Preserving a Healthy Tree Canopy in a Stormwater “BMP”
Conservation easements on private land make up an important part of OLC’s portfolio. Excluding the easements we hold on the Horseshoe Trail, we hold 12 separate Grants of Easement, now owned by 23 separate owners, totaling 90 acres, or nearly a quarter of our conserved land.
The way that conservation easements work is that they generally prescribe what can not be done on the property, rather than what should be done. So while there is often a restriction on cutting trees, for example, there’s rarely a mandate to keep the trees healthy.
So it is really exciting when easement owners are able to make some time to work with the Conservancy to take care of their property, using techniques we apply in the Nature Preserves. In celebration of Earth Day in 2021, the Minden Lane HOA teamed up with us to attack the vines beginning to take over their conserved open space.
This particular open space is especially important because it protects a stormwater Best Management Practice (“BMP”) feature recognized by the Chester County Conservation District. Earthen berms and low-flow channels were constructed to direct run-off flows away from residential lots and roadways and into and around the wetland areas that surround a tributary to Valley Creek. Some vegetation was planted in the easement, including plants that tolerate periodic inundation by stormwater and are attractive to wildlife. That wetland vegetation and soils can trap and filter pollutants in stormwater runoff. And last but not least, the open space provides natural habitat for wildlife and a greenway to OLC’s adjacent George Lorimer Preserve.
Unfortunately, two decades of attack by invasive plants were threatening to undo all the great design and implementation work. Just about every tree in the easement has adopted its own cluster of vines - oriental bittersweet, grape, Japanese honeysuckle and poison ivy, and those vines are spreading throughout the tree canopy, stealing growing space and weighing down and breaking limbs.
HOA President Kristina Cabel enlisted her family to help and joined with OLC Easement Chair Ray Clarke to begin the counter-attack. In a couple of hours on a bright Saturday morning the team saved a score or more trees alongside the road and entrance trail that will be a highly visible demonstration of the potential. The accompanying photos show a fruit tree before and after its vines were cut out at the base by hard-working Chloe Cabel, and also spotlight Kristina Cabel really getting down to her work! Kristina said, “We truly enjoyed spending time outdoors, learning the four types of vines and helping to take some of them down.”
Open space preservation and stormwater management are top priorities in Tredyffrin Township, and OLC is delighted to work with generous owners like the Minden HOA. There’s much more to be done, in Minden and elsewhere!