Location: Long Island Science Center in Riverhead.

Twenty years ago, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated the Peconic Estuary as an Estuary of National Significance. Please join us to celebrate the 20th anniversary of this important designation as well as the formation of the Peconic Estuary Program. Learn about our work and accomplishments over the past 20 years of protecting and restoring our beautiful and unique local waterway. The event will include educational activities for both adults and children, along with opportunities to speak with Peconic Estuary Program staff, volunteers, and contractors. Free and open to the public!

Below are photos of Butterfly Weed, Asclepias tuberosa, in flower and fruit and available at the sale.

Photo Kim Smith

Photo Steve Young

Our book [Small, E. and Catling, P.M. 1999. _Canadian medicinal crops_. NRC
Press, Ottawa. 250 p.

CLICK HERE for the website.

This website is a comprehensive reference guide to important medicinal lants that are native to Canada. Chapters feature species such as ginseng, echinacea, Pacific yew, goldenseal, cascara, witch hazel, and kelp. The explosive interest in herbal products that provide medicinal or health benefits has resulted in a need for information. As well as being vitally important to the public and merchants, medicinal plant information is crucial to farmers, economists, teachers, the pharmaceutical industry, and the medical arts professions. Canada has the potential to capitalize on tremendous global marketing opportunities. We are in an excellent position to take advantage of the rapidly expanding market for so-called “nutraceutical crops” (those that are used to produce substances that are both medicinal and nutritional), because many of these are native to Canada and grow well here. This website meets the need for an overview of available information. The user can quickly find details on a particular topic by  examining the categories of information, which include: scientific, English and French names, description and classification, medicinal uses, non-medicinal uses, toxicity, chemistry, importance, ecology, agricultural and commercial aspects, human interest information, and selected key literature. All species are extensively illustrated and distribution maps are included. Introductory chapters address such topics as: the business of growing medicinal plants; the regulatory and legal framework in Canada for producing and marketing medicinal plants; and hazards associated with medicinal plants. Also provided are: an extensive glossary of medicinal and pharmacological terms; and extensive general list of books, review articles and research articles related to Canadian medicinal plants. The increased availability of this information is both important to the agriculture sector and of broad, general interest.

On April 21, in celebration of Earth Day weekend, Sustainable Saratoga’s Urban Forestry Project launched our 2012 tree survey season.  The threatening weather held off and we had seventy-five passionate volunteers sign in, which doesn’t even include the nice turnout of kids who came with their families.  You can count ‘em in the attached photo, taken under one of Saratoga’s legacy American elms.  (A special thanks to Commissioners Michele Madigan and Chris Mathiesen, as well as Supervisor Joanne Yepsen, for their participation.)  It was festive, it was fun, it was gratifying, it was educational, and it was productive.  The energy was phenomenal and we accomplished a great deal in one day.  Many dedicated volunteers worked from 10 AM until the rain chased them in about 3 PM.  We followed that up with additional training sessions on the evenings of April 23 and 24, which placed nearly thirty additional volunteers into the field.  All in all, over 100 volunteers hit the streets counting trees this week, with an additional fifty having expressed willingness but not yet having attended a training session.  A huge thanks to all  !  This offers a strong sign of how greatly the citizens value our urban trees!

The tree survey is Sustainable Saratoga’s in-kind contribution to the City’s responsibilities under a DEC Urban Forestry grant it applied for a few years ago.  The DEC initially expected the City to pay $20,000 in matching funds to hire an external consultant to conduct the survey.  Sustainable Saratoga offered to organize the survey and analyze the data on a volunteer basis, and saved the taxpayers the $20,000.  The DEC grant enables the City to develop its first-ever Tree Master Plan.  Sustainable Saratoga will take the survey data, crunch its numbers through a forestry software called iTree, and produce a report that quantifies the economic and environmental  benefits of Saratoga’s urban forest.   This will provide the foundation for the City’s plan.

In addition to the survey work, we provided participants on April 21 with instructions for three tree-related activities:  a self-guided walking tour (with location and DBH) of seven majestic elm survivors in downtown Saratoga (and the survey has just turned up an eighth);  a self-guided walking tree hunt of the varied trees of Congress Park; and a call to the public to tell us their stories about Saratoga’s biggest, best, or just plain favorite trees (send your favorites to saratogatreesurvey@gmail.com).  The self-guided tours are available by request at the same email address.

Many hands do indeed make light work.  At the end of 2011, we had surveyed only about 23% of the survey area.  Early work done this spring had inched us up to almost exactly a quarter of the survey completed.  Since the April 21 launch event, the 100+ volunteers have already completed another 25% (we are now 50% finished) and have in their hands, actively being surveyed as I write, virtually all of the remaining 50%.  We expect to complete the original survey work by early May and have decided, given the enthusiastic response by the volunteers, to expand our survey area to include additional sections of the city.  Of course, completing the survey will not be the end of our efforts; it will really be more the beginning of an era of strong tree advocacy in Saratoga.    For more information, check our website http://www.sustainablesaratoga.com/about-us/initiatives/the-urban-forestry-project/ or Like us on Facebook, at Sustainable Saratoga’s Urban Forestry Project (email: forestbaum@gmail.com).

What were some of the most interesting impressions that volunteer surveyors brought back from the streets?  Some great trees were noted, including a “new” legacy American elm on Nelson Avenue, some large basswood trees, some great oaks, and a beautiful slippery elm.  Many ventured into tree wastelands and returned to us shocked by the sheer number of treeless streets (or virtually treeless streets) in Saratoga.  Finally, the lack of tree diversity was a recurrent observation from the front lines.  In particular, volunteers noted the preponderance of recently planted Norway maples (green leaf and Crimson King) and Bradford pears, all of which are on the DEC interim Invasive Species List.

Happy Volunteers Ready to Survey Trees

For 7-12^th grade science teachers, and community college faculty

July 15-20, 2012

Teaching and Learning about Plant Science to protect the environment, improve agriculture, and advance human health.

For more information on this project CLICK HERE.