|
Title: Workday Report FSLSB Chrome Barrens 6 June 2014
Attending: 5 FSLSB volunteers: Kent Wagner (co-leader for the day); Craig Cohen; Bob Gray; David Ross; Mike Waltz.
3 TNC staff: Molly Anderson, Volunteer Coordinator (another work day co-leader); George Gress, Land Steward; Claire Birne, Director of Philanthropy, out of the Conshohocken TNC office
20 employees from Deloitte, led by Jennifer Whitmarsh, and three sub-leads.
1 botanist: Mitch LeSage, a Research Assistant in Rachel Spigler's lab at Temple, inventorying a particular plant species (I forget which) for a Temple research project.
Location: Upper Chrome Serpentine Barrens; Serpentine areas in the northeast corner.
Accomplishments: “Deloitte” – as described on the company’s web site -- is the brand under which tens of thousands of professionals in independent firms throughout the world collaborate to provide audit, consulting, financial advisory, risk management, tax and related services to clients. The company sponsors IMPACT days, where its Member firms spend the day volunteering with numerous non-profit organizations throughout the country. For the past seven or eight (?) years, TNC-PA, and FSLSB have arranged for a team of volunteers – pulled together from several of the region’s Deloitte offices -- to come to the Chrome Barrens to help in our conservation efforts.
The entire “D-Day” went from 8:30 AM – 3:00 PM. Work in the fields: 9:30 AM – 12 N; 1P – 2:30P.
Weather was favorable – hot and mostly sunny, but with a bit of a breeze.
· 8:30 A – 9:15 A: met at church; prepared for day (fueled up on food, geared up with bug spray, gloves, t-shirts -- all brought in by Deloitte). Introductory remarks about the missions of TNC and FSLSB by Molly Anderson and Bob Gray. Caravan to work site, transporting 29 people, in six or seven vehicles to parking area at corner of Reisler Rd and State Rd.
· 9:15A – 9:45 A: remarks by Bob, David Ross, George Gress and myself on the specific work to be done, with demonstrations on how to use some of the tools (e.g. weed wrenches, fire rakes). Hike in to work site, with George Gress driving in to the site, hauling the tools and water.
· 9:45A – 12N: worked areas 3, 4 and 5. Divided in to three groups, each group taking on a numbered area: Area 5 group led by Craig Cohen; Area 4 led by David Ross; Area 3 by Molly Anderson. The areas were inspected for birds’ nests and for trees / saplings that should not be removed; the trees to be saved were marked with ribbons. All three groups cut green briar, invasive Red Maple, Red Cedar, Virginia Pine, Russian olives and other brush with loppers, bow saws, brush “whips”; also used weed wrenches, where pulling was possible. The cut trees and brush were dragged into several selected wooded areas outside of the prime serpentine grassland area.
The groups in areas 3 and 4 took up with the clearing work started by the volunteers from PHLY Insurance on the April 9th work day. Area 5 needed the most attention, as it had not been attended to in several years. George Gress and Mike Waltz operated power brush cutters to attack the densest patches of green briar and woody invasives, mostly on the perimeters of the area; the rest of “group 5” attacked with the same suite of tools as used by the other groups.
All three areas were completed by noon.
Throughout the morning, I circulated between the three groups. Bob Gray worked with botanist Mitch LeSage on canvassing the three work areas for the plants involved with the research project; they then continued into the other areas of Lower Chrome.
· 12N – 1P: lunch, back at the church. (Mike Waltz stayed at the site, doing chain saw work in Area 6.)
· 1P – 2:30 P: caravanning back to the work site, all workers converged on Area 6, clearing the site -- by dragging in to the woods – of invasives, downed trees, green briar. Out again
· 2:30P – 3:00P: back at the church. Closing remarks, thanks all around, clean up the church grounds. (Molly, Jen and I made sure we left no trace of us behind -- swept the restrooms, cleared away all food, trash, tables, etc. from the parking lot).
Kudos all around. Another very successful “D-Day”.
NOTE: This work day was successful due in no small part to all the advance work and planning done by Henry (Whitesel). Before he headed west on a well-earned vacation, he made all local connections (establishing with pastor Jessie Johnson use of Media Church), and land-owner Robert Gregg for field parking area at State Rd / Reisler Road). Henry had multiple communications with Deloitte / Jennifer, and with TNC / Molly. He made sure we had sufficient tools. And prepped me for handling the actual work day.
Photographs from the workday can be viewed in a pdf document (2.4 Mb).
|