Ups and Downs on Hale Refuge
by Jorie Latham
This year may well be the “make or break” year for the Barbara Barnes Hale Refuge meadow restoration. It has certainly been an uphill battle to have the grasslands brought back in at least some portions of the Refuge. Lately, it has been more of a roller coaster… In spite of APC obtaining broad consensus from all members of the last two Town Boards, all of whom pledged to support the clearing as specified in the DEC permit obtained in 2010, the actual work only got started last spring, and it came to an abrupt halt when it was revealed that trees had been removed that were not consistent with the approved plan. The County, co-owner with the Town, was adamant that no further clearing be performed.
Finally, after assurances to DEC that the permit’s specifications would be honored, the County also agreed; we had hope once again that the clearing might commence. About that time, Larry Penny, then Director of Natural Resources, who was in charge of the project for the Town, stepped down.
Time was running out for any further work to be done before the April 15 cutoff required to protect nesting birds. After another round of lobbying by APC, Andy Gaites, of the Land Management Department, was given the go-ahead. With his small crew, the work —which had taken so many years to get started — was finished in a matter of days!
Unfortunately, this limited clearing does little to really help re-establish a meadow. The DEC permit only allows the removal, by cutting, of certain plant species in certain parts of the refuge. Much of what grows there now are native trees and shrubs. Since mowing stopped in the 1980s, these have become large and abundant enough to prevent the annual mowing needed (and permitted) to maintain a meadow.
Our next thought was to get the County and Town together onsite, to see how futile this effort would be without a more comprehensive permit from DEC. That meeting took place, and the representatives of both owners, the Town and the County, all agreed that additional clearing should be done, and that a new permit should be sought from DEC.
So we’ll be continuing our efforts to get the meadow restored. We are encouraged that the first steps have finally been taken. But we will need to maintain our relentless pursuit of completion if not perfection!
