CSHH Awarded Grant from Patagonia for Habitat Restoration

CSHH has been awarded a $14,000 grant from Patagonia, the outdoor clothing and gear company, to fund a habitat restoration project. The project will focus on areas within Glenwood Landing and is designed to engage community residents in helping to select and plant native shrubs and plants that are most effective in absorbing nitrogen in the soil, thereby reducing nitrogen runoff. In addition, native plants have been found to serve other ecological functions:

• Forming macropores (i.e., channels created by root growth), which helps to maintain soil aggregate, increases aeration, and facilitates percolation of water;

• Strengthening and stabilizing soil, reducing erosion, and decreasing the input of pollutants and particulate matter into waterways;

• Lowering the water tables through subsurface flows related to evapotranspiration; and

• Buffering storm water and reducing overland flow.

All of these features will help reduce the pollutants that run off into Hempstead Harbor during storm events.The project will include public education, workshops, and citizen science to measure the results after the new plants are installed. Plants and shrubs for this project will be provided to participating homeowners free of charge, as well the planting. This spring, CSHH will be notifying residents of the schedule of workshops and asking for volunteers to help in this important work. Contact us now at info@thecshh.org  if you are interested in helping with this project.