NYCkayaker Prall's island birch forest--what it looked like

[rob buchanan]

Not sure photo can be posted here, but here is caption info via richard
lynch of sweetbay magnolia conservancy on staten island:

The photo is what I refer to as the "wilderness beach" at Old Place. The
eroding Newark Sandstone (one of a very few natural exposures) is eroding
and creating a great red sand beach. The picture was taken from near the
electrical tours on the Arthur Kill looking north. There is a small inlet
that separates the fore ground from the background, but it ends on a nice
tidal pool. This is the site that NASCAR wanted to cut-down to put 8,000 (of
82,500) parking spots on. The oil tanks and such are across the Arthur Kill
on the New Jersey side.
 
APHIS is currently putting out a "contract" for the removal of the entire
Gray Birch Forest at Old Place. My estimate is that another 5,000 to 10,000
trees will be destroyed. The activity will also "release" tens of thousands
of invasive weedy species such as Glossy Buckthorn from the understory,
allowing them to flower and fruit and releasing millions of additional seed
into the environment (that's why I feel APHIS is hypocritical on this point,
wanting to trade one noxious invasive species for many others.) Once the
work is done (shortly), the "after" picture will be very devastating. There
really is going to be a "Silent Spring" on the West Shore of Staten Island.


OLD_PLACE_AND_PRALL'S_33007_017


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