Connestee Falls
Natural Resources Stewardship Committee
History of Conservation
The Connestee Falls community has a long history of environmental conservation and stewardship. See below for some initiatives from years past.
2004
Environmental Stewardship Committee, by Parker Johnstone, CF News Oct 2004
"The Environmental Stewardship Committee was instituted in October 2002 as a "Management" committee after the Board of Directors had approved the concept and proposed membership. As a management committee, the group reports to Rick Wade, the General Manager. Initial members (and their basis of inclusion) were Andy Anderson (trails building experience), Pete Burke (A&EC), Gary Klaus (Fishing Club), Liz Garrison (Architecture and Environment Committee- A&EC, Park Johnstone (A&EC and Connestee Fire Rescue), George McDermott (native plants and environment background), Jan Nelson (Beautification Committee), and Larry Ragsdale (Brevard College professor of environmental studies, math and sciences). Several changes occurred over the ensuing period, with the result that Andy Anderson and Pete Burke dropped off, and Dick Blee (birding expertise), Jim LeGere (A&EC, trail and forest interest), and Alan Leslie (statistical and economic proficiency) joined the committee. Rick Wade and Earl Jenkins are also ex officio members of the committee.
At first, the committee reviewed what several other communities had done. The committee adopted the following objective: The Environmental Stewardship Committee strives to identify Connestee Falls environment and identify means to preserve it to the greatest extent possible consistent with property rights and development, safety, maintenance of natural habitat and with resident's expectations and enjoyment.
An opportunity arose to use a North Carolina state-funded program supporting best management of forest areas under 1000 acres. This program would cost Connestee Falls nothing and the contract would apply to the "common areas" of Connestee. Under the auspices of the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources, we obtained the services in April 2003 of Ed Hicks of "Wildwood Consulting", a recognized professional forester with experience in planning use of forest areas. The resulting plan was given to us in August 2003, and we analyzed the suggestions and presented a recommendation to the Board of Directors in September 2003. Of the 16 recommendations Hicks made, six were specific to particular common area tracts and four recommended practices that would apply to both common areas and individual properties. We considered it a complement to the Connestee Falls Administration that there were few negative comments about our stewardship.
One thing Hicks recommended was that the community avoid feeding wild animals, especially deer, bears and geese to minimize their proliferation as a nuisance. As a result of this the committee sponsored the signs of the gates that people not feed deer, bears or geese.
Ed Hicks also recommended the cutting of specific fire roads and fire trails through several common areas to protect the areas and nearby houses, and to improve access for fire equipment. The committee endorsed this approach and will cooperate with Maintenance in undertaking to do this clearing. In some cases, Connestee's trail building crew had already put in place trails which meet this need.
The Environmental Stewardship Committee sponsored the Landscape Handbook written by Liz Garrison and George McDermott. This is available at the Administration building and covers the basics of planting in Connestee Falls, and contains plant lists of recommended and not recommended species. In addition, we were alerted to an infestation of Hemlock woolly adedgid (HWA), a pest that infects and kills hemlock trees. We published a flyer in response, covering treatment options, and precautions for protecting our lakes from runoff of the insecticidal soap used to treat infected Hemlock.
We also sponsored to talk to the community by the Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy in the summer of 2003 about the shrinking of forest and rural lands in our region, and a talk in August 2004 by Jennifer Frick-Rupert of Brevard College about deer proliferation.
The committee has also worked on some fire safety issues, including the publication of recommendations to owners of good safety practices in the February 2004 Connestee Falls news.
We have generated a draft outline of the stewardship plan of Connestee Falls. This will be fleshed out in this fall. As the plan develops, we will issue articles about its aspects. Our current goal is to have at least one article in each Connestee Falls News about a subject in our sphere."
2004
The Woolly Adelgid, by Ben Karas, Oct 2004
"We should all be aware of the Woolly Adelgid, thanks to the flyers from the Ecology committee of the Board. In the flyer, three methods of protection were explained; foliar spray, soil application, and bark injection. The former two approaches are applicable within Connestee, depending on the size of the tree and its proximity to water. Both factors applied in the case of our Hemlocks here at 34 Ugugu Dr. I would like to describe the treatment used on some of our Hemlocks.
I contacted an Aarborist recommended by a local nurseryman. Hugh Hinote of H&H Tree Service normally works in the Cashiers/Toxaway area and specializes in treating trees in and for developments.
