The AYLUS Dix Hills Branch helps out at Bethpage State Park

On October 12th, AYLUS volunteers gathered at Bethpage park to help do some weeding and getting rid of invasive vines. Before all the action, members were taken in golf carts to a small farm where things like ivy and Mugroot had taken over trees and the field. The members were broken up into two groups, one working all the way in the back and the second working around the entrance. Volunteers were supplied with gloves along with shovels, clippers, rakes and many other tools to rip out weeds. After a quick briefing of what to look for, members of groups of 2 to 3 took to their own respective areas and tore off vines. The Dix Hills group went to work on a tree wrapped and tangled from the top with Porcelain berry. Which is a vine that has blue berries and attracts lantern flies. Porcelain berry is an invasive ivy, and its leaves often block out sunlight from the native plants. The volunteers effectively and efficiently were able to remove the entirety of the ivy, along with killing the invasive lantern fly as they worked. Since the tree was cleared, it created a pathway enabling all the members to easily throw away all of the foliage they had cleared. Which demonstrates the teamwork and coordination of the members, as without the combined work of everyone progress would slow. After the members were done, the field looked significantly better and everyone was praised for their hard work. The supervisors were even kind enough to leave everyone with a small pot of flowers for people to plant for themselves.



Volunteers: Jake Wu (2.5hrs), Bryan Fan (2hrs), and Jonathan Fan (2hrs)

Updated: October 15, 2024 — 2:06 am

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