Tending the Trail: Invasive Plant Management & Restoring with Native Plants

Since 2014, a major initiative of the Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct has been to develop and implement a long-term plan for management and eradication of invasive plants on the trail. This massive undertaking, initiated by Friends board member Diane Alden, has shown remarkable success.

Please click the links below to see how the plan has evolved.

2014: How we got started

1. The Citizen Scientist Program

 

2015: Planning and actions

1. New Year's Resolutions 2015
2. I Love My Park Day 2015 Report
3. I Love My Park Day 2015 Photo Album

 

2016: Mapping the trail and activities

1. Ridding the trail of Invasives Newsletter Article
2. Why I Do Work Eliminating Invasive Weeds Blog Post
3. The Ongoing Saga Blog Post

 

2017: Significant progress - removing invasive plants

1. I Love My Park Day 2017 Report
2. I Love My Park Day 2017 Photo Album
3. Excelsior! Invasive Plant Battles Won!

 

2018: Expanding our efforts to improve the trail: invasive plant removal, stone wall restorations, and educational outreach

1. I Love My Park Day 2018 Report
2. Invasive Species Awareness Workshop July 2018
3. July and September- Invasive Strike Forces join together to manage invasive plants on the trail

2019: Trail improvements continue – managing invasive plants, replacing with native plants, restoring historic stone walls, expanding our efforts south on the trail and a call to action to encourage other communities to get involved.

1. May 2019: I Love My Park Day ~ May 4th 2019

    

    

2. September 2019: Invasive Species Volunteer Day
3. November 2019: Thank Nature Day
4. November 15, 2019: A Call to Action Protecting Nature's Biodiversity event at the New York Botanical Garden

2020: The Work continues.
 

 

1. April 2020: Work on the Irvington section of the trail to remove tree-killing vines.
2. May 2020: Managing Garlic Mustard on the trail during the pandemic
3. May to September 2020: Families and Trail Stewards Pulling Together
4. October 2020: Volunteers turn out to successfully and safely manage invasive species in three sections of the OCA

 

2021: Transforming the Trail.

1. March 2021: Volunteers Tackle Vines
2. April 2021: Yonkers Vine Work
3. May 2021: I Love my Park Day
   Yonkers: Blog entry "Live Yonkers Models on Aqueduct "Runway", Spring 2021"
4. September 2021: Timing is everything, removing Stilt grass
    

Croton Group photo, 2021

 

2022: Expanding up and down the trail.

1. April 2022: Celebrate Trails Day in Irvington NY and the creation of a pollinator garden
2. May 2022: I Love My Park Day 2022, Yonkers
3. May and June 2022: I Love My Park Day 2022, Northern Portion of the Trail
    

2023: Four seasons of nurturing and restoring many sections of the trail

1. May 2023: I Love My Park Day in Hastings on Hudson, organized by the Garden Club of Irvington
2. May 2023: I  Love My Park Day in Yonkers
3. From April 2023 to February 2024 in the Northern Portion of the Trail

2024: Targeting sections for removal of invasive species to encourage the reemergence of native species and, where needed, plant native species

1. March 2024: Report from Irvington Green Policy Task Force: community involvement and education