Volunteers Honored for Contributions to Environmental Nonprofit

Great Swamp Watershed Association presents awards for outstanding service in 2012-13.

The Great Swamp Watershed Association (GSWA) honored three area residents for their outstanding service as volunteers over the past year.  The announcements were made during the environmental organization’s annual Volunteer Appreciation Picnic on Tuesday, June 25.

Millington resident Bill Marshall was recognized for his contributions to GSWA’s water quality programs.  For the past two years, he has worked with the organization’s Stream Team to assist with the collection of scientific data from the five major streams of New Jersey’s Great Swamp.

Marshall has been instrumental in conducting scientific visual assessments of waterways, collecting water samples for chemical analysis, and, more recently, helping GSWA launch a monitoring program for waterborne bacteria.

Meyersville resident Ritchie Fullerton and Stirling resident Richard Desch were both recognized for their contributions to GSWA’s outreach and education programming.  Both honorees began their involvement in the organization through events sponsored jointly with Northern New Jersey Cachers (NNJC.org), a group dedicated to promoting the outdoor sport of geocaching statewide.

Fullerton and Desch provided critical support over the past year for two major efforts aimed at increasing awareness of the natural world in and around New Jersey’s Great Swamp.  GSWA’s Halloween-themed Spooky Swamp Walk—held on the 26 and 27 of October, 2012—introduced participants to the organization’s 53-acre, Conservation Management Area—a publicly accessible natural area and demonstration site for environmental restoration projects.  GSWA’s Great Swamp Scavenger Hunt, held on May 11, 2013, introduced a host of geocachers and many others to the sights and sounds of the larger 55-square-mile Great Swamp Watershed region by sending them out to explore outdoor destinations like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge and Morris County’s Great Swamp Outdoor Education Center in Chatham Township, NJ.

In appreciation of their contributions, GSWA presented all three honorees with appropriate swamp-related gifts.  Marshall received a copy of the National Audubon Society Field Guide to the Mid-Atlantic States which includes information about plants and wildlife commonly found in the Great Swamp. Fullerton and Desch each received a northern highbush blueberry shrub to plant at home.  The highbush blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) is native to the eastern U.S. and commonly found in the Great Swamp region.

The Great Swamp Watershed Association sincerely thanks all of its 2012-13 volunteers for the excellent work they have done to protect the waters and the land of the Great Swamp Watershed we all love and share.  If you are interested in joining one GSWA’s environmental volunteer programs, please visit the organization online at GreatSwamp.org, or call 973-538-3500 for more information.

Happy Earth Day from the Great Swamp Watershed Association!

istockphoto.com/pearleye

Earth Day 2013 is here! According to the Earth Day Network, more than a billion people in 192 countries are participating in related events around the globe.

Since this year's official observance falls on a Monday, most folks are probably spending the day at work. But, remember that April is often called "Earth Month" and this week is often called "Earth Week." Perhaps you marked Earth Day early at an event this past weekend or earlier in April.  Perhaps you're observing it in the days to come. When you get right down to it, any day is a good day for an Earth Day celebration!

Help GSWA keep this year's Earth Day spirit alive and kicking throughout May too! There are few ways you can help.

Volunteer

Why not become a GSWA volunteer?

There are two important volunteer opportunities coming up soon. On Sunday, May 5, Laura Kelm, our director of water quality programs, is looking for volunteers to help with our annual stream restoration project. This event, which is our version of a traditional Earth Day cleanup, will take place at Kitchell Pond in the heart of Morris County's Loantaka Brook Reservation. We will be building a new vegetated buffer around the pond that will work to curb the negative effects of  stormwater runnoff and erosion. Much of the work will center around planting native shrubs and plants that slow down stormwater flow and help absorb water into the ground. For more information about this event, visit https://greatswamp.ejoinme.org/Sp13StreamRest.

Sunday, May 19 is your opportunity to become a member of GSWA's Stream Team at our biannual stream assessment training for volunteers. Held twice a year (once in the fall and once in the spring), GSWA's visual assessment training teaches volunteers how to observe and record important scientific data about our local stream reaches, including information like stream depth, stream width, and the presence or absence of streambank erosion. Trained Stream Team members are in short supply, so please help us out by coming to this event. For more information about this hands-on, indoor-outdoor workshop, visit https://greatswamp.ejoinme.org/Sp13StreamAssess.

