“We consider every piece of land special.”
Native Habitat Restoration’s work brings them to what co-founder Jess Toro describes as, “some of the last great places and the best of the rest.” Take a look at how NHL’s thoughtful and process-driven approach to invasive plant control and habitat restoration is affecting change on habitats great and small, and their environs:
Wet Meadow
|
Client: Private Landowner
Environmental Challenge: The wet meadow habitat was overgrown with native and invasive shrubs and trees. Project Overview: To improve the condition of the wet meadow by mechanically mowing the shrubs and trees, and using a cut stump treatment of the multiflora rose and clip & drip treatment of Phragmites. Funding Sources: Private and funding from the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP) Short-term Goals: To reduce the height of native shrubs and trees, and reduce the quantity of invasive plants. Long-term Goals: To improve the habitat for rare and common wet meadow species. |
Floodplain Forest/River Riparian Buffer
|
|
Client: Local Land Trust
Environmental Challenge: Invasive plant species are overwhelming the floodplain forest and riparian habitat, and overcrowding the native and rare species on the site. Project Overview: We launched the Invasive Species Control in the Housatonic River Watershed Project to improve the condition of critical riparian buffers along the Housatonic River, floodplain forests and lowland forest habitats. Funding Sources: Natural Resource Damages Fund (NRD) Short-term Goals: To reduce invasive species cover by 60—80 percent in the first year of control, and achieve 90 percent reduction in the second year. Long-term Goals: To reduce and maintain invasive species to less than 5 percent cover on the property. |
Calcareous Sloping Seep Wetland
|
|
Client: Conservation Organization
Environmental Challenge: The hydrology of a seep wetland was disrupted, and associated wetland vegetation was eliminated. Project Overview: To replant a seep wetland with appropriate shrubs and trees to recreate natural topography and habitat. Funding Sources: Private Short-term Goals: To establish 90 percent of wetland vegetation in the delineated areas. Long-term Goals: Long-term survival of the vegetation, which will stabilize the soil and typography to allow for restored hydrology. |
Kampoosa Bog – Calcareous Lake Basin Fen
|
|
Client: Non-profit religious organization
Environmental Challenge: Phragmites australis [M1] (Common reed) was invading the calcareous lake basin fen known as Kampoosa Bog, threatening the open sedge mat as well as changing wetland conditions for the 23 rare and endangered species that call this Bog their home. [M1] Project Overview: To cut and treat Phragmites stems in 20 patches over 14 acres throughout the 160-acre wetland between August and October. Working in partnership with the Kampoosa Bog Stewardship Committee, a collaboration of:
Funding Sources: The Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program (WHIP), administered by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS); Natural Resource Damages Fund (NRD); and Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Short-term Goals: Yearly reduction in the density and acreage of Phragmites stems. Long-term Goals: To get the wetland into a maintenance phase where the small patches have been eliminated and the larger patches are monitored for re-growth of Phragmites every 2-3 years. |
P.O. Box 582, Stockbridge, MA 01262 | [email protected] | (413) 358-7400
