We will soon be removing some of the trees and other wooded plants at Fairview Farm to create a scrub-shrub habitat as part of our Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP). Visitors will easily notice our work, as the transformation will occur in an area to the right of the driveway at the entrance to Fairview Farm. This portion of our grounds is currently dominated by eastern red cedar, and it also has a good mix of oaks, beeches, and pines. A scrub-shrub habitat is limited to 30% wooded flora, so many of the trees will be removed. Scrubland habitats are usually the result of a disturbance such as a fire, flood or strong wind. Our disturbance will be in the form of chainsaws and a bush hog.
The red cedars are our primary target for removal because of their abundance in the area (approximately 80% of the trees are eastern red cedar). There are also some invasive plant species present in this vicinity that will be removed to create a purely native habitat. The wooded vegetation will be replaced with a mix of grasses and forbs.
Creating a scrubland is an important project for URWA because this habitat is absent on Fairview Farm; therefore, a new niche will available for our wildlife to use. We might also entice new creatures to make Fairview Farm their home. Scrub-shrub habitats are great for song birds, game birds and many predatory birds. You can also expect deer, rabbits and other animals to use this habitat for grazing or hunting.
The red cedars that we remove will be turned into posts for deer fencing and trellises – we’ll even host a workshop on may 15th where you can make a garden tower for your garden, and we expect to have more than we need for use at Fairview Farm, so please let us know if you’d like to take some home after we’ve finished our project. The invasive plants will be removed and added to our brush pile and we’ll turn all the other wooded materials into wood chips.
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