Plum Island (Weeks 2 and 3)

Plum Island is located on the southern end of Sandy Hook on the bay side. Beach plum (tart and delicious!), Virginia creeper, prickly pear cactus, poison ivy, and dense monocultural stands of tree of heaven are among the native, introduced, and invasive plants that blanket the island. The Gateway team braved thickets of poison ivy to reach and remove 1,188 trees of heaven, Ailanthus altissima, from Plum Island! They used their chainsaw skills to perform cut-stump treatments on the invasive tree. Before moving on to the next work site, they did a final sweep of the island to make sure they didn’t miss any tree of heaven. Mission accomplished!