Learn

Take some time to educate yourself on an important environmental topic: climate change.

The Face of Climate Change is the theme that Earth Day Network—an international nonprofit that has been working to mobilize and diversify the environmental movement for many years—has given to Earth Day 2013. In celebration of that theme, GSWA has created a special event that will focus on climate change issues and how they will specifically affects those of us living here in northern New Jersey.

On Monday, May 13, GSWA, the Somerset County Park Commission, and the Passaic River Institute will convene a special panel discussion called "The Challenges of Climate Change and Building Resilient Communities." This event, which takes place at 7PM at the Somerset County Environmental Education Center in Basking Ridge, will feature a panel of climate change experts from Montclair State University. Topics for discussion will include everything from the documented rise in average temperatures in New Jersey, to the important, but often overlooked, role of human relationships in preparing for and recovering from severe climatic events. For more information about this public panel discussion, visit https://greatswamp.ejoinme.org/Sp13ClimatePanel.

Join

Become a GSWA member right now!

Make Earth Day your everyday by making a financial commitment to the only group solely dedicated to protecting the waters and land of the Great Swamp Watershed.

There are plenty of benefits for members: a biannual print newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on watershed happenings, a monthly eNewsletter that notifies you of important breaking environmental news, free participation in GSWA events and invitations to special get-togethers, and much more.

We need your help all year long! Click here to become a member right now.

Volunteer Use Thanksgiving Weekend to Give Back to GSWA

by Hazel England, Land Steward and Director of Education and Outreach, GSWA

Some came to connect with family and give back to the watershed by working together.  Some came to catch a break from family after the long Thanksgiving holiday; others because they are longtime members and volunteers, or because they were offered extra credit by savvy Environmental Science high school teachers.  Some even came for the coffee, hot chocolate, and donuts!  Whatever reason, a lot of volunteers  turned out on Sunday, November 25 for an outdoor workday at the Great Swamp Watershed Association’s Conservation Management Area.

Check out photos from our workday event on Flickr!

Once again our volunteers re-created a one-mile trail first laid out in early 2011.  It’s been repaired three times now; once after Hurricane Irene flooding devastated it, again after the losses from the 2011 Halloween snowstorm blocked it, and now following Superstorm Sandy.

More than 30 adults, teenagers, and kids spent a cold Sunday working in crews.  Each crew was headed by a chainsaw expert, and included some strong muscles for moving large chain-sawed logs.  The rest of each team was composed of support workers who raked trails free of downed sticks, branches, and fallen leaves.    Many of the logs the crew cut up were used to edge and delineate our CMA trails, or piled to make giant brush piles which other volunteers will clear away at future workdays.

A few volunteer groups worked to remove felled trees from multiple points along the 7,500-foot deer fence that encloses 28 acres of the CMA.  Blow-downs from Sandy breached the seven-year-old fence in several places, and both temporary and permanent fence repairs were required after much of the wood was removed.  Some truly giant trees subsumed stretches of fence more than thirty feet long.  In these spots, where volunteers could not venutre and the fence remains pinned to the ground, hungry deer now have free reign to decimate all of the protected native vegetation GSWA has been trying to restore.  Scores of fresh hoof prints inside our fence perimeter testify to this particular problem.

There were a few other places where our ruined fence could only be pulled up off the ground and onto temporary supports.  GSWA will need an emergency infusion of cash to purchase new permanent support posts, and entirely new fencing that is not riddled with large, deer-sized holes.

Many of our most faithful volunteers showed up to work.  There were also many new faces joining us thanks to a last-minute appeal for volunteers distributed by local media outlets.  Regulars and first-timers worked side by side, and it was truly humbling for me as GSWA’s land manager to see so many people giving back to an open-space property that serves so many local communities.

Now that much of the damage wrought by Superstorm Sandy has been repaired, we hope that you and many others will visit and take a walk along our newly restored and opened trail system.  As you stroll along, check out all the fresh sawdust—a clear sign of all the busy beavers who worked so hard Thanksgiving weekend to the benefit of all.  Words cannot express how grateful I am for all our committed volunteers!

