Today the SavATree management team had our annual service project at the Henry Whitfield House in Guilford, CT. The site is a National Historic Landmark and has the oldest house in CT and the oldest stone house in New England. Unfortunately, this amazing site, like many historic properties, often does not have all of the…
Species Summary A “BioBlitz” is a 24 hour event in which volunteer teams comprised of teachers, scientists, naturalists, students, families and community members come together to find and identify as many plants, animals, fungi, microbes and other organisms as possible within a given space. National Geographic is aiding in conducting a BioBlitz in a different…
Baltimore City is in the process of conducting a series of public stakeholder meetings to support development of a Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) to achieve targets under its MS4 permit related to the Chesapeake Bay TMDL (pollution diet). The Chesapeake Bay Program learned a long time ago that because of stormwater runoff, land cover has…
Grazing Grief It seems as if white-tailed deer are a ubiquitous pest and there is almost no time of year we can escape damage occurring to our landscape plants from their foraging. While it may seem as if no plant is safe from grazing, deer do have food preferences although they vary dependent on season…
Charged about Recharge Groundwater is water that is pumped up from storage units called aquifers below the Earth’s surface. It is typically used for agricultural irrigation and drinking water. Unfortunately groundwater is being used faster than it can be replaced and recharge is a lengthy process. Groundwater recharge occurs when precipitation infiltrates through the surface…
We are working with the US Forest Service Northern Research Station and the US Forest Products Lab on an initiative that hopes to answer that question positively. The Baltimore Wood Project web site can found here. It describes the various components of the project, some of which we’ve talked about here previously. project COUNT, by…
New Found in Newfoundland Scientists have discovered honeybee colonies in Newfoundland, Canada, which are free from the parasites affecting hives in the U.S., affording a unique research opportunity. Fungal parasites such as Nosema ceranae and viral vectors like the mite, Varroa destructor are ravaging honeybee populations throughout the U.S. and around the world making research into their…
The US EPA, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, and the Chesapeake Bay Trust recently partnered to provide $3.7 million in grants to 34 organizations through the Green Streets, Green Towns, Green Jobs Initiative (G3). The purpose of the G3 grant program is to help add green space and reduce stormwater runoff by using green…
Anabrus simplex The Mormon cricket, Anabrus simplex, is a large insect, growing up to 8 cm in length and so-called due to the near destruction of Utah settlers’ crops in 1848. These insects are not true crickets but belong to the shieldbacked katydid family, Tettigoniidae. They live throughout the American northwest, beginning in southern Canada and ranging south…
Lead Liability In the early days of gasoline production lead was added to gas because it was found to improve automobile performance, but as technology improved and the health hazards of lead were discovered the use of lead as an additive was phased out. Unfortunately, 50 years of car emissions containing lead has remained in the environment.…
