2014 – The Meadow Project

Habitat Hero Update

November 29, 2014/1 Comment/in Hometown Habitat /by meadowlady

Since 2011, Todd Crail and his Toledo University, student army of Habitat Heros, have hand cleared invasive Buckthorn from Irwin Prairie State Nature Preserve. Using only loppers and saws they helped restore 20 acres of prairie in by-monthly Department of Environmental Sciences Service Learning days.

Since 2011, Oak Openings Wild One Todd Crail and his Toledo University, student army of Habitat Heros, have hand cleared invasive Buckthorn from Irwin Prairie State Nature Preserve. Using only loppers and saws they helped restore 20 acres of prairie in by-monthly Department of Environmental Sciences Service Learning days. The result-a return of native prairie species and students who are now connected to nature! The only carbon footprint left, their breath!!

The holidays are upon us and the Hometown Habitat team wants to express our gratitude to our followers and supporters! Educating people to include native plants in their landscapes is our mission. Whether it is city planning departments, town councils, churches, schools, landscape designers or individuals, people all over the country are embracing this important mission. Your contribution helps us get our message out to these people and many more who are learning about the benefits native plants provide to their hometowns.

Hometown Habitat is a big project and as independent filmmakers, we simply can’t make this film without raising money for the production costs. Donations, like the amazing donation just received from Wild Ones, allow us to pay for another day of production. And with their gift, we topped $26,000! But there is still a long way to go to reach our goal. Please join our team and make a tax-deductible contribution at www.chesapeakelandscape.org/hometown-habitat. We need you!

Each of the stories we are traveling to tell highlights people or organizations who are using native plants to heal and return balance and diversity to ecosystems in their hometowns. We call them Habitat Heroes. Here’s a look at some of those Heroes.

“Babbling Brook” EcoArtist Lucy Keshavarz transformed a drab dry detention area into this vibrant wildlife shelter using Florida native plants. photo Catherine B. Zimmerman

Associate Producer/ Soundman Rick Patterson and I have logged over 10,000 miles since last April, when production began in south Florida where we feature EcoArtists. These artists are finding ways to use their art to help solve environmental problems in their hometowns. We follow three, unique artists as they identify eco-issues, collaborate with experts to solve the issue, and involve the community in the eco-art solution.

Rebecca decided planting trees in Rebecca, one of the thousands of volunteers helping to make it possible to reach the planting goal of one million trees!

Rebecca, one of the thousands of volunteers helping to make it possible to reach the planting goal of one million trees!

Tree Canopy. We just returned from filming in New York City. Something really marvelous is happening there. Tree planting and lots of them! The Million TreesNYC Campaign set out in 2007 to restore and increase the tree canopy by a million trees in ten years. Unbelievably, the project is two years ahead of schedule! We explore just how that is possible and the multiple eco-system services the tree canopy provides.

Steve Apfelbaum shows us the lake at Prairie Crossing where the water has been filtered by the native plant landscape and is pure enough to swim in.

Steve Apfelbaum. Ecologist Steve Apfelbaum, has been doing ecological restoration work since the 70’s. He believes that, in “the best conservation developments the health of the land is the first consideration. Healthy natural systems should be integrated with the built environment, to the mutual benefit of people and nature.” We follow Steve and visit Prairie Crossing, (Grayslake, Illinois) where over half of the acreage is legally protected from development. The site design filters storm water runoff through these protected prairies and wetlands-no storm drain infrastructure! It can be done!

Seneca students learn about native plants including growing and harvesting the traditional Three Sisters natives, corn, beans and squash.

Native American Indians. The most widely used definition of “What is a native plant?” is: “A plant that was present before the continent was colonized by Europeans.” This is a look at what the Seneca Indian Nation is doing to restore their spaces to pre-European development. They are “strengthening their roots to the land with a new commitment to use only indigenous plants and trees in public landscaping. The Western New York tribe is believed to be the first to formalize a practice that tribes throughout the country are embracing as a way to preserve Native American culture and the environment.”

Look for our next update and more stories of Habitat Heroes!

Catherine and the Hometown Habitat Team

A Tree Grows in…

November 10, 2014/2 Comments/in Hometown Habitat /by meadowlady

New York City View photo Catherine B. Zimmerman

The light is fading as we cruise down Interstate 95, on our way home to Maryland, after a week of filming in New York City for Hometown Habitat. What an unexpected story we travel to tell of the growing tree canopy in New York City’s five boroughs. My imprinted image of the city is asphalt, concrete, glass, metal, no birds, no bees, definitely no butterflies … But, as documentary filmmakers, we try to set aside those images and let the story unfold. And so it has.

It turns out something really marvelous has been happening in NYC. Tree planting! And lots of them! Million TreesNYC Campaign set out in 2007 to restore and increase the tree canopy by a million trees in ten years. Unbelievably, the project is two years ahead of schedule!

new-york-commuter-businessman-crowd-of-people-walk-down-the-street-sidewalk-in

By 2030, population in NYC is projected to grow by one million more people.

It all started with studies that showed that the population of New York City would swell to one million more people by 2030. Big problem. The carrying capacity of the city, the ability for the environment to sustain all those people with food, habitat, water, clean air and other essentials available in the environment, was clearly not possible. So the Bloomberg administration took a very progressive, science based approach to the issue and created PlaNYC, a sustainability and resiliency blueprint for New York City. The Million TreesNYC campaign was just one of the 127 initiatives launched by PlaNYC to keep pace with the population projection.

