Forestry Workgroup “Leads by Example” at Banshee Reeks
The rain was falling heavy all through Tuesday night and
things had not changed much when the alarm went off the next morning, signaling
the new day. The Chesapeake Bay Forestry Workgroup had a meeting scheduled at
Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve in Loudoun
County, Virginia.
Hearing and seeing the rain and knowing the schedule of the
day brought back memories from my past life. For years, the month of April had
a pretty profound impact on my life. One
of the duties as an employee working for the Virginia Department of Forestry
was to plant tree seedlings with volunteer groups. The best planting months are March, April,
November and December, but April was extremely busy with plantings because of
Earth Day and Arbor Day. You can plant trees
during other months, but for “bare root” seedlings with no soil on their roots,
months with high precipitation and cooler temperatures are the best.
The Banshee Reeks Manor House sits on the top of a hill and Goose Creek winds through
the rolling farmland and forest. The
“Banshee” was with us that Wednesday because of the pouring rain; the misty
spirit hung over the reeks (rolling hills and valley). But hardy as the Forestry Workgroup members
are, they hopped on a wagon and rode down the hills -- in the pouring rain --
to Goose Creek to
see the task before them.
The heavily grassed floodplain had bare areas that were
prepared for a riparian buffer planting.
Our hosts from the Virginia Department of Forestry had planting bars,
tree seedlings, gloves, tree shelters and all of the equipment needed to get
the trees in the ground; the Workgroup members were the muscle. The group
planted approximately 125 sycamore, black walnut, river birch, hackberry and
dogwood shrub seedlings -- again, in the pouring rain -- in a little over an
hour.
As we road the wagon back up the hill -- still in the
pouring rain -- and looked back at the newly planted floodplain, the enthusiasm
was hard to contain. There was a special
warm feeling that drifted over me, reminiscent of my days of planting with
volunteers: the feeling of knowing you just did something special that will
last far into the future. For the
Forestry Workgroup members who promote riparian forest buffer plantings in the Bay
watershed, this was a “lead by example” exercise.
As everyone got into their cars to return to their home
states of Maryland, Pennsylvania,
West Virginia and other parts of Virginia, yes, they were
cold, they were wet, but they were proud of their work.
Forest buffers featured at latest Forestry Workgroup meeting
Judy Okay
is a riparian forest buffer specialist on detail from the Virginia
Department of Forestry working at the Chesapeake Bay Program office.
In early October the search was on for a site in the Bay
watershed for the November 18 Bay Program Forestry
Workgroup meeting. Educational workgroup meetings are good because members
can get out of their offices and visit the fields and forests of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. After a few calls, the Virginia Tech
Mare Equine
Center in Middleburg, Virginia,
separated itself from other choices. It was a perfect location for the forestry
workgroup meeting because it has a 23-acre riparian forest
buffer, and forest buffers would be the focus of the meeting.
Riparian forest buffers are a topic near and dear to my
everyday life. People often tell me I live in “buffer land” because my job is
very specific to that area of forestry.
I really am very interested in watersheds as holistic ecosystems and
think of forest buffers as the integral link between what happens on the land
and how those actions are reflected in the water quality of streams and rivers.
Along with other Bay
goals, the
riparian forest buffer goal will fall short of the 10,000-mile commitment
made for the 2010 deadline. The number of riparian buffer miles achieved
annually has dropped off from 1,122 miles in 2002 to 385 miles in 2007. Since Forestry
Workgroup members represent state forestry agencies, NGOs, and other groups
interested in Bay forests, they are the logical group to come up with ways to
address barriers that stand in the way of achieving state riparian forest
buffer commitments. We spent the afternoon of the Forestry Workgroup meeting discussing
the barriers to riparian forest buffer plantings and ways to eliminate those
barriers.
The Forestry Workgroup meeting also featured two
presentations on new riparian forest buffer tools intended for use by local
governments, watershed groups, and local foresters. The first presentation, given
by Fred Irani from the U.S. Geological Survey team at the Bay Program office, was
about the RB Mapper, a new tool developed for assessing riparian forest buffers
along shorelines and streambanks. The other presentation, given by Rob Feldt
from Maryland DNR, was about a tool for targeting the placement of riparian
forest buffers for more effective nutrient removal. (You can read all
of the briefing papers and materials from the Forestry Workgroup meeting at the
Bay Program’s website.)
After all the business, it was time to experience the Mare Center,
their streamside forest buffer and the rolling hills of Virginia. A tractor and wagon provided transportation
to the pasture to see the buffer, which was planted in 2000 with 2,500 tree
seedlings. It was a cold and windy day, and there were actually snowflakes in
the air. We had planned to ride the wagon out and walk back, however, with a
little bit of a bribe, the wagon driver waited while we checked out the forest
buffer for survival, growth, and general effectiveness for stream protection.
The Forestry Workgroup meeting was productive, educational,
and enjoyable. How often can we say that
about group meetings? Sometimes it is
worth the extra effort to provide a meeting place with an outdoor component that
conveys the endeavors that the Bay Program workgroups are all about.