land report Noho CPA final 12 16 c.pdf1
Final Report and Request for Payment
Lathrop Communities Invasive Removal Project, Agreement Dated Jan. 5, 2016
Submitted to the Northampton Community Preservation Committee
by Barbara Walvoord, Chair, Lathrop Land Conservation Committee (walvoord@nd.edu)
Dec. 29, 2016
CPA Grant Project Completed
We completed the work described in our CPA proposal--removal of invasive plants along the brooks on both our
north campus (11 acres) and east campus (15 acres of Northampton land, joined by other funding that covered
work on the adjacent Easthampton land). On both campuses, the CPA-funded work is part of a multi-year
contract with Polatin Ecological Services, who were recommended by our consultant Laurie Sanders. We are
very pleased with their knowledge and dedication.
Request for Payment
For our 2016 work, we paid Polatin Ecological Services a total of $13,131, which included the $3,000 CPA grant
amount and the matching funds described in our proposal. Please send $3,000 to Lathrop Communities at 100
Bassett Brook Rd., Easthampton, MA 01027, and close out this grant. The Polatin invoices, send as a separate
attachment, include details and photo documentation of the work.
Polatin Ecological Services Invoice #033-2016, dated July 14, 2016, in amount $1,000, for work on the
north campus (all in Northampton). Paid by Lathrop check #27123, 8/17/16.
Polatin Ecological Services Invoice #060-2016, dated Sept. 20, 2016, in amount $9,066.67, for work on
the east campus land in both towns. As Polatin's work record shows, the Polatin team worked on several
different days, moving back and forth between the Easthampton and Northampton areas, as dictated by
the most efficient use of their time and equipment. We estimate 1/4 - 1/3 of their time was spent in
Northampton. Paid by Lathrop check #27378, 9/20/16.
Polatin Ecological Services invoice #106-2016, dated Nov. 14, 2016, in amount $3,065.14. City of
Northampton portion of the east campus. Paid by Lathrop check #27604, 11/14/16.
Documentation of our Success
CPA funds helped with two parts of our larger ongoing invasives removal work at Lathrop.
North Campus: CPA funds paid for Year 2 of a 3-year project to remove invasives from 11 acres of CR
land along Pine Brook. Many invasives had been removed by Year 1 work (Figures A, B, C). However,
there were some new invasives, and some treated plants had re-sprouted (Figure D). The first invoice
listed above, for $1,000, paid Polatin for this follow-up Year 2 work in 2016.
East campus: About 40 acres of forest are already nearly free of invasives, thanks to prior grants,
resident donations, and resident volunteer labor (Figure E, green lines). CPA funds helped us start a new
"Bassett Brook" project (yellow lines), which is more challenging because of the heavier invasion and the
difficulty of accessing the floodplain, especially on the Northampton area, where the brook spreads out
into a many-branched, marshy area thick with brush. The last two Polatin invoices listed above describe
the invasive species and methods used for removal. Polatin has set up numbered stakes at various
points in this area, for future descriptive and photo documentation of the results of our 2016 work.
2
until spring to see the extent of the invasives kill. However, these photos from the north campus along Pine
Brook document the success we are seeing in this project.
Figures A & B. Progress on the North Campus before CPA-Funded work. Top photo, April 25, 2014 shows
invasive Japanese barberry coming in along Pine Brook. A number of other invasives were also present.
Bottom: Same spot, two years later, June 20, 2016 shows results of Year 1 work: barberry dead and other
plants rising around it. This progress took place before our Year 2 CPA-funded work. Photos by Walvoord.
3
Figure C. Feb. 22, 2016, before CPA-funded second year work. The forest around the brook is
largely free of invasives, as a result of Year 1 work. Freed from invasives, the native hepatica,
trout lily, and others were free to flourish the following spring. Photo by Walvoord.
4
Figure D. BUT, our inspection on Feb. 22, 2016, showed a number of invasive shrubs, like this winged
euonymus, which, after first-year "cut-stump" treatment, had re-sprouted. $1,000 of our CPA funds
were used in summer 2016 for this needed follow-up on the north campus. The remainder of the
funds and the matching funds were used on the east campus (see Figure E). Photo by Walvoord.
5
N
Florence
Rd East Campus Work
12/3/16
1 Vegetable Garden
Wetland
2a Rose Field
2b Cranberry Wet Meadow
2c Farmer's field
2d Ad's Oak Woods
3 Inn Wetland
4 Inn Woods
5 Mulberry (south) Field
6 Wide-path Woods
7 Mid-Woods Field
8 Bassett Brook Woods
9 Bassett Brook Corridor
10 Florence Road Woods
11North Big Field
12 Northeast Woods
13 Northwest Woods
Figure E. East campus. Nearly free of invasives; monitored by residents Being worked on by Polatin and residents. Northampton
portion supported by a Northampton CPA grant. Being worked on by residents Proposed future work Bassett Brook
2d
2c
City line
6
4
7
8
1
2a
2b
2c
3
5
9
10
11
12
13