GREENWICH CITIZEN~FEATURE: Land steward fulfilling Greenwich Audubon’s mission

Land steward fulfilling Greenwich Audubon's mission

Published in the Greenwich Citizen on Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Andy Chapin, the Greenwich Audubon's Land Steward, developed a love for the land when visiting his grandfather's farm in North Carolina. He and his siblings would spend their vacations working and roaming the 800-acre farm. Then, when he and Nancy Pierce married, they moved next to the Greenwich Pinetum and carried on a shared tradition of loving and caring for the land through many Greenwich organizations.

So, when an opportunity to become the Land Steward at the Greenwich Audubon Center came to his notice, he immediately responded.

The two years that he has been caring for the Audubon properties have been particularly eventful; first because of the severe storms that have pounded Greenwich and second because of the nationwide awareness of invasive plants. When I asked Andy how he handled the hundreds of trees that had fallen during Sandy, he said simply, "with a chair saw."

His first task was clearing the trails. Thankfully, only one bridge was washed out and he replaced it with a fallen Black Locust.

With the help of volunteers from Pepsico, they hauled the Black Locust, an extremely hard, durable wood resistant to rot, from the Northern end of the Audubon to the other end and built the bridge.

Now, Andy is focused on planting native plants, creating habitat, and controlling invasive plants. Porcelain Berry vines are one of the worst, he said. They climb up trees and "When the tree stops, the vine stops." It chokes out everything in its path. Andy compares Porcelain berry to Kudzu, which has devastated so many trees throughout the south.

"Greenwich is the gateway to New England for invasive plants," said Andy. "They seem to follow I- 95 right up the coast." These invasive plants present problems for all land owners and Andy suggests going to the CT.gov website to find out more about them and to learn about native species by visiting

http://athome.audubon.org/plant-native-species

When I asked Andy how he learned so much about plants and trees, he said that he attended University of Connecticut's Master's Gardeners course held at the Bartlett Arboretum in Stamford. The course encourages gardeners to create healthy native plants.

Based on that knowledge and the work of Douglas Tallamy, author of "Bringing Nature Home," the Audubon is replacing its gardens with native northeast plants, creating wildflower meadows and upland meadows. An expression new to me is the phrase "successional habitat." A successional habitat allows growth of bushes, grasses and saplings that typically last 20 years before the forest habitat takes over.

With all the storm damage in Connecticut over the last couple of years, it is a perfect time to observe the influx of different species in these newly established meadows.  The Audubon now is seeing many, many species of butterflies and also ground-nesting birds that are resettling in the meadows. So a combination of meadows with forests emerging at the edge can be considered the wave of the future.

Since I did not know all the holdings of the Audubon, Andy listed them for me: Greenwich Audubon on John Street; Fairchild Wildflower Sanctuary; Gimbel Sanctuary; Mildred Caldwell Sanctuary of Walden Woods; Hemlock Gorge; Wood Duck Swamp; Oneida Sanctuary. The nearly 700 acres and 20 miles of hiking trails are a treasure for Greenwich. When our children were young, our favorite area to explore was "Dark Hollow" in the Fairchild Sanctuary. It was as scary as it sounds.

Now when you enter the Greenwich Audubon, you will notice that Andy has replaced the entry circular garden with native wild flowers.  As he explains it, "The plan was to show people how they could make a small meadow that was easier to take care of than a lawn."

 This winter, Andy will be planning four new gardens for the spring, hoping to attract butterflies and dragonflies, among other insects.  He hopes people will be inspired to plant similar gardens at home. Andy's enthusiasm and love of the Audubon properties is shared by everyone at the Center, including the volunteers.

Many, like educational specialist Ted Gilman, have worked there for years and still feel the desire to share the splendors of nature with Greenwich. And we are grateful.

To contact Andy Chapin, call 203-869-5272 ext 227 or email: achapin@audubon.org