Aylus Great Neck Branch Volunteer at Connetquot River State Park on 5/3/25
On Saturday, AYLUS Great Neck Branch volunteers participated in Connetquot River State Park Preserve on May 3, 2025 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. Volunteers participated in the annual “I Love My Park” event.
First, the volunteers started to build a new nature trail, about 170 meters long, mainly paved with bluestone slabs. The volunteers first laid mats where the road needed to be paved, and then shoveled the bluestone slabs into a wheelbarrow with a shovel. After that, the volunteers used a wheelbarrow to transport the bluestone slabs to the planned location, and used rakes and other tools to evenly spread the bluestone slabs to the designated location. Finally, after all the bluestone slabs were laid, they were compacted with a flat plate to serve as the pavement of the trail. It should be noted that the bluestone slabs need to be laid evenly, and at the same time, it is necessary to ensure that there is no height difference between the paved bluestone pavement and the grass on both sides, and do not pour the bluestone slabs directly on the grass to pollute the environment. It took the volunteers a long time to repair the trail. After repairing the nature trail, the volunteers immediately went to the next location that needed help.
The second task of the volunteers is to cut off invasive plants such as Japanese barberry, Japanese honeysuckle and wild roses to save the apple trees. Volunteers cut off the invasive plants with large shears and then piled them aside. These plants will be moved to the garbage pit and then transported to the landfill by bulldozers. It is worth noting that these plants have sharp thorns on the surface, which is very inconvenient for volunteers to remove. However, the volunteers still insisted on completing the task and did their best to avoid the spikes by wearing gloves and being wary of their surroundings.
Invasive species destroy the biodiversity in the environment. If they are not removed in time and allowed to reproduce smoothly, they will not only deprive other plant species of their ability to survive, but will also lead to a decrease in biodiversity and even cause irreversible negative impacts on the biosphere of the area. Therefore, it is very necessary to clean up those invasive plants. The volunteers hope to better protect the environment, and they are working for a better earth.
Members who participated include: Yingxiang Liu (3hrs), Felicia Liu (3hrs), Yuya Liu (3hrs), Tiffany Zhang (2.5hrs), Qishen Han (2.5hrs), Zimo Wang (2.5hrs), Jason Huang (3 hrs)
Report By: Yingxiang Liu
