DEC Permit for Barbara Hale Refuge

Persistence has once again paid off. The permit application to restore and maintain much of the Barbara Hale Refuge as a meadow, originally submitted to the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation in July of 2007 has, with some conditions, been approved! Clearing will be allowed above a wetland buffer, leaving mature cedars standing, but removing the invasives, the dead woodies and the weed species that hinder the return of the meadow that thrived there until mowing stopped in the mid1980’s. There is still work to be done before that work can begin—but we are very grateful to Larry Penny, director of Natural Resources for his diligence in pursuing this, and to Dawn McReynolds of the DEC for her attention to this project, and her agreement that has made it possible.