Saturday, July 6, 2013

Institutional Memory

A little more than a year ago, on June 22, 2012, an article with no byline, which seemed to be a press release from the Columbia County Department of Public Works, appeared in the Register-Star. It explained a change in the mowing schedule for the grassy fields that were once the county landfill in North Bay. These fields, it explained, would not be mowed until autumn "to protect important grassland bird habitat." The article went on to say: "Birds such as bobolinks, savannah sparrows, and eastern meadowlarks nest, breed, and find food in fields with tall grass. Mowing the fields during summer, when birds nest and breed on the ground, inhibits their chances of reproducing successfully."

That being the case, why, a year later, were the grassy fields of the former landfill mowed only recently--at the beginning of the summer?

Looking back at the article, one discovers that Jolene Race, director of the Solid Waste Department, said they were adjusting the mowing schedule "on a trial basis." Was a year enough of a trial, or are they experimenting with leaving a few swaths of tall grass here and there, hoping that will provide sufficient habitat for grassland birds?
COPYRIGHT 2013 CAROLE OSTERINK

14 comments:

  1. Thanks for being on top of this. Maybe on Monday during business hours Jolene Race (if still in that position) can enlighten us.

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  2. One step forward, two steps back ....

    Nine days before the unattributed Register Star "press release" on the trial mowing schedule at North Bay, the Register Star published a piece by Peter Paden, Executive Director of the Columbia Land Conservancy, titled "Managing Hayfields to Support Grassland Birds." The article dealt with the delicate balance between birds and mowing schedules where farmers' economic interests are at stake.

    http://www.registerstar.com/columnists/land_matters/article_477cf749-20b0-588c-b60a-451e4917d203.html

    By contrast, at North Bay no one's economic interests are at stake. Altering the mowing schedule there is a no-brainer.

    Since it was Mr. Paden who approached the county and others with the proposal, this year's early mowing is certainly an act of disrespect towards the Columbia Land Conservancy.

    From a biological perspective, the University of Vermont research on which the conservancy based its proposal indicates that a one-season trial is less than worthless; indications are that individual Bobolinks remember hazardous fields from one season to the next. It may take years to restore their confidence in a particular meadow after early mowings.

    (In the meantime, the Bobolinks have flown to southern Argentina and back!)

    It's not clear from the authorless press release the extent of the "monitoring" done by Crawford Engineering & Associates, and what it means for the DEC to "oversee" the area. But the explanation for the return to an early mowing is entirely predictable if the phrase "simply a misunderstanding" rings any bells (our Corporate Counsel relies on it regularly, probably blurting it out in her sleep on occasion).

    A County Supervisor must find out who reversed the new policy, and whether and to what extent the demonstrably anti-environmental Crawford Engineering Associates were involved in the decision.

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  3. So, shall we ask/pressure a County Supervisor?

    (Like? Not like?)

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    Replies
    1. Which one did you have in mind? The Second Ward, which is where North Bay is located, is represented on the Board of Supervisors by Ed Cross.

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    3. And the 1st Ward is where the South Bay is located ...

      It's a shame that no 1st Ward alderman was ever allowed to exert much influence over the fate of the bay, but it's not too late for the 1st Ward aldermen to intervene.

      We actually have an opportunity before us, if residents would only become a little more inquisitive.

      We might be discussing the prospects - good or bad - of the coming South Bay conveyor system.

      Nowadays, like good New Yorkers, Hudson's erstwhile change agents would rather discuss restaurants.

      Bon appetite! (But don't eat any locally caught fish.)

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  4. Here's an interesting article about dumps in Mass.
    http://www.telegram.com/article/20110221/APN/302219800/0

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  5. Curious how both the City's Mayor and council run on the "environmental" party with complete disregard for this environmental study. Guess they are phony, in name only environmentalist.

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  6. Why is it necessary to mow the fields?

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  7. The fields get mowed and cherry alley gets weed wacked into the earth while the majority of Hudsons streets and alleys including the pocket parks are ignored ... makes sense to me !

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  8. Was someone sending a message? Makes sense to me.

    Any part played by Crawford Engineering & Associates should be carefully scrutinized.

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  9. Who needs birds anyway? On a rooftop in Taipei, I once asked a man named Tong; where are all the birds? He pointed to his belly and said; Birds? Birds in here...

    I've known Ed Cross for fifty years. Hard to imagine him selling off free and easy inner city access, to our world class Aviary, in the name of tourism. A floating perch in North Bay is just that, world class. Spent most of the day, floating there yesterday, inner city, inner sanctum...Let people flow!

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  10. I birdwatched in Taipei in 2002 and '03, when people were still shaking off generations of martial law. Serious engagements with nature which previously raised suspicions, and were even officially frowned upon, were suddenly available as innocent and alluring pastimes.

    The enthusiastic birders I encountered in Taiwan were exactly like American birders in the early 1970s, back when I first caught the bug.

    Unfortunately, if the Taiwanese follow our example, their new excitement for ecology will congeal into an overly-politicized and guilt-ridden experience of nature. In my opinion, this is among the worst things we actively indoctrinate into our children, but we do insist upon it. It must make Western adults feel better somehow.

    Let's hope the Taiwanese go a different way than hypocritical Americans and Europeans.

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  11. In many cities where shoreline is at a premium, there are resident only municipal wharves. Is not Greenport Park resident only?

    1 Riparian

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