A. SUMMARY
1. Habitat Maintenance / Restoration Labor:
Habitat Restoration Workdays:
We worked a total of 23 days on our regular habitat restoration work days. Minimum attendance was 3; maximum was 12; average was 6 volunteers each workday. We started at 0900 and quit at 1400, meaning we were on the work site about 5 hours each workday. Thus we accumulated a total of 690 man hours of labor during our regular workdays. If we add travel time and organization time the total volunteer hours probably increase by 500 man hours to a total of 1190 man hours.
Special / Community Workdays:
We held 2 special workdays: 1 with Deloitte and 1 with Prof Hurley's Ursinus College class. We had 35 volunteers on our Deloitte workday and started at 0900 and quit at 1300. We had 19 volunteers on the Ursinus College workday and started at 0930 and quit about 1230. Our total volunteer work hours on these 2 special workdays with Deloitte and Ursinus College totaled 180 man hours.
AmeriCorps;
We hosted an AmeriCorps crew from 3 August through 12 Sept. Crew size averaged 9 people. AmeriCorps worked a total of 26 workdays and were onsite from 0900 to about 1730. Thus AmeriCorps donated 1872 man hours.
Total:
The total time worked in the year 2013 on the Serpentine Barrens were 2742 man hours.
If we add the management time associated with this effort (including AmeriCorps), the total time devoted to on-site work at the barrens increases to approximately 4000 man hours.
2. Board Activity:
We held 10 Board Meetings in 2013.
3. Special Events / Activities:
Owner / Stakeholder Meeting: We conducted a half day bi-annual meeting with property owners and stakeholders to review management, restoration and research activities, and to discuss plans and issues. Subsequently, we also met personally with each of these owners twice separately.
Ecology Hikes / Plant Monitoring: We sponsored three hikes including summer plant monitoring hikes at Chrome and Goat Hill to inventory plant species at serpentine grassland sites.
GIS: With the assistance of the AmeriCorps team, we developed and greatly expanded the GIS mapping of the property boundaries, serpentine grasslands and trail system on all of the PA sites.
Chrome Trail Opening: We sponsored a trail opening event in September to introduce the public to the expanded and newly blazed trail system. We took the opportunity to introduce the key organizations associated with the barrens and to explain the mission and activities of the Friends organization. Approximately 25 to 30 people attended. Outreach to the media resulted in a local newspaper article. A trail brochure for Upper Chrome was printed and distributed at this event.
Community Outreach: The Friends were represented with a booth at the Oxford, PA “First Friday “events during the fall months.
4. Mechanical Equipment Utilization:
A significant amount of tools and supplies were personally donated and/or used during this total effort. This material included chains saws, brush whackers, tree wrenches, loppers, gasoline, oil, construction tools and PPE.
B. SITE SPECIFIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
1. Chrome Barrens
1. Three hiking trails were partially constructed and opened in the upper section on property owned by Elk Township of Chester County. Trail lengths were 1, 2, and 1.5 miles. A trail map brochure was produced and distributed locally.
2. Five barrens sites (meadows or clearings) were maintained. Invasive greenbrier, olives, and small trees were pulled and/or cut on the sites to restore the Serpentine grasslands. No herbicide was used. Some larger trees that had fallen into the sites or were growing at the edges were cut and removed from the barrens sites to restore the original clearing area.
3. A timber foot bridge, approximately 19 feet long was built over one of the streams in Lower Chrome. Stone for the footers was gathered onsite or donated. Support footers and stringers were made of cedar logs that were cut nearby.
2. New Texas Barrens
1. We maintained 19 of the 39 Serpentine grassland sites at New Texas.
2. We cleared invasives from nearly all the trails connecting the barrens sites.
3. Goat Hill Barrens
1. Six new grassland sites were cleared. This consists of cutting the trees and greenbrier and removing the resulting brush from the site.
2. A picnic table was constructed at a planned back country camp site.
3. We assisted installing a corrugated steel culvert creating a bridge over one stream.
4. Nottingham County Park
1. We maintained 5 hiking trails by cutting and removing fallen trees and invasive brush.
2. We cut and removed greenbrier from a planned corridor connecting the high use areas to the back country Serpentine barrens sites.
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