2024 Ain't Ready

 1/6/24

Eight people convened for OUR FIRST WORKDAY OF THE YEAR!!! on this Saturday afternoon. I was happy that the Ivy League was as flexible as we were since it rained all night, and wet conditions favored an afternoon meeting. 

We spent the day attacking woodies to minimize our exposure to the damp ground layer. Our campaign against the woodies connected us between our usual work area and the upper swamp overlook that is waiting to be revamped. 

As you can see from the photos, the English Ivy forms a veritable monoculture at ground level here. We'll have to follow up with backpack spraying to deal with that disaster. But alas, our work areas are gaining connectivity, and when we can find some time to spray the English Ivy, we'll have completed a true first pass of some of the most valuable wetland buffer areas in the Park. 

What can I say? Yet another great day of fellowship, park stewardship, and exotic plant butt-kicking. We can't be stopped!!

1/15/24

Today was a special day for the PKP Restoration Initiative not just because we convened on the day that remembers the remarkable legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. but because we hosted OUR FIRST WEED WRANGLE!!!

What's a Weed Wrangle you ask? It's a dedicated effort aimed at controlling invasive exotic plants, seasoned with a healthy dose of good publicity. The fantastic Georgia Native Plant Society oversaw this inaugural annual statewide effort in which native plant enthusiasts across the state came together to step up and fight the tide of exotic plants that continue to bear down upon our most precious natural areas. See:

https://gnps.org/32741-2/#:~:text=GNPS%20will%20host%20our%20first,trees%2C%20vines%20and%20flowering%20plants.

As I mentioned in my last post, the new local chapter of GNPS, Augusta's River Region Chapter, joined our hardy Ivy League to reclaim the sacred ground of PKP's woods. As part of this special effort, we bore down upon a heinously infested strip of woods between holes 6 and 7 on the disc golf course. Our hardworking group of 10 volunteers (and an accompanying photographer) ripped through the work area, to the relief of the overburdened native vegetation that has taken a stalwart stance against the invaders.

Dekay's Brown Snake

Red Salamander

These images of our hard work sure do make my heart sing. Hopefully this effort will be the first of many years of Weed Wrangles in PKP!!!

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IN OTHER NEWS

2024 ain't gonna be no slouch. Check out this production masterpiece by new PKP board member and Ivy League vet Anthony and his producer/director wife!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKDBfE6F8vc

I commend them for their vision and execution of this awesome production! How about that for a hype video for the Ivy League!!

And finally, in conclusion, it's time for the Restoration Initiative to switch gears a bit with our next undertaking. With spring rapidly approaching, the moment has arrived for us to give our "black thumbs" a rest and to cultivate our green thumbs. On Friday I will be picking up over 100 native tree saplings from the Georgia Forestry Commission for a massive native tree planting effort in the Park. We'll need all hands on deck for this coming workday Saturday, February 3rd. Come join the Restoration Initiative for a spring planting day and be rewarded with the usual cookies and also a native tree or two to take home!!

See you in the Park!

Rounding out 2023

 WE'RE BACK BABY!!!

Whew those last weeks of the year always get a little out of hand. We only had one (albeit productive) workday in November and decided to take a hiatus in the hectic month of December. Below is a summary of that last workday. What a year though. We've become an official force in the Park and seek only to double down. We've ushered in a new era of Pendleton King Park in which native plants and wildlife will FLOURISH.

But before we recap November, the Ivy League is nursing a new powerful alliance with another partner in the area: the Georgia Native Plant Society and their newish local chapter: the Augusta River Region Chapter.

Link to main site: https://gnps.org/

Link to Augusta chapter site: https://gnps.org/augustas-river-region-chapter/

We're groups cut from the same cloth and after the same honorable goals. Of course we are excited to partner, and our first tangible collaboration will be taking part in a Statewide Weed Wrangle on MLK Day, Monday January 15th. It'll be just like a typical workday for us, but we'll be bolstered by the thought of others across the state fighting the same good fight contemporaneously. So set your calendars!

Anyway, back to when we last hung out together. It was November 18th. As I recall it was a nice mild day for an exotic plant butt-whipping. Seven Ivy Leaguers amassed, with two principally engaged in film and media capture for greater broadcasting of our undertakings. 

We opened a pretty new front, rampaging down the southwest sector of the Park, concentrating our efforts on knocking out some manageable Redtips, Chinese Hollys, and some especially egregious English Ivy infested trees.

Blasted Chinese Holly Berries

Immature English Ivy Flowers 🤢

We continued to kick butt and show that this park is no place for an exotic invader to thrive unchecked. It's easiest to see the fruits of our labor as you meander down Holes 1 and 2 of the disc golf course. This area will get a real overhaul when the Restoration Initiative gets some funds for the removal of the remaining large Photinias. The remains of our enemies piled up rapidly as we got our workout in. 

You wanna be like these bona-fide ecological warriors?? Come and join us!! We'll have a cookie and a handsaw with your name on it. 

In closing, Happy 2024! Let's keep this restoration train running into the New Year! We've built up some fantastic momentum, and I only see things accelerating from here. And also to reiterate... MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR A SPECIAL PKP WEED WRANGLE ON 1/15/24.

Long live PKP!!!