Join Us for Our 10th Annual Storytelling and Monarch Release in the Reserve
The Conservancy will hold its 10th annual Storytelling Night on Friday night, July 27 at 7 pm in the Reserve. For the third year in a row, we will have a Monarch Butterfly release preceding the event at 6:30 p.m., which has been a magical experience for kids and adults.
Our own residents and guests at Storytelling provide the stories, so if you have a flare for Storytelling or an experience from your recent or distant past that you’d like to share, you’ll be more than welcome around the fire pit. We place names in a “hat” between 7 and 7:30 then draw names until we run out of storytellers or time, so please think about putting your name in the hat to share a story. Try to keep stories (preferably true, personal stories) to 5 minutes or less.
Like last year, we’ll also have a storyteller from Northland Public Library, so please at least come and enjoy a summer evening in the Reserve with your friends’ and neighbors’ memorable tales. We’ll provide the S’mores and water to drink!
Bring a chair or blanket, a flashlight (for leaving in the dark), and try to walk or find parking at a friend’s within walking distance from the Reserve as there is no parking at the Reserve, except for a few spaces on Lincoln Road.
If it rains, we will plan on the Bradford Woods Community Church downstairs activity room.
Joe Maguire and daughter Sarah will be providing music from 7-7:30.
If you have any questions, call Vicki Wiegand at (724) 816-0413.
Thanks to our 2018 Members,
Please Renew Today!
The Conservancy provides many services and events for the many families of Bradford Woods, from educational workshops and our Speaker Series to personalized property consults and fun community events like Earth Day, Storytelling, and Light Up Night. But we could not do it without your support!
If you haven’t already renewed your Conservancy membership for 2018, please consider completing and sending in the membership form on page 7 today. Better yet, join online via our web site: www.BradfordWoodsConservancy.org.
Please note that our memberships run on an annual basis, from January to December, so if you’re not sure whether you’ve already joined, just check our current member list on page 6.
If you have any questions about memberships and the benefits of joining and supporting the Conservancy, please contact our Membership Chair, Diana Berendowski at dberendowski@gmail.com.
We’re Planning a New Annual Event!
A Celebration of Trees
On Sunday, Sept. 30, at 12:15 p.m., at the Bradford Woods Community Church, the Conservancy will debut what we hope will become an annual Fall event that we’re calling “A Celebration of Trees”.
As part of the event, we will be giving away 100 native trees to community members who attend, as well as posts and fencing for their protection. The trees are currently being grown by the local nonprofit organization TreePittsburgh, including 20 of each: Redbud, Hornbeam, Sweetbay Magnolia, Blackgum, and Eastern Red Cedar.
The event is part of the Conservancy’s My Backyard Woods program. We’ll be planting up to five trees on the church property, we’ll have a program on how to locate, plant, and protect the trees on your own property, and lots of information on native trees and shrubs. For those who need help with the planting, we’ll be gathering a team of volunteers to go around the community, too.
In future years, we hope to move this event around Bradford Woods from year-to-year to our many community spaces, partnering with Bradford Elementary School and the Volunteer Fire Company, with plantings on Lake Loop Trail, at the Fire Hall and the Post Office, and of course, at the Bradford Woods Reserve. The idea is to celebrate our trees and learn to care for them.
If you are interested in coming to the event and getting one of these native trees to plant on your property, please contact Judith Kasten at jckasten@earthlink.net.
My Backyard Woods…
DCNR & Conservancy Offering Free
Property Consults on Aug. 1 and 2 – Sign Up Now!
If you’ve ever wondered about the health of your trees and the woods on your property, and what you can do to protect them, please consider signing up for our personalized property visits with DCNR on Wednesday and Thursday, August 1 and 2.
As part of our My Backyard Woods program, this will be the Conservancy’s fourth year of organizing these visits with Foresters from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and we’ve visited more than 70 properties to date in Bradford Woods.
Each visit lasts between 45 and 90 minutes, depending on the size of your property and the depth of your questions and concerns.
