Man vs. Nature in Noyac

Representatives from the Southampton Town Parks and Recreation Department, the Noyac Civic Council, and the Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program will probably be planting salt meadow twine grass, seashore grass, seaside goldenrod, and seashore plums on Saturday, as a part of a habitat restoration pilot challenge at Foster Memorial Town Beach, also called Long Beach, in Noyac.

There is a few historical past to this challenge, and irony abounds.

The first blow was struck way back by Man, when a parking zone was laid a number of hundred ft parallel to the shoreline, downwind of the prevailing wintertime northwesterlies — that means it could at all times compete with blowing sand. Over the course of a few years, Nature, in the type of that sand, reclaimed a few of the lot. Unfortunately, that conflicted with Man’s sacred proper to park vehicles in orderly painted rows, and final 12 months, Man struck again at Nature: Town upkeep crews descended, with directions to “clean up” the parking space to make it “safer.”

“We told them to go in and clean the lot, and that’s what they did,” Kristen Doulos, Southampton Town parks director, mentioned on the time.

In so doing, the crews eliminated many native crops, together with seashore plum and pink cedar. They additionally eliminated a much-loved mulberry tree, nonnative, in accordance with Stephen Schott, a habitat restoration specialist with Cornell Cooperative. A photograph of the mulberry, slain, mendacity on the asphalt, helped generate over 400 signatures on a petition began by Jill Musnicki and Helen Roussel.

“We need native plants and trees that provide food and habitat for birds and marine wildlife,” Ms. Roussel mentioned this week. “Insect numbers are plummeting due to the use of pesticides . . . leaving many birds to starve.”

“I did hear about the mulberry tree, that was the real lightning rod,” mentioned Mr. Schott. Due to years of spotty upkeep, the mulberry took root in sand deposits left in the parking space. “That mulberry tree was over the top of asphalt. I’m kind of shocked that a tree that size was able to have enough anchorage to stand upright, especially with the winds. Also, mulberries are not really known to be salt-tolerant, and just the salt spray alone should have really done it in.” Its survival was uncommon, he mentioned.

Now, a 12 months later, the city is utilizing its controversial cleanup as a chance to show the general public concerning the significance of native plantings.

“After seeing the ‘cleanup’ and hearing the outcry from residents,” mentioned Diane Hewett, vice chairman of the Noyac Civic Council, “we held a meeting in April 2021 to discuss the matter with Ms. Doulos.”

The cleanup “helped spark the conversation, and had us look at that location,” Ms. Doulos mentioned. “We started to think, ‘What else can we do about restoration here, and coastal resiliency?’ And we wanted to show that we’re a willing partner in that effort.” The parks division not solely addressed the actual scenario, she mentioned, but in addition wished to think about the longer term.

Cornell Cooperative’s marine program acquired Town of Southampton group preservation fund assist in 2021. With that cash, they expanded the coastal plant nursery on the Tiana Bayside facility in Hampton Bays, thus offering a prepared provide of crops for city shoreline restoration initiatives. Beach grass, high-marsh grass, and different coastal plant and shrub species grown by the extension at Tiana Bayside will all be utilized at Long Beach. In addition, there will probably be some on-site transplantation of seaside goldenrod.

“I love doing these types of projects,” Mr. Schott mentioned. “We’re doing this gratis, to help out.”

Pointedly, they won’t be replanting any mulberry bushes. “I’m a marine botanist and have done work dealing with invasive species,” Mr. Schott mentioned. “Honestly, I have no empathy for them. A nonnative species doesn’t belong here.”

The plantings will probably be restricted in scope to start. Mr. Schott estimates they’ll place about “twelve hundred square feet of plantings around the monument area.” Most of them are “anchor plantings” to assist with seashore erosion, however the seaside goldenrod will probably be nice for the monarch butterflies throughout their southward migration in the autumn, he famous. The plantings will probably be surrounded by a four-foot seashore fence, and Mr. Schott is hopeful they received’t get trampled by people or unleashed canine, that are problematic at Long Beach.

About the canine, Ms. Hewett mentioned new signage would quickly be put in. Ms. Doulos mentioned if folks see unleashed canine on the seashore, they’ll name the non-emergency police quantity, 631-728-5000. “Enforcement is really the best tool,” she mentioned, “if people are written tickets. Dogs are not allowed on our bathing beaches at all between April 1 and October 31.”

“If this is successful and well received by the community,” mentioned Mr. Schott, the cooperative extension hopes to do extra, presumably a bigger follow-up planting in the autumn. “We’re looking for survival into the summer first,” he mentioned.

Perhaps the elimination of the nonnative Ailanthus bushes will probably be subsequent. “That’s not been the focus so far,” mentioned Mr. Schott, “but they can be removed without adversely affecting the area. The [Noyac] civic council is very up on this. The Parks Department had to hold them back a little.”

Mr. Schott was appropriate: That was no peculiar mulberry tree. It served as a sacrifice in order that many tons of of native crops might take its place and take root. Will Man and Nature lastly work collectively to enhance the habitat at Long Beach? Time will inform.

Sign as much as assist this weekend at noyac.org.