Wetland Restoration with Andy Smith of Stantec Environmental

Photo Credit: Andy Smith 2008

A Frog House is planning on requesting permission from the town and seeking funding for The Erie Canal Nature Preserve Sustainability Project in 2023, so it is crucial that stakeholders hear about what is involved.

This Sunday, June 26, A Frog House is hosting a very important meeting with very important people, which hopefully will include you.

• At 1 pm we’ll start at A Frog House at 65 State Street for a light lunch and/or socializing
• At 2 pm we will proceed to the Pittsford Town Hall at 11 South Main St for a presentation by Andy Smith, Senior Scientist at Stantec Environmental, about a practical approach to restoring the wetlands in the Erie Canal Nature Preserve. (If the weather is inclement, we will have the lunch at the Town Hall).
• At 3:30 pm interested parties can get their feet wet and their hands dirty with a walk to the ponds in the Nature Preserve to pull out some of the easy invasive species such as garlic mustard, and top off phragmites to carry them out of the park.

For more than 32 years Mr Smith has specialized in assessment and inventory of natural resources. Join us as he reviews 200 years of land use changes and how they have shaped what we have today. Learn more about non-native and invasive species and even the solid stand of native cattail (Typha Latfolia) to the east of the four ponds, that limit the vegetative and wildlife diversity within the marsh. Directly north of the four ponds, invasive common reed (Phragmites australis) dominates the ground cover.

Mr. Smith will recommend non-chemical vegetation treatments. For example, even though the cattail cover within the marsh is too extensive to remove, potholes could be excavated within the marsh and planted with native wetland herbaceous growth to introduce diversity within the marsh.

Also, phragmites are notoriously difficult to control or eradicate due to their aggressive growth and spread by rhizomes. He will teach us how to top phragmites north of the ponds, remove the slash from the site and cover the area with layers of weighted black plastic for at least a year. Then comes the fun part, planting with a temporary cover such as annual ryegrass, and the next year, gradually introducing preferred native species.

If you attended the first three events, you will be able to compare and enhance what you have learned from your previous adventures with information provided by this best expert.

Registration is required. The suggested donation is $1 – $50. Pay what you can. Nobody turned away for lack of funds.

Register