A Phased Approach at Cedar Wood Preserve

The work wasn’t glamorous (it rarely is), but on a recent Sunday morning a group of volunteers, together with Avalonia’s Director of Stewardship, met at Cedar Wood Preserve in Norwich to assess and begin the management of the invasive vegetation along the edges of the small field system there.  What it lacked in “glamour”, it more than made up for in fellowship and purpose!

As with many of these efforts, it was part of a phased approach with an overall goal of enhancing wildlife habitat by increasing plant and structural diversity.  This means, over time, replacing invasive plants with native ones and softening the edges of the fields, so that there are areas of gradual transition into the adjacent forest, a “stadium seating” effect.

Sunday’s efforts resulted in a casual survey of the types of vegetation along the field edges. We started along the edge of the southernmost field, adjacent to a recently installed screech owl box and began with cutting back to allow for access to the area, releasing of native trees and shrubs from the clutches of bittersweet, honeysuckle, and multi-flora rose, and performed some late season treatment of Tree-of-Heaven, one of the more prolific invasive tree species on this preserve. By mid-day we had opened up about a 1/10 of an acre, an impressive start to what will be much longer-term work!

These initial steps in wildlife habitat improvement are some that were recommended in a recent habitat assessment report and part of a project funded by Audubon.  To learn more about these efforts and to get involved, please contact [email protected].