work gloves, they wielded chainsaws and machetes to clear an overgrown 1.2 acre area near the bird blind overlooking the salt marsh and river.
“In an urban environment, preserving the few natural places that we do have is critical,” said JR Logan, volunteer and board president for the New Haven Land Trust. “These volunteers have chosen to put their efforts into creating an environment where we can have a greater biodiversity, a space where those in New Haven can have an experience with nature.”
The Land Trust plans to mow an additional five acres overrun with invasive grasses and, when the weather warms, add new plantings of native species to help the preserve thrive as a wildlife habitat.
In line with its mission to promote the appreciation and preservation of natural resources in New Haven, the New Haven Land Trust has been working in the Quinnipiac Meadows preserve for more than a decade. In 2009, The Quinnipiac River Fund supported a Land Trust program to promote public education and access in the Preserve. Volunteers fuel the current invasive-clearing work, with support by the National Resources Conservation Service for the project’s management.