Hugh came to Brevard and we first surveyed the Hemlock on our property. It's a little like triage you need to decide which trees do you want to save because of the cost of the treatment. We noticed the woolly white masses, about 1/8 of an inch in size. on the underside of the lower limbs on several of our larger trees. Our trees were infected, but were not yet in serious stress,. We had seen increased needle loss since this spring, yet some new growth had been noticed on one of the infected trees. T
The treatment consists of injecting the insecticide Imidacloprid into the cambian layer of the bark. Small holes are drilled into the tree at about 6 inch intervals and the marshmallow looking injector is attached. The tree in the upper photo is about 32 inches in diameter and measures 8 feet in circumference. About 20 capsules were installed on this tree.
The "needle" is calibrated and tapered to ensure the proper depth of penetration. The capsule is attached to the installed needle and pressurized by hand to 5 to 10 psi for positive injection. This insecticide has been proven effective and is also used with the soil, drench method. Insecticidal soap can be used for trees less than 2 inches in diameter, but has very limited residual. The approach used here provides a residual effectiveness for 12 to 24 months, so it does not need to be applied annually. The duration of effectiveness depends upon the rate of transpiration of the individual tree. I'm hoping for at least three years between treatment over the next couple of years."
2005
Our Hemlocks are
Under Attack, by Ray Tuers, July 2005
"The woodlands of Connestee Falls, like those in much of the eastern United States, are under siege by an almost microscopic bug that can bring down one of the tallest evergreen giants of the forest.
It's called the hemlock woolly adelgid, a native of Asia, but now running rampant from New England to the Carolinas. Its sap-sucking attacks can be fatal to our majestic hemlock trees, which rapidly grow up to 70 feet in as little as two years.
Since 1950, when it was first detected in the East in Virginia, it has crept up to New York and Massachusetts and New Hampshire, through New Jersey and Pennsylvania and down the Shenandoah Valley into North Carolina.
Naturalistists say 90% of the hemlocks in Virginia's Shenandoah National Park are already dead or dying. Now there are infected Hemlock throughout Connestee. In May, our Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESC) launched a survey to guide the Property Owners Association on which of our common areas and which trees in those areas should get priority attention.
Liz Garrison, a member of the Board of Directors and liaison with the ESC, said the survey is being done by volunteers. It is detailed, right down to the size and condition of individual trees. When the survey is completed general manager, Rick Wade, will recommend to the Board what action should be taken.
Liz said it is most likely the Board will authorize preventative treatment only in high-visibility areas because of the expense.
Rick and his assistant, Earl Jenkins, have already researched the problem and have found that the cost of battling the insects can range wildly, depending on the size of the tree, the type of treatment and who does the work.
While the association faces large areas of infestation on its common lands, individual property owners have a far more manageable task in dealing with trees on their lots. They can treat them themselves or hire companies to do it for them."
"We have spent $16k year to date on the Woolly Adelgid Treatment."
2007
Sassie Beetles, July 2007
"Volunteers for the Environmental Stewardship Committee distributed 2,000 sassie beetles this spring in an attack on the hemlock woolly adelgid, an insect that can destroy a hemlock tree. Here, Joey Galloway (left), our golf course maintenance superintendent, ties a sprig carrying about 30 beetles to infested Hemlocks near Lake Ticoa while Barbara Cagney (center) transfers sassies one-by-one with an artist's brush from a container held by Iris Durand. The CFPOA purchased the pooppy-seed-sized black beetles, which feed on adelgid egg masses, as part of its campaign to save some of the hemlocks in Connestee. "
2010
A New Group to Better Serve Connestee, July 2010
"The Environmental Stewardship Committee (ESG) and the Energy & Resource Conservation Group (ERCG) have combined aspects of their respective missions to form a new group , the Environmental Conservation Group of Connestee Falls, (ECG). The new organization will continue to advocate for practices that preserve the environment of Connestee Falls, and to provide advice and assistance in developing and coordinating energy reduction and resource conservation projects for the community. ECG will assist in the implementation of these projects under the guidance of Connestee Falls management. In addition, ECG will inform Association members, builders and realtors about energy reduction and conservation opportunities within Connestee Falls.
Over the next few months, we will be refining our objectives and writing a new charter. As always we welcome input from CFPOA members. Our meetings, educational presentations and other activities are usually scheduled for the first Thursday of each month except January. We hope that this new group will serve as a catalyst for enhancing environmental conservation in our community. We invite you to join us in this endeavor."
2013
Forest Stewardship Committee, by Vicki Held, July 2013
"The Forest Stewardship Committee (FSC) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement with the American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) to assist in a research project known as "Restoration 101". This project is aimed at restoring the American chestnut trees that were devastated by blight in the first half of the 20th century.
