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"I would like to see
dollars go to restore the wildlife population." |
Ecological Restoration The ecological restoration of the Housatonic River speaks to the heart of remediating the natural resource damages to the river. To start to achieve that goal, Frank Lowenstein of The Nature Conservancy defined the river as follows: “It is water gathered from throughout its watershed—creeks, rapids, waterfalls, floods, marshes, swamps, fens, oxbows, main stem, lakes, ponds, impoundments behind dams, rain, snow, ice. It is the sediments moved and the rocks carved by that water—sandbars, floodplains, riverbanks, river bottom, thalweg, cobbles. And it is all the animals and plants that depend on that water and sediments—beavers, eagles, wapato, cattails, ospreys, ducks, pike, perch, herons, bank swallows, fishing spiders, winter crane flies, mosquitoes, mussels, frogs, muskrat, mink, otter. It is an ever-changing mix of all these things. “Moreover, it is also human changes to this system—oil running off of streets from beneath cars, fertilizers from farm fields and homes, PCBs from industrial pollution, treated waste from sewage treatment plants, old tires, and washing machines. Similarly, it is the non-native species that we have brought to the river that take over much of its banks—common reed, purple loosestrife, barberry, buckthorn, and bush honeysuckle. Each of these changes to the river make it something different than it was before.” Berkshire residents and environmentalists envision a multi-pronged approach to the restoration of the Housatonic River’s ecological system. The goals of the program should be to:
Ecological restoration efforts should be closely linked to education programs, several environmentalists said. "We do all this and nobody gives a damn," said botanist Joseph Strauch. "What good is that? We have to show people what is happening and why it is important." Riparian Buffer Zone Central to promoting the ecological restoration of the Housatonic River is preserving and expanding a 200-foot-wide riparian buffer zone along the length of the river, participants said, with the exception of some sections in Pittsfield and other communities. "The most important priority should be establishing a buffer zone," said Laura Beltran of the Lee Land Trust and Massachusetts Audubon Society’s Berkshire Sanctuaries. Pam Weatherbee said an effort should be made to get rid of existing dumps along the river, remove or limit parking lots along the river’s edge, acquire open space, and push back development from the riverbanks. Pulling up asphalt will remove storm water runoff and allow for the restoration of the river’s natural habitat, she said. Enhancing a natural riparian buffer will also provide a natural filter for water quality and with proper soil conditions encourage the restoration of the natural plant habitat, which in turn will restore the native wildlife species, Weatherbee said. She added that riprapping should be discouraged, noting it was probably impracticable to remove existing riprap work. Jane Winn suggested using federal and state programs to pay farmers not to disturb a 200-foot-wide buffer zone along the river to stop agricultural pollutants from reaching the river. (See Land Acquisition and Water Quality sections for further comments.) Regulations and Enforcement Existing state and federal environmental laws provide the regulatory framework for the protection of the river’s ecology, environmentalists said. Implementation of the 1996 Massachusetts Rivers Protection Act, in particular, will go a long way toward protecting the headwaters and tributaries, Weatherbee noted. "The best you can do is get the laws enforced that are already on the books," Jane Winn said. "If the laws were enforced it would make a huge difference." She said a river guardian program was critical to a restoration to ensure that existing laws and regulations are obeyed. She suggested signs be placed along the river with the names and telephone numbers of people to contact about infractions. A network of river advocates and enforcers should be put in place. (See Community-Based Stewardship.) Natural Habitat Management Natural conditions along the river have been disrupted, environmentalists said, allowing invasive species to introduce themselves along the riverbanks in numerous locations. Unchecked, they will outcompete native species, distorting the river’s natural wildlife and habitat. Buildings, structures, farmland, and other disruptions of the river’s corridor have also impeded the evolution of the Housatonic’s natural resources, they said. Buffer zone protection will need a management program to encourage native species and discourage invasive non-native species. Environmentalists and botanists strongly advocated an active program to control non-native plant species, support existing wildlife populations and reintroduce species that no longer use the river basin. "I would like to see dollars go to restore the wildlife populations," HRI Director Tim Gray said, noting that as a warm-water fishery the Housatonic provides an unusual habitat for fish. "People are thrilled to see