Courtesy of the Conservancy, you’ll also receive a free copy of the book, “The Woods in Your Backyard”, published by Penn State Extension, which offers fantastic resources and ideas for evaluating and working with your property.
As a follow-up to the visit, we provide you with notes of the foresters’ observations and recommendations, including lists and descriptions of native trees and shrubs to consider planting and invasive plants and insects found on your property and how to control them.
Space is limited for this popular program, so please reach out soon to schedule your visit. Also, the program is for Conservancy members only, so you’ll need to sign up prior to your visit. Contact Ward Allebach for more information at allebach@consolidated.net .
Bradford Woods Community Day on Sept. 22
The Borough of Bradford Woods is organizing its first Community Day on Sat., September 22. There will be a 5K in the morning, followed by community festivities.
Please keep an eye out for further details. If you would like to volunteer or participate with an activity/table, please contact the Borough office at 724-935-2990 or bradfordwoods@zoominternet.net. We hope to see you all there!
Interviews with Neighbors: Let’s Talk Trees with the Slagters
In the last newsletter, when introducing the Beaven’s family garden, I mentioned several unique advantages of living in Bradfordwoods. Those included our easy access to fresh farm food sources. Now I’ll add to that list by telling you why I’m here in Bradfordwoods. It’s the trees, the ups and downs and curves of the streets, the trees, the lot sizes, architectural diversity, and the trees. Ten years ago, I viewed 30 or 40 different homes for sale in almost that many neighborhoods. Ten years later, I still think there is no place quite like Bradfordwoods. Let’s talk about our trees!
Bob and Jane Slagter of Woodland Rd, are 34 year residents. Bob has offered to share his significant expertise as a senior leader in the Pennsylvania Forest Stewards program. I hope that you enjoy this interview!
– George Kasten
- Bob, please tell us about the forestry program and how you became involved with it.
The PA Forest Stewards Is part of the The Center for Private Forests at Penn State. It’s over 600 members are dedicated to helping to promote best management practices in PA through education and outreach to the over 740,000 woodland owners in PA. I serve as the chairman of the Stewards steering committee and am proud to offer my help to landowners in making the best decisions for their woodlands.
I became a Steward in 2007 when working with a consulting forester on our 60 acres in NWPA. He suggested I call Allyson Muth and take the training course offered by the Stewards. It was some of the most fun and rewarding learning I had ever experienced, and I have worked with the Stewards ever since.
- When we let our imaginations run, it’s easy to wonder just what this land was like in its original state – before the farms and before suburbanization.
- Where can we go now to see an Old Growth Forest?
- What’s it like?
- Can we ‘manage’ our way back to something close to that?
The closest place to see old growth forests is Cooks Forest north of Brookville, PA. If you haven’t been there, it’s a great spot to hang out and hike and picnic for a day. The trees are ancient and the place has a beginning of time feel about it. I’m afraid we couldn’t manage our way back to those types of woodland very easily. Most of Penn’s Woods was cut at the end of the 1800’s to make charcoal for coke ovens so the base for the growth is gone.
- We love to be “In Balance,” right? Diet and exercise, predator and prey, work versus pleasure, etc. What does ‘healthy balance’ mean in forestry? In our public areas? In our yards?
Healthy balance in forests to me means several things. First, it’s a diverse set of species and second is an uneven age stand of timber. A woodland that has Oaks, Cherry, Hickory, Tulip Poplar and White Pine for example is much preferred over one that features predominantly one species like Black Birch or Beech stands tend to have. And the structure of the woodlands from seedings to mature trees with pole timber and saplings and various ages and sizes of trees is the ideal and it is what we strive for in our management plans. We also do our best to eliminate invasive species like Bush Honeysuckle, Multiflora Rose, Japanese stilt grass, ferns and dozens of others that keep healthy regeneration from occurring. Lastly, we are always on the lookout for insect infestations like Emerald Ash Borer, Hemlock Wooly Adelgid and lots of others.
