Groundwork USA Newsletter                                   Summer Green Team  2012
Greetings!
Groundwork youth Green Teams across the country were busy with hands-on projects and programs catalyzing tangible change on the ground in their communities all summer-long. We share some of their fun news here -- from Somerville to San Diego, DC to Denver, Providence to Portland and on. Clearwater Sloop 2012
Culminating their summer work, youth leaders and youth members from across the country attended the 2012 National Groundwork USA Youth Summit in New York last week. They shared experiences, best practices, and inspiration about their summer adventures, while canoeing at Wallkill National Wildlife Refuge in NJ, and sailing the Hudson River in Pete Seeger's Clearwater Sloop!
 
We hope you enjoy reading about their adventures this summer as much as we enjoyed hearing about them.
 
The Groundwork USA Team - Rick, Anjali, Kate, & Curt
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In This Issue
GW at Yellowstone National Park
GW Bridgeport meets Senator Lieberman
GW Lawrence So Fresh So Green
GW Buffalo Visits Shenandoah NP
GW San Diego Learns Urban Forestry
GW Denver High on Rocky Mountain
GW Somerville at the Boston Harbor Islands
GW Providence in the Community
GW Anacsotia DC embarks on Urban Archeology
GW Hudson Valley Builds a Dragonfly Habitat
GW Portland & an Eco-Roof
 
 

Groundwork Trust News

Groundwork Green Teams Work and Play at Yellowstone National Park   

  

Groundwork Green Team youth representing Trusts from Bridgeport, Dallas, Denver, San Diego, Washington, DC and Yonkers traveled to Yellowstone National Park for a week-long summer capstone Corps experience. Hosting Groundwork work crews was a new arrangement for Yellowstone staff, and we are proud to report that our youth performed far beyond expectations! It was a wonderful and unique experience for youth who had never been to such an idyllic National Park. Likewise, Yellowstone staff were tremendously impressed with the youth's professionalism and commitment to conservation. The youth and their leaders took many day-hikes, swam in a 'boiling river', went on amazing night hikes, and walked among meandering buffalo. We hope to return there next summer. Check out our facebook page for more fun pics.


 Senator Lieberman Visits Bridgeport Green Team Youth
Bridgeport GT 2012
Twelve of Groundwork Bridgeport's Green Team members were once again recruited by the National Park Service at Weir Farm in Wilton, Connecticut to improve the grounds there with conservation projects including trail work, invasive species removal, and historic rock wall restoration using masonry techniques. The students received a special treat when they got to meet and talk with U.S. Senator Joseph Lieberman during a visit he made to Weir Farm.

 



Lawrence Farmers Mkt 2012Groundwork Lawrence Youth "So Fresh" and "So Green"

This summer, Groundwork Lawrence had the exciting opportunity to expand their Green Team program from ten students to 20. The Green Team members worked in two crews of ten to achieve great projects in the city.  The "So Fresh" crew focused on projects that involved healthy living and food production and included: growing and selling produce at Lawrence Farmer's Markets, volunteering at nearby Johnson Farm (which donates a portion of its produce to food pantries in Lawrence), building and maintaining compost systems across the city, and attending health workshops. The "So Green" crew focused on the maintenance and development of Lawrence's green spaces. Through a partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the crew landscaped and cleaned parks, removed invasive species, gave interpretive tours of the parks where they worked, delivered workshops about recycling to youth, and attended workshops about urban ecology and Lawrence's history.  It was a successful summer, and Groundwork Lawrence is excited to continue hosting twin Green Team crews in the summers to come.

 

Click here for more about GW Lawrence's projects and programs.



Groundwork Buffalo Travels to Shenandoah National Park  

Groundwork Buffalo was fortunate to have been awarded a grant from the Northeast Region of the National Park Service enabling its Green Team to travel to Shenandoah National Park July 16-20. Before the Green Team began their service work, they learned about the Leave No Trace program and how it applies to Shenandoah National Park, and its seven principles, which are:

  • Plan Ahead and Prepare
  • Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces
  • Dispose of Waste Properly
  • Leave What You Find
  • Minimize Campfire Impacts
  • Respect Wildlife
  • Buffalo Shenandoah 2012Be Considerate to Other Visitors

The Green Team conducted a viewshed analysis at several mountaintops in the park. Using GPS systems, a compass, and a digital camera along with other tools, the Green Team gathered the requisite GIS data about the viewshed. They learned about Shenandoah's watershed and had the the water quality evaluation by calculating the water's pH balance, its oxygen level, and identifying the type of species living in the water. The group also learned about invasive plant species, and the proper methods of removing them from areas of vegetation. Finally, the team participated in hiking a section of the Appalachian Trail. While hiking the AT, the Green Team discovered how important fresh water is for hikers and learned the proper methods of filtering spring water in order for it to be drinkable.

 

Next summer, the Green Team will help identify and remove invasive plant species, help promote keeping the park clean, work to develop a park user survey, as well as participate in scheduled clean up events in the Olmsted Parks. Click here for more about GW Buffalo's projects and programs. 