Hometown Habitat focuses in on the partnerships formed and the habitat heroes that make planting one million trees feasible.

Enter the US Forest Service and GIS mapping. Using i-Tree , the US Forest Service collaborated with NYC Parks to determine the existing New York City tree canopy. “i-Tree provides baseline data that you can use to demonstrate value and set priorities for more effective decision-making.”

Jacqueline Lu, Director of GIS for NYC Parks, explains that GIS mapping made it possible to embark on this massive scale, greening campaign. image from Hometown Habitat Director, Catherine B. Zimmerman

This tool allowed NYC Parks to map tree canopy and quantify the value of trees. They discovered that for every dollar spent to plant a tree, the gain would be five dollars in eco-systems services such as, storm water capture, air quality improvement, climate control, nutrient mitigation, habitat, pollination and recreational benefits. And the very cool thing is, these are not one-time benefits. Trees can live well beyond the lives of the people planting the trees and continue delivering these amazing services for many years and generations of New Yorkers to come.

GIS tracking allowed New York City Parks and Recreation to target parts of the city with critical needs for tree canopy. It turns out those areas with low tree density also had higher health issues, such as respiratory illness. That’s where planting began.

That brings me to the rest of the story, how to plant one million trees? Partnerships! NYC Parks & Recreation, The New York Restoration Project, community volunteers and private citizens are planting and growing the NYC tree canopy. Seven years into the program, it is a smooth running operation.

NYC Parks and Recreation installs trees in right-of-ways with contractor crews and plants in natural areas, with support from citizen volunteers. Only native trees are planted in the natural areas.

Matthew Stephens, Director of Street Tree Planting explained the planting process and the amazing increase in annual tree installation from 6000 trees per year to well over 20,000 since the program began.

Matthew Stephens, Director of Street Tree Planting, inspects tree quality as he explained the planting process and the amazing increase in annual tree installation from 6000 trees per year to well over 20,000 per year since the program began. image from Hometown Habitat Director, Catherine B. Zimmerman

Volunteers at Pelham Bay Park restoration planting begin the day! image from Hometown Habitat Director Catherine B. Zimmerman

The New York Restoration Project works with private property owners to plant trees and collaborates with local non-profits to sponsor tree give-aways to residents who want to plant trees.

Couple takes home Pawpaw trees at New York Restoration Project tree give away!

Couple takes home native Pawpaw trees at New York Restoration Project tree give away!

The result. Many, many new trees and many new tree stewards. We saw this in action when we filmed natural area restoration efforts. Hundreds of volunteers, family, friends and co-workers showed up, rain or shine, to help restore precious tree canopy. In the last event we filmed at Pelham Bay Park, 5000 trees were planted in one morning! All with volunteers. An army of Habitat Heroes!

The Lee Family wanted to set a record for planting but soon lost count…

Co-workers finally manage to get the tree out of its pot!

Rebecca decided planting trees in Pelham Bay Park was a fine way to spend her birthday! photo Catherine B. Zimmerman

So, this is what is possible, a million trees in ten- NO- eight years! Bravo, New York City and citizens! You are a true model for cities across the country.

Many Thanks Supporters!

October 21, 2014/0 Comments/in Hometown Habitat /by meadowlady

Hyssop. Hummingbird Heaven! photo Catherine B. Zimmerman

On behalf of the Hometown Habitat film crew, Doug Tallamy and the Chesapeake Conservation Landscaping Council, I want to recognize all the generous folks who have joined our team by donating their dollars. As independent filmmakers, we can’t produce this important documentary without your help and support! Thank you!

One of our biggest donors is the Wild Ones Natural Landscapers, who pledged a minimum of $5,000. With Wild Ones chapters all over the country contributing, they are well over $6,000 and have earned a place in the credits! I am proud to be an honorary director for such an amazing organization! Here’s what Executive Director, Donna VanBuecken, said about why Wild Ones are backing Hometown Habitat.

“The heroes in Catherine’s film “Hometown Habitat” will depict what Wild Ones all over have been doing for 35 years. Moving the cause for natural landscaping along any way they can with little shoves or big pushes. We have been taught from childhood that gardens are for beauty, that they are a chance to express our artistic talents, to have fun with, to relax in, but not that they are necessary to our very existence on this planet. If we are to preserve other forms of life and the role they play in human sustenance, we must change the way we landscape our yards and our green space. But we as individuals can only do so much. It is up to our city planners, businesses and developers to take up the cause as well. They will have the biggest impact on the way we humans live our lives in harmony with nature. It is our hope that Catherine’s film will push that impact forward that much faster.” — Donna

Wow! Love that sentiment!

At this point, we are only about 1/5 of the way to our fundraising goal of $176,000. We need you!

It is our hope that many more individuals and organizations, like The Wild Ones, will support as they see the potential impact this film will have on communities and homeowners to change a lawn based culture to one that embraces nature and recognizes all the great benefits we gain landscaping with native plants. Fabulous benefits, such as providing oxygen, cleaning water, building topsoil, capturing storm water, pollinating food plants and sequestering carbon!

For more of this…