The same principals apply in our smaller patches of greenery. Diversity, uneven ages, elimination of invasives and insect control are best practices. I might add here that keeping your lawn size down to just an accent level is the best way to go. In nature, lawns are the ecological equivalent of a desert.
- What is the ecological relationship between the Conservancy and individual home lots in Bradfordwoods?
- How does the presence of these Conservancy areas effect what happens in our yards?
- How do actions in our yards impact the nearby Conservancy areas?
The green areas of Bradfordwoods are its greatest asset. If you have been lucky enough to have your land visited by DCNR folks, you know there is always something you can do to improve your lot. The Conservancy follows the exact same principles. Green is great as long as it is managed for the things we mentioned earlier. Walk through the Conservancy and you will see what is good and what needs work in those areas. Think of them as part of your property because what happens to you, happens to your neighbors and to the entire borough.
- How do you assess the current health of trees in the Bradfordwoods Conservancy?
I am not a forester per se… I am someone with a deep interest in forestation. So, the best way to assess the health of trees in BW is through walking tours offered by the Conservancy and DCNR. These people are true experts and help you evaluate the health of your trees; they explain what you can do to increase the health of your property overall.
- What is the greatest threat to the health of our trees?
The threats are many to our trees. Every threat we mentioned earlier and more are present and effecting our trees. If I had to pick one I would say the age/maturity of our trees. They are over 100 years old, mostly Oaks and there is very little to replace these trees when they are gone. We need to plant and promote new growth and better control invasives on most of our properties. The greatest threat is really hard to say. Again, a forester should be consulted about overall health but my speculation about threats concerns the age and size of trees. The soil in this area is very rocky and clay-based so the roots of even the biggest trees are very shallow. This of course makes them prone to wind damage. And when one goes that leaves other exposed to more wind. The only thing we can do is plant new growth now. The Conservancy and DCNR can help you with a planting plan. It’s fun, inexpensive and very rewarding. Give it a try.
My Backyard Woods: Invasive Insect Watch
Emereld Ash Borer has already arrived in Bradford Woods
The emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) is a half-inch long metallic green beetle originally from Asia that can be found in nearly every county of Pennsylvania. In Bradford Woods, it has already decimated the majority of our mature ash trees.
It was first identified in North America in 2002 and in western Pennsylvania in 2007.
The larval stage of this beetle is harmful, feeding exclusively on ash trees under the bark and killing them within three to five years of infestation.
Signs and symptoms of infestation include:
- Upper crown dieback
- Bark flaking
- D-shaped adult beetle exit holes in the bark
- S-shaped larval feeding galleries just below the bark
All native North American ash species are susceptible to emerald ash borer. Without active management, it is predicted that they will decimate all populations of ash trees in the state.
Several insecticide options are available to effectively treat landscape ash trees that are threatened; however, controlling insects that feed under the bark with insecticides is difficult to apply effectively and not advisable as an option for do-it-yourself homeowners.
Only ash trees that are healthy and are of value to the homeowner should be considered for treatment. Other ash trees should be removed before they become a hazard and/or a breeding ground for even more ash borers.
Bradford Woods homeowners who suspect an infestation should consult a Certified Arborist – or, please consider scheduling a free consultation with DCNR foresters during our property visits on Aug. 1 and 2 (see article on Page 3).
Also, consider attending our workshop on invasives in the Reserve on Sat., Aug. 11 (see box, lower left, this page).
Invasive Plants & Insects Workshop in the Reserve: Sat., Aug. 11
Please join us on this one hour hike starting at 10 a.m on Sat., Aug. 11 in the Bradford Woods Reserve. Environmental Education staff from the Allegheny Land Trust will take us on a walk through the property looking for signs of invasive plants and insects, many of which that are likely to be threatening the woods on your property. Learn to spot them and what to do about. No experience necessary! Walk-ins welcome!
Kids’ Korner – Wolves
You don’t have wolves living in your backyard, but you just might have coyotes passing through. These small wild dogs live all over the United States, and they can adapt to many types of areas. They live in the desert, the mountains, the plains, suburbs like Bradford Woods, and even in cities. Quick Facts: Coyotes
- Coyotes weigh only about 20 pounds, making them the size of a medium dog
- Coyotes are carnivores, but they eat fruit and vegetables too. In fact, they might even get in your garden to snack on berries or melons.
