Conant students trying to revitalize forest
I was more than a bit concerned when I read the letter on deforestation in Park St. Claire. It shocked and moved me - not to stop the project, but to educate the uninformed what the project is all about.
As a student at Conant and a volunteer in the Park St. Claire cleanups, this project is very important, not only to me and the community, but also to the riparian zone's health. A riparian zone is vegetation that lives on the banks of a body of water.
Riparian zones are especially vulnerable to invasion due to frequent habitat disturbance. In the case of Park St. Claire, buckthorn is overpowering the area and not allowing any native species to grow. Since this European plant has no natural predators, the only way for it to be eradicated is human intervention.
The project is about restoring the riparian zone health and getting the forest back, not taking it away. I admire the passion shown by the man who wrote about the destruction of the forest, but there hasn't been a forest there since invasive species, such as buckthorn and garlic mustard, took over.
The project is meant to restore the forest, not destroy it. We must take out the invasive species and replace them with native ones, such as prairie grass and sunflowers.
Since the project has started, benthic macro invertebrates have returned to the stream, providing food for other organisms and restoring the food chain. Riffles that were once suffocated by debris are now oxygenating the streams and providing a home for small aquatic organisms
An unbelievable amount of progress has been made. You can walk through Park St. Claire and see for yourself.
Over seven years, Conant volunteers have collaborated with Spring Valley Nature Center to eradicate buckthorn, costing not a dime of taxpayer's money. The only work done in Park St. Claire is that of volunteers.
It is my hope that anyone who was unsure or against the Park St. Claire project will now not only understand why it is being done, but get involved as well.
Rachel Mandel
Conant senior