Open Vistas May Benefit Barbara Hale Refuge

In our continuing campaign to restore the Barbara Barnes Hale Refuge to its old meadow condition, we’ve noticed a very interesting thing: the neat dovetailing of meadow restoration with Town Councilman Stanzione’s Open Vistas Program. We entirely agree that open vistas were the rule in Springs from the time of the first white settlers and possibly before that. We’re deprived of an important community value when we lose sight of the creek because a tangle of trees and brush full of invasives has grown unabated for decades. You see this around Pussy’s Pond, where DEC rules against clearing near the water foil every impulse to reclaim the beautiful greensward that used to be there.

APC has urged meadow restoration primarily for environmental preservation: grasslands in our part of the world are becoming rare and valuable while woods are more common. Any number of species (birds, mammals, insects, and reptiles) are endangered because their grassy habitat is disappearing; we want to see their return. And we want the beautiful native grasslands (which we now learn hold the soil against erosion at least as well as woods) restored to their former glory.

Councilman Stanzione has a list of sites in EH Town that he feels are appropriate for Open Vistas, and APC is pleased that the Barbara Hale Refuge is included. However, we stress that any clearing must be undertaken with awareness and sensitivity to the ecosystem and also feel the public should be informed, to avoid an impression that any property can now be cleared to create or improve a view. Meanwhile, the DEC permit for selective clearing on Barbara Hale is in hand, and once the work gets underway, we’ll have a wonderful vista to show you!