- They have long fur that is brownish red, grey or white. Coyotes have a bushy tail like a fox.
- Coyotes raise their pups in dens or holes in the ground.
- Coyotes make high yipping sounds. These sounds get louder and faster when they close in on prey. A coyote’s yipping sounds a little scary if you’ve never heard it before.
Even though coyotes look like dogs, they’re wild. If you see one, yell and back away slowly. To learn more about them, consider the Conservancy’s Speaker Series on July 25!
Thanks to our 2018 Conservancy Members!
Updated as of July 7
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Yves Alarie |
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Ward Allebach and Lisa Steagall Lisa and Dave Baldonieri |
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Baronner Chatfield Family Foundation |
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John Brassell and Kristine Iole |
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Karen Brock |
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Charlene and Joe Beck |
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Corissa Cook |
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Elizabeth Hager Cothren |
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Tracey S. Cullen |
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Tom Dubois |
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Ed & Elaine Ek |
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Janet H. Fesq |
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William and Cristine Graham |
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Diana Greenberg |
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Curt P. Helffenstein |
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Paula P. Hinston |
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Jean Hipwell |
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Lorraine Houston |
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Mary Jane Hrovat |
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George and Judith Kasten |
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Cheryl Kello |
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Paul J. Kunowski |
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Wendy Lau |
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Eileen Lessman |
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John L. Liebenguth |
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Anthony and Dana LoChiatto |
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Gary Price & Beth McCandless |
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Terrance P. McCartney |
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Kathy D. Mole |
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Ray and Ginger Morris |
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Jeff and Shelly Muhlenkamp |
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Paul W. Myers |
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Mary Love Nast |
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Dale Newman |
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Linda J. Philpott |
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Charles W. Pinkerton, Jr |
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Kimberly Rhule |
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David A. Sauers |
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Bob Slagter |
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Jane and Ron Thompson |
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Carol Thomson |
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Barara Tischler and Mike McGarry |
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Joseph Uhler |
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Michael Vollmer |
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Beth Weber |
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Vicki Wiegand |
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Donald and Mary Williams |
Please note that our memberships run on the calendar year, from January to December, so if you don’t see your name, please consider completing the form on the opposite page to support our 2018 programming.
Conservancy Calendar for 2018July
- Speaker Series: Weds., July 25 @ 7 p.m. Game Commission – Coyotes
- Storytelling Night: Friday, July 27, 7 p.m.
- o Monarch Release, 6:30 p.m.
August
- DCNR Property Visits: Aug. 1 and 2
- Invasive Bugs and Plants Workshop:
Sat., Aug. 11 at 10 a.m. in the Reserve
- Yoga in the Reserve: Aug. 18 at 10 a.m.
September
- Yoga in the Reserve: Sept. 22 at 10 a.m.
- Celebration of Trees: Sun., Sept. 30 @ 12:15 p.m. at Bradford Woods Community Church
October
- Speaker Series: Weds., Oct. 24 @ 7 p.m.
Randy Soegel, Soergel’s Orchards
- DCNR Property Visits: TDB
December
- Light Up Night in the Reserve
Sun., Dec. 2, 5 p.m.
Conservancy members receive e-mail updates and reminders about upcoming events and activities in the Borough and surrounding communities, as well as environmental tips. If you have any questions about Conservancy programs, please e-mail us at bradfordwoodsconservancy@gmail.com.
Speaker Series – Coyotes – Weds., July 25
If you’ve ever heard the yipping at night in Bradford Woods, then you know there are coyotes nearby. Our state Game Warden, Dan Puhala, will join us on Weds., July 25 for an informative talk on coyotes and their impact on suburban communities like ours, as well as his role as a law enforcement officer. The program is free to everyone and begins at 7 p.m. in Borough Hall (behind the Fire Hall); light refreshments will be served. Please join us!