Volunteers plant seedlings at Salt River

David Goldstein, chief of interpretation and education for the National Park Service sites on St. Croix, was very pleased with the turnout for a planting day at Salt River National Historical Park, many people came to help including lots who live in REAL ESTATE ST CROIX.
Earlier in the year, a team removed non-native exotic plants and applied low-impact herbicides to target species around the former hotel site.

Salt River Bay’s coastal wetlands were “dramatically altered” during a failed hotel and marina development in the 1960s and 1970s.

Goldstein said, “ This week, the small trees and seedlings were ready to be set out, and they got almost a thousand plants in the ground.”

Around 2½ acres were replanted with native species, he added.

College and high school students that were part of the Youth Conservation Corps, were key to getting the project done and provided the hands that did all the planting.

Goldstein added, “This is a huge deal for us. It means we have a strategy to keep those down,” he said of the non-native exotic plants that had taken over the area. “Now, we know how to get our trees to come in and compete and give them a fighting chance.”

Source:http://virginislandsdailynews.com