Rest and Be Thankful?

Okay, but consider volunteering at our Conservation Management Area (CMA) on the Sunday after Thanksgiving and the Great Swamp Watershed Association (GSWA) will be more thankful!

GSWA will hold a post-hurricane clean up and workday at its Conservation Management Area (CMA) on Sunday, November 25, 2012.

The workday will run 9:30 a.m.- 2:00 p.m.

The CMA is located at 1 Tiger Lily Lane in Harding, although many GPS systems place the location in Morristown.

There are tasks for all—from brush cleanup to moving chainsawed logs off the trail, to boardwalk repairs and fencing renovations—in the wake of Sandy's unwelcome redesign of the property.

We will have work gloves, simple tools, and snacks but if there are any chainsaw experts out there we could use their EXPERT help.

All those intersted in helping out are asked to email GSWA's Director of Outreach and Education Hazel England (hazele[at]greatswamp.org) with their availability.  Please provide some indication of the type of tasks you prefer—light-duty or heavy-duty. It's also helpful to let Hazel know how many other volunteers you plan to bring with you.

Anyone who has NOT volunteered for us in the past will need to read and sign a volunteer release form, so please RSVP if you are thinking about attending.

Coffee and donuts will be available starting at 9:00 a.m.

This is your chance to get away from family after the long Thanksgiving holiday, or an opportunity to bring all those relatives together to work as a team to help recover and restore the public trails at the CMA.

Springtime Is Volunteer Time!

March at the Great Swamp Watershed Association was all about volunteering and working outside this year. On Sunday, March 18, Director of Water Quality Programs Laura Kelm worked with the Morris County Park Commission and the Americorp NJ Watershed Ambassadors to lead more than 20 volunteers through cleanup activities at a new inside Loantaka Brook Reservation (Morris Township). After three hours of hard work, the nonnative plants are out and the natives are in along this short stretch of Loantaka Brook near Seaton Hackney Stables.

On Saturday, March 24, Director of Outreach and Education Hazel England, who also doubles as our land steward, led another large group of volunteers through trail maintenance tasks at our 53-acre Conservation Management Area (CMA) in Harding Township. Bridges were built, trails were mulched, and weeds were pulled. After all this hard work our CMA is ready for springtime visitors, so remember to pay us a visit at 1 Tiger Lily Lane.

Want to get the scoop on what really happened during our March volunteer days? Check out these two recent updates from our two volunteer group leaders, Laura and Hazel.

GSWA’s Annual Stream Cleanup & Enhancement by Laura Kelm

You might remember previous Great Swamp Watershed Association (GSWA) stream cleanups at Kitchell Pond where our volunteers collected trash from the grounds of Loantaka Brook Reservation. The good news is that our gatherings there have made a real difference! This year there was minimal trash around the pond, so we decided to change our work site and the focus of our event.

GSWA worked with Geoff Knapp from the Morris County Park Commission and Stephanie Queirolo, the AmeriCorps NJ Watershed Ambassador for the region, to plan this year’s volunteer work. On March 18th, 21 volunteers converged on Loantaka Brook Reservation’s South Street Recreation Area to refresh and enhance the stream bank along Loantaka Brook. Many of the participants were new to GSWA, including several students from Passaic County Community College.

Located next to Seton Hackney Stables, the area we focused on sheltered many invasive plant species and nuisance vines that were overtaking nearby trees and reducing local biodiversity. Using clippers and lots of manpower, the volunteers removed the vines and invasive plants and planted 15 native trees in their place.

The native trees that we planted will provide wildlife habitat, and their deep roots will help to stabilize the bank of Loantaka Brook. The plant material we removed from the site was collected by the Morris County Park Commission to be turned into mulch. We got much more accomplished than we had planned, but there is still more to be done to rid the entire area of invasive plants. Thanks to all the volunteers who helped out, and we hope to see you at future cleanups!

Check out photos from the Loantaka Brook volunteer day below or on GSWA's Flickr page!

Volunteer Workday At The Conservation Management Area by Hazel England

Twenty-three people from near and far enjoyed the warm March weather and early blooming trout lilies and spicebush, while readying the GSWA CMA for spring.  After the hurricanes and flooding of August, and the freak snows in October, the trails were in need of some TLC. Our volunteers spread wood mulch over paths leading a third of a mile away from the CMA entrance to the Silver Brook boardwalk bridge. This will allow hikers access without muddying up their boots quite so much.