As a result of this agreement, four carefully packed seeds arrived in early March for planting in Connestee Falls. These seeds, each of which has been assigned a unique tracking number, have been planted in 12-inch pots and will be carefully monitored by the FSC, and through reports to the TACF. Site selections will be chosen when the seedlings are large enough to be planted in the ground.
These seeds are the result of more than 29 years of back-cross breeding. TACF's back-cross breeding program took Chinese chestnut trees, naturally resistant to the blight, and crossed them with their American cousins, resulting in trees that were 50% American, 50% Chinese. These trees were then back-crossed to the American species resulting in trees, which were 75% American. Back-crossing continues with a goal to produce an American chestnut tree that retains no Chinese characteristics other than blight resistance. And that's exactly why TACF needs members to help test and evaluate these seedlings to see if they have enough blight resistance and American growth characteristics to survive in the wild.
The American Chestnut Foundation was founded in 1983 by a group of prominent plant scientists who recognized the severe impact the demise of the American chestnut tree imposed upon the local economy of rural communities and upon the ecology of forest within the trees native range. The American chestnut tree reigned over 200,000,000 acres of eastern soodlands from Maine to Florida and from the Piedmont west to the Ohio Valley, until succumbing to a lethal fungus infestation known as the chestnut blight during the first half of the 20th century. An estimated 4 billion American chestnuts, 1/4 of the hardwood tree population grew within this range. They were prominent on the land we called Connestee Falls.
The American chestnut tree was an essential component of the entire eastern US ecosystem. A late-flowering, reliable and productive tree, unaffected by seasonal frost, it was the single most important food source for a wide variety of wildlife from bears to birds. Rural communities depended upon the annual harvest as a cash crop to feed livestock. The chestnut lumber industry was a major sector of rural economies. Chestnut wood is straight-grained and easily-worked, lightweight and highly rot resistant, making it ideal for fence posts, railroad ties, barn,s beams, and home construction, as well as for fine furniture and musical instruments.
We haven't named our new arrivals yet. For now we're calling them A, B, C, and D. Names seem fitting, though, and will be chosen by the committee as the seedlings are planted around Connestee Falls. It is exciting to participate in the research that one day could help The American Chestnut Foundation reach its goal to confer on the American chestnut the ability to thrive in our nation's woodlands as it once did."
2013
Volunteers Monitor Water Quality By Searching Streams for Little Bugs, by Ray Tuers, July 2012
"They're called macroinvertebrates...a big name for little bugs.
They're not easy to see, but a team of Connesteeans is out searching for them in a new program designed to make sure our lake water stays safe and healthy for humans and fish alike. The small aquatic insects live in the streams that run into and out of our lakes, but only if the stream water is clean. Some macroinvertebrates are more sensitive to certain forms of pollution than others, so how many you find of a given species is a barometer of how clean the water is.
The Fishing Club and Connestee's Environmental Conservation Group (ECG) established the joint biomonitoring program in 2011. The first inspection was that fall. The second was held on a Monday afternoon this past November.
A four-member team gathered at the stream that empties into Lake Ticoa near the golf course courses 11th fairway. There, they unrolled a fine mesh seining net, set up a portable table and other paraphernalia, and went to work.
Rick Hybil, ECG's chairman and a former Fishing Club president, held the net in the water while Joe Narsavage, another volunteer, went upstream a short distance and began kicking loose stones and soil in the water to stir things up. The idea is that the water washes disturbed matter down into the net , where it- and any bugs that are there- are captured. Testing protocol calls for that to go on for exactly 1 minute. Then the net is emptied onto the table and the contents are carefully inspected with naked eye and a magnifying glass. This time. It was a job of Mike Milts, a retired New York City veterinarian. Rick and Joe joined him along with the fourth volunteer Donna Bice, a member of ECO, the Environmental and Conservation Organization who lives in Sherwood Forest. Mike and the others, who all took an ECO course in bio-monitoring, found a dozen or so little critters, mostly mayfly and stonefly nymphs. They identified them using an ECO chart with 43 species pictured.
"That's a pretty good catch!" exclaimed Rick. The insects reflect clean water in the stream, a comforting finding. "Those little bugs are like the canary in the coal mine, " explained Joe, meaning if they're there and they're healthy, all is well.
Clean water is critical, said Mike, for both human safety, healthy marine life, and the general mountain environment. "At some point", he said, "everything depends upon it". The team plans to conduct such inspections twice a year. They'll shift from one stream to another, covering all four lakes. Additional volunteers would be welcome, Rick said. In addition to bio-monitoring, Rick says ECG and the Fishing Club also want to collaborate on testing the water chemistry in the lakes That involves taking water samples for analysis in a commercial laboratory."