Location: Bucks County Audubon Society at Honey Hollow (New Hope, PA)
Partners Involved: Bucks County Master Watershed Stewards, Lower Delaware Wild and Scenic Council
Type of Buffer: Suburban
Submitted by: Stacy Carr-Poole
Bucks County Audubon Society at Honey Hollow is the steward of the historic Honey Hollow Watershed, which celebrated its 50th Anniversary as a National Historic Landmark in 2019. For the past three years, we have been excited to conduct a riparian buffer project on the east branch of the creek. Each year we have moved upstream from our Audubon Pond, with the area we have completed so far including both stream and wetland areas.
The stream faces many issues, including stream bank erosion, sediment from erosion upstream, invasive plants, the loss of forest canopy from the death of many Ash Trees, and the increased stress of more severe storms.
Although we are still at the beginning of the project, with at least a mile of stream still to restore, we have made some wonderful progress. With the help of almost 100 volunteers (over 300 hours of volunteer time), including several Master Watershed Stewards, students from local schools, and teens from our new Teen Conservation Corps, we have created a buffer zone of native plants along about a third of a mile of stream. In that area, we have removed hundreds of invasive plants and replaced them with over 400 native trees, shrubs and perennials. These plants are not only helping to protect and clean our water, they are also creating wonderful habitat for birds and wildlife.
To learn more visit www.BCAS.org
This post Is part of the first annual CCLC Riparian Buffer Month.
For more information check out our page
If you would like to support professional training of landscape professionals in the design, instillation, and maintenance of riparian buffers, please donate today to the CBLP-Buffers scholarship fund. We believe that landscape professionals have a unique ability to directly affect the health of our landscapes- and your donation will directly assist a professional in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to pursue training.