Students from Passaic County College helped us clear introduced, non-native plant species away from several hundred small native shrubs. This will give our native plants time to establish themselves successfully without competing with invasives for light or nutrients. Because the CMA has a 28-acre fence around it to exclude deer, we have found that removing invasives and replanting native plants has allowed the forest understory to flourish.

Ten volunteers from the REI’s retail store in East Hanover—easily identified by their bright orange volunteer shirts—helped us construct a temporary bridge crossing that will join the CMA’s existing trail system with lands conserved by our neighbors at the Harding Land Trust. In the coming year, new trails will be created on HLT lands that will expand the total number of trail miles visitors can access. When all is said and done, a hike that begins at the CMA gate off of Tiger Lily Lane and concludes on HLT property along Harter Road will cover almost 2.5 miles of ground. 

Thanks to all who volunteered their time!  GSWA will having more weekend volunteer days as we manage the property and restore it to a functioning floodplain forest. Our next scheduled volunteer workday takes place on June 16. Register online at www.GreatSwamp.org/EventReg.htm.

Check out photos from the CMA volunteer day below or on GSWA's Flickr page!

Please join us at a future volunteer event!

 

Spring's Almost Here! Time To Get Out And Volunteer!

Need an excuse to more spend time outdoors? Want to protect the local environment? Think you have what it takes to help out in your community? If so, then Great Swamp Watershed Association invites you to volunteer with us in March. Help us clean and enhance our open spaces, and learn how you can help protect our local streams and waterways from contamination and destruction. It's easy, and we'll supply the equipment you need. Here are some upcoming events where you can help—

March 18 — Annual Stream Cleanup & Enhancement at Loantaka Reservation

GSWA will hold its annual stream cleanup and enhancement at Loantaka Brook Reservation on March 18, 2012 from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Activities along the banks of Loantaka Brook will include invasive plant removal, planting native plants, and trash cleanup. Volunteers ages 15 and above should wear long pants, long sleeves, and shoes or boots that can get wet and muddy. Participants should gather at the South Street Recreation Area located at 434 South Street, Morristown, NJ.

Click here to volunteer for this event!

March 24 — Spring Cleaning Day at the CMA

Please join GSWA's Dir. of Outreach and Education and Land Steward Hazel England from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for a spring cleanup at our 53-acre Conservation Management Area (CMA) in Harding, NJ. GSWA relies on the support and work of volunteers as we maintain and restore this important open space to become a functional floodplain forest again. Work on March 24 will focus preparing the property for springtime visitors. Tasks will include chipping, mulching and edging trails, cleaning nest boxes so they are ready for spring residents, and carrying lumber to help build boardwalks over the wettest portions. All tools and supplies will be provided. Show up with energy and enthusiasm, and we will handle the rest. Location: GSWA CMA, 1 Tiger Lily Road, Morristown, NJ.

Click here to volunteer for this event!

March 31 — Stream Assessment Training for Volunteers

Want to get outside and help GSWA? We are looking for a few good volunteers to conduct visual assessments of streams in our watershed. Visual assessments are conducted at stream reaches throughout the region twice per year, and they help us to know what’s happening along our streams. During an assessment, volunteers record information about the amount of canopy cover over the stream, nearby land uses, the clarity of the water, and more. Before you are ready to conduct an assessment, you will need to attend our training session. Our next training session takes place on March 31, 2012, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and will also cover macroinvertebrate assessments. Location: GSWA Office, 568 Tempe Wick Road, Morristown, NJ.

Click here to volunteer for this event!

*Please remember to dress and prepare appropriately for all our volunteer events. Outdoor work will often be wet and muddy, so boots or sturdy shoes are recommended. Long pants and long-sleeve shirts are also recommended. Please feel free to bring your own snacks, and we encourage the use of a reusable water bottle for any beverages you bring along. Please remember to recycle or properly dispose of any refuse.

For more information, visit www.GreatSwamp.org. Write to GSWA at events@greatswamp.org, or call us at 973-538-3500.