Invasive Species Volunteer Day

On September 28, the Friends of the OCA celebrated National Public Lands Day with another volunteer event on the Aqueduct removing invasive species and restoring with native plants, under the guidance of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference’s Invasives Strike Force.  This took place on the Aqueduct Trail in the Town of Cortlandt, a bit south of the Croton Dam.  The 38 volunteers who participated planted 50 small saplings of native trees and bushes and removed 1,569 invasive plants.   They also prepared a site for planting that will take place in the Spring; the Town of of Cortlandt has agreed to plant some native dogwood and redbud trees in an area that is currently barren where invasive plants, bushes and vines were removed during previous efforts.