Gateway National Recreation Area - Summer 2011

Well it’s that time of year again when corps members and project leaders reminisce about ole times, depart, and wish each other fond farewells. The Gateway NPC summer team had a memorable and wonderful time at Sandy Hook. They removed a record-breaking 9,516 invasive plants—5 mimosa trees, 14 Japanese black pine trees, 2,778 shrubs of autumn olive, and 6,719 trees of heaven—covering 36.3acres of land! During their last week at Sandy Hook, the team created maps of their work sites, removed limbed trees from the work sites, treated invasive plants that were overlooked, and gave the toolshed and agency vehicle a good cleaning. Also the team visited last fall’s project sites and found that none of the treated Ailanthus stumps had resprouts! The team went to two farewell/end-of-season dinners—one hosted by the agency partner at the restaurant Casa Comida and the other a potluck dinner where everyone made their favorite dish. John made delicious mozzarella and bacon balls; Mason made appetizing enchiladas; Bobby made a refreshing fruit salad; and Susan baked scrumptious biscuits and a savory tomato and goat cheese galette. It was a grand feast! Excellent food, good company, and praiseworthy hard work—a great way to end the season!

After finishing up Fee Plaza, Gateway NPC blazed through the next sites—Parking Lot E and the medians north of the Ranger Station. Corps members John and Mason were the hitch leaders at the two sites and spent a total of three days at the sites. Even though it took less time to finish these sites, the poison ivy at E Lot was massive and more difficult to maneuver through than at Fee. But Team Gateway stood their ground and removed and treated 238 trees of heaven at E Lot and 195 shrubs of autumn olive at the Ranger Station medians.

Among the team’s many work projects was shorebird protection and monitoring along the beaches of Sandy Hook, a significant migratory stop for over 300 bird species along the Atlantic Flyway. Every other weekend, the team protected the nesting areas of the federally threatened and state endangered piping plover, the endangered least tern, black skimmer, and oystercatcher. During a few weekdays, the Gateway NPC also canoed to Skeleton Island and assisted the SCA shorebird interns in monitoring. It was a much-needed change in pace from invasive plant removal and offered opportunities for the team to perform public outreach.

At last, Team Gateway had a project site that had no poison ivy! At least they thought so until they ran into its vines crawling up the trees. However there were no WALLS of poison ivy that the crew was used to at Fee Plaza! With the help of Program Coordinator Mike Stefancic, the crew removed and treated over 400 shrubs of autumn olive (Elaeagnus umbellata) in the south fields of North Maintenance. At the end of the day, they finished the site and it was a job well done!!!

During the last week of June, Team Gateway assisted Resources Manager Jeanne McArthur-Heuser in banding ospreys and collecting bird banding data. The Team went to about ten nesting sites along the Sandy Hook peninsula. They hoisted a ladder up to the osprey nests which were situated on 20ft high, manmade posts. The osprey nests were more than five feet in diameter and consisted of various materials, such as sticks, plastic bags, and fishing lines, one of which was wrapped around a juvenile osprey’s neck! The number of juvenile ospreys found in each nest ranged from none to three. The aluminum bands applied to the osprey's legs will be used to collect information on its migration patterns, life span, and population growth. Furthermore, a feather sample was taken from the ospreys for chemical analysis. Besides being ladder boys, corps members John, Mason, and Bobby got a chance to band the baby ospreys and give them names! Overall they were very grateful for this new and different project which offered a much needed break from invasive plant removal.

After CMT, Team Gateway was excited to put their chainsaw training and skills into use. The first project site was Parking Lot B, located near the southern end of the Sandy Hook peninsula. The target plant species was Japanese Black Pine (Pinus thunbergii) which presented itself as a different challenge compared to the trees felled in Washington state. The Japanese black pine trees had a very irregular shape and thick, rough bark and were very sappy. Also its lower branches were so long that they drooped to the ground and were easily mistaken as roots when covered in duff. Therefore the trees took a toll on the old chainsaws. Also there were other challenges such as the small bed of the truck which the team used to collect and haul the chopped branches and trunks to a disposal site. It ended up taking three times as long or more to haul the tree parts than it took to fell and limb the trees. Yet the team persevered and used their resources. They used the new Stihl chainsaws that last year’s team put off from using. Soon Team Gateway was felling and hauling pine trees efficiently like a well-oiled tree felling machine. However the only thing that stopped the team from felling the last pine tree at B Lot was a bird’s nest with four adorable, screaming mockingbird chicks! So the team plans to check on the chicks in several weeks and wait until they have left the nest before felling the last tree.

On May 18th, the new Gateway corps members-John Crowe, Mason Floyd, and Charles Schureman-arrived safe and sound at Sandy Hook, NJ. They all hailed from different states—the Bay State, the Volunteer State, and the Land of Lincoln—to come spend a summer doing conservation work in the Garden State. They also arrived hungry and were treated to fresh, homemade pizzas at the famed Italian restaurant Basil T’s. Overall they were excited to be living and to start working on the Jersey shore!

Hey, my name is Bobby and this is my first time working for the SCA. I'm from Central Illinois and I am a senior at Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville. I am exited for this summer with SCA and the experience I will get from it.