Black River Action Team

Some people probably did a Green Up Day cleanup at Hoyt's Landing in Springfield last month, and no one came to collect the bags for whatever reason. For a completely different reason, other people apparently decided to add to the trash pile.

I can't let stuff like this sit. Not in my town. Not in my watershed.

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It was a road trip kind of day today! Knapp Pond 1 and 2 to install LineKeeper units with two terrific volunteers, then up Route 100 to collect my water samples from a small stream and pick up the samples taken at other sites by four other volunteers...a quick pit stop for The Best Maple Creamee in the Known Universe () - thanks, Lydia, for adding some mouth-watering maple dust!...and a final spur-of-the-moment stop on the way out of Ludlow for a yummy hand-squeezed lemonade with Amanda. She's planning to be at the lot next to Knight's Hot Tubs every weekend, with her kiddos!

Our public fishing spots should be clean and available for all to use - it only takes one lazy or thoughtless person to make big mess that impacts everyone else. Garbage is often left behind at Hoyt's Landing in Springfield.

What can you do to help? Pack out whatever you packed in...properly dispose of your own trash.

Use the LineKeeper receptacle if there is one, to deposit your waste line, hooks, and tackle. Huge thanks to Kem and Svetlana for helping me install TWO LineKeepers, one at each of the Knapp ponds in Cavendish! They have also generously committed to emptying both receptacles when they visit the ponds for their regular seasonal water quality monitoring.

Switch from lead-based sinkers to other alternatives, available at many online retailers: https://fishleadfree.org/online-retailers/

Keep our waterways and wildlife healthy and safe for everyone, including waterfowl and other birds that depend on the rivers, lakes, and ponds for their habitat!

It's official, I'm a spotter for the National Weather Service out of Burlington - along with several other new folks, I attended a training today of the CoCoRaHS project: the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network.

I installed my new rain gauge this afternoon and will be one of 20,000+ volunteer observers across the country, reporting DAILY the amount of rainfall collected in the gauge. :-)

Want to learn more? Check out some of the videos here: https://www.youtube.com/cocorahs

Special thanks to Connections for sponsoring the gauges, the River Innovation Campus for hosting our gathering this morning, Thom Simmons and Phil Carter for presenting, and shout-out to all the folks who stepped up to participate as volunteer spotters!

Perimeter fencing is UP at Greven Field in Proctorsville, in preparation for our goat workforce that is due to arrive this coming week! Aimee Braxmeier of Slippery Slope Goats will be delivering two herds of four-legged w**d-eaters, to be deployed in two areas of the perimeter of the beloved former athletic field.

Many thanks to volunteers Margo Caulfield of "Cavendish Connects" and Robin Chadwick of Ludlow - we were done in less than two hours, with four of us working.

Ideally, the goats should be left to do their work this week...the white fencing is electrified, so please avoid approaching it. The goats are also outfitted with GPS collars so they can be contained within a virtual paddock.

There will be an open house-style "sendoff" to say farewell and 'thanks' to Aimee and her goats, currently scheduled for Saturday June 13th from 1-4pm. We hope to have a goat available for interviews (and petting)! ;-)

This will be a great opportunity to learn more about the project, leave a small donation to help fund the goats, and talk with Aimee about her work. You can also sign up to help us recreate Greven Field into its next version of itself: a combination functional floodplain and community space for low-impact recreation and events.

All our swimming holes are looking GOOD for bacteria levels again!

The white flowers you're seeing along roadsides and field edges right now is worth taking a closer look at...with caution and a spade in hand.

It's very likely wild chervil - a noxious and prolific plant, whose sap can cause irritating burns when it gets on your skin and then exposed to sunlight (phytotoxic burns can be serious).

Learn to ID it at https://www.vtinvasives.org/invasive/wild-chervil.

If you have a small population of a few plants, grab a pointed shovel and some work gloves. Wear long sleeves, gloves, and long pants to limit accidental exposure to the sap (and to ticks!). Set the point of your spade at the spot where the stem meets the soil, and stab downward at an angle - your goal is to sever the root partway under the soil.

If the seeds have not yet formed, you don't have to dig the plant out; just snap the root well below the soil level, lay the plant down to die. If you prefer to remove the plant from the area, bring a heavy contractor bag and wear long sleeves; carefully place the plant into the bag without breaking the stem if you can avoid it.

A larger population could be controlled by MOWING...preferably just as the flowers begin to form (we're past that time already), but must absolutely be done before the seeds set (which should happen in the next couple of weeks).

Mowing should be done 2-3 times a season, not just 'once and done.'

Be on the lookout for the next phytotoxic plant (often growing right alongside wild chervil): poison parsnip! Similar shape, similar flowering structure, but the flowers will be yellow. Management is the same, thank goodness.

Goats are coming to Greven Field! Can you help us prep?

Have you 'herd'? A gathering of goats from Slippery Slope Goats will be grazing the perimeter of the park as part of a long-term plan to manage invasive plants in this 8-acre parcel. While grazing, the goats will be penned in using a GPS-enabled virtual fence and continuously monitored for the week, as well as visited at least daily in person by the herd owner. https://www.slipperyslopegoats.com

We could use several 'hands on deck' between 1-4pm at Greven (just off Route 103 in Proctorsville, 'behind' Greven Rd) to help prepare the site for the goats arrival.

* scout the area for trash/tires - there will be a dumpster on site

* w**d whack/hand-clear a narrow path around the perimeter to allow for a physical fence to barricade the goats from the back property line of Greven Rd homes

Greven Field has historically been an important and treasured community space, and will continue as a location for low-impact public recreation; the future of the parcel must also include allowing for stormwater and floodwater to enter and spread out naturally.

Part of the long-term plan is to manage invasive plants by hand (no herbicide will be used here), replant a portion of the currently open space with native vegetation (trees, shrubs, perennials and ground cover), install stakes of shrub willow and red twig dogwood to the river banks, and maintain a walking path around the perimeter (set back 50' from the water). Part of the interior space (formerly the field where the Green Monster scoreboard was) will be maintained so it's available for public activities that leave no trace.

Sign up to help out on June 5th by sending an email to [email protected]; please bring your own work gloves, dress for the weather, and wear or bring sun protection and insect/tick spray.