According to public testimony by Drew Toher, Community Resource & Policy Director at the national nonprofit Beyond Pesticides before the CT Joint Environment Committee on Feb. 15, 2023, the consequence of not curbing the use of pesticides, including neonicotinoids (neonics) a potent systemic neurotoxin, has been the massive demise of once common pollinators. Pesticides have contributed to the decline in eastern monarch butterflies by 80% since the 1990s. Bumble bees are at a similar decline, but most shockingly a 99% decline in Connecticut!
Neonics are also harmful to humans. They are hormone disruptors that increase the risk of breast cancer, birth defects, liver damage and memory loss. Dogs are at higher risk of cancer from pesticides. Not only is there a risk to terrestrial ecosystems, neonics and other pesticides pose a risk to aquatic ecosystems.
A key tenet of Pollinator Pathway is: STOP USING PESTICIDES! Using poisons to 'control' grubs, mosquitoes, aphids, ticks or other insects will harm all insects. One square foot of grass can hold enough neonics to kill one million bees. Next time you hire a lawn care service, be sure the control they use is safe: https://www.pollinator-pathway.org/pesticides. Verify that your landscape or lawn care service is NOFA certified: https://guide.organiclandcare.net/.
Sources from Center for Biological Diversity
Monarchs: https://tinyurl.com/45pbumba
Bees: https://tinyurl.com/5b7hbx2u
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NON-NATIVE INVASIVE SPECIES
A Dense Thicket that Outcompetes Natives
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Burning bush (Euonymus Altus) has attractive bright red leaves and berries in the fall and unique wing-like ridges on the stems. Don't be fooled by appearances, though. This deciduous shrub forms a super dense thicket that will muscle out native plants, shrubs and trees. Seeds are dispersed by birds and wildlife to other areas where burning bushes will exert their dominance over natives.
To help pollinators, don't purchase burning bush at a nursery and remove it from your property if you do have the shrub. To remove burning bush pull or dig out young plants, roots and all. Cut large plants to the ground and continue to cut new sprouts as they appear.
Native alternatives to plant in place of burning bush include arrowwood, bayberry, chokeberry, gray dogwood, high bush blueberry, smooth sumac, winged sumac and witch hazel, which blooms in the fall.
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CREATE HABITATS FOR POLLINATORS
Toolkit to get you started
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Even a small pollinator garden is beautiful and beneficial. It will help to support the local ecosystem by providing food and shelter to pollinators. Sun, soil, water and native plant species are the keys to success. Learn more at "How do I start a native garden?"
Also helpful, visit area pollinator gardens for ideas. Cove Island Wildlife Sanctuary (at the far end of the parking lot) has a beautiful pollinator garden. Bartlett Arboretum has a couple of pollinator gardens, including a shaded garden.
Finally, our friends at Aspetuck Land Trust have put together easy to follow garden plans, if you're feeling ambitious.
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TREE NEWS
Stamford's Tree Resolution Update
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The Stamford Board of Finance FY 2023-24 budget review and public hearing will take place on April 4 at 7pm. Time allotted to each member of the public is 3 minutes. Agenda and zoom link at Stamford Board of Finance.
We urge anyone interested in supporting Tree Resolution 4159 to submit your comments or sign up to speak by contacting Tracy Donoghue. One highlight of the resolution is a GIS data mapping tree management system. GIS tree mapping helps the city stay ahead on tree preservation rather than fall behind, responding only after a tree decays. The data collected helps the city to make informed decisions on types of species to plant, maintenance, tree equity for neighborhoods with low tree canopy coverage and identifying if a tree is a hazard.
Planting trees throughout the city is the goal and a watering truck is another top priority in the resolution to ensure their survival. The requested capital funds for a watering truck and more staff to help water and prune trees is important.
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PLANT A TREE
Native trees hold the key to biodiversity. One tree is host to hundreds of moth and butterfly species, or thousands of caterpillars, an essential food for songbirds. A single pair of breeding chickadees, for example, must find 6,000-9,000 caterpillars to rear one clutch of young, says Doug Tallamy, professor of entomology and wildlife ecology at the University of Delaware. Some favorite caterpillar trees are: white oak, wild black cherry, flowering dogwood, sugar maple, white pine and black birch. See a more extensive list of trees.
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