“Anyone
can love a mountain, but it takes soul to love a prairie” - unknown.
As a
little girl I devoured the Little House
in the Prairie book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder and dreamed of seeing
the western prairies one day. It wasn’t
until 2007 that I was able to do so when I visited Prairie State Park in
Missouri with a friend. I tend not to
use the word awesome very often because I think it is a word that is used too
frequently and lightly. But believe me
when I tell you what lay before us was indeed awesome. Tall grasses and
wildflowers were gently blowing in the breeze while birdsong filled the
air. Grasshopper sparrows, meadowlarks
and dickcissels sang together in a splendid chorus. Bison roamed the short-grass areas, snorting
and kicking up dust in their path. We
had only allotted one day to visit this preserve and knew immediately that it
was just not enough. While we stood
watching the sunset we were treated to a sight that will remain with me forever
- as the blazing red and orange sun descended into the horizon, the silhouette
of a deer appeared, surrounded by tall grass and perfectly backlit by the
flaming orb behind it. As we stood watching in awe, the deer turned and bounded
into the sunset, as if swallowed up by a giant fiery ball of fire. It was pure magic. Thus began my love affair
with grasslands. I have since traveled
to grasslands in Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado and Texas, each time marveling anew
at the abundance of wildlife and beauty before my eyes.
Unfortunately, grasslands have been declining faster than any
other habitat in the United States, if not the world. Human use and sprawl development has taken
its toll on our grasslands, with only about 4% remaining. While grassland
habitats modified by humans for agriculture had replaced some areas of
grasslands to an extent, they too are now disappearing. As grasslands decline, so do the wildlife
species that depend upon them. Grassland
birds are among the fastest and most consistently declining birds in North
America; 48% are of conservation concern and 55% are showing significant
declines. Right here
on Long Island, grasslands were once a significant feature of the landscape.
Unfortunately, most have been developed into residential, industrial or
commercial real estate or converted to ball fields and other intensely used
recreational areas. For this reason it is crucial that all efforts should be
made to restore and reclaim potential habitat as grassland whenever possible.
There are
still scattered grasslands across the island, but even when protected, they
face a grave threat: non-native invasive species. One such already protected area in trouble is
Underhill Preserve in Jericho. This 75
acre preserve, protected as open space in 2002, contains almost 35 acres of
grassland, with a mix of native and non-native grasses.
Unfortunately, much of it has now been
overrun by invasive non-native plant species.
Several years ago I fell in love with this parcel and have watched with
concern as each year it has become more degraded by this invasion as well as
the encroachment of successional habit. Thanks
to the efforts of Senator Carl Marcellino, I was able to sit down with the property’s
owners (NYSDEC, Nassau County and the Town of Oyster Bay) to encourage them to create
a plan to manage and restore Underhill. During
this meeting, HOBAS was asked to take the lead on developing such a plan. The DEC has already named us stewards of
their portion of the preserve and we are hopeful we can obtain the same
designation from the other entities. As you know, the funds raised at our first
Run/Walk for Conservation in the fall of 2012 are dedicated to this project. We recently applied for a grant in order to develop
and implement a comprehensive restoration plan.
As of this writing, we have not received word yet on the grant, but our
fingers are crossed. If we are not
awarded this grant, we will continue to explore other funding
opportunities.
The
expansion of Underhill’s grasslands and meadows would attract a greater
diversity and abundance of butterflies, birds and other wildlife, thereby
creating a wildlife haven which could potentially attract nesting grassland
birds such as eastern meadowlarks. In addition, shrubland birds are also on the
decline and providing healthy native edge habitat for birds such as these is
equally vital.
Over
100 species of birds have been documented at the preserve, including two
grassland species that are in decline: bobolinks
and the aforementioned eastern meadowlarks. There is an abundance of eastern bluebirds in the meadows and the numerous kettle ponds provide
habitat to various waterfowl, including wood
ducks and hooded mergansers,
arguably our most beautiful North American ducks. Blue-winged
warblers are most likely nesting here and during the winter months, this is
possibly the best spot around for fox,
American tree and field sparrows. In addition, Underhill could have
potential as a future introduction site for northern
bobwhite, a bird that has seen a 65% decline over the last twenty years.
Various species of turtles such as snapping,
painted and eastern box (a NYS
Species of Special Concern) have been documented at Underhill.
Grasslands
not only host birds and mammals; they support butterflies and insects. The iconic monarch butterfly is declining due to habitat loss in the United
States as well as its wintering grounds in Mexico. Milkweed is an important host plant for Monarchs and there are
several species growing in Underhill, including the only known Long Island
colony of whorled milkweed as well as a colony of green comet milkweed,
which is listed as NYS Rare. Horace’s duskywing,
a butterfly considered rare in Nassau County, utilizes the meadows, as does the
red-banded hairstreak, another
butterfly which was considered rare at one time but is now increasing in
numbers.
An abundance of plants play
host to numerous insects, which in turn, provide food for breeding birds. All
told, Underhill has an impressive list of natural resources. In addition to the
over 100 species of birds and almost 200 species of insects, close to 300
plants and seven species of reptiles and amphibians have been recorded since
2008. Unfortunately, these natural
resources are in danger of being swallowed up by non-natives such as Japanese honeysuckle, Oriental bittersweet,
mile-a-minute, porcelain berry, multi flora rose and autumn olive. In addition,
trees are taking root in some areas of the grassland and should be removed. Currently
we are working on setting the wheels in motion for a management plan that will
include a restoration project and are hopeful that NYS, the Town and County
will support this endeavor. While we
will never be able to restore Underhill back to its former glory (unless
someone wants to gift us with a few hundred thousand dollars!) we do hope to
give back its dignity by allowing native vegetation to flourish once again,
thereby providing critical habitat for birds and other wildlife. Keep your eyes
peeled for future updates and your fingers crossed that our hopes will become a
reality!
Grasslands are often dismissed
as monotonous stretches of empty landscape.
Far from monotonous and empty, tall-grass, short-grass and mixed
grasslands contain a remarkable and diverse number of species, from plants to
reptiles to birds to mammals to insects.
It is true that anyone can love a mountain…or a forest or a shoreline. Their beauty is in your face and splendid. It
takes soul to look beyond the obvious. A prairie must be understood to be loved,
for once you have experienced the magic and subtle grandeur that is a prairie you
will never be the same.