the bald eagle that has flown back. The fact that it is here is a signal to me that they probably want to be here. I’d like to see some money spent on biology." Instead of trying to introduce wildlife species to the river, environmentalists said the priority should be to create the conditions that allow native plant and animal species to flourish. "You want to be able to replicate the natural habitat," Weatherbee said. The presence of purple loosestrife and other non-native plants along the river will force out native plants, participants said. The plants can be very dense, to the point of changing soil conditions and destroying the existing diversity of plant species. Invasive species smother native plants. Further, most native wildlife do not eat non-native plants. Besides purple loosestrife, several other non-native species (honeysuckle, phragmites, bittersweet, bishop’s weed, Japanese knotweed, and garlic mustard) can be found en masse along the Housatonic River and can also be damaging. "You need to encourage biodiversity," said George Darey of Lenox, chairman of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife Board of Directors. "This is the second-best warm-water fishery in Massachusetts." Nature Conservancy Berkshire Program Director Frank Lowenstein said an assessment of the non-native plants should be undertaken as a first step in developing and implementing a management plan. To have an impact on the river’s ecology, he estimated that the plan should establish a goal of controlling 5,000 acres. The plan would call for physically removing the non-native species, replanting with natives bred from local stock, and monitoring it on an ongoing basis. Lowenstein said existing natural areas should be linked with restoration sites, particularly from tributaries into main-stem areas. He added that goals should include restoring marginally productive agricultural lands to natural habitats, ripping up pavement in areas that won’t contribute substantially to the local economy, and restoring the natural habitat, protecting headwaters on both the main stem and tributaries, and ensuring continuous natural vegetation along at least one bank for as much as possible of the river corridor proper. "You can’t just leave [the natural habitat], you have to manage it," Laura Beltran said. Other ecological concerns included:
To properly assess and manage a wildlife habitat program, environmentalists said that more work needs to be done to create a baseline database of existing conditions. Although some information already exists and is being investigated, they said, this should be compiled into a comprehensive assessment. This will give naturalists something to compare with in the future to determine the effectiveness of the restoration effort and provide information on how to best direct wildlife restoration efforts, Laura Beltran said. "We need to know what’s here now so that five or ten years from now we can see whether there’s been some improvements, whether it be the degree of diversity both in the river and along the riverbanks," Beltran said. "You want to be in a position where you can evaluate what is changing." Sources of information would include data being gathered as part of the GE PCB remediation process, the NRD assessment, existing studies and reports on endangered species, water quality, and other natural features of the river, and historic trapping, hunting, and fishing records. State agencies, local land trusts, and regional environmental groups all have, or may have, useful information that could be used in creating the compilation. Pam Weatherbee suggested that the best way to determine what the natural habitat used to be is to examine areas that have not been disturbed. "You can look at Canoe Meadows to get an idea of what the rest of the watershed was like," she said, adding that in Northern Berkshire County, the Hoosic River Association is undertaking a lot of studies of invertebrates, frogs, and other wildlife. Jane Winn added that information on amphibians and invertebrates, which are the most important indicators of the health of the natural habitat, should be given a priority. PCB Remediation Issues Particular concern was expressed about how the river restoration process will be done when the river and its floodplain are cleansed of PCBs. Environmentalists stressed the importance of using native soils and vegetation when replacing the removed PCB-laden soil. "The concern is the loss of diversity," Strauch said. "People will say they put 200 different species back in, but if you did a survey beforehand you’d find that that’s a third of what was there." Jane Winn said that Pittsfield is particularly ill equipped to oversee this process as the political leaders have stripped the city of its most effective and knowledgeable regulators. The city is not ecologically minded and on its own will not be inclined to do what is best for the natural environment. Ordinary fill will change the natural habitat, environmentalists said. They added that a program could be developed to propagate existing plants along the river and be used to replicate the natural characteristics in specific restoration areas. |
