Why a Meadow?

by Cile Downs

Almost all of Springs was once cleared for agriculture, despite the fact that glacial moraine makes poor farm land. As far as we know, it was originally all woods, which must have been a back-breaking job to clear without machines. Sooner or later, people found out they were better off grazing animals on it. Even the Indians were, some say, in the habit of burning over meadows near the water. When some of us arrived here, in the 50’s, the Barbara Hale Refuge was a dairy farm, or the grazing part of one. Later, beef cattle were pastured there, then horses. All this time, the land was kept in meadow by an annual pass with the sickle-bar, in addition to the grazing. It doesn’t take much to keep a meadow a meadow, but once it starts to grow up in bushes and trees, it becomes a big job.

[photo]
Set in stone: The Town Board agreed to have the Hale Refuge maintained as a meadow as stated on the bronze plaque that marks the future entrance to the Barbara Hale Refuge.

After it was sold to the Weitzmans, who planned to develop it, a firm called Interscience advised them not to remove any vegetation, lest the D.E.C. swoop in. The 17 acres quickly became wooded. This was a tragedy for any number of species that once thrived in the grassland. Meadowlarks, kildeer, upland sandpipers, grasshopper sparrows, visiting glossy ibis, migrating canada geese, hunting kestrels, quail, pheasant and so on and on.

Happily, after 15 years of effort by APC and others, the Town and County purchased the property. Several more years of lobbying by APC persuaded the Town Board to create a Nature Preserve there, name it in memory of Barbara Hale, and restore the meadow that had flourished there for generations.

Larry Penny of Natural Resources stated years ago that it would be more valuable ecologically as wet meadow than as woods, the former becoming ever rarer and the latter ever more common. The views of the Creek that used to be visible from any of the roads around it were considered a community asset, and everyone who remembers them would like to see them restored. The clearing requires the approval of the NY State DEC, and would maintain a buffer at the edge of the wetlands. A permit application was submitted by Larry Penny, and we are hopeful that in further discussions with the DEC, a plan will be devised that will allow the meadow and its flora and fauna to return.