 Groundwork San Diego Explores the Outdoors at the EarthLAB

San Diego GT 2012  

The Groundwork San Diego - Chollas Creek Green Team spent the summer getting acquainted with the fundamentals of Urban Forestry at the EarthLAB, a 4-acre parcel ripe for development as an outdoor classroom space, a propagation center, riparian habitat preserve, and community shared space. After visiting the site at the end of summer, the San Diego Foundation agreed to fund construction of a pocket park on the east side entrance of the site, next to a major pedestrian and auto corridor. For this year's Summer Service Expedition, the Green Team took a true wilderness adventure to Point Reyes National Seashore, camping 1.5 miles deep into the backcountry. They completed their service project at the Point Reyes Lighthouse bluffs, removing 205 square meters of ice plant in five hours. According to the rangers, they are the second most productive group ever to work on the site. Groundwork staff have been delighted and impressed with the team's cohesion, maturity, and determination in everything they tackle. The Team is looking forward to carrying out its mission during the 2012-2013 school year.

 

Click here for more information about Groundwork San Diego's projects and programs.
 
 


Groundwork Denver Youth High On Rocky Mountain National Park 

Denver RMNP GT 2012The Groundwork Denver Green Team undertook an internship at Rocky Mountain National Park over the summer. For four weeks, the team of 10 young adults worked alongside National Park Service staff maintaining hiking trails, removing invasive weeds and planting natural vegetation to help replenish and beautify Rocky Mountain National Park. Team members camped in the park for four nights each week and worked with Rocky Mountain National Park staff for 10-hour days. At the end of the work day, the Green Teamers enjoyed the company of their peers and discovered the joys and benefits of the National Park. The RMNP internship provided these students with a hands-on opportunity to try out tasks associated with various careers offered by the National Park Service, an experience that will leave a lasting imprint in the minds and hearts of these Green Team participants.  

Learn more about Groundwork Denver and its Green Team here.



Groundwork Somerville Engages at Boston Harbor Islands  

Somerville GT 2012 

The Groundwork Somerville Green Team spent three days on the Boston Harbor Islands during July 2012. The youth visited three different islands: Spectacle Island, Georges Island, and Lovells Island, at each receiving a guided ranger tour and performing service work to remove the invasive Black Swallow Wart from the coastline. Later in the summer, the Green Team joined the Groundwork Somerville National Park Preservers at the Minute Man National Historical Park in Concord, MA, where they performed a trail-clearing project to enhance access to a lesser-known feature of the historic site-- a solid stone bridge that has been in place for over 300 years. 

 

For more information about Groundwork Somerville and its undertakings, click here.  

 



Providence GT 2012

Groundwork Providence Youth Complete 3 Community Environmental Interventions

The 2012 Groundwork Providence Green Team

completed three community interventions, addressing each of the following local environmental issues: brownfield remediation and natural habitat creation, stormwater runoff and de-paving, and waste reduction. These interventions (including the construction and installation of bat houses on a remediated brownfield, a small-scale de-paving/phytoremediation project, and a neighborhood waste management awareness campaign) are small pilot projects that serve not only to make a direct environmental impact, but also to raise awareness of the issues at hand. Each project represented a word of the phrase "it's our choice", referring to the decisions we make each day and their impact on our surroundings. This phrase has now been etched into the ground at sites throughout the City of Providence, and will be photographed as an exhibition at both the Roger Williams National Memorial in Providence, and in Philadelphia as part of a show called "Landmarks". 

 

Please click here for more about Groundwork Providence's programs and projects.  



 Groundwork Anacostia DC Youth Form Urban Archeology Corps

 Anacostia DC UAC TeamThrough partnership with National Park Service (NPS) and Groundwork Anacostia River DC (GWARDC), this pilot program gave five students the opportunity to take part in a paid, 10-week summer internship during which they researched Fort Mahan through the application of archeology, studying the cultural landscape of the community, traditional historical research, and oral history. Fort Mahan is an NPS site that serves as a local park as well as the site of one of Washington's Civil War-era defenses) and the surrounding community. As the summer program came to a close, the Urban Archeology Team Leader produced a how-to manual for forming and facilitating a youth-serving Urban Archaeology program in the interest of expanding such a program nationwide. 

 

For more information about Groundwork Anacostia River DC and its programs, click here



Groundwork Hudson Valley Green Team Builds Riparian Habitat
This year GW Hudson Valley instituted two significant changes that allowed them to engage more young people in local and regional environment service projects. First, they maintain a school-year program component through which they have monthly 8-hour, Saturday sessions featuring leadership-building, regional service trips, and adventure trips designed to replicate the immersive nature of their summer programs. 
  
This summer GW Hudson Valley also hired 10 more students, for a total of 26 students for its summer Green Team. The Team spent much of the summer building substantial riparian habitat exhibit at HV Lenoir GT 2012the Lenoir Nature Preserve in Yonkers. Students learned to use a variety of hand and power tools to dig a 55' pond, remove the roots of entrenched invasive vines, and construct a 42' by 6' boardwalk across the pond. The project also involved intense cooperation among Green Team members and an understanding of the ecology of the exhibit. This was difficult and often grueling work that the teens undertook enthusiastically. Needless to say, Green Team members were very proud of their achievements. The County Park Department and the Lenoir staff are equally thrilled with the new exhibit. 

The Green Team also took three camping/work trips to national parks in the tri-state area. On one of these trips, the Green Team worked with NPS and the NY-NJ Trail Conference to remove entrenched invasive vines from two whole miles of the Appalachian Trail in NJ.   

You can learn more about Groundwork Hudson Valley's projects and programs here 

 


Groundwork Portland & an Eco-Roof 

To the right are Groundwork Portland Green Team participants after installing and watering sedums on the top of an eco-roof kiosk at James John K-8 school.   

For more about Groundwork Portland's programs, please click here.

 

Groundwork USA newsletter edited by Anjali Chen.
Groundwork USA, 22 Main St., 2nd Floor, Yonkers, NY 10701