The plan calls for four managed habitats. Following guidance from the Wild Seed Project report, actions will be as follows, namely:
Wetland– Calumet Ave North to the Ocean (The Swamp)
Increase the trail system in the area.
Dig out an area to bring back some open water.
Clip out purple loosestrife as soon as it flowers starting in July cutting at ground level.
Focus on invasive shrub removal on the uplands surrounding the Swamp before seeds are set.
Plant additional species into the swamp as juveniles, such as:
Wildflowers- swamp milkweed, blue vervain, boneset, Joe-pye weed, Aster (New England, New York), golden alexanders, violets, marsh marigold, golden groundsel, virgins-bower clematis.
Deciduous Woods with Clearings – Ottawa Ave North to Calumet Ave. (Farm Hill)
In wooded areas:
The goal will be a closed canopy of overstory trees, an understory tree and shrub layer, and herbaceous wildflowers and ferns carpeting the forest floor. Creating the closed canopy is the first step.
Tag young native understory trees and shrubs.
Contiinue clearing of invasives
Plant small saplings of future canopy trees to restore a shady canopy that will eventually favor woodland species protected by tree tubes.
Plant some understory ground covers in a few small patches.
Recommended canopy trees to add: sugar maple, basswood, chestnut oak, white oak, hickory, paper and yellow birch, black cherry.
Understory trees/shrubs: hazelnut, pagoda dogwood, witch hazel, musclewood, hop hornbeam, shadberry, purple flowering raspberry, yellow bush honeysuckle, maple-leaved viburnum.
increase mowing over the next few years to push out the black swallowwort. Meadows with swallowwort should be mowed every 2-3 weeks 2021 -2023.
Create a pollinator planting of native wildflowers in a prepared bed (weeds and grasses eliminated with black plastic or with the method called sheet mulching.. This planting will be tended to insure no invasive plants creep in and to be a future seed source for reestablishing meadow diversity.
Evergreen Forest with Mixed Hardwoods – Whitehead to the Quarry (The Ritchey Preserve)
Leave downed trees to host a variety of wildlife and return nutrients to the soil, rebuilding the spongy woodland soils needed a healthy forest ecosystem.
Cut off branches of fallen trees near trials so the logs rest on the ground and are not hazard to people walking by.
Continue to remove invasives primarily along the edges. Start using goats on Battery Foote. If successful there, use goats below the battery and on Whitehead, where invasives are not mixed with swallowwort.
Thin naturally reseeded patches of conifer trees with loppers while still young for 6 foot spacing. This will prevent them from growing up into dense mature trees with little vegetation or root system.
Add more native woodland understory species.
Mixed– Quarry to the Point
Label native shrubs and trees along trails.
Label invasive plants to raise awareness about what they look like.
Continue removing invasives with the flail mowers, prioritizing invasive shrubs before any seed set happens.
Enlist youth with volunteer workdays at monthly events with 4 hours of invasive clearing work followed by a picnic or desert at the Point gazebo.
Mow herbaceous areas that are not free of black swallowwort every two to three weeks 2021-2023.
Mow herbaceous areas that are free of black swallowwort once a year in the late fall or early spring.
Seed areas cleared of invasive shrubs to be maintained as herbaceous meadows with native grasses, such as Canada wild rye, purple love grass, and little bluestem.
Create screens with native shrubs and small trees in selected areas after removal of invasive shrubs.
Introduce tough native shrubs, such as purple flowering raspberry and yellow bush honeysuckle, to spread and form colonies that can protect steep slopes from erosion.
Invasive cover of honeysuckle, bayberry and oriental bittersweet (targeted invasives) will be removed with mechanical methods, primarily mowing equipment, i.e. brush and flail mowers. Areas not accessible to mowers will be addressed by hand clearing with volunteers and/or paid help.
Subject due due diligence and discussion with abutters, a small goat herd may be trialed on Battery Foote to control bittersweet and, if successful, will be use on the areas free of swallowwort that is poisonous to goats, such as below the battery and on Whitehead to control inavsives and poison ivy.
Any other invasive plants will be dealt with on an ad hoc basis, e.g. cutting purple loosestrife at the plant’s base as it flowers.
Overseeding
As areas are cleared of targeted invasives, they will be overseeded with native grasses or planted with native trees and shrubs to stop or slow regeneration of invasive cover.
Planting
Introduction of transplanted new flowers, shrubs, and trees will primarily be sourced from island divisions and seedlings.
Purchase of plants from other sources will be based on fund raising and donations specifically designated for plant material and follow the plant listings from Wild Seed Project.
Mowing
Maintenance of areas cleared of invasives will be done primarily by periodic mowing.
Trails that can be mowed will be mowed throughout the season to minimize tick habitat. Trails should be maintained at or below 6 inches high and for motorized access at 8 to 24 feet wide, the latter width meant to be for the fire lane from Whitehead to The Point only.
Perimeters of cleared areas will be mowed, as needed, throughout the season to prevent encroachment by invasives. Perimeter mowing should about 10 feet wide.
Understory plantings of bushes, shrubs and small trees will be maintained by small mowing machines, trimmers and hand tools to clear invasives, whenever resources are available.
Cleared open areas with black swallowwort will be maintained by mowing every two or three weeks, depending on available resources, through 2023 to allow for successful introduction of native plant material.
Cleared open areas free of black swallowwort will be maintained by mowing once a year either in late fall or early spring.
Effort will be made to allow for non invasive seed bearing plants and fall flowering plants to be mowed later and available for migrating birds and butterflies and for seed collection.
Regeneration of forested areas damaged by blowdowns will be managed for a mixed age, mixed species distribution with selective thinning of tree saplings to 6 foot spacing.
Forested areas with no damage and no invasive plant issues will be left unmanaged, except for trail maintenance.
Herbicide Use
Herbicides will be limited in use, primarily to manage invasives from redominating cleared areas not controlled by mowing.
Spraying will be with organic herbicides, like ADIOS and Avenger, the former a sodium chloride based desiccant and the latter a critic acid based defoliant.
Glyphosate will be used on a limited basis as permitted by City of Portland pesticide use waivers.
Area Specific Objectives
Calumet - Spicers Cove to Farm Hill Road - Meadow with wildflowers and a Monarch waystation
Calumet - Farm Hill Road to White's lot - restore an old hotel road along the stone wall with the understory mostly mixed ferns with hedge of mixed bushes, including blueberry, viburnum and quince.
Willows - tennis court to the hotel roadway - an understory of hay scented fern
Point - Gazebo to the shoreline - apple trees with wildflower meadow and a Monarch waystation
South side of Spring Cove Ave - between Brew/Hewitt and Perry/Tenny houses - wooded with understory of mixed bushes, meadow, wildflowers
Cellar Point - wooded with understory of mixed bushes with added viewpoints, including across the swamp to Calumet
Area below Battery Foote - stop the spread of invasives into the recovering woodlot by containment of the invasive cover to the existing damaged area.
Projects
in place, so far, to implement the plan:
Project – Estimated budget (in $ thousands) – Done by
Replanting of natives -- 6k -- Maple Ridge Farm and Fishery (Tracy Ames)
Trial of goat herd -- 3k -- TBD
Invasive plant removal -- 10k -- Lucas Tree
Spicers Cove coastal management -- 20k -- Maple Ridge Farm and Fishery
Apple tree renovation – 1k -- Ian Ludders, if available
Note: Reroofing The Point gazebo not listed as separate from the land management plan. It remans a goal subject to achieving a fundraising target.
Jump to some photos that show progress on how we are managing the land at flickr set Then and Now