York Town News
YHS students prepare wildlife plan for York Land Trust property
By Melissa Wood
York High School freshmen and sophomores in Libby Bacon’s science and Kevin Wyatt’s math classes gathered at the Hilton-Winn preservation property on Ogunquit Road in Cape Neddick to collect data about wildlife species that use the site and help come up with a management plan for the York Land Trust.
Photo by Melissa Wood
YORK - York High School students are stepping in as advisors to the York Land Trust on how to manage the land at the Hilton-Winn property to best benefit the wildlife species that use it.
On Thursday, April 26, about two dozen freshmen and sophomores, equipped with GPS (global positioning system) devices, field guides, notebooks and cameras, walked a 20-acre field to search the area for wildlife and their habitat.
The students, divided into nine teams, canvassed the area, recording each step they took with a "bread-crumb" trail on the GPS and then taking waypoints - positions marked by a satellite onto the GPS - and recording pictures and notes of their findings at various locations throughout.
"Everybody's doing everything," explained math teacher Kevin Wyatt. "You take two people into a store, and they're going to see different things."
Their findings will be put together and analyzed by the students so they can recommend a management plan for the property, which includes 185 acres of forest, field and wetlands as well as 1,000 feet of frontage on the Ogunquit River. The land was donated by Ethel Hilton and Pike Industries, and allows public access with trails and parking on Ogunquit Road.
The day was an important one for gathering data on the property, but Wyatt said it was just one part of the students' work on the project, which included learning about using GPS devices, wildlife observation and wildlife habitats so that they can advise the York Land Trust on how best to manage the property.
"This day is crucial to collect data, but it's really the before and after," said Wyatt.
Before beginning the surveying, Dan Gardoqui of White Pine Programs in Cape Neddick showed the students how to observe in nature. Gardoqui asked the students to tune into the landscape by paying attention, slowing down and using their senses.
Gardoqui showed the kids how to get really into nature by taking off his shoes and rolling up his pant cuffs to walk through mud and point out some muskrat tracks.
Those muskrat tracks they found in the mud were fairly recent, said freshman Cody Lemoi, who explained that tracks show that the muskrat, probably early that morning, was looking for fish, then slid belly-first into the water.
The most common creature spotted were small back spiders that seemed to be everywhere, crisscrossing over the field grass in every direction. The students also found mosquito larvae in vernal pools, beaver teeth marks on a tree and tracks for deer, wild turkey, raccoons and turtles in their observations of the field.
"You've got to be aware of your surroundings," said Lemoi.
The students learned to use their other senses in their observations, hearing the chirps of birds such as chickadees in the area.
"They also taught us to stand there, close your eyes and listen for things," said freshman Christina Ferrande.
Before heading out into the field, the students learned how to use the GPS devices, thanks to Charles Ek of the Kittery Trading Post Outdoor Academy, and Bryan Thompson, York High School's technology integration specialist.
Thompson said all the information gathered on the field would be put together and then marked on a topographical map for the students to assess and come up with a plan for the property. He said one issue is whether to keep mowing the 20-acre field or allow it to grow back into forest. Once the project is complete the students will present their recommendations to the York Land Trust.
"It's not just a boring field trip for them," said Thompson, who recently won an ESRI TeleAtlas Scholarship Award Thompson for his GIS (geographic information system) experience and a project called "Art Meets GIS." Thompson was one of only four teachers chosen for the national award and will attend the ESRI GIS Users Conference in San Diego, Calif., which is attended annually by York GIS Manager Brett Horr of the Planning Department.
Christine Caprio, coordinator of service-learning, agreed that the chance for the kids to have a say in how the land is managed is important, especially in York where there is so little open space left, she said.
"It's such a great thing for the kids to be involved in," said Caprio. "They're taking their learning outside of the classroom. To learn by doing is really the best way to go about things in my opinion."
Don Leuchs, the York Land Trust's stewardship coordinator, said the trust has benefited from student involvement on several of its properties.
York Middle School students are studying vernal pools at the McFeely Preserve on Marsh Brook Road in Cape Neddick, where they will visit multiple times this spring to observe the pools throughout the season.
On April 20, student volunteers from Berwick Academy also put on their wading boots to look for fairy shrimp on the trust's McIntire Highland Preserve property, located off Route 91 on Mill Road.
The students were looking for the shrimp and other indicators of vernal pools on the protected property as part of Berwick Academy's Community Service Day, during which students from the upper school volunteered for various projects on and off the school's campus.
Identifying vernal pools is important, explained Leuchs, because the trust may need to re-route trails so that hikers and other users of the land do not disturb the fragile environment they contain.
For more information on the York Land Trust and its properties, including details on properties allowing public access, visit http://www.yorklandtrust.org/ or call 363-7400.
