THANK YOU!!!!
A bunch of our crew from the back!
A great crowd of about 60 wonderful hard workers got all 1500 trees and shrubs in the ground right before Mother Nature kicked in with some rain to finish up the job at around 3:30! It was an exhausting but rewarding experience.
From the (Computer) Desk of Chairman Peter Lent:
THANK YOU – FOR A GREAT JOB AND A GREAT DAY !!!
As the soreness of aching joints & muscles fades away, it is being replaced by a warm feeling of satisfaction with not only the significant work that was accomplished, but also the investment in time and energy that all the volunteers made yesterday to maintain the riparian corridor in Oatka Park and water quality of Oatka Creek.
I am happy to report that with the effort of over 60 volunteers, we were able to plant all 1500 trees and shrubs by 3:30 PM. This effort took just about 6.5 hours – this is a tremendous accomplishment, with most of the planting occurring between 9 AM and 2PM. I want to particularly thank the 20 or so volunteers who could stay and help plant the last remaining trees. The number of trees & shrubs planted, as indicated by the standing tree tubes or flags, as well as the amount of area covered by the planting event will be very impressive when seen by those who use the streamside trail for fishing, nature walks, jogging or hiking.
I would like to personally thank our partners: the Monroe County Department of Parks and Recreation; Seth Green Chapter of Trout Unlimited; the Wyoming County Soil and Water Conservation District, the Coordinator for the Trees for Tribs Program for the Genesee River Basin; and the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation’s Saratoga Nursery. Much of the success for tree planting events results from the dedication of time and energy into pre-event planning. In addition to myself, there were four individuals who were actively involved in on-site preliminary planning activities. They include: Steve Leupold with the Oatka Creek Watershed Committee, Gary Koplun with NYS DEC, George Squires with the Black Creek Watershed Coalition; and Mark Quinn with the Monroe County Parks. I also thank Meg Boberg and Al Fagen, who are with the Wyoming County SWCD, for their help in coordinating supplies and plants with the Saratoga Nursery and in delivering supplies and plants to the planting site, as well as volunteering at the event.
Most of all I thank all the volunteers, without whom a successful event would not have been possible. The volunteers included folks from: three Trout Unlimited Chapters (Seth Green Western NY, and Canandaigua); Oatka Creek Watershed Committee; Monroe County Parks; students from McQuaid and Sunderland High Schools; CEI-Genesee RiverWatch; Monroe County SWCD; Knights of Columbus – Caledonia Council; and many other individuals. In particular, I think it is important to highlight the efforts of three Trout Unlimited Members who helped operate the augers: Bob Herson from Canandaigua TU, Scott Seidman from Seth Green TU and Chuck Godfrey from Western New York TU, who also was responsible for bringing the augers to the event.
If you folks know of someone who helped at the event and may not be receiving this thankyou from me, please forward it to them.
One of the responsibilities under the Tribs for Trees Program is to monitor the plants over time. This includes maintaining the tree tubes and water the plants during drought conditions. I will be working with the local Trout Unlimited Chapter – Seth Green to develop a practical plan for tree monitoring that would include volunteers from Trout Unlimited and the Oatka Creek Watershed Committee.
Request: I am interested in receiving copies of photos that any folks took during the planting event. We have some photos posted on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OatkaCreekWatershedCommittee/
I will want to pick a couple of the photos to use in the presentation I will be doing at the 3rd annual Genesee River Basin Summit – sponsored by Genesee RiverWatch, an initiative of the Center for Environmental Initiatives. This year the Summit topic is “Streambank Erosion, Soil Loss and Sediment” http://www.geneseeriverwatch.org/index.php/events/upcoming-events
Again THANK YOU for all your efforts yesterday. We should all be proud that we made this effort.
Peter Lent, Chair
Oatka Creek Watershed Committee
note from admin – Several fisherman who saw the group at the site expressed their thanks for our hard work. Made us feel great!!
Pete & Gary give tree planting demo
Assigning task groups
Mark Quinn, Chief Horticulturalist for Monroe County Parks, was there to assist!
