This is the last time I write for the NLRA. Summer has become fall, and with it ends my term of service with the NLRA.
In my last days I met a new NLRA volunteer who took the watershed stewards out on the lake to complete our October water quality sampling. We launched off from a different part of the lake than I was familiar with, seeing sights I had never seen before.
Watching for aquatic invasive species had taken my mind off terrestrial invasive species; and invasives grow best when neglected. We found an oriental bittersweet infestation on the Floodplain Loop Trail at Grey Rocks. Oriental bittersweet is a vine that wraps around any standing plant, using it as support and eventually killing it. Over the course of two week I removed all of it, filling five large buckets.
One of my last assignments was to lead New Hampton School student volunteers to preserve Grey Rocks Conservation Area and keep it accessible. The Floodplain and Sandy Point trails were trimmed, dead trees were removed, and overhanging branches were lopped. As a group of volunteers we accomplished a lot, and it was a testament to the impact we can make when we work together.
The six months that I have invested in the AmeriCorps experience has paid its dividends – experience and exposure, knowledge and guidance. I am grateful for the experience of working with an environmentally active community and an organization that has the community’s best interests at its core.
As I leave; to the people I know…please continue to support the NLRA because they make it possible. The NLRA is at the front of the battle line when it comes to conserving the watershed. Your continued support gives strength and encouragement to continue the fight to protect the Newfound Lake watershed.
An outlander no longer I am,
I breathe the chilly air in the AM
I have learned to breathe its air and speak its tongue
A fiery red and orange when the autumn swing has come
Time is now to leave
To ho and heave
And now I say Hasta La Vista
‘Til next time New England, I will miss ya
