Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"May 3, 2002
Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"
May
3, 2002
Photo and story by Kathy
Eastwood
Staff Writer
|
| Assistant den leader Brandan Hurl teaches his son Chris, 8, about "dry water," a gel-like substance used to provide moisture to vegetation for up to three months during dry spells. The father and son duo were part of a contingent of local Cub Scouts who volunteered to plant 200 trees at West Point in honor of the academy’s Bicentennial. |
Joseph Deschenes, chief of the Natural Resources Branch here, teamed up with some local Cub Scouts to celebrate the 130th anniversary of Arbor Day and the academy’s Bicentennial by planting two hundred trees and bushes on the West Point reservation.
Deschenes, who had asked Cub Scouts to volunteer for projects before, contacted West Point Cub Scout Pack 23 and the scouts came out in force Saturday digging and planting at the Leonie Stone Pit off of Mineral Springs Road in Cornwall.
Leonie Pit was a quarry 20 or 30 years ago, according to Christopher Pray, a forestry technician at DHPW here.
"This resulted in most of the top-soil and all of the vegetation being removed. The site was eventually abandoned and transferred to the USMA," Pray said. "Eventually the site became overgrown with invasive non-native plants that can be disruptive to the environment and training needs of West Point."
Maj. Kristian Marks, an instructor in the History department here, believes this will help teach the scouts how community involvement can help to protect the environment.
"The boys got a class from the resource management guys about forest fires and re-growth near Lee Gate by Crows Nest and heard what nature conservation officials do everyday to help balance the needs of nature with the needs of humans," Marks said.
"All of these activities are helping the boys achieve the World Conservation Badge and by taking an active part in conservation projects, we can help teach the boys a little bit about responsibility," he added.
The Cub Scouts helped plant red oak, high bush cranberry, white spruce, white pine, and aspen, among other species. The goal, according to Pray, "is to fill the space that had been occupied by the invasive shrubs with native shrubs, which will prevent erosion on the site and provide forage for birds and other animals."
Pray said the event benefitted both the academy and the scouts.
"The trees will provide a closed canopy to shade out the non-native invasives," he said. "But the planting of those trees also furnished a meaningful learning experience for the scout troop and provided a great opportunity all around."
