The Scouts are now in their
seventh year
of a wetland enhancement project. Its always fun to see how hard the
scouts work on this project with the total lack of fear of getting wet
and muddy much to their parents dismay.
This years project involved the
planting 350 trees at the site of the soon to be built Amherst Paw
Park (a dog park) on Smith Road by the Amherst Compost Facility. We had great weather with
60 scouts and parents who
helped out.
The project has been made possible by a
$500 grant awarded for each of the last 7 years by the Air and Waste
Management Associations-Niagara Frontier Section. Additional
assistance was obtained from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (US FWS) and
the Town of Amherst. The US FWS donated $500 in trees and ~$300
in tree tubes. Russell's Trees and Shrubs donated ~$300 in live
tree stakes and the Town of Amherst donated compost and wood chips.
The best part of this project is the
amount of involvement from so many people from different organizations
such as AWMA-NFS, USFWS, Town of Amherst, Amherst Conservation
Advisory Council and most importantly all the scouts representing Girl
Scouts, Cub Scouts and Boy Scout Troops in the Amherst area. Without the grant money from AWMA none of this would be possible because then we would not be able
to obtain matching funds from the USFWS and get support from the Town
of Amherst.
Thank you AWMA for the
Grant Money to Make Our Wetland Enhancement Project Possible!
Here is a chronology of our projects
The first phase of the project,
which began in 2002, involved planting 400 tree seedlings around a
1-acre pond at the Lou Gehrig Baseball Fields (just south of Dann
Lake). Bird boxes were also
placed around the pond.
The second phase of the project
occurred in 2003 with the planting of over 800 trees along the
ponds at the Town of Amherst's compost facility (just southwest
of Dann Lake). Prior to the tree
planting, the Scouts made bat boxes and tree swallow boxes that were
placed around the site and put up several dozen additional boxes
donated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The third phase of the project occurred
in 2004 at Dann Lake with over 300 trees being planted and more
bird and bat boxes being put up and garbage being collected. This
years project also had Girl and Cub Scouts from St. Mary's join them.
The fourth year (2005) project involved planting
400 trees at Dann Lake and at a new two acre pond just east of Dann
Lake that is in Dann Lake Town Park. In keeping with our
luck in weather with this event, approximately 80 boy and girl scouts
along with parents came out on a wet and cold day for the planting.
With all the hard work the new pond will be a great addition to Dann
Lake Town Park.
The fifth year (2006) involved planting
200 trees along 600 feet of Black
Creek. We had great weather and 45 girl scouts and 20 cub scouts
along with their parents helped out.
The sixth year (2007) involved the
planting 300 trees at Dann Lake Town Park along the main entrance of
the park. We had great weather with 75 scouts and parents who
helped out.
This years project involved the
planting 350 trees at the site of the soon to be built Amherst Paw
Park (a dog park) on Smith Road by the Amherst Compost Facility. We had great weather with
60 scouts and parents who
helped out.
Contact Dave Copeland at 716-879-2460
for more information.
