We’re Still Here!

Our forests have been bustling since COVID-19 has kept most people home. Weekends are mostly busy with lots of families bringing their kids out to hike, wanderers who have and haven’t been to our forests before and, also with this influx, loud, noisy vehicles.

But, overall, the forest has survived with environmentally friendly volunteers and other folks picking up the littler left behind.

But, what we are most excited about is the regeneration of our Pollinator Garden, just to the right of the entrance at Matthies Grove in Peoples State Forest (off East River Road)!

Thanks to the creative design of Erik and Helen Ann Landgraf and volunteer efforts by FALPS’ Board members, in particular Jim Lussier and Jean Miller, we have a marvelous Garden with benches and wooden cookies for folks to walk its paths.

Erik fired up his Alaskan Mill–a chain saw apparatus that can mill fallen trees in the forest–to harvest Oak and Hemlock logs, with the help of FALPS Board President Ralph Scarpino and Board member Jim Lussier, to use as “cookies” or stepping stones for the pollinator garden. White Flower Farm gave us a huge boost last year when FALPS’ member Amy Connelly, who used to work there, asked them to donate some flowers. They gave us dozens of Daffodils and Narcissus and they brightened the park and welcomed visitors this Spring.

Now Erik, Helen Ann and Erik’s Mom, Linne and other volunteers have placed the cookies in stone, planted seeds–even erected benches!

What a wonderful addition to Peoples State Forest’s Matthies Grove and what an amazing enticement these plants will be for pollinating insects, birds and butterflies and folks that want to take a respite from the day’s activities.

Thanks to Erik and Helen Ann and all who worked to make this possible.

And, just so you know, there are still a lot of volunteers working on projects in our forests and as soon as new guidelines are out, we’ll be welcoming more! Just e-mail us or Message us on our FB page if you’re interested in volunteering!

  ctfalps@gmail.com or on our Facebook page and tell us what you’re interested in.